1112 Uploaded since Mid-November

Day 85 - Being back in KL seems nice as our studio apartment was waiting for us. We restocked the refrigerator today and not a whole lot else.



As I got around to putting about half of our Malacca photos online, I will show a sample selection in today's entry. These are some of the eleven hundred photos I've taken during our winter away.



Sigh, there are always more images I want to share than you have time to view. I'm sure of it.



Of course, it's easy for me to say to visit my Flickr photostream, but you've lots of other online things to get done.



Nobody else I know seems very interested in photography or travel.



I really need some new friends.

(Home Sweet (Home) Away from Home)

Day 84 - Things couldn't have gone more smoothly today. We ate lunch in Malacca, called for a Grab car, check out of our hotel, boarded our bus 10 minutes before it departed, and arrived at the TBS almost two hours later on the dot. Then, we grabbed the MRT line to Masjid Jamek Station and walked to the Maytower.

Now, our weekend away is just memories and dirty clothes.

A Day in Malacca

Chinatown Bulding Dating from 1928


Kampung Kling Mosque


Stadthuys Area Built by the Dutch in the 1650's

Day 83 - We spent today as tourists in Malacca (often spelled Melaka). This is a tourist town with a calm tourist vibe. We are a bit closer to Kuala Lumpur than Singapore, but folks from both places descend here on weekends. It is not a beach resort, but rather a gateway to historic Malaysia. Whether walking Chinatown or hanging around the Dutch Stadthuys one cannot help but confront history head-on.


Passenters Enjoying Time on the River


St. Francis Xavier's Church from the River

We felt obligated to take a river cruise and totally enjoyed seeing the city from a different perspective for the fourty-five minute trip up and back. After we enjoyed the climb up St. Paul's Hill. These landmarks are all integral to the expansive history of this city. It is nice to see the Portuguese, Dutch, and British eras on display and celebrated as a part of Malaysia today.


Climbing St. Paul's Hill in Malacca

I enjoyed my time here today. I like a place which welcomes tourists. We ended the evening with a walk on crowded Jonker Street. Everybody looked as though they were enjoying themselves, the tourists and the sellers! I'm glad we came for the weekend. Our bus back to Kuala Lumpur leaves the station here at 1:30 PM tomorrow.

Getting to Malacca

Day 82 - We got up at 7:00 am which is about an hour earlier than has been the norm. We didn't rush at all though.



It was an easy trip on the MRT to the TBS, an enormous bus terminal to the south of Kuala Lumpur. We didn't know that so many buses would fill up so early. I guess it's primarily because of Internet purchases nowadays. People might've been including Chinese New Year days to make a really long long-weekend. We snagged tickets for an 11:15 start. We had to wait around nearly 2 hours but time went quickly.

The trip itself was only a bit longer than the wait. It was interesting to watch the many palm trees planted for the oil. There were hectares and hectares. The road was six-lane all the way, so there was little need to slow down, even on a high-traffic Friday..




We got to the Malacca Sentral Terminal at around 1:30 and I ordered a Grab Car. We walked to an entrance which wasn't the main one, but I took a picture and the driver came around to pick us up. We got out at the Hotel Mill Road on a fine day. It was warm today.




We ate lunch at a local Indian place as we're right on the edge between Little India and Chinatown. The river is just a stone's throw. We enjoyed walking to see Mile 0 the historic area near the old Dutch buildings. This whole place is fun yet seems vaguely familiar. LIke Sri Lanka this was under Portuguese, Dutch, and finally British rule. So vestiges of those cultures are embedded in the present-day Malacca.

I look forward to a complete day here tomorrow.