A Whirl Through Malaysia

  Melacca, Malaysia
Monday, April 28, 2008

I'm sitting at a riverside cafe in the Malysian colonial city of Melacca, drinking a cup of tasteless coffee... over the past few hundred years the colonising Portuguese, Dutch and Brits left their mark in the form of churches, forts, building styles, baked beans... but alas, not palatable coffee. It's hot and very humid and I'm thinking an ice-cold beer would be more thirst-quenching, but it is only 10 a.m... Still, I'm amused to see, in this Muslim country where alcohol is tolerated but discouraged, that the local guy to my left is wearing a 'Jack Daniels' t-shirt, sitting under a 'Guinness' umbrella and drinking tea from a 'Carlsberg' glass.

Koh Tao sunset

the feng shui house, Penang

There have been some major scenery changes in the past few days. TB treated us to a luxury resort for our last night on Koh Tao so we took advantage of the air-conditioned room with a view and just lay around all day drinking the mini-bar dry which was great craic! Then, after a night boat south and a long bus trip we hit the Malaysian island of Penang, which I really liked: lots of atmosphere after Thailand, lots of interesting wee Chinese and Indian streets to wander and a really interesting old house designed on pure feng shui principles, which was fascinating. And plenty of fabulous cheap Indian restaurants to keep my belly happy.

tea...yeuch!!!

Me & TB - this one's for you Suzy!

Next stop was Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands where we wandered through a tee plantation and drank some of the unpleasant brew - the bushes definitely look better than they taste! ]As the prominent hill station in the country it was cool and at times even chilly, which was a strange sensation, and had me hauling my fleece from the depths of my pack. Then it was on to Melacca, with its historic, colonial quarter and bustling Chinatown, in which I sat last night, drinking cold beer and watching the world go by. It's not the most exciting destination but it's a pleasant stop on the journey south.



I took the opportunity to avail of the cheap Oriental medicine on offer in Melacca's Chinatown and so I'm now recovering from a massage. I asked for a reflexology treatment, which was very good (though not as good as yours, Trish!)and so when the dour-faced Chinese man detected, through my sole, trouble in my left shoulder and asked if I would like a neck and shoulder massage I couldn't refuse. I'm sure it has done my shoulders the power of good but it was no relaxing experience...more akin to that of a steak being brutalised by a meat tenderiser... it was excruciating! I noticed him smiling when I yelped and grimaced and was reminded of the sadistic Japanese doctor who 'fixed' my broken tarsals years ago, answering my screams, as he wrenched my poor swollen foot, with a big grin and a "Ha! Gaijin vely weak! Gaijin not rike pain! Ha!" The Asian attitude to pain is very different to my own!

TB has now headed north and I am relishing the space! We had a great time but with the myriad differences between 41 and 25; Venus and Mars; spiritualist and scientist; tomAHto and toMAYto... it's very nice to be moving independently again...

Off to Singapore tomorrow... and the guarantee of a good cup of coffee... oh the excitement!

(The following photo was snapped outside a shop in Thailand and I did a real double take, thinking the mens cuecas brand was Colloby...!)

personalised underwear...no thanks!