On a bus. From Singapore to Malaysia. At least such a long journey (4
hours) was more comfortable this time. In fact, almost too comfortable –
why do they always put the aircon on full blast and have you shivering
the whole way there?
Anyway, so after getting off the
bus at Johor Bahru, border city to Malaysia, getting through customs on
both sides of the border, then accidentally boarding a Japanese tourist
bus, I made it to Melaka. Hehe! I was booked into a great little hotel
in Jonker St, which is the main drag of the old town. It is adorned with
beautiful old colonial Dutch shophouses and has retained a lot of its
original architecture. Many buildings now contain tourist junk, cafes,
restaurants or antique shops, some are now museums, but most are now
Chinese shops; it’s a real contrast.
This cultural mix
reflects the history of colonial Dutch, Portuguese and British
occupation and strategic location on the Straight of Melaka, which
attracted huge numbers of Chinese and Indian traders and labourers,
expanding the cultural mix of the original inhabitants. There are
traditional Chinese pharmacies dotted around the old town, and in the
Chinese quarter, some amazing old Chinese temples. Add to this a few
mosques and churches, and you have a really interesting city.
The
town square is traditional Dutch architecture and has an old church and
Stadthuys (town hall used for local governance), and the Melaka river
has nice little restaurants and old buildings along it. Not to mention
the tourist tour boats that ply it! There is an old church on the top of
the hill behind the town square, which was converted into a fort, which
has many graves of the early colonialists there. Then back further, in
another part of town, is Bukit China – China Hill, the largest Chinese
cemetery outside of China, with the graves of 12,000 Chinese merchants.
It’s a nice place to wander, a huge, green, leafy expanse of undeveloped
land (and there’s an ongoing dispute about developing it) with probably
the last remaining fauna in the area! Good for spotting birds and
monitor lizards, as well as reading your book in the shade. A replica
portuguese ship rounds off the sights and houses the maritime museum.
There is a great old original traditional Malay house near the river,
the tour of which is given by the grandson of the original owners, who
is a legend. Almost nothing has changed inside it since it was built.
It's a beautiful old wooden bungalow with a traditional wedding suite
inside and a heap of historial and family treasures inside. In fact he
was such a legend I 'married' him on the wedding furniture (for the
cameras, anyway - given I was the only single person on the tour!)
The
rest of the city is the usual chaotic urban jungle with massive
shopping malls and relatively poor neighbourhoods mixed with rich ones.
The ocean water front, while a massive swamp, is undergoing a massive
development with upmarket hotels, malls and restaurants. Ugly as sin! I
avoided all of that most of the time.
So apart from
wandering around the city for the three days I was there, the other main
activity was drinking buckets of Tiger beers and playing Texas Holdem
Poker with the crew from the hotel. The 5 of us (2 Aussies, a pom and an
Irishman) had a great time spending 5 Ringgit a round (about $2),
ultimately losing every time to Damian and Claire, who were the kings!
It’s always good to have a fun crew to hang out with at the end of the
day. The two UKers, Claire and Finton, were off to Singapore and then
Australia, while the Aussies were off to Thailand, both on round the
world trips. I was very jealous!
In the end, Claire and
Finton came back to Singapore on the same bus as me, our Friday night
spent hanging out at the street market on Jonker street, trying out all
the local fare and laughing at all the little knicknacks on sale. Claire
and I got our sale of the century: NKOTB badges for $1 each! yah!!! Now
proudly adorning our bags :)
We went out for dinner on
Saturday night in Singapore, with Jon & Steph from Simeulue.
The highlight of the night was getting our fortunes told by the Mouth of
Truth, a dodgy Italian statue inside the foyer of the Malaysian
restaurant we dined at in Clark Quay. Let’s just say I only got 3/9
stars in the ‘sex’ category. Strangely accurate…
A day
of shopping in Medan ensued on Sunday, with a sushi lunch with Paul,
Popi and little Adrian, to wrap it up. I actually enjoyed shopping in
Sun Plaza in Medan more than in Singapore! And bought some cool stuff
too J
So it’s back to work on Monday, not really
looking forward to it actually! But only 3 weeks til I’m back in Oz….
Cricket! Big Day Out! Friends & Family! Coopers!!!!! Bring it
on! Can’t wait.
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