Cracker in Melaka

With the year of the rabbit only days away Jill and I got a bus south, from Kuala Lumpur to the town of Melaka, famous for its historical buildings, great food and very lively China town. It was also half way to Singapore and therefore the perfect stopping off point as we approached the southern tip of the Southeast Asian peninsular. Singapore would mark the end of this leg of our journey and it was going to be upon us all too quickly.

We had a day to find our feet, and a good venue for Chinese New Year before the festivities hit full speed. Melaka is an amazingly attractive city with European influences at its heart, invaded by Portuguese, Dutch and British over the centuries, all of whom left their mark on the architecture of the buildings which sit at its heart. A Dutch square which would sit happily in any town in Holland marks the centre, but cross the 20 metre bridge to the east is Chinatown, ruby lanterns hang from every crumbling, wooden shuttered building and criss-cross every narrow winding street for a square mile. It’s an area you can walk around for days and continue to find new streets to explore and new cafes at which to sit and watch the world go by, which is pretty much exactly what we did.

We walked around the sun filled streets, browsed shops filled with lanterns, waving golden cats, strange and very Chinese smiling figures, furry red dragon heads and much more, we saw the locals burning calendars and (fake) money for luck, we wandered passed bustling Mosques and Buddhist temples and saw people preparing the streets for the celebrations to come.

When we were in need of refreshment we found ourselves at the Baboon House, this is one of the most incredible places to relax with a coffee, beer or wine by day or night and serves some damn fine burgers too. You enter what looks to be a small shop with wooden shuttered windows and a black and white tiled floor. Dark wood furniture and soft crumbling plaster sit side by side. This TARDIS-like space continues into an internal courtyard filled with plants and lanterns, surrounded by inward looking windows on the first floor and with chairs and tables in and around it. Then there is a bar area and beyond, is another small room which leads into a beautiful, haphazard garden. We spent a couple of afternoons and evenings in this, and similar spots around town.

For New Years’ eve we were on the very busy Jonker Street in the heart of China town eating pineapple cakes with the locals and shuffling from stall to stall in the tightly packed street. It was a fun evening and a great experience to be in a place where the celebrations meant so much. We were at the far end of Jonker street as midnight was fast approaching and saw a huge Chinese dragon being carried through the street, complete with police escort. Unfortunately, it was too big to get through the arches that spanned the streets and we watched as the panic ensued, as they attempted to squeeze it under. They eventually forced it through and with a little celebration from the crowd who had stopped to watch and help they were on the way again.

The next morning we were up early to catch our bus over the border into Singapore where we were catching a flight on to Sydney...

Jill enjoying a drink stop in Chinatown 

The old Dutch buildings on the riverfront

The old Mosque

Baboon House, if you are ever in Melaka go!

Let the festivities begin!

Chinatown at New Year

Stepping out of the madness of New Year to grab a beer

Cloudy KL

We arrived back in Kuala Lumpur, me slightly hungover from my 2 glasses of wine on my birthday (travelling obviously hasn’t made me any less of a lightweight) but both of us keen to get to know the city which was littered with domed mosques, old English colonial buildings and modern sky scrapers including the famous Petronas twin towers. We were staying in the heart of Chinatown on the pedestrianised Petaling Street, which was a hive of activity with stalls lining the street, selling fake everything from watches to bags to trainers. Sadly none of the trainers came in a George-sized 12, much to his disappointment. Preparations for Chinese New Year were in full swing, so as we  wandered through the streets – well as best we could with hundreds of other people doing the same thing – we were frequently met with the sounds of Chinese drumming and Dragons dancing through the crammed streets followed by people handing out sweets and oranges. The first time I saw the oranges being handed out I thought I was in luck, so dived into the scrum with the locals and emerged victorious with a couple of bags. I soon realised that oranges were given out by everyone at New Year, it must be a Chinese tradition, so before long we were overrun with oranges and not quite sure what to do with them all. At least we were getting our vitamin C!

Unfortunately it rained for most of the 3 days we were in KL, so we had to seek out things to do which involved being inside. I found the lovely old Art Deco central market, which was so unlike all the other markets we had visited in SE Asia, it was clean, orderly, full of (mostly) genuine local wares and an absolute joy to wander round. A short monorail ride away were the Petronas Towers which were shrouded in rain clouds, making it impossible to actually see the full scale of the buildings. We were surprised to find a very large shopping centre housed in the lower floors and decided this was a great way to while away a few hours. I reacquainted myself with a few old friends, Top Shop, Banana Republic and Zara.

After a day of avoiding the rain, we decided to embrace it and head to the city park, Lake Gardens. This turned out to be quite a mission and we only managed to get into the park after crossing a dual carriageway, walking through a hotel car park and passing though the closed observatory – as we said before, the attractions aren’t thrust at you, you have to actively seek them out! We had wonderful views of the city from the park, which rewarded us for our efforts. We had a similarly difficult time trying to get to the KL Tower, the highest point in the city which can be seen from all directions. We had planned on splashing out a little and going to the bar at the top of the tower to enjoy a cocktail with views of the Petronas Towers (the rain had finally ceased). After a few wrong turnings we ended up on a jungle trail, which wound its way up through the ‘urban forest’, along rope bridges and mossy steps until we finally reached the entrance. Our best clothes which we had worn for the occasion were now slightly sweaty and my hair was taking on the familiar humid frizz! We were then told that we had to book in advance to go up and no, we couldn’t just go up for a drink! Marvellous! So instead we ended up at the Mandarin Oriental, sipping very expensive cocktails and admiring the stunning  views of the Petronas Towers lit up against the night sky.

The cultural mix that is KL

The peaceful scene from our hotel window

The scrum for oranges

New Year Dragon dances

Petronas Towers shrouded in cloud

What a difference a day makes!

George enjoying a cheeky glass of wine - a far cry from our normal backpacker haunts!

Penang - the long way round

From Koh Lipe we were only 2 hours away by speedboat from the Malaysian island of Langkawi, which was a mere 2 hours away from Penang, our next destination. Unfortunately we had, in a moment of reckless planning a few weeks ago, booked cheap flights from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur. We obviously hadn’t banked on us changing our plans and heading south and thought we had been very well organised. So instead of a 4 hour speedboat transfer, our epic journey consisted of 3 hours on the ferry to mainland Thailand, 5 hours by minibus to Phuket where we stayed in an airport hotel. It continued with a 5am wake up call for our 8am flight to KL, followed by an hour bus transfer from the airport to the city centre, where we took a luxury bus 5 hours north up to Penang. We finally arrived in Georgetown, Penang at 8pm the day after we left! Oh well, at least we saw a lot of the countryside and we had our first hot shower in over 3 weeks en-route – pure bliss!

We had expected Penang to be an island similar to the Thai islands where we had spent our days relaxing on the beach and enjoying the laid back island lifestyle from the comfort of our hammocks. Penang was a completely different experience, more of a city than a beach resort. The capital, Georgetown, was full of skyscrapers and high rise apartment blocks with bustling Indian and Chinese districts. It was a very welcome surprise and we relished the idea of wandering round the narrow streets of little India and Chinatown, sampling the famous cuisine and browsing the many local shops.

We spent the night in one of the more ‘rustic’ hotels – a cockroach the size of an i-phone welcomed us back to our room after dinner to be met with my screams and the sole of George’s size 12. We escaped early the next morning and moved to a nicer place where strangely they had trouble spelling George’s name – yes we were staying in Georgetown – and set out to explore the city, a cultural melting pot of English, Dutch, Indian and Chinese, which has resulted in beautiful buildings, delicious food and very interesting and friendly locals. Preparations were being made for Chinese New Year and red lanterns filled the shops and could be seen strung up in the streets all over Chinatown. The city really came to life in the evening and we found ourselves in what was obviously a local favourite – a large outdoor food court where stalls compete for custom for their culinary treats (including my personal favourite frog porridge – no I couldn’t bring myself to try it) and drinks are delivered to plastic tables arranged around a stage in the centre. To my delight the evening’s entertainment was ballroom dancing and the locals paired up and began their well-practised dance routines to the live renditions of Moon River and other classics!

We decided to head to the beach resort of Batu Ferrenghi to celebrate my birthday and jumped on the local bus to take us round the island. The town was more English seaside than tropical paradise, but undeterred, we decided to treat ourselves with birthday money from Mum and Dad (thanks!) and checked into a swanky 5* hotel. We had a wonderfully relaxing couple of days spent chilling by the pool, checking out the hotel gym and gorging ourselves stupid on the amazing buffet breakfasts (hence the gym visits)! I was very touched to discover a birthday cake had been delivered to our room and we enjoyed it along with a lovely cold glass of white wine during ecstatic hour (it’s not just happy in Penang) which was a real birthday treat after living within a tight no-wine-allowed budget for months!

As we left Penang and headed south back to Kuala Lumpur, we were excited to see what else Malaysia had to offer. It’s a country which although geographically very close to Thailand, seems a million miles away with a distinct lack of tour agents and backpacker bars, sights which you have to actively seek out rather than have them thrust at you and taxi drivers who will happily tell you which bus to take rather than try to get that extra fare - how refreshing!

One of the many pretty shop fronts in Georgetown

Sampling the delicious local dishes

Preparations for Chinese New year

Enjoying the local nightlife

A local delicacy we couldn't bring ourselves to try

a couple of locals waiting to be asked to dance! (the one on the right had a total of 3 teeth!)

Being spoilt on my birthday!