Malacca

Arrived in Kualu Lumpur, or KL as everyone calls it, and then on to Malacca the next day to meet our good friends from home, Bill and Debbie. Malacca was hot and touristy, though mostly with non-western tourists. There were Interesting shop houses among the many narrow streets, and a mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, and British architectural influences, in this once thriving port and city state. The city was more or less founded by Parameswara, a Hindu prince from Sumatra in the late 1300's. Now it is a mix of Indians, Straits Chinese, and ethnic Malays. The Chinese have been here some 500 years or so, whereas the majority of Indians did not come until after the British in the early 1800's. The ethnic malays are Austronesian peoples from disparate backgrounds, including south coastal Thailand, Burma, Borneo, and parts of what is now Indonesia.

In the middle of the day, we went for a boat ride on the Malacca River to cool off. Marginally effective, it was good way to see this former trade route.

In the evening we took a stroll along the river walk.

Another view of the river from a bridge downtown

Though I cut my toe on one of the very uneven sidewalks, we all managed to avoid this place.

The best part of the experience was eating at Amy's Nyonya Restaurant.









A very friendly Amy, who spent three weeks cooking at the UN in New York, helped select the dishes, which were a mixture of all the various cultural influences in this polyglot city.









It was a fabulous meal, though I can't remember the names of what we ate, nor can I adequately describe it. Her cousin, Florence Tan, has a cookbook which which I intend to purchase. It was so good we went back for lunch the next day. We also had a melt in your mouth tandoori chicken and naan in a more modest place, while sitting outside.

Yes, we saw the sites, but the food is what I will remember.


On the other hand, I couldn't resist a shot of this guy.