Tropical Punch Tour: Malaysia Part 2
Friday, July 2, 2010
Melaka, Malaysia
“The site where the city of Melaka stands today was the center of Melakan history. It was the capital of the Melakan Sultanate and was the centre of the Malay world in the 15th and the 16th century after the Malays moved over from Sumatra, and was the most developed part of the Malay Peninsula before it fell to the Portuguese in 1511. Centuries of colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British, as well as development of Straits Chinese (Peranakan) culture, have influenced the architecture of the town. Since the founding of Singapore in 1819, Melaka has been in decline, as its port was silting up and Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have grown. After World War II, anti-colonial sentiment developed amongst Malay nationalists, which led to negotiations with the British, and, eventually the announcement of Independence by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s first Prime Minister, in 1956.”–Wikipedia
I was so tired after traveling yesterday that I slept in until around noon, then lounged around and got ready to go out, which I finally did around 3:00 p.m. I took a leisurely stroll around town and shot a whole boatload of photos, including an old warship and some cannons, the Cheng Hoon Teng Buddhist temple, various intricate Chinese facades, an array of really tweaked statuary and colorful, weird buildings. I chanced upon a really nice restaurant called The Geographer, where I ordered a veggie sandwich that was really a cole slaw sandwich, and some good ol’ French fries. I followed that up with a delicious strawberry yogurt smoothie from Cool Blog inside a refreshing, ice cold air-conditioned mall. A lot of tourists flock to Melaka–especially Japanese–and the locals are mostly Muslim and Chinese. The very walkble center of town–Chinatown in particular–is colorfully scenic and spackled with photogenic areas of grit and decay.
Roll over photos for captions.
All words and photos ©2010 Arcane Candy.
Is the gold buff dude advertising a gym?