A Walk Back into History Part 1

Ah! It was great.

My trip to the Malaysian historical state of Malacca was a memorable and cheerful experience. Well, history isn't my thing. But once we were finally in Malacca, my lack of interest in history became (you guessed it right) history!

Ironic, isn't it?

Anyways, there I was in Malacca with Cheryl, Jojo, Shasha and Rain.

The reason? To celebrate Jojo's birthday and also Cheryl wanted pictures of Malacca for her IDTP assignment!

So off we went in Cheryl's car. Did I tell you she learned driving recently? Here is my verdict: She is a fantastic driver who can drive 100 times (or may be 1000 times) better than me.

Really?

Duh, obviously!

I can't drive! (Keep that as Top Secret, please!)

Anyways, we started our seemingly long journey (well, its wasn't that long...just 2 hrs drive from PJ to Malacca) around 9 am on a sunny morning...

WOOHOO! YAY HOO! (No offence to Gwen Stefani here) I was just excited, alright? Off we went and arrived in Malacca around 11 I guess. I mean, who cares as far as I am there.

Before we checked into our hotel, we went to see the famous Red Buildings or Fort or whatever it is. Cheryl and Jojo kindly told me that Dutch built it decades ago. I was like, "Oh My God! Dutch built?" I was just yards away from a fort built by Dutch during their occupation of Malaysia (don't ask me the year or else I will ignore!)

I was full of excitement and why wouldn't I be. It was Dutch built, man! Dutch!! Then began clicking of cameras and snapping of pictures.

Another attraction next to it was a Church. Yeah, Dutch built too which means only one thing - snapping of more pictures! Click. Did we go inside? Hell, yeah! With my enthusiasm, I could easily be mistaken for someone who haven't seen a Church in my entire life. Well, not a Dutch built one, right? Click. Click. Click.

A couple of rounds around the area and snapping of more pictures later, we finally decided to go and grab a bite. At a place called some Baba Nyonya or something or nothing. Food was good - Malaccan food.

I can't wait to explore Malacca. That's when we spotted the Red Bus which takes visitors around Malacca. We instantly decided to board it. Mainly because it reminds us of the infamous London Red Bus. It indeed was a very London-like expereince on board the bus.

I was so engrossed in this London-like experience that for a second, I thought I saw Big Ben. Wait a minute, Big Ben in Malacca? Oh no! Something's not right here. Zap! Back to Malacca. Oh God! I was drifiting to London. How embarassing.

The rest of the bus tour was solely dedicated to Little Britain! Literally I mean we joked about LB the whole time! God, it was fun, fun and fun....After the tour, the bus brought us back to the Dutch biult Red Buildings/Fort. Why was I so proud to stand next to it? (Mental note: find out why)

Time to head to A-famosa. How did we go there? Walked all the way. Oh, Yeah! It was fun, climbing all the way to the church built by the Portuguese in (year unknown to me as usual) The church was at the top of this mountain or somethin like that! Wait, did I mention it was built by Portuguese? Yes, portuguese!

Oh my God! Portuguese-built church. I was out of word (Where's the camera?) Click. Click. Click.

Enough of church! I mean enough pictures to last long for a lifetime. Where's A-famosa? Down below where I am standing right then. We hurried along the stairways to A-famosa (Portuguese built) Guess what now? Bravo! More pictures and poses!

We then headed to the shopping mall situated just outside A-famosa - to grab a drink. It was quite hot in Malacca. All of us headed straight to Starbucks (of course, Vanaan's NOT there. He can't be at all Starbucks outlets at the same time. I am not that silly) At S'bux, I ordered my favourite Java Chips and we all relaxed for a good while.

Time to go to hotel and check in!

Ever since I came to Malacca, I have been spotting these weird flowery-bicycle-looking-yet-not-exactly-flowery-bicycle things knonw as "BECHA". Oh, they are cool! How would it be like to ride in one of them! I found out soon enough! Excited as I was, we called on three of those flowery-bicycle-cum-rickshaws. Cheryl and Shasha hopped into one, Jojo into another and Rain and I were seated in another!

Off we went. When the rider/driver/whoever began pulling that thingy, it was so cool for a while. I liked it. But then I felt weird. Really, really weird. For a reason, of course!. Imagine a S'bux drink in my hand, sitting in a "becha" like a moron. Ever heard history mixing with modern times. Well, here goes an excellent example in a weird way!

And to add to more humour, suddenly from the "becha" in which Cheryl and Shasha were seated in, hindi music (back from the 80s) burst out. I was speechless for a while and then burst out laughing for reasons not known. But trust me, it was hilarious.

Why? Well, consider this. You are riding in this funny flowery rickshaw (ok becha) and out burst hindi music from a movie I watched when I was a kid. The song goes like, "Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy... aaja, aaja, aaja.."

On and on the music went and along we rode, all of us laughing and cackling as I kept yelling at Jojo and Cheryl explaninig why the scenario is just so weirdly funny. Off we went engrossed in the song! Needless to say, the song had such an impact on us that we all were haunted by it for quite a while.

That defintely was an experience worth our time!