what colours have you seen today?

Wanderlust Chronicles Four: Malacca, Malaysia April 2009
This trip is proof that there's so much of the world to see, even in the comforts of your own back yard. And so, we went for a day trip to Malacca - a regular weekend that turned into a visit to Malaysia's history books.

1. Unplanned and Unbudgeted - To be honest, the trip to Malacca was one of the most impulsive travelling I've done. It wasn't planned months before like Phuket or Ho Chi Minh. It was more of like I was talking to Faith, Ramon & Charles tapos we were like, "hmmm, let's not spend next weekend in boring ol' Singapore." and ended with a "alright, let's go to Malacca then." To be brutally honest, I'm sick and tired of Malaysia, and I wasn't really that keen on going, but I didn't really want to pass up on another opportunity to explore the world right? And so I told myself that I'd spend a max of $50 for this trip. Oh yes, all in - and thus began the quest to get to Malacca - in under $50.
2. 6:00 Call time - Oh yes, quite like my Regcom Days, we wanted to maximize our day trip to Malacca, so we all agreed that we'd start the day at 6 and meet up at woodlands station - almost a stone’s throw away from Johor, Malaysia. A lot of things happened along the way (the usual excuses. haha!), we got delayed a lil' bit, but by 7:30, we were safely across the border and on our way to Malacca via Johor's Larkin station.
3. Project Leader - Given the fact that (1) I’ve crossed this border countless times and (2) I am in fact Malaysian, the task of bringing the group to Malacca fell on me. But relying on my Malay skills wasn't exactly the brightest idea. But I at least was able to get the group to Larkin terminal, at what was arguably the cheapest way there (RM5 Cabride for the four of us.) From there, it was easy enough to grab a bus to Malacca and we even had time to get some take-out from McDonalds which we ate in the bus. (Note to self, Mcdonalds big breakfast can fulfill the daily calorie requirements of a small country, so that sin shall never happen again.)
4. Bus Ride to Malacca - It was a 2 hour bus ride to Malacca. Nothing much happened as we were all in sleepy land barely 5 minutes after the bus left the station. ZzzzZZZzzzz
5. Melaka, Malaysia! - I didn't really expect much from Melaka. I didn't have time to research beforehand. so I was totally unsure what to expect. But the signs around the place were more than enough to provide perspective. It's a World Heritage site, proud of the fact that this was a stunning trade center in its time - "straights of Melaka" anyone? We bought tickets on this bus that goes around the major tour sites in Melaka. You just have to pay ~RM5 and you can load and unload from the buses as you please.
6. The Guiding Principle - Ramon had this very good realization - we had barely a few hours to tour around Melaka, so we had to make priority calls. And the guiding principle that we had was that we would prioritize everything that was in the keychains that was sold in those tourist shops. The assumption here is that if they took the time to actually put a site in a key chain, then its probably worth visiting. Makes sense right? haha! This was the theme that we had the whole time we were in Melaka - if its not in the key chain, it goes at the bottom of the list.
7. Good ol' Dutch Influences - When I hear the word "Dutch", I think of tulips, cows and windmills. There were no tulips and cows in Melaka, but there were some windmills. And to me, that was genuine Dutch. haha But honestly, my take on Dutch architecture is that it's not as grand as the French designs I've seen in Vietnam, or even the Spanish ones I've seen in the Philippines. It was minimalist to the point of being plain. I guess "art" in itself is subjective - but for me, I'd choose flair over minimalist any day.
8. Food Trip - When a few friends from work knew that I was going to Malacca, they told me to try the chicken ball rice. And so, we did. We saw this small run down place that had this semi long line of people waiting to be served. And when we lined up, there were even more people that lined up after us. 20 Minutes after, we were there wondering what the craze was all about. The food tasted like sh*t. Honestly, I was amazed as to how that place continuous to exist. haha That's the last time I'm joining the bandwagon. haha! After that, we went around to try other Malaysian sweets - Cendol and other stuff that we didn't know what the name was nor what it was made off but we ate anyway. We also ate at another chicken ball rice restaurant just to give it another shot. It was better this time. So it seems that the first restaurant just served bad chicken ball rice. All in all the desserts were able to salvage this food trip.
9. Cowboy in a Dutch Colony - And so the trip continued. It was very historic, very reminiscent of grade school field trips to the Philippine National Museum. We explored how the Malaysian Royalty conducted business in those times. There were artifacts, canons, old buckets and other items. I really wasn't paying attention. I was just too happy with the cowboy hat that Faith was able to haggle down to RM7 from RM 10. I heart my cowboy hat. It was wide enough to partially cover my face from the angry afternoon sun. I just felt that the cowboy hat was so cool, it was actually hot. haha! Its even in my current profile pic in facebook.
10. Galleons and My Olympus Camera - After hiding out in this restaurant to hide from the early afternoon sun while chilling on yummy Chendol, we went to this Galleon thing. Yup, those big boats where you can actually go inside the galleon in all Pirates-of-Caribbean-este-Melaka style. I guess in the excitement of posing left and right, I didn't realize that I misplaced my camera. Oh yes, that brick-like, thick, 3.0 megapixel sorry excuse of a camera that was the proof of my vanity in this world. I traced back my steps, literally looked inside garbage cans, but to no avail. It's just sad because that camera has been with me for a while now - through graduation, trips with Mandy to Manila Bay, my look see in Singapore, and the first three Wanderlust - Phuket, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh. And now, its probably in the hands of someone else. =( Now, I don't have an excuse not to buy a new camera any more. Oh yes people, there is always a silver lining. And the fact that the next Singapore IT fair is happening next month is probably another nudge to that direction. hehe

Well, that's about it for Melaka. Certainly worth a day trip - to immerse oneself in the grandeur of a once flourishing trade center. 'Til the next wanderlust!