Bussing it in what was once a luxury coach was a convenient start to our Malaysia adventure. A 4-hour fairly uneventful ride (apart from anxiously watching the driver smoke a cigarette right next to where the bus was being filled up with petrol) took is to Melaka, a laid back friendly city boasting fabulous heritage architecture. Our hotel was situated in one of the old districts of Chinatown formerly known as Heeren St where wealthy traders once lived. The surrounding streets are full of little craft and art shops full of beautiful things that my backpack wont be able to carry.
During a personalised tour of an 18th Century shop house conserved from the era of Dutch rule (after an era of Portuguese rule), we were shown features to common problems like the lime plaster used to allow the walls to breathe, roof tiles creating an air con system and fish in the wells to eat mosquito eggs and act as a first warning if the water was poisoned by attacking forces. Many of these buildings are still visible today across the city and create a really distinct interesting ambience. Adding to these shop fronts are the stark red buildings of the Christ Church and Stadthaus, the old Dutch town hall, and up on a hill the ruin of St Paul’s Church first built in 1521 by the Portugese. So much maritime and colonial history in this city, so well conserved. Nearly every other building here is some sort of museum and Melaka is obviously very proud of it’s history.
Malaysian food is amazing. There’s no doubt about it, we will be eating our way around Malaysia. So far we’ve (mostly Jon) had curries, beancurd rice, pineapple pastries (a local delicacy), fish heads, lamb pieces, Popiah (like a spring roll), pancakes, rice parcels, fruits like lychees but bigger and better, tiny bananas and this is all before we head to a the weekend night market tonight (weekends being Friday and Saturday as although Malaysia is a secular country, Islam is the official religion of the Malay people). Today is the end of a fasting by the Malays as well as celebrations still ongoing for the annual Independence day so there was a party atmosphere that we were very quickly invite to join in by Tourism Malaysia officials. We were more than welcome to participate in the elaborate feast and I was hauled up to dance with the band to the amusement of the locals. It was one of those experiences you could never plan and take you by surprise and people’s generosity and kindness. The Malaysian government has worked to create ‘One Malaysia’ with its many different people and faiths and this was a perfect example.
Today is hot. The clouds have lifted and I think I want them to come back as the heat is unbearable to the point where we took some respite at a local shopping centre. I enjoyed what I hope is the first of many massages while Jon’s feet got eaten by fish – yes the same spa treatment you can now get in the UK but much cheaper and with bigger fish. I think Jon may have needed more than just 30 minutes. Also in the shopping mall we randomly visited an exhibition on the ‘Instruments of Torture during the European Inquisition’ a really well put together exhibit complete with a chanting monk sound track. The exhibits were enough to fuel nightmares and I don’t think I need to explain what a knee splitter is.
Every Friday night in Melaka, Chinatown is cordoned off for the weekly night market, a time for Jon to taste of more Melakan treats: egg custards (yes, they are Portuguese treat, not made by Greggs), more Popiah (spring rolls), jelly with coconut and cane sugar syrup, octopus balls, Durian (extremely stinky fruit banned in most accommodations) pancakes which quickly went in the bin, and a potato curled round a stick and deep fried. Gluten free eats came in the form of Boon Curry at the brilliant Geographers café, a tomato based curry full of veg, simply delicious. The market was bustling with lots of food stuffs our stomachs told us to avoid as well as a fair amount of what can only be described of as tat. We enjoyed the entertainment of old people on stage banging out the local karaoke hits. All the local art shops were open and one such, ‘Orangutan House’ caught our eye for the very funky art based on Ying and Yang concepts by Charles Cham (www.charlescham.com). A hand printed t-shirts of one of his designs is our first souvenir.
Final thoughts of Melaka: much much nicer, cleaner and interesting than I thought it was going to be. Superbly friendly – even the taxi driver gave us a long talk about the effects of Tesco opening in Malaysia – and even though there was not loads to see, we could easily have stayed longer.
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