A few days in Melaka

Melaka is great.  Pretty touristy and Western, but very easy to live in.  Everyone is really nice and I'm really loving my current guesthouse.  I spent a couple dollars more for a single room, because the dorms didn't have lockers and I didn't want to leave my computer out all day, and it's nice to have my own space (although since there's no one else to worry about I've let my bag explode all over the place).  There's even room for me to roll out my yoga mat.  Last night I took a nice run by the river, which is right outside our door, and came home to find that the man who runs the place had brought a bunch of food from the mosque for us, delicious biryani!  He made us some pulled tea too (mixed by pouring from a height between two glasses).  And then this morning he made cumin pancakes for everyone.  There is a group of musicians here so there is always great music playing in the kitchen/living room.

I've been here several days now.  I spent one exploring with a Chinese guy that I met at my hostel.  He didn't speak that much English and we ended up using his translator app several times to communicate, but it was nice day.  Yesterday I went on a free walking tour put on by the tourism office.  It was pretty rainy so I spent the rest of the day trying to stay dry.

The trishaws here are some of the most decorated and colorful ones I've seen!  They also play music, sometimes good, sometimes terrible, at incredibly loud decibel levels.  I'm not sure I'd want to ride one but they're pretty to look at.

The town is built around a river and everything is so colorful, especially with all the flags put up for Merdka day.  The reflection on the water on a bright sunny day is quite beautiful.

Melaka is a melting pot of many different cultures all bringing unique architectural styles.  It's fascinating to walk around looking at all the different buildings.  Melaka was one of the first Malay sultanates but was conquered by the Portuguese in the 1500's , the Dutch in the mid-1600's and then the British in the 1800's before Malaysia gained it's independence.  

Of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to check out the fire station.  It's huge!  They had several trucks, two boats, a training building, and... motorcycles?!  Awesome!

There's a path on either side of the river, a nice change from walking along the busy streets.

A section of the buildings are covered in brightly colored murals.

They've started uncovering some of the ruins of the old fort, although when the British came in they destroyed most of it.

It's the end of the hungry ghost festival and I caught a few more days of celebration.  When I walked by in the daytime they were setting up large joss sticks and people were bringing by offerings of food, and even cigarettes!  I came back later in the evening to find a large group of people drinking and singing karaoke.  Later the table of offerings was set on fire!  

Perhaps one of my favorite things about Melaka is that there are sections of the city where all smoking is prohibited, both inside and out.  After months of being subjected to constant second hand smoke, 'because cigarettes are so cheap here!' (so is not smoking!) I love being able to breathe fresh air again.  

Cendol is one of the local desserts, made from shaved ice with coconut milk,  gula Melaka (palm sugar), red beans, and green rice noodles.

At the St. Francis church, overlooking Chinatown, are many gravestones from the Dutch period.

We also found a graveyard with more, although apparently a few of the corpses were removed because this stone is sitting over an empty hole (I had to take a peek).

I went to the Hard Rock Cafe with my Chinese friend as he had plans to meet a local Chinese guy.  He remarked how strange it is that even though people from China would consider him Chinese the guy (whose family has been in Malaysia for several generations) considers himself Malaysian.

The streets of Chinatown are lit up at night with red lights. So pretty!

I stopped at the mall for headphones (you get what you pay for and the ones at the market never did work) and found a bowling alley, and an archery place.

The river is really pretty at night too.  I finally got out for a run last night, had to dodge a few cats, water hazards and almost stuck my leg through a hole in the boardwalk, but other than that a very pleasant run.