Ringo's Foyer Guest House Melaka

With Ramadan in full flow our options for travel and days left in Malaysia were soon running out, our best option was to catch a bus back to KL and see what connection we could get there. We found a bus and headed home, the cool air of the mountains soon turned back into the appresise heat and the jeans were definitely coming off!

Back in KL it felt like a completely different place, the city was buzzing and the relative calm of our last stay ...

... it was dark by that point so we thought it would be a good idea to get a door-to-door service.]

We were greeted at Sunny's Inn by a really really friendly and enthusiastic worker (named Zen), even if he was on the tipsy side, haha! He shook our hands and gave us the tour of the accommodation and kept giving us high fives when we made funny comments (legend!). Chris seems to have developed a mini addiction to 'Crunch' ice-lollies (in the same fashion that Tom and I were ...

... Singapore when it was under Majapahit rule. He landed in a fishing village and went hunting. While resting under a Malacca tree, he saw a mouse-deer use it's hindlegs to kick one of his hunting dogs into the river. Inspired by the fighting spirit of the Kancil, he decided to build his kingdom at the place and named it Malacca (Melaka as in Malay). As the Guest House is situated at Jalan Parameswara, it is most befitting to be called the Kancil Guest House!

So it seems wherever i go the past couple of days this monk jumps out of nowhere and demands a donation its crazy i was taking a photo and all a sudden hes trying to force into my hand a piece of paper which if i accepted i would have to offer a payment (donation) I also find it really odd the fact that if you demand agressivly a donation or if you demand money IE: rob someone isnt that close to the same thing? anyways this guy was ...

... and then indulged in fruit in syrup (like in Wanfujing in Beijing), steamed dim sum, lime and prune juice and waffle hot dogs. People were singing karaoke (quite well), practicing martial arts, and being far more 'Chinese' than they ever were in China. What's going on? The following day we left Melaka, heading back to KL, where we had some lunch before getting another us to the Cameron Highlands, arriving at 9pm in the dark and torrential rain.

... period kung-fu film. We went to the maritime museum for some more history which was OK but made a lot better by the fact its housed in a full size replica of the Dutch ship Flor de la Mar which was lost off the coast full of gold. We went on a boat trip up the river to see the whole city, which was super cheap a quarter the price of going up the tower and seeing it from the air. In parts it ...

... his car, stopping to ask again if I wanted a lift, and the second time if I wanted a drink! I felt slightly unnerved having him follow me about in his car, but on the third attempt, he finally took no for an answer! That said, Melaka is a very charming and friendly city, where people will happily greet you and the colourful, flower adorned trishaw drivers ask you once and no more! I had lunch in a little Baba Nyonya restaurant off Jonker Street for some very nice, cheap ...

... as telling Jo (who asked me waht the hell I was doing) that we'd got on the wrong bus - again! One minute later (after we'd excused ourselves and politely pushed our way through the packed bus toward the exit, trying hard not to hit too many people on the back opf the head with our rucksacks) we were stood on the roadside waving farewell to the smiling occupants of the bus as it rattled off down the street in a cloud of blue diesel smoke. Once again, we stood looking at each other with ...

... to see it all. It's definitely a nice place, but everything can be seen in a day, easily. I'm glad I stopped by. Some new developments on my Chinese visa is that apparently Singapore's Chinese Embassy is clsoed for the whole week for the Chinese celebration. Soooo.... change of plans perhaps are in order. There's a 50 dollar flight from Kota Kinabalu, in Borneo, to the Phillipiiines... hmmmmm.

... cruising the town and sampling the local delicacies, I find myself in an Internet cafe listening to what I presume to be the Malay equivalent of Bic Runga (whose mum incedentally, was a nightclub performer in Malaysia I just found out) and listening to little kids bash the hell out of little computer sprites. I've booked my hostel in KL for tomorrow night so for now, I'm going to find a nice little bar somewhere and wind down the evening before I get back on the coach tomorrow.