Malacca, Malaysia has made it to my top 10 favorite places in the world. As is always the case, it's not where you are but who you are with that makes the difference. In this case, it was both. I met two sisters from Newcastle, England on the bus ride up from Singapore last Saturday. Ashleigh and Christie also happened to be staying at the same hostel - Discovery Cafe & Guesthouse - and so I was fortunate to have met two great girls to hang out with and to share a room with! I love it when things work out like that. Immediately upon our arrival, Bob, the hostel owner, gave us beef rendang, rice and beer. He was Malaysian-Chinese, so it was great to be able to speak Mandarin with him and his friends! Ashleigh, Christie and I went sightseeing around Malacca for the remainder of the day. We watched a search & rescue team recover a motorbike that had fallen in the river...such drama! We walked through Chinatown and it was fun negotiating in Mandarin again, especially when they weren't expecting a Westerner to be able to speak their language! That evening, we had dinner by the river that runs through the heart of the town and watched people singing and dancing on the streets. After dinner, boats decorated with more Christmas lights than I've ever seen paraded by. June 5th is not only the birthday of the King of Malaysia, but of Allie, the daughter of one of my best friends, who turned two last weekend! Happy Birthday to Allie and to the King of Malaysia!
On Sunday, we did more walking around the city. Malacca has been controlled over their 600 years of history by the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Japanese, therefore, the architecture of their buildings is quite charming. Once a thriving port city, the area has been redeveloped and has become a hopping tourist destination for the Chinese and Singaporeans. Ashleigh, Christie and I were among the handful of Westerners I saw the entire weekend. We were stopped very frequently to take pictures with locals and other Asian tourists. So funny! There was a food festival going on (free food!) in celebration of the King's birthday. I ate so many things that I can't identify that I won't even try...best left to say that I only ended up purchasing fresh mango juice and banana chips. The good news...I didn't get sick! That night, Bob and his childhood friend, Simon, took us to a restaurant to eat some local Malay-Chinese dishes. The food was incredible and it was great to get off the beaten path of the Lonely Planet warriors (of which I am not a fan because the planet, in fact, is not lonely at all!) and to hang out with Malacca's finest!
That night, back at the Discovery Cafe, everyone twisted my arm and I ended up singing on stage. The husband/wife performers and I serenaded the crown to a really awful version (my fault!) of Amy Winehouse's song Rehab (fitting for me to sing that in a lot of ways actually...ha ha!). A table of locals next to us brought in a bucket of KFC chicken (they love chicken here!!). One of the couples brought their precious 8 month old little girl with them...I offered to hold the baby so the couple could dance. The little girl was clutching a drumstick with a death grip. As I was holding her, she proceeded to rub the chicken all over my face, neck and chest. She was too adorable for me to be upset or to try and take it away from her, so I just went with it. When I gave her back, everyone at my table was laughing at me and complimented my chicken perfume for the remainder of the evening.
Monday morning, we went with Bob and some of his friends to a local dim sum restaurant. I've never seen or tasted so many different kinds of dim sum...literally over 50 different types carried around the joint by women on trays. It's like a roaming buffet...you don't even have to move! I ate chendol, an Indian dessert soup made of shaved ice, coconut milk, red beans and some kind of green noodle, under a big tree by the river while making predictions on the World Cup with an old Malaysian man. That night, Bob, Simon, Nikki, another Malay guy and I went to a Portuguese restaurant. We had steamed fish that was incredible. I accidentally picked up the fish eye with my spoon and immediately dumped it back on the serving dish thinking that surely no one ate that part of the fish. Bob caught me and told me that I should try it...he said it would be good for my eyesight! So, I ate it. The 'clear' part of the eye kind of popped in my mouth. I spit the rest out. They told me to put it back in and chew/suck the white residue off. This part tasted like chalk, and I am proud to say that I did a great job controlling my gag reflex. I got it down to what you see in the picture...that little piece of the eye is currently residing in my wallet until I figure out a way to get it mounted onto a ring or pendant. I have seen the world in 3D ever since.
Tuesday, I again had fish for breakfast...this time, Bob had me eat the heart and reproductive organs. He said that it would make my future husband very happy...we'll have to see about that! Meals with such generous and friendly people, chicken perfume and fish eyes....it's easy to see how my time in Malacca was such a wonderful experience!
Made my way back to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon. Currently getting all the last minute details finalized before I head to India! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment