Melaka, Malaysia

I had an educational conference to attend in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia so we traveled a few days early so that we could visit the World Heritage site of Melaka.  This was about a 4 hour bus ride from Singapore.

Melaka is located on the southwest coast of Malaysia on the Strait of Melaka (also spelled Malacca).  The colonial past of Malaysia is preserved with about 5 museums all in the town center and all accessible with one fee.  Malaysia was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, & British & you can still see the effects.  Such as a windmill in a garden

 
Or the tradition of afternoon tea

The Portuguese built fortresses, but I guess the Japanese overtook Melaka and invaded for a spell during WWII.
After the 4th museum, I was on info overload!!

These days the "touristy" things to do overshadow the historical significance a bit.  Really, how can a statue compete with these fun rides?  They play MUSIC loudly while getting you from point A to point B, and at night they even light up!!

Another mode of transportation that is very popular in Melaka is the boat ride down the canal that runs from the Strait of Melaka to right where our hotel was located.  We rode it in the a.m. but the canal really lights up at night--sorta like the San Antonio River Walk!

Our hotel, The Pines was new and nice.  The swimming pool extended along the side of the hotel so that everyone staying on the 7th floor could just open their patio door and dive in.  We were on the 14th floor, which was called 13A because the number 14 is considered unlucky in Chinese culture (like our number 13).

The night market is another tourist attraction in Melaka.  A LOT of crap stuff (made in China) and you had to haggle over the price (which you KNOW I am NOT good at).  See anything you like?

Of course, there was FOOD at the night market!  However, Tony and I opted to eat at a little restaurant along the canal.

Don't ask, I couldn't tell you what the purple things are











 Our restaurant was the Dutch Harbor Cafe

Tony had Satay with peanut sauce!

We saw these signs in Melaka -- Does this saying look familiar to those of you in TEXAS?

My favorite part of our stay in Melaka was going to a Kampang to visit an actual home, preserved as it would have been back in the day. 

This man (our host) opens up his house to visitors and describes what life is like in the Kampang (village). He keeps visitor logs as part of the history of the house.  This is where he grew up and he still lives here -- along with some of his siblings in other homes in the Kampang.

During our visit, he invited me to hit this gong 3X for happiness and a wish come true!

 He described the Malaysian wedding customs and posed Tony and me in the ceremonial wedding chairs.   It doesn't matter that we are going on 28 years of wedded bliss, this is how we would sit as newlyweds.

I'm not sure exactly what this sign says, but I'm translating as "walk 10,000 steps a day!!"

That is my Fitbit, showing that we have taken the sign's advice.

Get onboard and ride with us to Kuala Lumpur --NEXT!