the trek to Malacca...

Last weekend marked another new stamping on my passport: Singapore's northern neighbor, Malaysia! Several of the other "international fellows" and I made the 4-hour bus ride up to Malacca, Malaysia. Malacca (or Melaka in Malay) is historically a colonial state. The Portuguese ruled the region beginning in the early 16th century, and then was later ruled by the Dutch and then the British. The post-WWII era yielded anti-colonial sentiment in Malaysia, and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia declared independence of Malacca in 1956.

Now, the colonial influence is most noticeable in the architecture. The Malacca town has an interesting blend of both eastern and western architectural flavor.

Weekend highlights included:

- Harmony Street. A quiet road, home to a Chinese Buddhist temple, a Hindu temple, and a Mosque. All were within a short walk from each other. It was fascinating to witness the distinctive moods and energy of the temple-goers, all of whom were seemingly content in this harmonious microcosm.

- Dan and I scoring front-row seats to the local Karaoke contest (with hundreds in attendance). Most of the performers sang modern Malay songs. However, our favorite was the Malaysian Frank Sinatra. He owned the crowd.

- My conversation with Charles Cham -- a local artist. I wandered into his gallery (the Orangutan House) and struck up some small talk with the man, eventually realizing that he was actually the artist. We discussed the themes of his art -- largely dependent on the philosophy of Yin and Yang-- which I just loved listening to. I bought one his Orangutan t-shirts as a memento.

- Wandering the night market! My one purchase from the market? Chocolate covered grapes on a skewer. Yum!

A portrait: Princeton-in-Asia crew in Malacca.



A guitarist at the ruins of St. Paul's Church (Portuguese).



Charles Cham (the artist) and I.

Buddhist temple, Cheng Hoon Teng.



Just a wee bit of western influence.



Karaoke!



Night market.



This walk made me smile.