Melaka and Kuala Lumpur

Note: I got back safely to the US a few weeks ago and was able to enjoy spending time with family and friends.  I'll be finishing up with the last 4 posts on my travel.  Best of luck in the new year.

Megan’s audit trips took her to Kuala Lumpur for a weekend.  I was able to catchup with her.  We explored KL a little bit and also sampled Melaka.

Melaka – a past maritime power

Melaka is a historic port town.  Once known as the Venice of the East, old Melaka attracted maritime trade from Europe, Middle East, Indian, China and Southeast Asia.  Its policy as a free trade zone made it an amazingly successful and diverse bazaar.  The wealth inevitably attracted the European colonial powers (the Portuguese, Dutch and British).  Under colonial rule, Melaka’s trade was heavily taxed and the port’s influence and economic vibrancy faded.  Other port cities such as Penang and Singapore were prioritized over Melaka. 

Today Melaka is a small city worth a visit.  The old historical buildings are fascinating and there are museums for every interest.  The maritime museum and ethnology museums are informative and extensive.  The Chinatown neighborhood has plenty of antique shopping but beware as that quality varies.  Melaka has plenty to explore for a day trip or a quick weekend jaunt.

Standing outside the Maritime Museum

Melaka's Chinatown with a cool dragon decoration

Delicious food in Melaka

Melaka has some unique takes on cuisine.  One of the first things we had was Popiah which is a spring roll on steroids.  Like Singapore, Kuching, and Penang, Melaka has its own take on Laksa.  We tried both o those dishes and more at  Nancy's Kitchen Restaurant.  And for dinner we crushed some Satay Celup.  It’s similar to steamboat where we select the raw ingredients on skewers which dump into a boiling vat to cook; the difference being that instead of boiling flavored water there is boiling peanut sauce.  The tables had built in heating and containers to keep the peanut sauce warm.  After a few minutes of sitting in the boiling sauce, the food was ready to devour.  Satay is normally quite tasty and even though the end product was probably not quite as good as normal satay, the novelty of the celup style made it worth trying once. 

The satay celup peanut sauce heating up in the middle of the table.

Megan enjoying playing with her food

Kuala Lumpur

KL is a tin miing town that has boomed into a megacity and the capital of Malaysia.  KL’s metro population is over 7 million and the city is very spread out.  The public transportation is inconsistent thus logistical issues prevented us from fully exploring KL.  There were a few things worth mentioning.

There is a solid bar and restaurant scene in the Golden Triangle area of the city.  It’s good for a night out with plenty of bars and clubs to hop to.  We visited an Irish Bar that played mostly 80s music so we enjoyed that.

We also had an interesting visit to a Ramen restaurant for lunch on Sunday.  After watching ND clinch their undefeated season, we celebrated with lunch.  Megan got a beer and I did the adult thing and ordered a coke float.  The Ramen was fantastically flavorful and it had detailed step-by-step instructions on how to enjoy the Ramen.  It’s not just eating the Ramen; it’s enjoying the smells, the separate tastes and sequencing the eating.  During our lunch we had 3-4 little asian kids stare at us from across the booth dividers, which is a perk of sticking out like a sore thumb.  Our booth had L shaped seating, the best of both worlds (same siding and opposite siding).  When we went to pay for the Ramen, Megan won us a free lunch.  Pretty kick ass.

Ramen, gyoza, beer, and coke float

Singapore-Malaysia Soccer Game

Reading the local newspaper is a great travel tip.  It’s an easy way to understand what the locals are thinking and to relate to them in conversation.  The newspaper is also a source of event information.  We learned about the AFF Suzuki Cup which is a Southeast Asian soccer tournament for the national teams.  Malaysia was hosting Singapore for the first round on Sunday night so Megan and I decided to go.  Neither of us had ever been to a soccer game before so we eagerly anticipated the game.  It was great fun.  The crowd was raucous, especially the Malaysian super-fan supporter section.  They rolled out massive banners, banged on drums and taunted Singapore pretty much all night (see the video below during the national anthems).  We sat in the Singapore section and things got real exciting when Singapore scored.  The 3 Lions as they are known routed Malaysia 3-0 (Note that Singapore would eventually win the tournament as an underdog which is awesome).  It was a cool authentic experience as we were some of the only white people amidst the crowd of 40,000.  A weird thing happened though.  A number of Malaysian strangers would randomly walk up to us and say “welcome to Malaysia” then leave and laugh.  Not sure if it’s an inside joke.

Getting back to the soccer game was an adventure as we almost ran out of money and the trains stopped running.  We contemplated selling our excess possessions to fund our travel back.  Fortunately we found an ATM so I still have my KAMSC t-shirt from high school.  And don’t worry folks this (running out of money) doesn't happen very often to us.  We survived and were able to make it back; Megan worked the next day and I traveled back to Singapore.