Weekend Trip to Malacca: July 25-27, 2008

Our group left the UPSI library Friday morning at 10am to head down south to Malacca. Malacca is a historical and touristy city on the southwestern coast of Malaysia. It once was the center port for the Portuguese. The bus ride there took a total of about 3 ½ hours but that is partly my fault. On the way south we had to stop in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to quickly pick up my computer. When the bus reached KL, Kurnia and I had to quickly jump off the bus, run into the KLCC (Twin Towers mall), and make a mad dash for the computer store. Since the towers are in one of the busiest places downtown, the bus couldn’t park. Instead it had to drive around the block. So in order to make it up to the 3rd floor in the mall, get my computer, and be back down again, I pretty much made a spectacle of myself running through the fancy mall in Malaysia. Kurnia and I must have looked like crazies. Bu good news: My computer is in working condition and was covered fully under warranty! Wahoo! We made a mad dash back down to the main floor, flew out the doors and ran down the sidewalk, waiting for the bus to circle back around.

We made it safely back onto the bus and drove the rest of the way to Malacca with only a short stop for lunch at a rest area. When the bus pulled into our hotel, Everly Resort Hotel we were
all stunned. This place was 4-star, on the beach, with a pool, and glass windows lining the entire lobby.

Our rooms were just as nice. 6 people per room stayed in an apartment like room with an overlooking view of the pool and the Straits of Malacca. Seriously, why couldn’t we stay here for the rest of the trip? The first thing most of us did was head down to the pool! I wanted to swim in the ocean but the beach we were on had really dirty black looking water and there were dead fish floating just a few feet out. I opted for the chlorinated water instead. That evening we went out to dinner around 7:30pm, in the downtown area. Instead of just a typical restaurant, we went to a famous food court that had many types of food. I sat with Courtney and Katie L. as all three of us had chosen to eat Chinese inspired satay. Satay is like small kebobs grilled in peanut sauce. I had both chicken and squid. Yummy! After dinner we were given time to explore some of the local shops and peruse the more upscale stores in the mall. Really, the shopping never gets old. At 10pm our bus took us back to our luxurious rooms where we watched TV, relaxed, and enjoyed the hot, HOT, showers. (I won’t lie; I probably stood in the scalding hot water for 20 minutes before I even considered getting out.) It was the first real hot shower I’d had since Renee and I had been in KL.

The following day, we left the hotel at 9am in search of a breakfast stall selling nasi lemak. This is a typical Malaysian breakfast of rice, a really spicy chili paste, and usually a fired egg on top. That with a strong cup of the dark Malaysian coffee makes for a fantastic wake-up call. From breakfast we were invited to another education university in the area. Insitut Perguran Perempuan Melayu (IPPM) an all women’s college that focuses specifically on education. It is also the oldest teacher training college in Malaysia, having opened in 1935. All of the student here are Malay women of the Muslim faith. In normal Malaysian hospitality, we were warmly welcomed, taken on a tour of the campus, and fed lunch with some of the students from IPPM.

Upon leaving the university, we then headed to the historical part of town where there were remnants of the Portuguese. The town square was exploding with tourists, small shops, and rickshaws ready to whisk you away.

We walked about 5 minutes to get to a replica of a sultan’s home that had been destroyed when the Portuguese came. The house was made completely out of beautiful dark wood and hosted a museum inside showcasing the history of Malacca and traditional dress outfits of each Malaysian state. We also climbed about 200 steps to reach the remnants of a fortress at the top of a hill. From here you could see all the way out to the ocean. No matter how many times I see an ocean, I can’t help but feel so small. The view was incredible, but the weather was so hot and many of us were becoming very tired. To get back to the bus, Kurnia had 7 rickshaws ordered to drive us through the crowds and back to our starting place.

At this point in the day I was craving a nap and some time at the pool, but unfortunately were not done with our touring. Instead of going back to our hotel like many of us really were hoping for, the bus drove us to a place called Mini- Malaysia. This is an outdoor cultural center where we saw a traditional dance. Here, we were also able to see traditional Malaysian homes from each of the 14 states in Malaysia. It was very cool to go inside the replicas at first, but by the 5th or 6th house you could tell our group was losing steam. Finally, right before 6pm, we headed back to our hotel to relax and shower before dinner at 8:00pm.

Dinner turned out to be a decently sized food stall next to the ocean. While it was wonderful to sit near the shore with the breeze blowing in, dinner itself turned out to be the last straw for some people, me included. While I know I am in Malaysia and things are not the typical comfortable, clean-freak American way, I really was craving a sense of home. All the frustrations from the long day of walking around in the hot sun when we really wanted to spend some time relaxing after a stressful week hit a tee with me at dinner. For whatever reason, the service was incredibly slow, many of us received the wrong order, and our drinks were served only halfway through the meal. Ordering was a nightmare in itself as there are not usually menus for everyone to look at; you just have to “know” what you want. Mercifully I was able to keep most of my complaints under my breath but I was not alone in the feeling of frustration. In order to wind down when we got back to the hotel, I stood in the hot shower again, for a wasteful amount of time.

(Group shot at the wedding)

Sunday, our entire group was invited to a wedding of one of the host families. The wedding was 3 hours out of our way but we had accepted the invitation to go. Weddings in Malaysia are so unlike those at home. Here, whole towns come to see the couple get married, eat all day, and celebrate. Everyone brought his or her traditional Malaysian outfits (baju karongs and baju kabayas) to change into on the bus. We arrived around 12:45pm and it was so hot in that afternoon. But like all other times we have been guests, we were treated like royalty with tables prepared just for us and a bottomless-plate lunch was served. When it came time for the ceremony, the groom was walked toward the house with a parade of men playing drums. The bride then emerged from the “women’s house” to meet her husband. Before they entered the house to be photographed and blessed with rose water, they sat in chairs side-by-side and members of their family performed celebratory dances for them.

The bride then went into the house first and the groom had to make his way through the crowd to get to her. In order to show his desire to reach his bride, the groom traditionally hands out money to those blocking his way. Lucky me, I scored a ringgit! Unlike a home, there is no formal marriage ceremony in a church, just this joining of families for celebration. We left shortly after this took place since the drive back was estimated to take about 6 hours. Getting on the bus never felt so good; all of us had sweat through our dress outfits and were thankful to feel the icy AC.

We arrived back at UPSI in Tanjung Malim around 9pm (rather than 6pm like we had told our host parents) and I was really glad to be done traveling for the weekend. As much fun as I had learning about the history and culture of southern Malaysia, I had hoped this weekend away would have provided me with some relaxation. Oh well, just another week ahead. And as the Malaysian saying goes, “To visit Malacca is to visit Malaysia.” And luckily, this coming week is only 3 days long as we leave on Thursday for Penang!