Melaka - an uncomfortable walk...

Melaka through the viewfinder

It was a bustling trade city. Until, the Portuguese, the Dutch and then, the British came, conquered it, and then, kind of fucked it. The Chinese were supposed to protect this city, but my guess, is that they failed. Now, one of the first things I saw when I reached Melaka, was two funeral homes in the small China Town area. I thought, how appropriate, because I get the feeling that this city is dead. Its silence hit me when I reached, I walked around the small lanes of Chinatown and the Dutch square, with an uncanny feeling; I felt a kind of emptiness surrounding this old town, where its people are just living, going about their daily lives in silence, waiting for death.

Of course, this was just on reaching. The next morning, I got out on the street, I heard the sound of automobiles, and a bit of that creepy feeling went away. Melaka is a charming little port town, but my sentiments are that it is lacking soul. A bit of music on these small streets filled with small houses connected one after the other would go a long way into giving this town a bit of soul. This is just me talking.

Melaka seems to be famous with Asian tourists. It’s filled with them, I think mostly Chinese, and they keep clicking picture after picture after picture of themselves. I got to experience what every white tourist experiences in India, when I was asked 3 times by Asian women, to pose with them for pictures. I was completely puzzled, but flattered.

Good luck finding a place to eat here before 11am and after 7pm, everything is closed beyond these times. But when the “restorans” (Malay word for restaurant) are opened, they are filled with people. I found out what it’s like to eat at the original “Malaka Spice”.

Capitol Satay is a small restoran, made with steel tables and stools, where there’s a hole in the middle of each of these tables, with a gas stove underneath the table. As you sit, they put a big casserole of satay sauce and it starts bubbling and boiling. You help yourself to a self service range of satay sticks (tofu, okra, other greens for me… a big range for non veggies) in a steel buffet and then go back to your seat, and insert the satay stick in the boiling sauce… one word… YUM!

I also had an overpriced experience of drinking Chinese tea, but it was worth it. In a Chinese tea museum, the owner sits down with you, helps you select the tea, prepares it for you and then pours it for you in a small tea pot and then in a small cup, and explains to you the story of the tea. Phoenix tea is a tea from South China, it is good for your blood circulation and it is a semi-fermented green tea.