Melaka or Malacca - Day 2

We moved hotels today to the Hotel Puri which was first built in 1822 . It was originally the ancestral home of Tan Kim Seng (1805-1865) a third generation straits Chinese born in Malacca. It is located in one of the oldest streets in Malacca ‘Holland Street’ which was known as Millionaires’ Row because many of the Chinese millionaires built here in the 1800’s-some still live on the street. It is very nice and comfortable and just off Jonker Street where there are many shops ad restaurants. We then walked to St Paul’s Church which was built by the Portuguese Captain Duarte Coelho. St Francis Xavier was buried there for a short time in 1553 but later shipped to Goa India. It I very old and overlooks the harbour and Melaka River. Then we had a Korean lunch and went on a cruise of the Melaka River-very interesting. We saw an large iguana in the river, in fact several. The guide was very entertaining and it seems that Melaka is vying for a big slice of the tourist market. Tonight we went to the Jonker Street night market-lots interesting sights but the stalls were disappointing. We called it a day about 11pm. Our last full day in Malaysia.

Melaka

We arrived in Melaka at about 8.30pm, it was a long day but we did see some of the country and the coast down to Cherating. The roads in Malaysia are very good. Our hotel leaves a bit to be desired so we found a much better one today for our last night, the Hotel Puri. Its an old mansion converted into a hotel. Today we did the Lonely Planet walking Tour of the old quater. We had a shaky start due to a huge thunderstorm (our first rain since Penang). Our first stop was St Francis Xaviers Church and then the Museum., the Stadthbuys. The Stradthbuys is an old Dutch building and very well preserved. It took sometime to walk through (Ken would have taken all day). The history of Melaka is interesting and it was a great story of the old to the new and we were out of the rain. In front of the Stadthbuys is an imposing fountain of Queen Victoria's face in 4 profiles. we walked over the Melaka River and had L chicken rice for lunch-this time it was very tasty. The streets of Melaka have much of interest from Antique Shops, Chinese temples,cafes and shops of traditionally artifacts. We stop for a beer at a cafe that had a wet bar ie you could eat your lunch dangling your feet in a pond with small fish that nibbled on your toes. Interesting and a great old building and it was buy one Tiger beer and get one free (we ended up with 4 beers!). More walking and shopping (yes today i was allowed to do some shopping) and then we found the Hotel we will be staying in tomorrow night. Another famous cafe for another stop-it was really hot and steamy by this stage. The Cafe Geograher, a great cafe with much ambiance and free Internet! I had a mango tango (mango puree with Sprite-just lovely and of course Robert had another beer). we walked some more and then Robert went to but our tickets for Singapore on Sunday. Think we will have a quite night.

Day 3 - Kuala Terengganu

Today we set off to do some shopping and visit another local island where they build boats. We arranged with a local taxi to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the island, wait and then drive us back. This was another suggestion by the Tourism Information. Well what a waste of time-interesting but only held our attention for about 15 minutes. The taxi driver also took us to a resort but we were not interested . So back to town for some shopping but shopping is also not great in Malaysia or it might be because I have Robert in tow? Think it is a bit of both. We found an internet café and sent a few emails. After we had finished the owner rang his wife who gave us a lift back to the resort. There are some really friendly people in this country (except bus drivers!) So we went back for another swim and relax. We had dinner at the resort-just wonderful, lots of great food but no wine unfortunately! I like Kuala Terengganu and the resort was lovely and the service excellent. It is quite different to the more commercialized west coast but more difficult to get around. Off to Melaka in the morning.

Day 2 - Kuala Terengganu

After being woken at 5.30 by the wake up prayer from the local Mosque (arrows pointing to Mecca on the ceiling of our room) we had a great breakfast and walked into the city and booked the next leg of our journey by bus to Melaka . Visited the tourist information, they suggested a few things to do so we set off on a ferry to the other side of the river. Well, it seems that the typical Malaysian lives in fairly poor condi6tions. The houses are made of wood and pretty untidy. There are some ’mansions’ but few in the township we visited, dusty roads and of course a Mosque. Decided to get the next ferry and go back for a swim. We met an Englishman who is married to a Chinese Malay, they live in Singapore. They were visiting his wife’s family and he pops I for a swim every day. It was interesting to hear about living in Singapore and his thoughts on Malaysia as a developing country. Dinner was at a local Malay restaurant. Not very exciting. In fact the food in Malaysia has been disappointing except the India food.

Day 1 - Kuala Terengganu

Kuala Terengganu is a large prosperous city and has a much stronger Malay culture. Most people seem to be Muslim and most women wear a head scarf, all different configurations. They are called Tudung or Selendang, depending on the length. In fact on our first morning here nearly every woman had a head scarf on and there were lots of children. Today is a public holiday for Deepavali or the Festival of Lights which is a Hindu celebration for the dominance of light over dark or good against evil. We have heard several different explanations for Deepavali. The resort is lovely with a great pool and beach. The beach is not really inviting because the water is muddy-must be the recent rain or because it is close to the river mouth. Our room is spacious and comfortable. We decided to walk into the city, a considerable way! The weather is hot but we have not had any rain for several days and it is a nice sunny day. The Harbour front is attractive and we had to the Central Market. It is a wet market with lots of produce-Robert is tempted to try the fish sausage but I wasn’t! One shop owner was trying to sell us turtle eggs, I said that was sad but he didn’t appreciate my comment. We had missed lunch so we decided to check out (another) Chinatown , at least there wasn’t a Little India. W had a nice meal and a beer! Getting use to no alcohol. The resort is dry, not even beer so no cocktails around the pool. We ended the day with a nice swim and a relax.

Day 3 Penang

Today we caught the local bus and went to Batu Ferringhi. This is like to Gold coast of Penang with lovely beaches where you can para-sail, ride a boat, jet ski or have a massage. So I had a foot massage laying under shade on the beach-it was lovely. The water is so warm but there a small stingy jellyfish but apparently there are beaches that do not have jellyfish. We had lunch at an Indian Restaurant (again) and fresh lime juice (really getting to like the fresh juices). We then hopped on the the local bus and went to the Tropical Spice Garden. This was lovely with many different spices from around the world and a description of what they were used for and where they came from. It was then back to Georgetown on the bus. The whole trip cost 11 ringlets or about $5 AUS for both of us. It was really good because we got to see a lot of the Island and at our own pace. I would recommend Penang for those visiting Malaysia, an interesting,vibrant and friendly island. We are now packing up and heading to Kuala Terengganu on the east coast-for a rest and a laze in the sun for few days

Day 2 Penang

Today we planned our next stop on the east coast Kuala Terengganu. It is on the coast and the hotel we are staying is a 5 star resort. Time for a rest, sitting by pool or on the beach sipping a cocktail! Also we are hoping to see more traditional Malay culture. Malay culture seems very diluted on the west coast with Chinese and Indian Cultures. Unfortunately to save time we have to leave tomorrow night and go by bus. Time is running out!

The next on the agenda was to visit the Kek lok Si Temple. This is the largest temple in Malaysia. It was impressive and the cable ride up to the bronze statue of Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy (although she was covered in scaffolding) offered a great view of Penang. We went by taxi and the driver waited for us and then took us to a traditional Malaysian Restaurant. It was really dodgy i.e the cleanliness, as you can imagine I didn't eat very much and thought what I did eat was very ordinary. I am sure there will be consequences :-( He also showed Robert where to buy the cheapest beer in Penang (with a hat thrown in!). Back to the Hotel for a rest and then we headed to Little India for dinner. I have Chicken Marsala and Robert Mutton Rogan Josh. Great taste and very clean. Walking the streets of Little India was really entertaining, lots of colours and a strong smell of incense. It is still the Deepvali Festival and the streets are decorated with lots of flowers etc. The weather today has been great, lots of sun and no rain!