You Say Melaka, I Say Malacca

I had to skip this city to get to KL, but after talking to a few people, including one super convincing cabbie, I decided to backtrack and visit Melaka after all. It's a tiny city that's been occupied over the years by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the Brits so there are very heavy European influences seen in the architecture mixed in with Chinese, Hindu, Burmese and Muslim, who comprised the natives prior to all the takeovers. Slather a layer of tourist chintz on top of all that and you get an interesting town with lovely pockets of shops and cafes, as well as loud and persistent hawkers selling souvenirs and trishaw rides. 

And of course there has to be a Hard Rock Cafe here, right?

A mock windmill as a nod to the Dutch occupation found in the center of town

An around the corner view of the main square

I guess I always thought that forts were supposed to be bigger and higher,

and the protrusion on the side of this one looked like a mushroom to me

A rather impressive, though no longer useful water wheel

 City view from the river

A replica of an old trading ship...or a pirate ship, depending on how you look at it.

The trishaw drivers try to outdo each other on the craziest,

 over the top decorations for their bikes.

Jonker Street is a long lane filled with adorable cafes

 and handmade, as well as cheap touristy type, shops.

You can definitely see where the European influences appear

My yummy dinner at one of the best Pakistani restaurants in the area

I'm not sure what the appeal of fake trees is, but there are

 quite a few of them around here. 

Down Harmony Street you can walk from a Chinese Temple, to a Mosque, to a Hindu Temple without breaking a sweat...and in this heat that means you barely have to move. So close and yet everyone gets along just fine with a bit of respect and consideration. If only more places had that. 

I think this is a specific style of art that gives tigers human eyes, 

but for some reason the effect to me seems doofy.

Mamee is a Malaysian fast food restaurant chain

...if that helps explain this bit of street art

These things are genius, for less than a dollar you get an ice cold egg filled with delicious sorbet...and the egg has feet! If I were still hoarding I'd take the plastic molds home. 

To fulfill my promise, I rode on the cheesiest trishaw I could find. 

This is evidence of that event.

Supposedly this is the first plane to land in Melaka.

And this is the first T-Rex introduced by the Portuguese...or not.

The leftover ruins of St. Paul's church built, as usual, on a hill with lots of steps

The kitteh keeps guard of the ruins...when she feels like it.

Replica of the Emperors Palace. There are lots of replicas around here, 

now that I think of it.

Dim sum for one is not lonely if it's this delicious. Steamed scallops, glutinous chicken rice, pork buns, some already devoured taro cake and milk tea. Happy belly.

To wrap up the visit I took a cruise down the river to see the rest of the sights and hear the tour guide talk about the city. I don't have many good pictures as it was dark, but there was an entire street of shops facing the water that were painted to display the specialties of the area in great big murals for the tourists to see, as well as reconstructed villages of how life used to be here.