the historical city of Melaka, Malaysia
I visited Melaka (also spelled Malacca), Malaysia on October 14-16, 2005 as a belated birthday trip. The state of Melaka is the third smallest Malaysian state located on the southern region of the Malay Peninsula. The capital is the historical town of Melaka which is about 150 km south east of Kuala Lumpur.
Melaka is unique because although it is the location of one of the earliest Malay sultanates, it was abolished when the Portuguese came in 1511. Since then it has been under the Dutch, British and Japanese control until it was incorporated into the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and eventually became part of Malaysia in 1963. Just imagine the rich mixture of culture and history playing up in this small unique town.
I went there via Singapore and was met by a friend at the Changi Airport and immediately we headed to cross the border. If I remember it right, it took only about 20 minutes to cross the Singapore-Malaysia border. Still feeling sleepy from having to wake up early that day, my adventure started when at the immigration checkpoint (it was like a toll gate where you have to open your car window and present your passport and ID) the officer motioned me to follow him to the office. Inside the officer excitedly told another officer (maybe his boss) "she just landed! she just landed!" while pointing at the Singapore entry stamp in my passport. The other officer looked at me and i calmly explained that I already travelled to Singapore earlier that year (he checked the old entry/exit stamps and nodded) and that this time I want to explore the southern part of Malaysia. I explained further that I was going there with my friend who already resides and works in Singapore. Both officers scrutinied my passport one more time while talking in their language and to my relief, they stamped it, handed it to me and i was escorted back to the car. Whew! how's that for starters? haha.
The drive to the town of Melaka took another 4 hours and it was the cleanest highway i've been to in my life so far, both sides of the highway lined with tall green trees (i wish i knew what they are called) to complete the setting of a very relaxing stress-free drive.
The good thing about Melaka is that the town is so small you don't need a car to hop from one tourist spot to the other or you can choose to ride the fun-looking colorful tri-shaws. Here are some photos i took during our walking tour of this historical town:
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| Fort A Famosa constructed by the Portuguese in 1521 and suffered severe damage during the Dutch invasion |
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| local kids having their class photo taken in front of the surviving gate of Fort A Famosa |
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| Proclamation of Independence Memorial built by the British in 1912 and formerly known as Melaka Club, it now houses a rich memorabilia of Malaysia' struggle for independence |
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| wooden replica of Melaka's Sultanate Palace built in 1984 which officially became the Cultural Museum in 1986 |
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| must-ride: colorful trishaws draped in garlands |
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| Stadthuys also known as the Dutch Square or Red Square was built in 1650 as home to the Dutch Governor and his Deputy; now serves as Museum of History and Ethnography |
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Christ Church Melaka built in 1753 exhibiting true Dutch architecture located on top of a hill overlooking Melaka  bottom: Dutch Windmill; Youth Museum; Maritime Museum; statue of St. Francis Xavier |
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| top L-R: the straits of Malacca top of photo; Hotel Equatorial; Sultanate Palace bottom L-R: view from Hotel Equatorial; welcome sign; residential buildings |
We also checked out Jonker Street famous for antique goods and had lunch at an antique shop (i can't remember the name) which offered free internet surfing while they prepare our food (weeee!) :) The best part of the trip was dinner at Hotel Equatorial where, to my surprise, the strings quartet played the Malay version of the song "Anak" made famous by Freddie Aguilar, a popular filipino artist whose song was translated into various languages. What a pleasant surprise, indeed!
The drive to Singapore to catch my flight back to Manila was uneventful. No more drama at the immigrations stop.
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