Melaka part 1

Mention Malacca and you think of spices, galleons plying the Straits and trading in the age of exploration. Melaka is also witness to the Portuguese, Dutch and British eras of Malaysia. Paint the town red they did, and literally. Today, it is largely a tourist town, with giant malls, residential developments and museums of all sorts--maritime, culture, literature, democracy, even one called the Museum of Enduring Beauty.

Bahasa Pinoys can understand

Our first stop was the Stadthuys, the town hall of old, which houses the History, Ethnography and Literature Museum. There's also a tiny Education Museum within the compound. Here, I was reintroduced to the squat toilet after not seeing one for three years.

We looked at the porcelain, arms, houses, bridal customs, and paintings and dioramas depicting scenes from Melakan history.

what kind of wedding would you like?

The square was being prepared for the World Heritage proclamation the following day so workers were in a hurry to get the garden ready.

There was a tent blocking Christchurch, so there went my winning shot.

But this trishaw, a kitschy (and expensive) form of the pedicab, makes up for it.