28 FEB THURS: Day exploring Malacca

There is no restaurant facility at this hotel so breakfast is taken in another shop house across the road, which is no big deal.   We had a choice of Malay or English breakfast so settled for the latter.

Whilst waiting for our food to be cooked we were presented with a plateful of sliced watermelon and papaya ... David immediately turned his nose up at it but he did try a slice of watermelon and really enjoyed it.   (The same thing happened when we were in the Cameron Highlands and were served passion fruit with breakfast - his first reaction is horror but once he samples the locally grown fruit he realises how superior it is to what we buy in our supermarkets back in the UK)!

I wanted to revisit the 'Dutch Square' area this morning to see if it was any better on a day when there was no cruise liner in.   It wasn't.    Strangely on Google reviews people (mainly Asian) are raving about the place and how wonderful it is to be able to take ornamental trishaws (especially at night when apparently they are lit up - I haven't witnessed that yet).   So obviously I am in the minority here for thinking they are pretty horrible (actually David is of the same opinion)

 Jonker Street (the area where we are based) is much nicer in our opinion so we had another wander round.    I was surprised to find several pieces of wall art which is in considerably better condition than the wall art in Penang which is plugged as an attraction.  I'd seen nothing in my research about the paintings in Malacca.   Just a few we passed this morning:

A lovely shop frontage

and, yes, you knew it was coming didn't you?     We stumbled across another temple.  This one is billed as the oldest Buddhist place of worship in Malaysia - the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (also known as Merciful Cloud Temple) was built in 1646.

I was accosted by a lovely Malaysian gentleman who wanted to tell me about the dreadful government of the day, how they're pushing Malaysian people to rely on religion and their devotions to bring them wealth, good health and happiness and blinding them to what's really going thanks to the incompetence of the people in power.

He told me that the Malaysians are lazy as a race; the Chinese and Indians are the intelligent, hard working people.   He was born in 1944 and remembers the country under the control of the British, who he said were the best thing that happened to Malaysia.  If Brits wanted to change a policy they thought through all the possible connotations before implementing changes.   The Malaysians go in Gung Ho then have to reverse decisions when things go wrong.    I tried telling him that our Government(s) in the UK over the last couple of decades are just as bad but he definitely had his rose coloured specs on.

Funnily enough, the same thing happened to me in Singapore in the 80s when a pith helmeted old gentleman couldn't praise the British (and their rule) enough ... maybe I just have one of 'those faces' which attracts old folk who want to talk about British rule!

Some photos

I just love the roof decoration:

Most of the temple is made from seasoned hardwood - very dark brown in colour

There were several rooms full of memorial plaques

Lions guarding the entrance

and would you believe there's another temple (a new one) just across the street ......  I won't show too many more photos as you (and I) are getting bored with temples I think

One of two lions guarding the entrance

Happy Buddha

A couple of the wall tiles - equine anatomy is a bit dodgy (perhaps the artist has never seen a horse)!

a few more random photos taken as we walked along the riverside

I wouldn't fancy the chances of anyone using this 'wheelchair access ramp' to the riverside walkway - its very steep and ends just 5ft from the waters edge!

 The colourful houses I photographed from the river yesterday, seen from a different perspective today

Paper horses!

 A colourful way to protect people from thorny plants - these are eggshells painted bright red.  Very decorative and practical too!

The carcass of an old trishaw - the sort I regularly saw on the Singapore streets in the 80s

I liked the contrast between the old hotel (1958) in the foreground and the new ones behind

 Not something you'd expect to see on the streets here (or perhaps even on the streets in England)

 Oops ... another temple - but only the roof as I thought it was so pretty

Tonight we returned to the Hawker Centre for another local meal al fresco - it was just as good as last night and just £4 for 3 large dishes.   The bottle of Tiger beer we shared was RM 17 (about £3.40) so nearly as expensive as the meal - and thats at Hawker Centre prices!

We walked back via the riverside path and I took a few night photos.  The tower in the background is a revolving observation tower.  As well as revolving, the platform rises up and down (quite rapidly).  David had suggested we 'have a go' but reviews indicated that the platform moved too quickly to take decent photos and we'd left it too late to try for a sunset ride .... so had to be content with looking at it from afar.

27 FEB WEDS: Drive from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca (Melaka) & afternoon exploring

After breakfast we left KL to drive to Malacca (Melaka) which took around 2½hours.  After a couple of false starts and driving round the same one way system 3 times in the centre of KL (we blame the sat nav) we had an unadventurous drive and arrived at our hotel just after 1pm.

Dubbed Malaysia’s unofficial historic capital, Malacca was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

Apparently, in the late 14th century, Malacca was a small fishing village. Parameswara, a Prince fleeing from nearby Sumatra, landed on Malacca, founded the city and turned it into a busy port for ships waiting out monsoons or  those plying the Straits of Malacca who needed to replenish supplies or carry out repairs.   Becaude of its strategic location between China and India, Malacca came to monopolize the trading routes in this region. In 1405 Malacca forged an alliance with the Ming Emperor to gain protection against Siamese invaders; over time Chinese settlers who married local Malays resulted in what was dubbed the Baba/Nyonya peoples.

Malacca was attacked by the Portuguese in 1511 and the invader missionaries strove to convert the locals to Catholicism.  Malacca’s popularity dwindled as Muslim merchants began to steer clear of the port. Malacca’s reputation improved again in 1641 when it passed into Dutch hands for 150 years and later the British assumed control for a short time, contributing further to its mish mash of cultural influences.

Our accommodation:

We're staying at Courtyard@heeren Boutique Hotel which is a converted shophouse with 15 rooms around a central courtyard.  I chose it because of its proximity to all the main attractions including Jonker Street (cafes/food shops) and the night market - although this only opens at weekends.

The Courtyard hotel is very pretty.   It is decorated in the traditional Peranakan/Straits Chinese fashion with lots of small courtyards/atriums and covered walkways full of plants and lovely artefacts.  The entrance lobby has a pond filled with huge fish and water features.     I'm so pleased that we've been given a room on the ground floor.    Much as we loved the boutique hotel in Penang there were too many steep stairs to climb to get to our room.   This is a real treat for us

The entrance lobby 

leading into reception area

and the first section of walkway leading to our room, I love all these little courtyard areas

So many things to look at along the corridors

Our bed

and lounge area

our private patio/balcony area with courtyard behind (although it will be too hot to sit there most  of the day I suspect).   Great for drying a bit of laundry though!

Back in England I'd read that the Malacca tourist office hosts FREE guided walks on Weds evenings around Kampung Morten, a traditional village, and there's the opportunity to meet locals whilst learning about their cuisine, clothes and lifestyle.    I emailed the address given on the website and got a very unhelpful one back saying they are just Tourism Malaysia and their main objective is to promote Malaysia as a holiday destination, therefore, I should consult directly with the respective authorities for further assistance.  (Despite their details being listed as the organisers).   So I gave up on that idea.

At the hotel today David picked up a leaflet promoting the very same tour - it asked that interested parties email to reserve spaces.    We did that and got no response ... So we're not impressed!

The area around our hotel is bustling with all sorts of shops and bars - known as Jonker Street its pretty lively - lots of arts, crafts and souvenirs, obviously aimed at us tourists but an interesting area.   We had a brief walk around to get our bearings then headed down to the river to take a river cruise.

Sadly the area around the river and the 'Stadhuys' (the  lovely historic 'pink' buildings of the Town Hall and governor's residence) is a bit like Blackpool now.   Its been taken over by hoardes of tacky trishaws covered in plastic flowers and cartoon characters and blasting out music.   There was a cruise ship in today and the trishaw guys were having a field day.   Whoever licensed these guys should be shot - although there were plenty of tourists willing to sit on sticky plastic seats and be deafened by rock music whilst being pedal powered around the riverside area.

 Perhaps I'm just a grumpy old lady but I find it sad that this area which has Heritage status should be turned into a circus

 

Anyway, the Stadhuys - and surrounding 'red square' area photographed with as little 'tat' in the scene as possible:

The Victoria fountain stands in front of the Church and Stadhuys.  The inscription reads “Victoria Regina 1837- 1901. Erected by the people of Malacca in memory of a great Queen in 1904”

Nearby is the Flor de La Mar,  a replica of the Portuguese ship which sank in the coast of Malacca while on its way to Portugal in 1512. The replica is 34 meters in height and 8 meters in width

To escape the heat we decided to take a 40 minute river cruise to check out the sights from the river on one of these 'elegant' vessels:

  
 some of the views from our boat:

This bastion, known as Middleburg, was built by the Dutch in 1660 as part of the plan to strengthen the defences of Melaka city which was busy with shipping and trading activities at the time.

Middleburg Bastion was demolished by the Brits and for more than 150 years the existence of this structure was forgotten until routine excavations around Malacca old town unearthed the foundations of the bastion. 

The current structure is said to be an accurate replica of the original one based on extensive research and advice from historians.

There are a lot of brightly decorated buildings in Malacca - especially along the riverside

 Opposite the remains of the bastion is 'Sid's Pub with a balcony area overlooking the river.  Guess who has spotted the pub?!!

 That's where we ended up - David was delighted to find they served Kilkenny and I enjoyed a frozen Colada from a coconut shell - well there was enough coconut attached to the shell to count as one of my five a day!

Suitably refreshed, we walked back to our hotel - just a few random pictures taken along the way

OK ... more bl**dy temples ... but you can't escape them!

Tea shop

More refreshment for our journey - this time a honey lemon ice tube each (bit like the popsicles we used to have as kids but made with pure ingredients - very nice)

I loved these gorgeous floral displays - to congratulate the owners on the opening of a new business

and just look at this neglected property - it must have been fabulous in its heyday.

Probably not much different to this one just a few hundred yards away.   However this one is maintained by a family trust and seems to be in pristine condition.  Built in honour of a Baba businessman.

Opposite our boutique hotel is The Baba & Nyonya House Museum which showcases the local history of ethnic Chinese-Malays called Baba-Nyonya or Peranakan in Melaka.
 
Sadly its closed for a few days but scheduled to reopen tomorrow at 10am.  We may just have time to take a quick whizz round before driving to Johor (the border with Singapore).   If it opens as scheduled it would be good to learn a bit more about this ethnic group as they are so important in the history of the country.

Then finally (sorry its been a long post) we decided to try the local hawker centre for our evening meal.   Its not a huge hawker centre but had around 15 food stalls offering a variety of local dishes.  The place was packed but we managed to grab a table in the inner section and bought main dishes from one stall

I had a plate of fried mee hun (bit like Singapore noodles) which came with a small bowl of green chilli sauce.   David had Hokien Mee - rice noodles in a spicy meaty broth which came with a bowl of red chilli sauce.  Having stuck my finger in his sauce to sample it I did warn him that it was HOT but he poured it over his dish anyway.    He didn't stir it in properly, copped a forkful of hot stuff and was rendered speechless for a few minutes.  He can't say I didn't warn him!

and as we were sitting in front of the satay stand it would have been churlish not to have ordered some from the very nice lady - 10 sticks with peanut/chilli sauce and rojak (rice wrapped in a leaf parcel).     The whole meal came to less than £4 for the two of us.    

We shared a bottle of Tiger beer.     At the hawker centres you simply find a table, order your food from whichever stall takes your fancy and its cooked to order and delivered to your table.  Very civilised.   I'm so looking forward to eating at some of the Singapore hawker centres I remember from my time there.