Multicutural Melaka

After our beach vacation Pat and I decided we needed something else. What else could one possibly need after a beach vacation?? Air-conditioning. So we went to Kota Bharu. While the city is not known for it's air-conditioning, we did manage to cool down and we found Kota Bharu to be a pretty nice little city.  We explored a local market, a museum featuring the traditions of royal life in Malaysia, and found a chain of bakeries that has excellent cold drinks. We then hopped on a night bus to go all the way back south to Kuala Lumpur.

After killing about four hours in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur at 5am, we were on a bus to Melaka.  This city used to be a major stop on the trade route for ships going between China, India, Persia, and parts of Europe in the 1400's.  Then it was colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British.  Finally, it regained independence in 1957, whew! So as you might guess, it's pretty multicultural here, with a large Chinese community and a 'Little India'. We've been eating lots of Chinese food lately. Yesterday we decided to try the vegetarian Chinese food place right next door to the guesthouse where we are staying.  We each had a plate of noodles, Pat ordered an extra bowl of curried noodles, and we had some steamed green vegetables. It all tasted pretty good and we couldn't quite believe it when the total bill came to around $2.50! We told our host at the guesthouse how impressed we were at the value for money at restaurants in Melaka and he told us it was because this restaurant was a charity. Yup, we accidentally ate at a Malaysian soup kitchen. Our host assured us that the restaurant was open to the general public as well, but we did feel a bit sheepish. Just when you think you've done a lot of travelling and you've kind of figured out how to get things done in a new place... you end up eating in a soup kitchen.

Here are a few more pictures.  We're off to Singapore tomorrow and then we'll see some of you in Vancouver next week!

Are we in Vancouver going to North Van on the SeaBus?
No! We're taking the ferry from Butterworth to
Georgetown on Penang Island.

Our beach at Abdul's Place on the big
Perhentian Island.

Well, someone has to get that fresh seafood.

Pat is way at the end of the beach.
We kayaked to this secluded beach where we
found monkeys and...

Turtle tracks!  There used to be a conservation
program in place to protect the nesting sites.
Unfortunately, we found the conservation centre
completely abandoned and human footprints next
to the turtle nest, likely a part of the illicit
trade of turtle eggs.  It was very sad.

Our private beach for the afternoon.

Snorkelling was awesome. We concluded it is a
very under-rated sport.

A fisherman threw handfuls of rice into the water
as we waited on the dock to catch the ferry back. We
were entertained by the swarms of fish devouring the
rice and no doubt the fisherman was entertained by
these ridiculous white tourists, laughing and taking
pictures of the fish.

Goodbye beach getaway!

Hello cool ice cream treat in Kota Bharu!

A very large market in the city centre.

Lots of meat...

Beautiful tuna.

Experts at fileting fish.

Lots of produce.

So beautiful yet so spicy!

What is this stuff?? I'm pretty sure the piles of
brown stuff is dried shredded meat.

Pat was totally pumped to get on our VIP night bus.
Not quite as luxurious as we'd imagined, but still
a huge step up from Greyhound!

Chinese temple in Melaka.

Quaint riverside promenade.

Melaka town square.