Bamboo Hotel Melaka

... took a boat ride down the city river, where we saw loads of water monitors, and went on a revolving viewing tower which was like a poor fairground ride!

In the afternoon we went on a guided historic walk around the city, where we were told about the history of the places and buildings. In the evening we went for an authentic Baba Nyanya cuisine dinner with the group.

... missionary work. On the way up the steps to the church, a young local Malay man wanted to talk with me. He introduced himself as Ivan & corrected me that no, it wasn't Russian it was Welsh! As I was about to leave he asked me to join him for a drink that evening. Could have been interesting but could have been interesting in the wrong way so I declined. Anyway here are some online pics (minus "Ivan") of some of the things that I saw in that part of town.

... Indian community in Malacca, and Malaysia in general. Served on a big banana leaf used as a plate with chutneys, pickles, sauce, poppadums, naan, rice and chicken. Was really good but incredibly spicy. I had the curry sweats bad. Couple of the locals looked at me if I was a freak. Again, cost around £2 which is so cheap and much cheaper than Singapore which is another thing Malaysia has over "Singa-bore" : things here are a lot cheaper and easier on my wallet.

... F1 Grand Prix!

Après quelques jours passés dans un monde occidental, il est temps de revenir en Asie du Sud Est - la vraie. Nous avons longuement réfléchi à nos futures options et avons décidé de passer par la Malaysie afin de se rendre en Indonésie sur l'ile de Sumatra. A l'origine nous pensions passer plus de temps en Indonésie et visiter Bali, l'ile de Java et l'ile de Sumatra. Au final, nous n'aurons pas ...

... 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.

... rojak, which was a fruit salad with deep fried dough pieces in it. A very unique taste that isn't comparable to anything I've had in Canada. Howard told us stories about some of the wildlife in Malaysia and how to deal with them in emergencies. For example there is a white snake, that eats other predatorily snakes itself (including King Cobras) that you should never run away from. It can apparently stand on its tail to make it eye level with man and ...

... was cheap, full of locals and took the long way to Melaka, stopping off at little towns all along the way. When we finally arrived at Melaka we were met by an elderly Chinese gentleman who was touting his hotel, the Kota Lodge. It seemed well located, just near Chinatown, and so we agreed. The next thing, he was taking us to the hotel in his private car while giving us a potted history of the town and pointing out sights along the way. Once we arrived at the hotel, he ...

... of Mentawai people categorized as the legacy from Neolithic era and they have a strong believe in nature spirit, for their life strongly affected by nature. They believe that nature is the center of life. All the genuine attributes make Mentawai a perfect place to gain cultural experiences; here you will notice a very fascinating and indigenous culture, like traditional cloths, art ...

... bowling is cheap over in the resort. The carnival rides finally began at 7p.m. We went into Cowboy Town too early, didn't realize it opens only during evening time. Baby played on all rides over and over again. She was finally brave enough to drive the electric car all by herself. We took a horse carriage ride to Safari World. It was highly affordable and fun, except I pity the poor skinny horse, who looked like it was about to collapse from overworking and hunger. They ...

... and had settled on the Shirah Guesthouse on Jalan Melaka Raya. A friendly local taxi driver came over to see if we wanted a ride into town, we accepted but when we told him were we were going, he insisted we go to the other guesthouse that we had a leaflet for, the Traveler's Lodge, we wondered if he was making a commission from them. In any case the two guesthouses were next door, so it made little difference. Once in the taxi we journeyed through the historic ...