I spent a few days in Kuala Lumpur, mostly visiting with my friends. We did go to the skybar, which has a fantastic view of the Petronas Towers (I kept thinking of Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones dangling off the bridge!).
I also attended a cooking course to learn about typical Malaysian village cooking. This was very well organised, and attended by both tourists (from Australia, Hong Kong and me) and local people. My favourite dish was Masak Lemak Udang Dengang Menas (shrimp and pineapple in coconut milk).
I travelled down to Melaka (on the straights of Malacca) which is south of KL, on the way to Singapore. This was originally a Portuguese colony, then Dutch and finally British before becoming independent with the rest of Malaysia. It has retained a lot of its traditional buildings and most of the centre of the town, around the river, is a UN Heritage site. Inevitably this is now very touristy but it was nice to wander around.
I stayed near Jonker's Walk, where at the weekend they have a night market. The population of Malaysia has many Chinese (and Indian) people, so the markets were similar to the ones I see in China.
Melaka is a hub for many artists so there were plenty of galleries to visit, and artists to watch.
Melaka is a hub for many artists so there were plenty of galleries to visit, and artists to watch.
The tallest building in Melaka is the Menara Taming Sari tower. You sit in a glass elevator which goes up 110 metres and then rotates at the top to give great panoramic views of Melaka.
The town has retained some of its Dutch heritage with the red houses of the Stadhuys, Clock Tower and Christ Church. I also found a guest-house named Heeren House (Men's House).
Like many touristy places, Melaka has tuk tuks to take you around. They are very garishly coloured and reminded me of India - no doubt due to the Malay-Indian influence - and of course I went on one, even though everything is within walking distance.
It was very hot so I tended to get out early (8ish) though things didn't really open until 10. I did find a bakery that was open by 830 and did nice croissants (something I definitely don't get in China!).
It was very hot so I tended to get out early (8ish) though things didn't really open until 10. I did find a bakery that was open by 830 and did nice croissants (something I definitely don't get in China!).
It tended to rain in the afternoon for a bit (siesta time!) but then the evenings were nice to wander around.
One place I didn't go to was the Sultan's palace. Apparently this is a replica and quite impressive, from the time before the Portuguese came and there was a Sultan of Malacca.
