Malaysian Towns

We arrived in Melaka just in time for bed. The next day, we spent the morning in the hostel and then took the town bus to the zoo. We saw macaws, small primates, rhinos, birds, tapirs, giraffes, deer, cattle, tigers, leopards, cassowaries, sun bears, monkeys, apes, a reptile house… The coolest part about the zoo was that you could go into some of the enclosures with the animals, like the lemurs, flying foxes, and birds. The tigers and the giant gaur were some of the Asian animals we saw in the zoo that we never would have seen in the wild. We spent a long time resting on a bench and contemplating the giraffes.

It was a hot day, and walking around the zoo tired us out, so we rested and read back at the hostel before heading out at dusk for a romantic Melaka River Cruise. The sky was beautiful, but blackened quickly as we set out in the boat. The river was very flat, because it is dammed at the mouth, and lined on both sides with new and old buildings, whose many-colored lights created beautiful reflections in the dark water. We floated under several bridges, past the giant, historic waterwheel, past the town square and clock tower area, past the carnival-like area with a pirate-ship ride and Ferris wheel, and past cottages built in the 1920s for boatmen and fishermen. Their wives rolled cigarettes for sale while the men worked on the river. The lights, the dark, soft water, and the hot air cooled to a warm and breezy temperature created quite the atmosphere, so afterwards, Malone and I continued the romantic evening by sharing two pasta dishes in town.

In the morning, we walked briefly around the historic part of town before getting on a VERY crowded bus to Port Dickson, where all of the locals were headed for the weekend. Port Dickson wasn’t really a place that catered to tourists, so we ordered food without really knowing what we would get. The next day, we had a breakfast of fried rice in the food stalls along the beach and then rented an umbrella, chairs, and a table for 20 ringit for the day. The beach was really pretty—clear water and reddish sand—but it was also really crowded. The water was filled with anchored motorboats and jet skis and the beach was filled with tubes, banana boats, and umbrellas and tents. We were the only foreigners there for a good part of the day, so it was cool to have a really local experience. However, because it was a Muslim population and everyone at the beach was fully clothed, we didn’t feel comfortable wearing just our bathing suits.

Malone flew a kite that she had purchased while I read Tales of the South Pacific and sustained myself with watermelon, a grilled cheese, fried bananas, and a vanilla ice cream cone, all purchased at the various food stalls along the beach. We watched the sun set over the water. It was beautiful—balmy air, lots of clouds lit by the sun, and the waves breaking on the muddy sand.