FUN-travel: Malacca, Malaysia – Day 49
April 11, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Malacca, Malaysia – Day 49
Monday, March 14th
- By night – Yonkers Street in China Town is pedestrian only and filled with “hawker” stalls and wall-to-wall people!
- By day – it’s much more civilized as you can actually walk on the sidewalk and get a peek inside the stores.
- Peanut Pedi Cab – knows no boundaries! There was no begging here, just the locals trying really hard to get the tourists to hand over some of that money.
FUN-food – Hard to believe I know…but the AC and the really good noodles beckoned us…so it was back to the Hard Rock for lunch again! Our waiter Zuqi greeted us with his crooked, sweet smile when he spotted us coming through the front door.
- All Dolled Up – and the Cycle Rickshaws Rocked! Totally adorned with music blasting, this
Frozen theme with flowers and fringe was quite fancy. And at night they are all lit up with strobe light ropes pulsing to the beat.
- We chose to visit this city on a recommendation from a friend who grew up in Singapore. Since I was in Singapore 25 years ago I knew that four days in Singapore would have been too many for Chris. In hindsight had we known how long it was going to take for the immigration stops required for both countries (45 minutes) outbound and (over an hour) inbound we probably wouldn’t have gone. Over 5 hours each way!
- Majestic Malacca Sultanate Watermill – on the bank of the Malacca River opposite the Casa del Rio Melaka in the old town.
FUN-fact – The city is named after the Malacca sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511.
FUN-travel: Malacca, Malaysia – Day 48
April 11, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Malacca, Malaysia – Day 48
Sunday, March 13th
- We boarded our luxury motor coach at 8 am. With front row seats our view out of the city was pretty spectacular. The perfectly manicured landscape consisted of colorful bougainvilleas and jacaranda trees mixed with palms and pines running down the center median and on both sides of the motorway. Every overhead pedestrian bridge had flower boxes that ran the entire length and were overflowing with fuchsia and magenta blooms.
- Upon arrival at Casa del Rio Melaka we received a very warm welcome served with refreshing ice cold wash cloths and yummy sorbet. This sweet city was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008. Dubbed “The Historic State” it is located on the southern region of the Malay Peninsula.
- We set off to explore the city and get some lunch. Under normal circumstances I would never choose a chain restaurant over a local one, let alone an American one in a foreign country! And I really hate to admit this… but I succumbed to the lure of sitting with “full on” air conditioning at the… Hard Rock Café. In Malacca? The last time I was in one was in Tokyo in 1992! Oh well, apparently they’re still hip.
FUN-food – Seafood Char Kway Teow – stir fried fat rice noodles tossed with bean sprouts, fish cake, egg, prawns, squid, sweet and spicy soy sauce and thinly sliced red chilies in oil on the side.
FUN-fact – The most famous person Melaka has produced: Datuk Wira Dr. Gan Boon Leong AKA the “Father of Bodybuilding in Malaysia.” Born in 1937, he is Malaysia’s most successful bodybuilder – having won countless prizes, including Mr. Asia and even Mr. Universe.