Hello Kitty!

We were really looking forward to our trip to Melaka, it seems that neither of us are into big cities any more and we jumped at the chance to be by the river in a UNESCO world heritage city. Being Chinese New Year, it was an interesting mix of shops and businesses shut for the holiday and a ridiculous number of people holidaying there due to an extended weekend. Melaka was probably the busiest it could ever be and we decided to embrace the exuberant tourism also. Well, I did and Tony followed reluctantly, most clearly when I befriended

the trishaw driver Omar who happened to own one very very pink 'Hello Kitty' trishaw.
My trusty 'Lonely Planet' told me that Melaka is the only place in Malaysia to still use trishaws and not wanting to have another form of transport cease to exist, I wanted to hand over a big 50 ringgit note. Tony felt his masculinity was somehow going to be questioned by his accompanying me in this humorous activity but thankfully was won over by not only my persistence but Omar's character. He was about 70 and still riding people around since beginning back in the 70's. He's fathered 7 children and part of me wanted to not only keep this fun tradition alive, but support this man who works harder than either of us ever will. Well, that was my first impression until he kept riding us to museum

after museum, stopping to have a ciggie whilst we wandered off. He was on a winner here!
50 ringgit aside, it was one of the highlights of our trip so far for it's fun factor and total embrace of being a tourist plus the genuine great way to see the city quickly and get ones bearings. I loved it! Best of all, when night came, they all turned on their LEDs and sound systems, pumping top 20 songs and the song from 'Frozen' where we watched as little Malaysian children sang at the top of their lungs the lyrics to the song.
"Let it go, let it go!" will be forever burned in our ears!
Melaka has ruins from 1500, a beautifully restored river frontage, ancient kampungs and a lively Chinese night market. Embracing Dutch and British colonisation as well as Indian and Chinese migration, Melaka has had an interesting history as the most important port on the spice trade route but now, a busy tourist destination. Given longer to explore the museums and time from the maurauding visitors, Melaka would've been a firm favourite of us both as we both loved the contrast to KL and the sweet little home stay we slept at complete with pussycats, expansive gardens and roaming chooks. I particularly loved seeing Tony eat with his hands at the Indian banana leaf restaurant where we became the attraction due to our eagerness to embrace Indian Melaka heritage.