The Family Visit- Week 2

Granny was keen to see a bit more of Asia so for the second week of her stay we visited Malaysia.

We first flew to Kuala Lumpur and checked into our hotel that was conveniently located midway between   the KL and Petronas towers and with good views of both. Here we met up with the rest of the family newly arrived from their travels to Cambodia and Thailand.

 That evening we went out to explore and of course found ourselves on Jalan Petaling. This street is famous for it's market stalls selling everything from clothing, watches and fake designer handbags. After bargaining hard (actually we were all pretty bad at bargaining) we made a few purchases and enjoyed watching the goings on in this area. 

 We then went to see the fountains display at the Petronas Towers which just look stunning at night time

The next morning we returned to the Petronas Towers as we were booked to go up  and walk across the Skybridge on the 41st floor and then up to the Observation Deck on the 86th floor. 

 PW showing the pass that you get when you book the tour

 The views were amazing, sadly it was rather hazy so we didn't get very far reaching views but they were still very impressive.  Looking down we saw men in a suspended platform doing maintenance on one of the towers-not for the faint hearted

On the Skybridge

 Then up to the 86th floor where you can see the second tower and the KL tower behind. The ground seemed a very long way down

Only a few miles from the city centre are the Batu Caves which I had been wanting to visit for quite a while. The caves have been developed into a hindu shrine to Lord Muruggan also known as Lord Subramaniam and a gigantic statue of him stands at the foot of the immense staircase that leads up the limestone crags into the cave and to the shrine

 Before ascending the stairs we visited the small temple and before we knew it we had received a blessing and a red smudge on our foreheads

 

 Suitably blessed and saronged we started to climb the stairs and were soon surrounded by monkeys looking for food they could snatch from us

 The cave 'hall' is enormous and we were fortunate that it wasn't too busy

The next day we hired a mini van and driver to take us to Malacca (also called Melaka) we stayed at the lovely Majestic Hotel which has been renovated in Peranaken style and was delightful

 We were shown to our rooms and served jasmine tea from a traditional Peranaken Tea set and holder

Malacca is one of the oldest cities in the Straits of Malacca it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. It was the centre of the Malay world and a huge trading port in the 15th century before it fell to the Portuguese. It was later colonised by the Dutch and then the British and developed further by the Straits Chinese; called Peranaken.

 It has more recently become well known for it's laid back attitude, pretty streets, good food and tourists flock there, although it didn't feel too crowded whilst we were there.

 Jonkers street is Chinatowns main street, full of antiques, clothing and souvenir shops and a night market, unfortunately only at weekends so we didn't get to see this.

 Many of the shops are within shophouses and have beautiful interiors and a central opening allowing in light and air

 The red painted Stadthuys complex in Dutch Square dates from 1660-1700

 In the square many brightly decorated trishaws wait for passengers

Behind the square is St Paul's Hill and at it's summit the remains of St Paul's Church with some interesting tombstones 

The river was interesting to walk along starting at the huge water wheel

 past decorated houses, many are cafes or guest houses

 Parts of the river was not so well developed and the housing was much 'simpler' 

That evening we went back into town, the trishaws were covered in lights and PW and AW took one trishaw and  raced Papa T and Granny C in another-not sure who is in which or who won

After dinner we took the river taxi back to our
hotel, it was lovely seeing the streets and homes lit up

On the other side of the river and opposite our hotel was Kampung Morten, a village of wooden stilt houses. I had read that one home; Villa Sentosa is open to visitors and functions as a museum. It has been preserved in traditional Malay house setup of the 1920's and on our final morning I walked over the bridge to find it

When I first arrived there was no sign of anybody but after calling out "hello" a few times I heard an answer and an elderly lady beckoned for me to come in. Inside the house seemed frozen in time with crockery and kitchen utensils, furniture, clothing and ornaments from many years ago.

The elderly lady spoke a little english and told me she had been born in the kampung, her father had built the house and lived there with his wife and their 12 children. She said she still lived here with family members. I'm not sure how old she was, she said she was 104 but then said she was born in 1926 which would make her only 89! 

 It was a fascinating visit and I wished I could have stayed longer and have conversed more easily with the the inhabitants to find out more but it was time to pack up and head back to Singapore with my family for their last day in Asia.

There was only one thing left to do with the family in Sinagpore...

.... have a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel of course

 Yes it is a very touristy thing to do but a fitting way to end the family's holiday, especially for PW and AW who had waited 25 years to have a Singapore Sling- Raffles had been closed for refurbishment when they had last been in Singapore. 

Hopefully it won't be that long again before they visit us again