Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Malaysia, etc.

On Friday morning we left bright and early for a short trip to Malaysia (by bus). We were joined by Nadiah, Dr. Emmanuel, Dr. Steiner's family, and a tour guide named Francis. Francis meant well, but he was rather...talkative. Almost none of us had eaten breakfast, so after we crossed into Malaysia we stopped in a small town for prata and pulled tea (this amazing milky, sweet tea you can get here). There were tons of stray cats hanging around, but I managed to resist buddying up to them.

After that, we headed to Tanjung Piai Johor National Park, which is home to a mangrove swamp. It's also the southernmost point of continental Asia. We only spent a little while there, which was kind of disappointing since I think mangroves are really interesting.


long-tailed macaque




mangroves!

For lunch, we stopped in a fishing village and had wonderful, fresh seafood. Francis ordered the food for us, so we all got to eat bok choy, tofu, fishball, fried fish, prawns, squid, crab, and possibly the best clams I have ever eaten (they were in a wonderful sauce and were so well-cooked that they melted in your mouth).


The fishing village where we ate lunch


View from the restaurant

From there, we had another few hours in the bus before we reached Melaka (also known as Malacca). Melaka was once an important port on the spice trading routes (it's situated on the Strait of Malacca) and was colonized by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. Influences from all three are still evident today. We stayed in the Puri Hotel, which is in the historic district (it kind of reminded me of the Gloria Hotel I stayed in while in Jerusalem because it also had a central courtyard layout). We arrived in the late afternoon, so after settling in Nadiah took a group of us to the nearby night market (basically, an open-air market that only operates at night). Allison, Laura, Monique and I ended up eating dinner with the Steiners and Dr. Emmanuel, which was fun.

On Saturday, we were all led on a walking tour of historic Melaka by Dr. Emmanuel after eating a wonderful breakfast provided by the hotel. We started out at the Porta de Santiago, the only part of the original Portuguese fort (A Famosa) that remains. It's at the bottom of the hill that is home to St. Paul's Church. After visiting the church, we went into the Melaka History Museum and looked around for a while. From there we walked up and down a few famous streets before eating a splendid lunch at a Peranakan (Malaysian Chinese) restaurant. We were given the rest of the afternoon to explore on our own. That evening, I went back to the night market with Stephany and managed to pick up a few things to give out when I get back.


Porta de Santiago


St. Paul's Church






awesome graffiti/mural





On Sunday, we all checked out of the hotel after breakfast and drove to the countryside for our bike tour. The tour was meant to give us a look at rural Malaysia, and it started out in a palm oil plantation. Almost all of the girls on the trip braved a squatter toilet before starting the journey, which is always tons of fun. I think the bike ride was around 10 km (NOT miles, as many people are claiming) long, and very little of it was on paved ground. One particularly harrowing part was on a narrow path with a barbed wire fence only about a foot away. I managed to make it through relatively unscathed (I have some interesting brusies and scrapes on my legs) although I had a few run-ins with shrubbery and the chain came off my bike at one point after I unintentionally went airborne. The ride was very rewarding (seeing the plantation, some houses, rubber trees, etc.), but I was somewhat relieved when it was over. We ate lunch at a nearby hotel and changed out of our muddy and sweaty clothes in the bathroom before the bus ride back to Singapore.

On Monday, we had class in the morning as usual. I spent the afternoon working, and around dinnertime a group of us headed to K Box, a karaoke bar near PGP. The way karaoke works here is that you and a bunch of friends pay a flat rate for the use of a room with a karoke machine and 2 drinks each. Karaoke was extremely fun, although I'm sure I made a complete fool of myself (you can't really hear yourself singing...). We mostly sang in mobs, though, so it was okay. Selections from the evening: Every Breath You Take, I Believe I Can Fly, Barbie Girl, Wannabe, Hollaback Girl, Toxic, Lady Marmalade, I Want It That Way, Bye Bye Bye, Brown Eyed Girl, Rehab, Say My Name, That's Not My Name, Just Dance, etc...

Tuesday after lunch, Dr. Emmanuel took us around Fort Canning Park and the area around Arab Street. Fort Canning Park once was home to a functioning fort as well as a graveyard. After the tour, a bunch of us ate dinner on Arab Street at this restaurant that makes great murtabak (basically prata with meat in it). I had chicken murtabak, which was both delicious and very filling. Afterwards, Kelsey, Sean, and I bought some mangosteen and then attempted to start researching for our group project, which didn't really work out. However, we DID make it to Clarke Quay in time to get soursop margaritas before happy hour ended (they're significantly cheaper then).


Fort Canning Park



We had free time this afternoon, so I set out on my own to wander around downtown and buy souvenirs for people. I started out at Bugis (there's a big open air market there) and then took the MRT to Chinatown, where I got a bunch of postcards (give me your address if you want one!). Then I got back on the MRT and went to Little India, where I had a delicious dinner of mango lassi and onion masala dosa.



It's Wednesday, which means tonight is ladies' night at all clubs, so we're about to head out to Butter Factory (a club which overlooks the water on Clarke Quay). More later!

Oh, and for the benefit of Noots, a mangosteen experience:




The inside usually looks more appetizing...I kind of mangled this one

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the mangosteen pics! I imagine they must be heavenly when they're so fresh.

    As always, all of your adventures sound great. I'm impressed by your bike trip. I haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid, and I'm afraid I've forgotten how...

    ReplyDelete