Malacca (English)

Last Friday, after school, I followed Sarodin to Malacca. The evening before, he had already warned me, that if I wanted to follow, I would have got to entertain myself in Malacca, as he has to attend an annual meeting of the city council of Ampang Jaya all day long. For me that was not a reason, not to join the trip, because I know, that Malacca is a small city and all the places of interest are in walking distance from our hotel.

The noble hotel, where we would stay, was another attractive aspect, as I could enjoy all its facilities.

Unfortunately the swimming deck was closed due to leaky pipes. Anyway, if I think back, I would’ve never used the pool.

On arrival, Sardoin went straight to his meeting. We were 15 mins late, which is far away from average Malaysian delays. I slept in the afternoon as I wanted to get rid of my severe sleeplessness, which I was suffering of since our China trip.

During their recess Sardoin and all his friends tried to find a Mamak’s stall, where they could eat the Malacca specialty Asam Pedas, which is a fried fish in spicy sauce.

Afterwards Sarodin’s seminars continued, which is why I went to the historical city center of Malacca alone. Downtown and the historical district were very quiet and there wasn’t much to do. I went back to my hotel, but I took another route, in order to get to know a different area. By chance I could observe a holy Mass in a chinese tempel, which is usually overcrowded of tuorists during daytime. There were many men and women priests in black clothes. Participants of all ages followed the Mass. They sang together all the time, even while they were walking two round tours through the tempel. The priests used music instrument that I have never had seen before.

On my way back to the hotel I met some Malay teenagers. We had a nice time walking together. They answered some of my questions concerning Malacca. The talkativeness of Malays is perhaps the aspect, which I like most about Malaysia.

Finally I arrived at my hotel and had a nice dinner. I wasn’t alone for a long time. Soon I started a conversation with the waiter and the door steward. Once I finished my plate, they ran to the buffet and handed me a new, even bigger one. I love the wide variety of fresh fruits in Malaysia. My favorites are Durian, Rambutan and Pinapple.

Still sleepy, I went to bed very early and decided to weak up right after sunrise on the next morning.

Indeed I rised with the sun and I enjoyed a delicious breakfast, including Nasi Lemak. Nasi Lemak is a traditional dish that includes coconutfat-steamed rice, cooked peanuts, cucumber slices, a boiled egg, tiny and salty fishes and the most important side dish, the hot pepper-chilli-sauce "Sambal".

On my walk towards the city center I admired many nice buildings, such as the Kapung Mosque, a settlement with traditional houses, another Mosque and around four chinese temples, each of which were still deserted in the wee hours of morning. Then I reached the famous city center of Malacca with the old clock tower, the "Stadhuys"-building and the old christ church. Afterwards I went to the famous A'Famosa Castle on a hill in central Malacca. Up there I had a long and interesting conversation with a man, who was working for the city council of Malacca city. He had to fine people, who threw their cigarette butts on the ground.

After having lunch in a nearby shopping mall I headed for the "Potuguese village" in the outskirts of Malacca, just next to the coast. The 5-km route took me some time and the "Portuguese village" was disappointing.

But the wonderful view from St. John's Fort, which is located in the same area, made the walk there worth it. On my way back to another hill with a chinese temple Sarodin asked me to come come as he and his colleagues wanted to search for their dinner.

The meeting would be finished on the same evening. As I had already seen all the places of interest we decided to go back to Shah Alam around midnight.

In the evening Sarodin, one of his colleagues and me went to the coastfront. There were a lot of people hanging around just like us and eating the snacks, that were sold by hawkers. I ate my favourite Durian and corn-flavoured peanuts.

During my trip to Malacca I learned especially a lot about the history of Malacca and even whole peninsula Malaysia. It was another wonderful weekend-trip.