Day 8 and 9: Old City Melaka

We were able to spend two more days in Melaka.  Like Penang, it has a rich history and a very diverse culture, with a mix of mostly Chinese, Indian, and Malay people.  It started off as a Sultinate in the 15th and 16 centuries, then was occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Japanese before becoming independent. There was much to learn! 

We finally managed to escape the motorbikes, pavement, crowds, and cars during our morning run through peaceful China Hill, an old Chinese cemetery.  

Seth for some reason was really taken by this flounder fish powder mural

We spent the day sight seeing with Andrew.  To start, we had a breakfast of the local specialty, Chicken Rice Ball.  The name is misleading because it actually consisted of many balls of rice with pieces of chicken on the side.

The red Dutch Square by day

St. Paul

Porta de Santiago

After the heritage walk, we went back to the main strip (Jonker Street) for baba laksa, the version of the soup that we know and love.  Australians would recognize this form over the sour and fishy asam laksa served in Penang.

This popular restaurant is also famous for durian cendol!

 

 

Jonker Street

Fresh Melakan pineapple tarts, big and small

Obama?

A temple

This guy, the Wan Aik shoemaker, specializes in making shoes for bound feet (lotus shoes).  I actually went back the next day and bought this very pair he is holding (my big souvenire from Malaysia). 

Refreshing, cooling tea on a very hot afternoon

We said goodbye to Andrew as he caught his bus back to Singapore that afternoon.  It must be fun to live in the big city and be in close proximity to so many cool places, but too bad he has so few vacation days to be able to travel. 

As soon as Andrew's bus drove away, we noticed heavy black clouds rolling in.  That was our signal to hustle back to the hostel before the monsoon hit.

The view of the rain and the river from the back of the hostel

During the rain, a massive monitor lizard (maybe 2 meters long) made a brief appearance before slipping into the drain to make his way back to the river.

When the rain cleared, a Hari Krishna parade passed below our window

On our way to dinner in the evening we saw the parade again in Little India

Potato-filled Dosa masala dinner at an Indian place

Nasi Sayur, rice with vegetables, served on a banana leaf.  I was brave and attempted to eat like the locals, using my right hand and no utensiles.  This takes a lot of practice.

For dessert we hopped into a Chinese bakery.  The guy was very cute and gave us a whole bag of chocolate swiss rolls as a New Years gift.

The lovely river through the center of town.  Notice how many of the buildings have murals.

The next morning!  The back of the hostel was wide open to the world, which provided a great view of the river but it was a little awkward to step out of the shower in a towel and see passers by on the walking path below.

A nearby mosque

Garlic being delivered below our window :o)

A vegetarian lunch of mock chicken rice and laksa.  Too bad it wasn't very extrordinary. 

Jack fruit tree by the side of the street

A fire extinguisher shop

A coconut factory.  This guy was straining coconut to collect the milk.

Lots of coconut!

A scale shop (I always wondered where these originate!)

China town getting ready for the lunar New Year

We couldn't resist another Indian dinner.  This is how they make tandoori chicken and naan, in this clay oven.

All the carbs and some sauces for the carbs: garlic naan, roti telur, chapati

This tower at the nearby mosque would emit chanting from its speakers very early in the morning (5:30 am, waking us up) and at verious times throughout the day.  This was actually really common in Malaysia, a muslim country. 

 

The hostel

Melaka, so so beautiful

Day 7: Southward to Melaka!

So actually we just returned to the US two days ago.  After a whirl-wind layover in Munich and a one night stay in Waltham (it felt sooo good to have a proper shower and a clean change of clothes!), we repacked and drove the snowy roads to Upstate New York to spend the last few days of my winter holiday.  As it snows and blows outside, now is an excellent time to finish up these posts!

We checked out of the Hotel Sentral and caught the morning bus out of Penang.  It was sad to leave, but we felt we spent a sufficient amount of time in the city and it was time to move on.  We drove southward to the small, beautiful, old city of Melaka.

Along the way, 90% of the landscape was dominated by these monstrous palm oil plantations.  It is heartbreaking to think not too long ago this all used to be rainforest! 

The 9 hour bus ride was comfortable (check out those reclining seats and our delicious sweet breads!), but there was no bathroom, which made us nervous.  I am pretty sure the driver would have pulled over to the side of the road if necessary (he pulled over a couple times himself to smoke).

The surviving 10% of the landscape had remarkable rocky outcrops

The bus had a stop in Kuala Lumpur, the big city.  The Donnellys came here to party after the wedding.

We eventually made it to Melaka, though we arrived and hour late (probably because of all the smoke breaks the driver took).  The city bus from the bus station into town wasn't showing up and we were running very late to meet a friend and to check into the hostel.  I felt terrible it was getting so late so I insisted we take a cab to our hostel (it only would cost $5).  I grabbed the first cabby I saw, and it ended up being a big mistake.  I swear the guy was half crazy--he seemed friendly enough but kept mumbling to himself, didn't speak English, and didn't seem to have any idea where to go and how to get there.  Our hostel was in a central location so it should have been easy to find and would have taken only 10 minutes to reach.  The guy drove us around for an hour, taking us to random hotels and random locations.  It was the first (and thankfully only) time on the trip I felt totally helpless, waiting until we would finally get to our destination, which we did.  I thought it was a complete scam but the guy actually did stop to ask for directions and he really did seem crazy, but when he insisted we pay him 3-times the amount we agreed on (because he spent so much time driving), I had a fit, gave him the original amount, and walked away.  I wouldn't have paid him anything at all but he had our luggage in the trunk and held it ransom until we forked over some money.     

We were so happy to have finally arrived in Melaka!  It was especially great to be greeted by Andrew Li, whom we first met in Canberra.  In fact, this is the same friend we met with in Ferrara, Italy several years ago.  It is a little sad to think that he is the only friend from Johns we have seen since leaving Australia.  At least he is good company for travelling!
 

 Late night New Years Eve dinner with Andrew by the very beautiful riverside. 

We experienced the local Nyonya cuisine.  This is food that developed from the original Chinese population that assimilated into the Malaysian culture many years ago.  The house specialty used this nut I had never heard of before (Buah Keluak, black nut), which required a tiny fork to scrape the meat out of the shell.  

Chicken with the black nut.  The description of the dish called it 'addicting'.  It was strange at first, but it actually did become addicting!

Dutch Square by night.  The trishaws were so cute and sparkly!

Everyone was out and about for New Years Eve, including Mr Dragon

The popular Jonker Walk

Happy New Year!

The aftermath

Our street in the old part of town for some reason was always lit up with lovely red lights

Our quiet and very welcoming hostel.  The friendly owner and his wife were very sweet and left out homemade cakes, cookies, and fruits for the guests.

This was a really great hostel--clean, comfortable, with lots of filtered water, tea, coffee, books, and snacks.  Right on the river, it was fun to look out and watch these little river cruise boats go up and down the colored light-lined waterway all night.  Each boat had a different type of passenger--some boats had drum-playing men wearing white tunics and fezes, one was all women wearing full, black burkas, one was all guys in turbans--but all the boats were festive.  What a colorful start to the New Year! 

Day 6: Last day in Penang

So we are actually in Kuta, Bali right now, getting ready to fly out to Hong Kong tomorrow to see our dear friends, Synni and Dan.  I haven't been able to write much, so obviously I am a bit behind!  I'll catch up eventually, but for now, here are some pictures from our last day in Penang (Sunday, Dec. 30th).  

I started off the morning in this very cute Chinese pastry shop

The blind leading the blind. Literally.

Our first roti telur!  Indian flat bread with egg inside.

So delicious and simple, served with spicy masala tea

McDonalds does delivery

Our hotel.  Conveniently, it was so tall that we were able to see it from a distance to help orient ourselves in the city.

Char Koay Teow (very delicious noodles fried with sprouts, prawns ,some greens and lots of MSG).

Lots of character in these side streets!

A monthly street market

A masala dosa snack (a different Indian flat bread filled with curried potatoes, to be eaten on a banana leaf and with your right hand)

New Lane hawker stalls right across from our hotel--poh peah (Malaysian spring rolls), wan than mee soup (similar to Vietnamese wan tan soup, but with extra egg noodles), a mysterious jellied fish steamed in banana leaf, and asam laksa (tangy, not so nice soup)

We felt bad that we weren't able to meet up with my family more during our stay.  We were a bit spread out and ended up doing our own things.  At least we were able to *quickly* say good bye to Christina and Kevin before we took off.

Also, around this time I developed a really nasty rash around my legs, creases of my arms, and chest. It is improving a little, but still looks pretty gross.  Don't really know where it came from... once again, I'll blame it on the heat and humidity!