Melaka, Part I - An Overview

17 April 2014

We had a whirlwind four days in Melaka, which is why I haven't blogged in almost a week.

WOW this is an exciting city!

First, Melaka is the Malaysian spelling, and Malacca is the English spelling.  Both are right.  Both are also the name of the city that is the capital to the province of the same name.  Yes, you can be in Melaka City, Melaka Province.

The train doesn't go directly to Melaka - we had to go to Tampin, then take a taxi.  The train went through the usual city/suburb/rural/farm sequence of scenery, though with some interesting temples and such along the way.  (No monkeys in either direction, though - I was kind of disappointed we didn't see any exciting wildlife.)

Oh, re the trains - I keep meaning to say something about train travel around the world.  If you don't know the website "The Man in Seat 61," you need to check it out.  www.seat61.com.  He thoroughly describes every train system you can imagine, including how to get from one part of the world to another by train, with links to all the various companies so people can pre-book their tickets.  INVALUABLE website for travellers, so definitely bookmark this site!!!  We've used his info in each country where we've travelled by train - that's how important this website can be.

Okay, so, back to Melaka.  Melaka is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just like George Town on the island of Penang.  Here's the detailed information from the UNESCO website:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1223 

Melaka is a historic city on the Straits of Malacca, which is the body of water between Peninsular Malaysia and the island of Sumatra, on the east side of the Indian Ocean.  The sultan of Melaka was very powerful and ruled a large area, his subjects being predominantly the local Malay people and also Chinese from further north.  The sultan and his people were eventually overpowered by the Portuguese, who came in the 1400 or 1500s. (Actually, a stone was unearthed that has carvings of the crest of Alfonso Henriques, first King of Portugal - he was king in 1130-something.  It has been speculated that this proves earlier Portuguese-Malaysian interaction - but it could also have been that the later explorers brought this stone.)

Anyway, Melaka was the Portuguese trading post in this part of the world - and the main export were spices.  Eventually, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese, and a century or two later the British replaced the Dutch.  So most of the historic sites are layered and altered and changed by the varying conquering influences.  

Our first evening, we walked from our little hotel and crossed the bridge over the Melaka River, and wandered around Chinatown.  Which borders on Little India, because so many people from the Indian subcontinent have crossed the waters and settled in Malaysia over the centuries.

Jonker Street is sort of the center of Chinatown, and there was a fun night market - all kinds of food stalls, various knicknacks and odd little things for sale, some music and dancing by a community group of senior citizens, and crowds of people seeing and being seen.  Great fun!  Of course, the old buildings were equally fascinating, especially when a Buddhist temple is all lit up and is only a block or two down from the Islamic mosque, equally lit and glowing in the dark night.

We ended up walking through much of Chinatown again the next day, as we followed along the river heading toward the sea.

There are murals everywhere!  On retaining walls.  On buildings.  On one section of row houses where everyone agreed to change the entrance to the river side of the building, and to paint murals on their buildings.  Even brand new buildings were designed with murals on them.  The place is just glowing with colour and action - the buildings are so alive!

The old town center, which includes a Portuguese church, a clock tower, and a windmill (the Dutch period) is still a town center, but houses museums and other historical information centers.

And of course there's the old fort, which was built by the Portuguese and reinforced by the Dutch and then mostly destroyed by the British.  (Can't we all just get along?)  There are bits and pieces of the fort that are still intact, or more accurately, rebuilt.  But other parts are still being excavated by archaeologists, and you can see these bits around the perimeter of the old fort.  

The information on the fort excavations says the Portuguese fort was built in 1511, after conquering the Melaka Malaya sultanate.  The Dutch then extended the fort when they took over the area in 1641.  Then, in 1807, the British stormed the area and destroyed most of the fort - only the Porta di Santiago, the main gate, was saved by the man who became Sir Stamford Raffles (the guy who designed Singapore as a trading hub).

So, of course, we had to go see the Porta di Santiago, which is impressive.  It stands alone, with just a few cannons as company.  Tourists come in and wander through the winding entrance that goes in and out a few connecting halls - though they probably were more like tunnels when the entire fort walls were extant.

The fort once surrounded a hill, with a chapel on top - we climbed the hill and found the ruins of the chapel that had been used by all the conquerors.  There were remarkable views of the city and all the way out to sea - Sumatra is a long way off, and we couldn't see the island through the haze.

 




 




 

Since this had been a chapel and church to all the generations of colonial powers, there were, of course, graves.  The cemetery was off to one side and wound around the hill.  Some of the gravestones went all the way back to 1500-something; Dutch names and sayings like "heronder leyt begrayven" were from the 1600-1700s; and then good old Daniel James and other English names showed up with 1800s.  

I realize that taking photos of gravestones is a bit dark, maybe even ghoulish, but, well, the carvings are just gorgeous.  Really and truly amazing.  Beautiful in the detail and symmetry, the lettering is lovely, and there are almost always intertwining borders.  Just wonderful sculpture.

And no, the skull and crossbones doesn't mean a pirate was buried here - that's a symbol of death in general, not piracy.  Though I'm sure pirates passed through this important trading post and tried to plunder and pillage and all that.

Just a bit past the Porta di Santiago is the memorial building commemorating the announcement of independence of Malaysia.  The building shows British as well as Malaysian (or Moorish) architecture, and now serves as an archive of historic documents.  Another beautiful building in this city where gorgeous architecture is so common, it seems almost average.

But not all of Melaka is historic, or architectural, or even cultural.  Well, okay, the fabric qualifies as cultural, or maybe more like ethnic - there were stores full of the beautiful Malaysian batiks which are similar to the batiks of Indonesia and Thailand, even if they aren't as well known.  I just love the sudden pops of colour that show up as we walk by a row of shops.  Or a random tile in a little corner shrine.  

We spent three days walking up and down the river.  One day, we took a cruise up the river, to the Spice Garden Jetty, site of the old market.  Another day, we went to a few museums near the old town center.  And a third day, we went to the historic sites and climbed the hill for the view.

But there's more to say, and more photos to include - and rather than making this the world's longest blog post, I'll sign off and promise another blog or two tomorrow and over the next few days.

So stay tuned for more Melaka!

 

Getting My Fingers Dirty

11 April 2014

We went over to the Central Market for lunch, and wandered into the annex area beyond the market.  Turns out the batik place is back here, and they have a "paint your own" batik option!

Well, how could I not?

I looked through the stack of pre-drawn and stretched designs - the staff draws in a sort of beige wax so the picture is easy to see, and then we, the tourist artists, sit down and paint in the dye.

I picked out a design I liked, and took it inside.  A lovely young woman set me up at a table, and she gave me instructions - here's the dye, here is a tray to make colours lighter by adding water, here is clean water, always wash your brush before you change colours.  (At that point, I smiled and explained that I had been an art teacher for 25 years, so she realized I knew the basics, and maybe more.  She also laughed when I did my teacherly thing of checking the point of the brush by sticking it in my mouth and drawing it out - not sanitary, but, well, this is what artists do.)

I sat down, Richard outside reading his kindle.  I painted.  I mixed colours.  I mixed more colours.  I painted.  Richard went off for some coffee.  I continued painting.  People came and went, some watching what I was doing, a few staff people telling me it was looking good.

I had SO MUCH FUN!  This is the kind of stuff I love, making art, especially in a new (or new-ish) style and form and place.  
I'm happy with the results.  The young lady took a hairdryer to make sure all the dye was dry, and then took the staples out to remove the fabric from the frame.

I'll carry this around in my luggage, protected in its little plastic envelope, and eventually send it "home."  If and when we settle down, it can be mounted and framed.  It can't be ironed or washed, so I shouldn't sew it into a quilt - but it will be a lovely souvenir of our time in Malaysia.

And truly, it feels SO good to have ink or paint or dye on my fingers again!

Genting Highlands

9 April 2014

Somehow, a simple trip to the only casino in Malaysia turned into a typical Phebe and Richard adventure.  Meaning, it was an ordeal that would never happen to anyone else.

It started with a bus trip, about an hour from KL to the highlands in the middle-ish part of the country.  The bus drove up winding highways through lush greenery, and it got colder and colder.

We finally stopped at the Genting Resort complex.  (Pronounced GHEN-ting, not "GENT-ing")  Well, not really at the complex, at the entrance to the what they call the skyway.

Yes, cable cars.  Little hanging gondolas.  Baskets hanging from wires, over hills and dales and valleys and gorges, going back and forth between the entrance and the complex.

Well, there was only one way to do this.  Stand on line and get into one of the little cars.  We insisted on sitting in the front of a car, and the next group wanted to sit together so we were alone in our little basket.

We swung out over empty space and went forward, swinging in the breeze, up and up and endlessly up.  A voice eventually came on over some speaker in our basket, and explained that this cable car system is 3.4 kilometers long.  ACK!  That's over 2 miles!  Of cable car!  Hanging in the air, over rocks and trees and rivers and wow, it's a long way down!  

We were kind of freaking out in our little car, holding hands, holding the side of the car.  We'd go up and over one hill, slide down into the valley, then climb up and over the subsequent higher hill - still on and on.  It was like some level of Dante's Hell, designed just for people who can't deal with heights.

Ugh!  Three point kilometers takes a good 20 minutes this way.  Yes, it was green.  And pretty.  But scary.  And there weren't any monkeys, or elephants, or tigers or leopards to be seen.  The only wildlife I saw was a yellow bird.  Really.

FINALLY we made it to the top of the tallest hill, to the resort complex, our destination.  We walked around, checked out what was available, and made our way to the casino, which is why we went in the first place.

Well, the casino has a dress code.  Not that this is noted on their website.  Nor in their literature.  No, you have to get there to find out about the dress code.  That men are required to wear long trousers and not sandals or flipflops.  Of course, Richard was in shorts.  Of course.  

He tried talking his way through this situation.  He talked to the security personnel.  Made his way up to the top, Chief Inspector, a very nice man.  But they wouldn't budge.  This was casino policy, they didn't set the policy, but they couldn't ignore the policy.  It was their job to enforce the policy.  So Mr. Chief Inspector went around to the stores with Richard, trying to find somewhere with trousers for men.  (I went in and played a few pokies.)  We met up as planned, an hour later.  No luck, the trousers were all for women.

So, well, there was only one solution that made any sense.  Richard went into the restroom and took off his shorts.  I grabbed them, ran to the Ladies', and took of my slacks.  Put on his shorts.  Ran to the Men's, handed over the slacks, and Richard put them on.  (It's a good thing we've both lost weight on this trip, and that we both are good at making do with situations like this.)  So yes, Richard wore my nice black linen paratrooper slacks with a Yankee polo shirt, and I wore his faded cargo shorts with my nice new red and black embroidered designer top.

Chief Inspector and Assistant Chief laughed at us.  The security officers at the casino entrance laughed at us when they saw the switch.  The women in the Ladies' room laughed when we switched back, as I was standing around in just my shirt waiting to get my slacks back.  OH MY it was craziness!

But we had fun with our friends the pokies, and I broke even for a while.  Found a couple of Koala Mint machines and had a great time with them, even though I slowly lost my initial break-even win.  We also enjoyed the cooler weather.

And then we had the cable car ride back down the hills, in the gathering dusk, which somehow made the ride even worse.  You know those hills where you go over the top and just sort of zoom downhill at breakneck speed, and can barely see the road because the hill is that steep?  That's what the ride was like.  In the semi-dark.  With fog.  Lights on only the huge cement pillars holding up the cables at the apex of each hill.  So that most of the time we were riding along in the dark.

We made it back to our bus, made it back to Pudu Sentral, and easily came back upstairs to our room.  

QUITE a day!  And definitely an adventure as only the two of us could make from a normal, easy trip to a casino.

Adventures in Shopping, Malaysia Style

8 April 2014

Richard and I went over to the Pavilion Mall for a movie - turned out the movie we wanted ("The Great Budapest Hotel," which is quirky and fun) wasn't until several hours later in the evening.  We bought our tickets, and had a few hours to do something.  Richard chose to go back to our hotel, and I opted to go shopping.  Because, well, I do like to shop and I have definitely cut back on this while travelling.

Parkson's seems to be the big, rather upscale department store.  I started there, and bought my eyelash volumizer.  (It helps those of us with skimpy eyelashes.)  And received a voucher for 10 ringgits off my next purchase.  So I figured I'd check out women's clothing, because a few items of my rather limited wardrobe have gotten stained, or faded, or knits have pilled - you know, the things that happen to clothing when you wear the same things frequently.

I asked a saleswoman in the women's department if they carried clothes by Eileen Fisher - she's one of my favourite designers, and there's a dress that's current this season that I wanted to try.  Saleslady didn't know, and walked me over to meet someone who would know.  She introduced me to a nice young man, who it turns out is the personal shopper for this part of the store.  He didn't know, but sat me down on a plush couch while he did some research - and no, so sorry, they don't carry Eileen Fisher.  We chatted a bit, he wanted to know where we're from, etc etc.  I thanked him, and wandered off.

Found some nice clothes in linen (I love linen), was looking at the slacks, turned around, and there was Mr Personal Shopper again, ready to help me.  The slacks were only in white (which I like but can't seem to keep clean), and I wanted black - so okay, I wandered on.  Found some lovely tops by an Asian designer, Monica Quen, and they had a definite Asian flair.  (I love ethnic clothes.)  

 

Well, Mr Personal Shopper comes back with very similar slacks in black linen, but a size 12.  Oh, go ahead, try them on, he says - size 12? I say - they are baggy, he replies - so I try them on and lo and behold, these size 12 slacks with just a little elastic at the back of the waist actually slip right up and fit perfectly!!!!  I haven't fit into a size 12 anything for nearly 40 years!  I of course am thrilled, they look great, the price (divided by 3.2 ringgits to the US $) is reasonable - so voila, I have a pair of black paratrooper style slacks to replace my stained grey pair.  (You know, the kind with loose legs that are gathered at the ankle - casual and comfortable and interesting enough to not be boring.)

Then I'm back in the area of those lovely tops - and while most are in a weird green combination, one is red with black trim and pink/red flowers embroidered on the front.  Oh I love embroidery!  Well, I just can't help myself - I ask if this top comes in another size, that XXL seems rather big (especially after fitting into size 12 slacks).  Saleslady says this is Malaysian sizing, I say oh, right, TINY!  Mr Personal Shopper starts laughing, he's rather tall for this country and he probably has the same problem fitting into the clothes that are average here, where it seems as if everyone is about a 0 or 2.  Well, I try on the top and OH NO it is GORGEOUS on me!  Looks as if it was designed just for me - black yoke that forms cap sleeves, red body, wide black band on the bottom, and a rather high-low hemline - and of course, the fabulous peonies embroidered on the front.  Perfect with the cropped slacks I was wearing, beautiful with the longer pair I was going to buy, and wonderful for the black skirts and shorts I have back at the hotel.  How could I NOT?

So of course I bought them.  Standing on line, still accompanied by Mr Personal Shopper, who is interested in our travels, and how old am I (turns out I'm about his mother's age, which of course makes me laugh!), and we have a nice chat while waiting for the cashier.  I use my discount voucher, and it turns out I qualify for another one - so Mr PS takes me over to the counter to get the new voucher.

Then I hear from him later in the day - he and his manager went online, found there aren't any stores carrying Eileen Fisher here in Malaysia, Hong Kong is the closest spot.  He'll look into possibly carrying her line in the future.  We have a nice little email conversation.  And that's my experience with a personal shopper!  (I could enjoy a job where I help people find clothes that suit their shape and colouring - I so enjoy clothes and fashion!)

Today's adventure in shopping - we walked over to the Central Market to look for a special gift for my brother who is helping us with the business-side of travel.  Found exactly what I was looking for, managed to bargain with the salesman, and walked away with exactly what I wanted at the price I was hoping for.  And I'm not going to post photos or say what it is, just in case this brother views our blog.  (I need to keep some things a surprise, right?)

BUT - if you're in KL and need to find a special gift, go to the Central Market and see Dino Fong at the Native Gallery, on the 2nd floor.  Email malaysia_native@hotmail.com.  Just in case you need to buy something special.

And once my brother receives his package, I'll tell you all about our wonderful find.

Monkeys Watching Trains

4 April 2014

First, let me say that we were not the tourists kidnapped from the dive resort over near the Malaysian state of Sabah.  We've read alerts from several countries suggesting that this type of activity, while not common, is also not entirely unusual.  So we've given Sabah and Sarawak (and the nearby islands) a pass, despite the fact that Jacques Cousteau has named the area some of the best diving in the world.  Yes, we're sorry to not dive there.  But we're also of the age to heed warnings that kidnappings have occurred more than a few times in one area.  So, breathe easy, we won't be in that area.

We left George Town and Penang today, taking the train back to KL for a few days while we decide where to go next.  This is a more difficult decision than it seems - do we head to Melaka (Malacca), another UNESCO World Heritage Site?  By train or car or bus?  Do we head to the east coast and the small villages and towns over there?  Do we take the train south to Singapore, just because we can?  Do we head south and then east into the Cameron Highlands?  Hmmm, so many choices!

Anyway, the train was nice, although early (leaving at 8 AM, which meant leaving our hotel by 6:30 AM - I'm not a morning person) - but that meant we travelled the route by daylight.  The topography of Malaysia is similar to Thailand: flat land for several miles from sea inward, and tall hills in the center of the country.  We were able to see the hills, or highlands as they are called here, in back of the various agricultural ventures - fields or orchards or plantations of bananas, palms, maybe nut trees, interspersed with rice fields.

As we're speeding along (as strong as a locomotive), I'm busy looking out the window, photographing the landscape, watching people working the rice paddies, or in amongst the trees, checking out the architecture - and all of a sudden, I spy a medium size furry animal on a fence post!  It turns around, sits down, and as we speed by this animal looks right at me - a monkey!  A monkey, who looks like he plans to just sit on the fence post and watch the train go by!  Of course, I'm all excited and tell Richard, but by then we've passed Mr Monkey and Richard can't see a thing but more trees.

I keep looking out the window, hoping to see more animals in their natural habitat, or at least adapting to the habitat humans have built around nature.  

Malaysia has something like ten or twelve different kinds of monkeys.  Some 210 different mammal species.  Scientists estimate that Malaysia contains 20% of the world's animal species, and has some of the most biodiverse areas on the planet.  

So yes, there are still Malayan tigers roaming those hills and the forests.  Also leopards!  And clouded leopards!  Of course, they didn't show their faces.

There are still herds of wild elephants roaming around - and we read about a deadly accident where a car struck an elephant at night, since the driver didn't see the elephant in the dark - I believe everyone in the car died, as well as the poor elephant.  So I'm glad our train didn't meet any elephants.  (Thailand had to enact laws prohibiting people riding elephants into any of the cities - one was hit by a bus, and was mortally injured.  I know, these are things you don't think about if you don't live here.)

Anyway, I continued to look out the window, checking each river we crossed - and I swear, in one river, rather than seeing crocodiles (yes, they live here too), I saw three monkeys sitting on a small mud island close to the riverbank.  Weird, I know.  Mud baths aren't just for people anymore?  I'm not sure if monkeys fish.  But they definitely were monkeys.  On an island of mud.  In the river.

So, most of today's photos focus on funny foods we've encountered.  Now, I don't mean to make fun of anything.  Some of what we find funny is that the true name was lost in translation.  Some of what we think is funny is basically that we don't know what it is.  For example, what is Tiger Char Koay Teow?  I know that koay teow is a noodle dish, but is tiger really used in this?  Charred tiger meat?  I hope not!

The bright green chicken dim sum was very tasty - but I'm not sure how natural that bright green was.  It just surprised us.

HiGoat?  Meaty and milky?  Yes, they are.  Goats are also cute.  And while I've eaten goat meat, and I've had goat cheese, well, I'm not sure I want to be reminded how cute goats are.  And say Hi, goat.  While, eating it.  (Thank you, goat! might be more appropriate.)

The donuts are from an American chain of donuts (you know the one) - the happy faces start looking like Big Bird.  Some of the chocolate-covered donuts have gummy worms in the center.  (Would you seriously buy "wormy chocolate" donuts?  Does this name entice you?)  Donut basketballs?  In honour of March Madness?  

NO idea what the colourful twirly thingy is - it was just pretty.  The name gives us no clue as to what it is, what it might taste like.  This is part of the fun of travel, trying new foods - but, well, I'd like to know if this is sweet or salty or cheese-flavoured or what.

Chicken sausage donuts.  No thank you.  A little cup of corn with your BBQ pork hum bao?  No thank you.  Luridly coloured macaron cookies?  Trendy, but no thank you.

The best has to be the dark chocolate race car.  A thing of beauty, almost to amazing to eat.

And then there are the puzzling menu items:

  - Chicken jock.  What exactly is chicken jock?  Better yet, what were they trying to say?  (Closest I could come was chicken hock, as in chicken feet??)

  - Hail-boiled eggs.  Yes.  Truly.  Hail-boiled eggs.  (Okay, so someone tried to spell "hard" with a Malaysian accent.  Which doesn't have the hard R sound of North Americans.  But hail-boiled eggs sounds so much better.)

  - Deep fried sunshine beef.  Or pork.  Poetic.  Full of vitamin D.  What exactly is sunshine beef?  Or pork?  Inquiring minds want to know.  And have absolutely no idea what this might be.

  - Lasagna Al Porno.  Truly.  That was on a menu.  I know, either a typo, slip of the pen, something.  Not funny in a language other than English.  Hysterically funny in English.  I didn't have the heart to point out that Al Porno was not an Italian cooking method.

So yes, we manage to have fun.  We laugh a lot, often at ourselves as we stumble and bumble our way through SE Asia.  

And we'll keep you posted on what's next.  Whether or not we were chosen as extras for the TV series.  Whether we're heading south or back north to George Town.

Life is exciting in Malaysia!

 
 

Malaysian Kitties and Some Excitement

31 March 2014

Richard found "Skippy," the mural of a giant orange tiger stripe cat.  Wonderful painting on the side of some building, just a few blocks down from our hotel.  Skippy is about the size of a car, hanging out on the wall.  

And when you walk down the street and turn around, you realize exactly why Skippy is just hanging out on the wall, and what he is waiting for!  (The artists of George Town obviously have a quirky sense of humour!)

This seemed to be Kitty Central - there were some yarn kittens walking along a pipe, a small grey kitten thinking of renting a bike, and a grey and white cat enjoying an arch of Chinese cats in red.  Plus a few real-life cats who go running around, ignoring their family members who are now permanently part of the neighbourhood walls.

Other excitement - we went back to China House Café for a bite of brekkie (yes, they have things like yogurt and fruit, eggs on muffins, etc.) and got to talking with Jess, one of the staff people.  She pointed out that Chocolatissomo was in, and I said I mentioned it in our travel blog yesterday.  She asked for the blog site, so I handed her one of our blog cards.  And then - she said she's heard of us!!!!!  From a friend who is now off travelling - the friend found our blog, and then told this young woman about it!!!!  How exciting, we're getting famous!!!!  Well, okay, just a little famous, but I was thrilled that word about our blog is spreading. Especially that it is spreading beyond our handing out the occasional blog card.  WOW!

Last bit of excitement - we go in for our audition tomorrow late afternoon.  We have no idea what we'll need to do, if we'll be asked to read something or just chat with the casting person, or what.  But our photos were accepted, we've received the okay to come in, and we'll see what happens from there.

Wow - life is exciting in George Town, Penang, Malaysia!!