Today I am visiting the city of Melaka (or Malacca is English spelling). It is a must see on the tour of Malaysia since it is so rich with history and has a large Dutch influence on its architecture. It is south of Kuala Lumpur and not too far from Singapore.

Luckily my calf issue seems to be on the mend and today is a travel day. I’d hate to lose a day of being out and about due to an injury. I already missed out on the hike yesterday.

It’s a very curvy first half of ride from Cameron Highlands. I forget to take my motion sickness medicine until the bus starts moving so at the start I feel queasy. Luckily it doesn’t take long for my medicine to kick in.

I waited until the last minute to book my transportation within Malaysia because typically with bus tickets you can get them a couple days or the day of travel. I don’t think it is a big concern to travel from Cameron Highlands to Melaka in my initial planning. When I finally go to book my ticket I realize there are no direct buses. I do a little bit of last minute research and I try to use the website that I used to get to the Cameron Highlands but it would not route me to Melaka even with a transfer. I see that there are buses direct from KLIA to Melaka, which is the international airport in Kuala Lumpur and then I realize they are buses from Cameron highlands to KLIA. I buy one ticket to the airport, making sure I have enough time in between the buses, and then book my ticket to the second bus separately. On my first bus to the airport there are multiple stops which is common. It isn’t until after the first stop that people in the front of the bus started acting a little strange and asking questions but I can’t quite hear what they were talking about. I think to myself it probably a good idea to stay alert. When we get to the second stop it’s at a station called TBS, which is also a Kuala Lumpur and the major bus station. The driver makes it known that this is the last stop. I get off the bus and I’m confused because my ticket says KLIA and there’s nothing that says a transfer in the ticket. I ask the driver and he tells me to follow him up the escalator. I’m waiting there because there’s two other guys that are confused and he’s helping them but in another language. He finally hands me a ticket for a transfer to another bus which leaves at 1:30 which is in about an hour from now. I go inside the station and I realize that this is a major bus station and maybe I could just book my bus to Melaka direct from here. The ticket counter lines are long but I see a self service machine. I book a ticket for the same time that I am to catch my transfer to KLIA. Why am I going to the airport to transfer when I can ride direct from here? So here I am waiting for my direct bus to Melaka.

First thing after checking into my hotel is to get something to eat. I’ve only been eating snack food all day. I settle on a Pernakan restaurant called Kocik Heritage Nyonya Restaurant. I walk in and there is no hostess. I looked confused and two nice men who are dining tell me I can sit anywhere. Eventually a waitress appears and I order a couple Peranakan dishes that look appetizing. I can’t possibly finish it all as a single diner but I want to sample a couple things. While I am waiting for my meal I have a nice chat with the men who are just in town for the weekend from Kuala Lumpur. One is a doctor I believe. My visit to this city is already off to a great start with meeting such friendly people. All the food is amazing. I drink the fish curry sauce like it’s a soup because it’s so good.

I wander around Melaka and decide to take a cruise on the river close to sunset. We just go up the river and back. You can tell at one time this boat had many stops and people could get on and off at different locations. Probably another casualty of covid. Like the other cities I’ve been many business that cater to tourists have been permanently closed.

I decide to get roti canai for breakfast the next morning down the street but first a stop at the ATM. It gives me a 20RM instead of one of my 50’s. Basically shorting me the equivalent of 7USD. Not excited about this but the bank isn’t even open yet so I’ll have to deal with it later. I head over to Selvam Restaurant, an Indian restaurant. I order roti canai, a fried egg and a coffee without sugar (finally!). It seems like eating roti canai for breakfast is common so I am not doing something out of the ordinary for once. When my bread comes out the waiter gives me a metal canister with three different sauces for dipping. I am used to only one type in the USA so I am curious. I can tell he is leading me to the milder sauce but I want to try them all so I put all of them on my pate. The milder one, while good is watery. I prefer the other two: one slightly spicer curry that is thick and a white sauce that tastes like cucumber maybe and is slightly spicier than that. None of them is too spicy for me or my taste buds are toughing up.

I planned to go see the pretty mosque this morning but its pretty far out and I don’t feel like walking that far or taking a grab this morning so I stay local. I head over to the old Portuguese church on the hill, Church of Saint Paul. It is the oldest church in Southeast Asia. It’s been used by different Christian colonizers over the years but now it is roofless and hollowed out and holds some old very large tombstones.

I walk down stairs to the A Famousa, an old gate to the Portuguese city. It is all that is left from that wall that the British detonated at some time to prevent it to be taken over by Napoleon’s France. Wow just reading this stuff reminds me how lacking our US education system is. I never heard of this important city that I describe as “Melaka is to Malaysian kids what Saint Augustine is to the Florida kids”. Basically every kid here does a field trip to the town to learn its important history.

I start to begin my day of eating with a pineapple cookie and some sightseeing while I wait for this cafe to open.

I’ve been wanting to visit this highly recommended cafe called the Daily Fix. I get there early so there is no wait. It is very cute inside. I try some Gula Melaka coffee (palm sugar coffee a local specialty) and pandan pancakes. While the pancakes are good I hardly taste the pandan so there is a little disappointment there (I’m addicted.).

Baba and Nyonya museum.

I visit the Baba and Nyonya museum. The museum is in a Peranakan house that was in use by many generations. It is a good example on how life was like during the times. There is no tour guide but they provide a good guide in English that describes the rooms and life. I love the present day family photos of all the different generations.

I visit an old shoemaker that has foot binding shoes on display. He wants me to buy some binding shoes. What the heck am I going to do with these little shoes. I say no thank you and carry on.

The big news is that I tried durian again. I read that one of the local favorites is Cendol Durian ice cream. I get some courage and order it. It is actually not bad. The durian fruit is whole in the dish but when mixed with ice cream it isn’t too terrible. Maybe it is growing on me.

I finally try Putu Piring after being unsuccessful in Singapore. It’s an ok snack but they give you a very large portion for the price. I could only eat a little of it.

I am here on the weekend so I get to visit the famous Jonker Street night market. There are many stands to buy various things and a large food area. Of course I’m too full from my eating spree earlier to want to eat anything.

I am leaving soon. Not one of my proudest moments but I complained about my neighbors smoking this morning. Last night when I came back from being out my entire room smelled like cigarette smoke. It was gross. I thought about complaining then but the smell seemed to dissipate with time. When I was ready to go to sleep I heard noise from my neighbors and once again the smoke smell. I thought about once again getting dressed and going down to complain but I fell asleep anyway. I am not sure how since the smell is disgusting. After breakfast this morning I smell it again. Yes I am packing to leave in two hours but I’ve had enough. I finally complain. Besides being against hotel rules (I don’t really care about that) it is hella inconsiderate to your neighbors. So I am that person that complains about others now.

Besides the smoke I think the moisture in the air the past few days, and high sugar diet, are causing me to get some sort of sinus thing. I hope I can beat whatever this is quickly.

Now I’m off to Kuala Lumpur to hopefully a non-smoking, hot water, good WiFi hotel.