Melacca

Actually jumping straight to Melacca is kind of cheating. So here's a super quick update of other stuff I've been up to but haven't had energy/time to write about yet:

• Hindu wedding ceremony for Kumudah's (cleans our office) son with Amy. Felt conspicuously white, and was hard to follow what was going on, but definitely very cool to observe. Great music & outfits :)
• Om Shanti Om movie with Sharmini! First bollywood movie, sooooo much fun, just loved it. Even had English subtitles - sweet!
• Open house at Kumar's for Deepavali. Met his family, caught up with the usual suspects, had some great food, and learnt a few things about Deepavali and about Saris from Kumar's mum!
• Went to Genting Highlands to "support" a meeting/workshop we ran. Really interesting to hear the discussion from a content point of view, but also great to get to know the people (and observe the politics!) and see how NGOs other than AIESEC run regional planning meetings!! Food at the hotel was great (and plentiful) and Genting is lovely. Think pine trees, mist rolling in and out througout the day, cool breezes (so that you want a cardigan or wrap) and light rain. My IDEAL type of weather, plus it was QUIET. Wow.

Okay, so, back to Melacca. It was the third time I've been there.

1. The first time I went with Sharmini as her Aunt & Uncle had invited her to go with them for lunch. We had to come back right after lunch. So, we didn't really see anything but the restaurant. The food was great though.
2. I went back with Hannu, Maja and Oti a couple of months ago. But when we arrived and tried to get tickets for the trip back to KL, there were hardly any left. So, after walking around for less than an hour, we had to go back to the bus station already for the 2hr trip back!
3. THIS time the planning was better. Sharmini and I drove (well, Sharm did) and we left early, and had the whole day free :)

We started off with a tour of a restored shopfront that we randomly observed to be interesting-looking, and ended up learning a bit about building materials, conservation & the like. It was actually pretty interesting and the building itself was just lovely.

Of course we saw the famous historic sites including Christ Church at the town square, the fort (only we found out its no longer there... just the entrance!) Saint Peter's Church, and the administrative buildings on St Paul's Hill. We did some of the mueseums and learnt about the Portuguese, Dutch, English, & Japanese occupations of Melacca. We also decided that it was, indeed, hot in Malaysia when you're walking around outside in the sun in the middle of the day for more than 10 or 15 minutes. Being the young office professionals that we are, this is not something that we are used to!! :)

Christ Church Melacca

We also ate some of the local fare, including chicken & rice balls and cendol. I was also excited to find pretty authentic Japanese mochi at the night market :)

The green bits are... I don't know. But they taste awesome.
The red bits are adzuki beans, they're sweet and also awesome.
Plus ice, condensed milk, brown sugar, and who knows what else
= a whole bowl full of cold awesomeness on a hot day.
In an old school little dessert cafe that looks like it's been there forever.

A stop at the Geographer's Cafe couldn't be resisted. It's hard to explain the atmosphere, but it's such a funky little place, we sat at a table underneath an, um, gap in the ceiling? How to say? Anyway, the place is just cool. I could have sat there all day and just chilled!

Looking up from our table...

Sipping iced tea

And the shopping. Man. I'm glad I didn't have any more cash on me. Jonker St and surrounds are full of clothes & bags, jewellery, arty crafty stuff, homewares, and more. We also went into one of Charles Cham's famous t-shirt shops (thanks Victor!) and while tempted to get a "Malaysia Boleh" t-shirt as well, restrained myself and only bought a human rights declaration one! It wasn't just about shopping though - the nearby streets are just gorgeous. Narrow fronts with no footpaths but small verandahs that you hop onto to avoid the traffic. The houses are lovely with Chinese name signs, sometimes with incense burning or decorative tiles or plaster work. Ahhh if I was an artist I would sketch or photograph them for sure :)





All in all, a great day. Glad I went back a third time to finally discover the city!