Tues 13th - Time to leave our lovely hostel Le Meridien and back to the real travelling. Caught flight to Johor Bahru on the mainland, and then to the bus station to get to our next destination, Melaka
(still extremely hot, not acclimatised yet, not sure we ever will). Stayed at Heeren House (A&A, the cheesecake was yummy!) overlooking the river. Melaka is small and quaint compared to the big cities and had lots of arty shops etc. Used umberella to shade us from the sun - felt like Japanese tourists. Looked for an internet cafe in the evening, made the mistake of asking a trishaw driver and ended up being taken in the trishaw which was covered in lights and plastic flowers! The aged trishaw guy gave us an unnecessarily long ride, lucky not much of the journey was uphill as this could have finished him off. Had some good cheap nonya curry (mix of Malay and Chinese)
Weds 14th - Had breakfast in a traditional Peranakan townhouse in Chinatown. These houses have open courtyards inside their centre and lots of them have gardens/ponds. V. peaceful and relaxing. Walked round Chinatown (yet another one - must go to the one in Manchester when we get back). Strolled round the craft and antique shops. Still really really hot, P even bought a straw cowboy hat for extra shade (see pictures) Ate local speciality in eve - chicken with rice balls (not chicken balls) - flavoured rice moulded into balls believe it or not - v. tasty though.
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