Car Park Drama

So, the day started with a bang ... when my rental car got possessed and reversed at full speed across the hotel car park into another car.

I'd rented the car the day before with Jen, the English girl I travelled to Langkawi with. We explored the island and I drove all day with no issues. We returned late in the night and I parked the car and all was well.

It seems surreal even as I think of it now ... So, this morning, I decide to go get some breakfast. I'm standing outside the vehicle, leaned in to switch on the ignition to let the a/c air cool things up a bit and I saw the gear-stick move and the car just spurted backwards. I'm half-in and half-out the car trying (irrationally) to hold it still, I reach for the hand-break - it's already engaged but the car is still accelerating across the yard. All this time (matter of seconds) I'm being dragged along, my flip-flops have fallen off and my feet are sliding against the gravel and I know without a doubt that the only way this was going to end was with a collision. Which, the car obligingly did seconds later.

I jumped in to quickly kill the engine and assess the damage to both myself and the vehicles. Both my car and I only sustained minor scratches - me on my shins and my car on its fender. The other vehicle ended up with a dented hood ... my car was larger and higher :(

I put the car back in 1st gear and drove back to my original starting point, about 20ft away, and got shakily out the car. Only then did I notice a couple with a kid in the car beside me. They had witnessed the entire thing but had just sat there watching. And when I got out the car, they just looked at me then simply put their car in reverse and drove out the parking lot. Weird.

I went into the reception to find out if they knew the owner of the blue car. They didn't know and weren't very interested in my story anyway. I'd ditched the idea of breakfast, which was what I initially set out to get and head back to my room for some strong black coffee lol

2 hours later, I'm at reception expecting that someone would have come in to say something about their car, but there was nothing. So, I simply check out, drive the car back to the rental office, they made a cursory inspection and gave me back my full deposit and I leg it to the ferry station to get off Langkawi Island and back to mainland Penang lol

Soulful Melaka

I'm loving Malaysia. It's an interesting country that blends 3 cultures together in harmony ... Malays, Chinese and Indian. This is reflected in the food, the culture and the religious mix. On some streets, in some cities, you will pass by a mosque, a church, a Buddhist temple and an Indian temple ... all a few doors down from each other and all co-existing peacefully. I think lots of other countries could learn a thing or two about tribal and religious tolerance from the people here.

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple - The oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia

Kampung Kling Mosque

St. Francis Xavier

Buddhist Monks at prayer - Cheng Hoon Teng

And the food, OMG, there is so much of it. People are just eating ALL of the time lol As for all the fresh fruit juices, I'm in heaven most of the time :)

Melaka, a fascinating old city with Dutch, Portuguese and English influences. My hostel on the river-front in Chinatown was a real treat. It was in a gorgeous, old-school neighbourhood with old Chinese men shooting the breeze in doorways and street hawkers selling delicious treats at night. 

Dutch Square (Stadhuy's Building)

Friendly neighbourhood traders :)

The river-front itself was a thing of beauty, many of the houses along the river had colourful murals all over their walls, and the whole thing was lit up at night.

River-side murals

River view

Artist at work

The river at night

With Laura, Gaultier, Ruth & Steve

I found a nice little dim-sum place around the corner and went there everyday for breakfast for the whole week I stayed in Melaka. By the end I was in nodding acquaintance with the Chinese regulars and the servers would bring me my favorite dim sum dishes lol

Dim sum breakfast with Gaultier

I tried the Satay Celup (a fondue-like cuisine using a pot of bubbling satay, rather than cheese, to cook your skewers of food), Laksa Nonya (a popular spicy coconut-based noodle soup of a belend of Chinese and Malay elements, which included bean curd puffs, fish sticks, shrimp and garnished with Vietnamese coriander (or laksa leaf, also known in Malay as daun kesum), Popiah (Nyonya fresh spring rolls with shredded jicama, shrimp and/or pork, plus diced bean curd wrapped with fresh popiah skin, Cendul (an interesting confection of shaved ice doused with multi-coloured hues of palm sugar syrup, topped with a green worm-like jelly made from rice flour, red kidney beans, creamed corn and creamy coconut milk ... sounds totally revolting but tastes sublime) ... and so much much more, but those were the highlights :)

Satay Celup

Popiah

Laksa Nonya

Layered milk tea

Cendol ... yum:) !!!!

 
























































I also go a taste for Layered Milk Tea, consisting of layers of tea, milk and thick green cane syrup :)

Mods Cafe

The funkiest cafe I came across served delicious lattes out the back of a hippy camper van. The owner was a young Chinese-Malay guy who hoped cafe culture would explode in Melaka in the next few years. He made great coffee. 

Colorful flower-bedecked trishaws.

One way to experience the many streets of Melaka is on a trishaw. These 'vehicles' are a sight for sore eyes. They are colorful, bold, kitsch and more often than not have an in-built boom-box behind the back wheels.  It seems the drivers all try to outdo each other on who can have the most tacky and OTT ride lol

Jonker Street night market

A visit to Jonker Street night market is an interesting way to kick off a Friday night. I spent some time strolling down a crowded street with my travel buddies. There were stalls on either side selling all manner of colourful knick-knacks, clothes and antiques. We indulged in the offerings from the many hawker stalls (staying well clear of the durian fruit sellers lol).  Then we grabbed a street-side table at a bar on one of the side roads for some drinks and a good dose of people-watching :)

Re-Inspired :)

Heyup My People :) It appears the Asian heat has gone and melted away my 'writer's block' ... I've gotten re-inspired, got my travel mojo back and I'm brimming full of things to share with you all :)

This feeling's been bubbling up the past few days but I've only just taken action, so I'm going to back-track over a few days in some posts and lump up several days' experiences together in other posts, until I get to present day :) Also, I might repeat some things that some of you might already have seen on FB, so just bear with me for a while.

First couple of days in Singapore and my skin and hair are just soaking in the moisture ... we loves the tropical weather!!!  My crash-pad, Bunc Hostel, in the Little India District is fabulous. Its a relatively new establishment so everything's still sparkly and bright and the staff are wonderful.

Corridor

Ladies Lounge ... yup, a room just for the ladies to chill out lol

My first nosey around was in the Little India and Dhoby Ghaut neighbourhood.

The neighbourhoods are bright, loud and teeming with people of all colours. The air is heavily fragranced with the scent of spices and incense. Everywhere I look, there are splashes of colour and it all feels very vibrant and alive.

Cultural Zone

Sim Lim Tower ... apparently this building is going to be taken down soon to make way for an extension of  the MRT lines. 

Juice Bar at the Bugis Street Mall

Institute of Art 

Creative Indian Restaurant

Market stall - elephant knick knacks

Hand embroidered silk cushion

What-nots :)

Jade, onyx, brass and wood sculptures

Veggies :)

Couldn't resist the colours of this building.
It was begging to be photographed.

Pungent blooms

I tried to do a bit of clothes shopping, which turned out to be a maddening experience.  

Basically, if you are anything larger than a size 6 in Singapore, then most shops don't carry your size. Well, they certainly didn't carry mine lol. I eventually managed to find a dress that fit AND that I liked, so I counted myself lucky and successful for the day.

This strenuous experience left my feet so traumatized that nothing but a 1hr reflexology massage would do lol ... it was heaven and I was left with happy feet :)

I strolled through the neighbourhood again later that night to get some dinner and it was like all the female folk had been spirited away ... very strange.  I decided to go more upmarket the next day and head to the Harbour Front and Sentosa.

Meanwhile, the heat is ever constant. I believe my total shower count for the day today was 3 showers ... eeekk!!!  I keep telling myself I'm not sweating, I'm glowing :)

Hmmmmm ...

It's been 4 months since my last post and I feel slightly ashamed that I all my good intentions to maintain a blog seem to have fallen by the wayside. In fact, so has the good intention to maintain a diary. I'm putting it down to writer's block lol

I'm experiencing lots of great things, some introspective (and sometimes conflicting) insights, some annoying stuff and some downright giddy-happy feelings, but when it comes to putting it down in print, I just blank out ... or sometimes, I just can't be bothered. This apathy is not a good thing, especially when all around me, I see people constantly taking time out to do exactly that.

At some point, I might attempt a retrospective update of the missing months lol

I'm still going to give myself a pat on the back though, as I've have done well to chronicle my travels through pictures on FB.  It might be a cop out, but that'll have to do for the moment :)