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I finally arrived in Malaysia. My first stop was Melaka, after
4 hours of Express Bus traveling. Melaka lies on the west coast
of the Malaysian peninsula, like most major Malaysian cities.
It is one of the most historic cities of Malaysia, having lived
through the changing rule of the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Indonesians,
and Malaysians.
These days, Melaka seems like a rather touristy place. I enjoyed wandering the old town. In the U.S. or Europe I would probably have called it "gallery infested" (think Santa Fe) but here I didn't mind (yet). The galleries exhibit local arts and furniture etc. I saw one simple old-style Chinese Porcellain pillow being offered for RM 400 (which is about 100 Euro).
I had dinner, Nyonya food, at Nyonya Makko in Taman Melaka
Raya. Nyonya's are Chinese women who immigrated to Malaysia long
ago and mixed with the native Malaysian population. They bred
an interesting mixture of Malaysian/Chinese cuisine. After dinner
I had a perfect espresso at The Coffee Bean in the Makhota Parade
shopping mall, which probably proves that I'm a coffee addict
by now. At least I managed to avoid the Dunkin Donuts franchise
right next to it.
The most remarkable event of the day was a sprint to the toilet
of one Cafe I was sitting in. Hoping to get rid of a major load,
I faced a tiled room with one sink, a bucket of water and, fortunately,
a working water faucet. I'll leave what happened to your imagination,
but next time you see me, please don't use your left hand to greet
me. (In Malaysia and many other countries on this planet this
is considered inappropriate for the apparent reason.) (*)
Tomorrow, it is KL (Kuala Lumpur)!
(*) This is nothing uncommon--it was just new for me as it
is for many others. While I managed to avoid it, you can spot
the less gifted among the new tourist arrivals by the wet ring
showing on the butt part of their pants. Or so I interpret what
I see...
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