Day 7: Melaka to Kuala Lumpur

-Woke up early and had a very chatty taxi driver on the way to the bus station. He was pretty funny, saying he also lived in the states, Melaka state.

-We took a 2 hour bus ride up to Kuala Lumpur. Spent most of the time sleeping. The bus was freezing and kept playing weird music.

-Took the train to the hostel- Reggae Mansion- which is located in Chinatown... again. Nothing wrong with that, just seems to keep happening.

-We checked in and relaxed before heading out for some lunch. The hostel is nice, our room is freezing though and we don't have any windows. Could be worse!

-We went to the Central Market for lunch. It has a bunch of little stalls selling stuff and has a food court on the second floor. After eating we walked over to Merdeka Square, where Malaysia's independence was declared in 1957. However, we first stopped in the very boring Kuala Lumpur City Gallery. They were playing the Euro Cup on a huge screen on the square but only a couple of people were there watching it.

Central Market:

Merdeka Square flagpole:

-We then walked on over to Masjid Jamek, a mosque by the river. I had to get all dressed up for it. It was cool to see but not very big.

Marco being culturally sensitive and pretending to be a wizard (Expecto petronas! like the towers- Marco's joke:

Me in my new robes:

- We went back to the hostel fast and then took a train to the central city to meet up with David (our German friend from Melaka). He was staying at the Impiana, right by the Petronas Towers so we went swimming in the pool there.

At the pool with the Petronas Towers in the background:

- After swimming we went over to the ridiculous mall in the Petronas Towers to grab some dinner. I had some naan and Indian food. After eating we walked around the KLCC Park which was beautiful. There was another light/fountain show, this time to Titanic. The towers definitely look cooler at night.

The light/fountain show:

The towers at night:

-We then walked to the Rum Jungle, a bar close by, to get some drinks for Marco's birthday. There was a shark aquarium above the physical bar which was really cool. Marco took this ridiculous flaming shot.

Marco and his shot:

-We continued our night out in Bukit Bintang, an area that seemed frequented by expats. We stopped by a couple of bars there and made some friends before heading back to the hostel.

Us and our new random friends (David is the one in the blue shirt on the right):

Day 6: Melaka

-Today we woke up after basically no sleep. We spent most of the morning searching for a breakfast place. Most of the restaurants are closed on Tuesdays in Melaka but we finally found one.

-We walked along Jonkers Street to buy some postcards and look around a little more. We then went back to the hotel to rest a little. Walking around in the heat is pretty exhausting.

- We headed back out and walked along the river before heading to the Porta De Santiago (A'Famosa Fort). It was just a few ruins with only the gatehouse remaining. It was built by the Portuguese in 1511. We then walked on to the replica of Melaka Sultanate Palace. It is a replica of Sultan Mansur Shah's palace who ruled Melaka from 1456 to 1477.

Porta De Santiago:

Sultanate Palace Replica:

Some fake people in the palace:

-After exploring we went to have some lunch and drinks. Then went to rest (we saw almost everything already). We played spit, I skyped with the family, then we went to dinner. We found this cheap little place by the water the day before where you can get a meal for $1USD. 


Marco at lunch:

Marco at the river cafe:

The river (our hostel was up on the left):

-After eating we walked to St. Paul's Church to watch the sunset. It was built in 1521 and has had affiliations with Dutch Reform, Catholicism, and Christianity.

Marco at the church:

Sunset on the church (it was too cloudy to see the sun):

Day 5: Singapore to Melaka

-We woke up at 7:15am to catch the MRT to Lavender. There we had to ask around to eventually find the "Golden" bus company. The ride was about 3.5 hours (not the suggested 4 to 5). We stopped at both the Singapore and Malaysian immigration points. Changing buses in Malaysia to head to Melaka. At the Singapore immigration point Marco and me were pulled aside along with the one other white guy on our bus for a 'random' passport check. 

- We spent the bus ride sleeping and reading. Once we arrived we tried to take a bus into town, which turned out to be total chaos. We switched buses twice and everyone just jammed in. Eventually we took a taxi with the other white guy, who turned out to be a German named David.

-We checked in to the Oriental Riverside Hostel (again in Chinatown). The owner was super nice and spent 20 minutes talking to us about what we should do while in Melaka. We settled into our room overlooking the river and then set off.

The Oriental Riverside Hostel on the right:

-We ate lunch at a local haunt named Chop Hung Wah, which is known for their chicken rice balls. Apparently they prepare all the food in the morning and close once it's all finished, which is usually around 2 or 3pm. It was pretty yummy. We then walked around a bit, stopping to look at the Dutch Square and an old Dutch fort.

Bikes used to bring tourists around. They're all covered in bright flowers:

Dutch Square:

Marco at the old Dutch fort:

-The river cruise is one of the big attractions here so we went to do that. It was really nice to see the city/town by water. We saw this huge lizard swimming in the river, which I did not like.

Lizard swimming:

Marco on the cruise, with angry man in background:

The river:

-We eventually ran into David again at a little cafe where we were having a drink. He joined us and we ended up spending the rest of the day together.

-Together we went to look at the temples including Cheng Hoon Teng Temple and Guanyin Temple. We didn't head into the Muslim mosques because it was prayer time. We then walked down Jonker Street, or Jalan Hang Jebat. It's the big street in old Melaka with lots of little stores and restaurants. We went to the Geographer's Cafe, which is pretty big among tourists and backpackers alike.

St. Xavier Francis' Church:

The Mosque:

A statue on the Jonker Walk:

One of the Buddhist temples:

-For dinner we went to Malaysia 13 State Coffee's. The boys had a spicy chicken thing and I had sesame chicken. It was super yummy.

-We made plans to meet up with David in Kuala Lumpur and then went back to the hostel to sleep!