Asian Pride!

My friends from KL picked me up outside my hostel at 12:30pm. The Chinatown hub and street was still buzzing with life as I saw families with children shopping and eating well after midnight. The midnight market was about 15 minutes away from the KL city center and I was so lucky to see the city lit up at night. I learned that the midnight market gave vendors the opportunity to sell and this is important for them since maybe they had previously gone bankrupt, or are having trouble getting a business license, or maybe they are turning a new leaf over after messing with drugs and such. The market was absolutely packed and big as well. I think I was the only visitor (tourist!) in the whole place.

I could buy anything and everything from motorbike helmets, steering wheel covers to luggage sets and saris. We had something to eat at around 1:30am. Indian was the choice and my friends told me I was experiencing a typical KL "thing" with people gathered around watching football (soccer) on a big screen drinking teas and shakes (since the Muslim religion does not allow alcohol consumption). It was such a neat experience.

While heading back to the city center, we stopped at Merdeka Square to see the buildings lit up and change color. So many young people were out people watching, showing off cars and motorbikes....the typical big city thing you do:) Anyway, as I got dropped off back at my hostel at around 3:00am, the Chinese restaurant below my hostel was still going strong with customers...amazing!

I woke up late like I had expected and packed my stuff up ready to head to MELAKA about 2 hours bus drive south of KL. I was so excited since so many people have told me wonderful things about the place, including its food of course! I learned from the museum tour the day before that Melaka was fought over by the Portuguese, Dutch and British for its strategic location for trading. I packed a smaller bag for 2 nights planned there and headed out to the main bus station.

The ticket was only $4 on a super deluxe bus that was spacious and clean. I proceeded to make my way to my hostel by following its online instructions. I had to get a local bus and I was happy to walk down the main Chinatown street on my way to the hostel. This main street named JONKER STREET comes alive on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights with a market and that was the main reason I left KL today (Sunday) to get to Melaka.

I was happy to find the hostel easily and was greeted to a very sweet place that backs up right onto the river that runs through the UNESCO world heritage sited town. I got a 3 bed mixed dorm but I guess its pretty quiet tonight and so I got the whole room to myself for $5.50 for the night.

I quickly made friends with the young guy running the place who is Chinese and he asked if I wanted to go to the beach with his sister and friends later that afternoon.....OF COURSE! I dumped my stuff and found something in Chinatown to eat (actually something that my mum makes at home which was sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf! YUM!). The beach was so cute with few tourists and no resorts or anything. The water was warm and we stayed well past sunset playing, jumping off the pier and playing with the local kids.

On the way back home, we stopped at a very local street side market and was shown all the regional Malay delicacies to try including Pandan pancakes, Malay spring rolls and most interestingly....Roti John-this is a big french baguette dipped in a curry like red sauce and toasted on a grill then topped with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and mayo...I can't even describe what it tasted like...but it was good!

What a super day that I had no idea would turn out this way. I got dropped off at the Jonker street sunday night market on the way back which was so great too. Not as big as the Chiang Mai Sunday night walking street market but still great and a lot of local families seemed around. Chinese is heavily spoken so it was neat to be able to practice Hakka to some and also just understand the Mandarin being spoken around me too:)

11pm and all showered now, ready to rest and explore the world heritage town tomorrow.....!