Mimosa Hotel Melaka

... the afternoon swimming in the pool on the ninth floor and playing a couple of games of semi-competitive squash. It started off fully competitive until I hit Neil quite hard with the squash ball, which I did completely by mistake, or as unaware as I possibly could be playing squash. <br><br>The next couple of days were spent enjoying the hotel as well as wandering the town. We also came across an amazing restaurant ...

... it was dark by that point so we thought it would be a good idea to get a door-to-door service.]<br><br>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 helpful, but then I keep finding that everywhere I go. Never judge a book hey! I like the transport too, well the big VIP bus seats anyway!! Even the normal public bus was pretty good. I guess there is more money in Malaysia. There are certainly a lot more well formed bellies than in Vietnam and Cambodia and I think I only saw one person begging in KL. Will I be back, umm yes most definitely!

... of Chinese origin who have married into Malay families). It was the end of Chinese New Year while we were in Melaka, and our guesthouse was just a couple of doors down from a Chinese Temple, which meant that we were treated to lots of drumming and fireworks. On the morning of my birthday they had a parade of shrines, which we were able to watch while having breakfast at a nearby stall.

... we found St Paul's church, which was originally built by the Portuguese in 1521, but today mostly Dutch modifications and improvements were present. There were many old tombstones of former Dutch traders and also a prominent lighthouse that was built during the British era. Then we ventured to the canal where there was a life sized replica of a Portuguese 16th century ship called the Flora de la Mar. The original ship sank off the shore of Melaka whilst ...

... enjoyed the view. We were able to see lightening from a storm out at sea. Luckily, it wasn't raining on us. The next day Matthew and I got up and went out for a late breakfast. Raymond, the owner, actually walked us to this local place and ordered us these fabulous banana pancakes. This got us energized for our busy day. We took a river cruise to learn more about the city. Melaka has a strong Dutch and Portuguese influence. Around the 1500's, the Portuguese occupied Melaka and some of ...

... Portuguese dishes here....had dinner at the Restorante de Lisboa but I'd say there a was a lot more Malaysian than Portuguese influence at work here...V spicy. I did get to practice my Portuguese a little by chatting to a local man who had Portuguese descendency called Pedro. The rickshaw's here are all trying to out do each other by being the most colourful and sparkly ...

... under the 15kg limit for Air Asia! We also went to our first proper sate restaurant. A pan of bubbling sate is put in a hole in the centre of the table above the gas can. You choose your own skewers of vegetables, dough, pork and king prawns and cook your own food. They simply count the sticks afterwards, so cheap too! It was really delicious, much spicier than in Holland ...

... they tend to be made up of paved areas outside the front of shops, with each shop apparently responsible for its own patch. This makes for a colourful appearance to the pavement, but the shopowners don't seem to have talked to each other when it comes to the height of the paved areas as there is a constant need to keep your eyes open for slight changes in the height of the pavement. Being tourists, we were looking at our surroundings rather than the pavement to start with so found ...