More humid than KL
Trip Start
May 23, 2011
1
13
40
Trip End
Jan 14, 2012
Where I stayed
The Royal Bintang
What I did
Day trip to Melacca
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Friday, August 19, 2011
After our 9:30am departure it took us almost 2.5 hours to get there, he drove so slowly (talked so much) I almost asked to take over the wheel! I guess it did take us quite a while to break free of the city traffic before we hit the 3 lane freeway. The drive home was quicker ;-) On the drive we saw vast Palm Oil plantations, peppered with Rubber Tree plantations. The Palm Oil is exported mainly to China and comes back to us in all those wonderful processed foods that are so good for us - NOT!!! At least nothing harvested is wasted. The nuts converted to oil - roughly 20kg converts to 4.5kg of oil. The husks and pods are processed to bio-diesel. The harvested leaves into food for livestock used locally and exported to South Korea and Japan. I couldn't help but feel distressed by all the flora and fauna that has been destroyed/displaced by the destruction of all that beautiful jungle. I could say a lot more about it, but this is not the forum.
Malacca really appealed to me. I love the friendly people and the narrow streets full of all sorts of shops. It seemed more humid than KL, I guess that's because it's on the coast - the Malacca Straits - viewable from a few vantage points we visited. After stopping by the oldest Catholic Church in Malaysia, we walked around the Dutch square in front of Christ Church Malacca. We then climbed to the top of the hill to view the grave site of St Francis Xavier in the ruins of the St Francis Xavier Church. It has a lighthouse in front with stairs that Miranda simply couldn't resist to climb - not far though, fortunately they were blocked off. From this vantage point we had a fantastic view over parts of Malacca, all they way to the Malacca Straits (scroll down the page for photos).
We were taken to lunch at a local restaurant, eating mainly Chinese dishes. The Malaysian culture is a harmonious blend of Muslim / Hindu / Chinese, signified at the welcoming gates into Malacca by three structures representing the religions/cultures. After lunch we walked around Harmony Street and the surrounding area. Harmony Street is a true gem, with the two oldest Mosques and a Chinese temple located in this street. As Friday prayer had just finished, the street was full of Muslim men returning to their daily routine. It was in this street we finally found our new hats. We've been searching for two days through all the markets and shops and couldn't find just what we were looking for. I said to Miranda, be patient, we'll find them. Day three and we have success. A little further down the street we found the grooviest coffee shop with the machine setup in the back of a combi and the dining tables on the other side of the dining room (see photos). Before we turned a corner out of the street we gravitated to a shop stocked full of rugs and trinkets from the Kashmir area of India. The guy running the shop was very friendly, so we stopped to chat. The shop was full of hand-made jewellery, predominantly necklaces and earrings. Miranda was fascinated, so he helped her make a set of earrings for herself. We must have spent well over half an hour creating and talking. He gifted Miranda's creation to her. We left without spending a cent. His brother Khalid operates the shop with him, however the remainder of his family is in Kashmir. They own a houseboat which they rent out. Sounds fantastic. After listening to all the stories of the area, I now want to visit... and do the houseboat thing :-) Any takers? (see photo of the business cards)
On the return journey we stopped off at a fruit shop to sample local delicacies. Stinky fruit being the primary one. Well it's true - stinky it's smells and Miranda and I think the taste stinks too! I've never eaten fruit like it. It was savory and... and... well I just can't describe it. I've never eaten anything like it, and don't particularly want to again. It repeated on me for the next few hours, I couldn't escape it... yuk! The local lychees were wonderful so we brought home a bunch along with some Dragon fruit (tasteless) and Mango (yum).
With a short pit-stop on the way home, we arrived at our hotel around 6:30pm. Local roadside shopping is inexpensive. I paid around AUD0.33 each for bottled water and a small pack of dry roasted peanuts. Surprisingly the bottled water is the same price in the tourist shops too.
As I type this, M has taken herself off to do the buffet breakfast, I'm not that hungry and I've yet to gym. Can't eat before exercise. Before she left, she telephone a girl (Betty from Shanghai, China) in room 505 and has setup a 10:30am swimming date! They met in the pool on Thursday night, her family arrived at the hotel that day. Not sure how long they're staying.
We aren't venturing out this morning as we are doing a tour of the Batu Caves and other sights this afternoon. We're being collected at around 1:30pm and should be back early evening.
Comments
Apart from the stinky fruit, it all sounds good.
wow, nothing has changed. We have some photos almost the same. We however did not try the stinky fruit but i bet Tracey-lee would have lol. really love the combi coffee shop. thanks for the update. bye for now k&c