January 8-12, Singapore and Malacca

On Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Lindsay and I began our 9 weeks of traveling in Southeast Asia. We met in Singapore and stayed in a commercial district called Clarke Quay that's known for its restaurants, bars and lounges. I arrived late on Thursday so we didn't have time to do much else than to slurp down a plate of fried noodles.

On Wednesday we met up with Lindsay's Sri Lankan friend Ruchi and his German friend Phillip to explore the Singapore Zoo. The zoo is unique in that it limits caged enclosures in favor of moats to divide the animals from the people. In addition, the grounds were heavily wooded and situated on a large lake which added to the "wild" and jungle-like atmosphere. The zoo held a wide variety of animals--we mingled with lots of primates, some kangaroos and had a close-up view of swimming polar bears, overall it was a nice experience. We then took a cab to Little India and ate lunch at a small restuarant. There were not very many patrons at our restaurant but the food was inexpensive and tasty, I especially enjoyed the mutton and beets. After some downtime at the hotel and a (cheap!) sushi dinner, Lindsay and I headed to a bar on the 70th floor of the Swissotel to meet up with Ruchi, Phillip, and two Germans (a pair of siblings named Anna Carolina and Sebastian) that Lindsay met upon her arrival into Singapore. Anna and Basti were both very friendly and welcoming, hanging out with them was definitely a great way to start our trip. After a drink and panoramic views of the city we all headed to the British colonial-era bar at Raffles Hotel where we sampled the infamous Singapore Sling. I was trepidatious at first...the Sling contains about 10 ingredients. But my fears were for not, the Singapore Sling tastes like a delicious fruit punch and is very easy to drink. Fortunately for my liver, jetlag hit and I started falling asleep after guzzling my first SS.

On Thursday Lindsay and I walked around Chinatown and did a little bit of necessary shopping. We ate lunch at Lau Pa Sat, the old train station that has been converted into a food hawkers center. It's similar to a food court but much larger and with all kinds of Asian fare (Chinese, Indian, Korean, Japanese, etc). I'm not really sure what we ate, I think they were some kind of Chinese noodles. They were pretty good, although I was not a fan of the dried anchovies that were mixed in with the noodles. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are really common here so I indulged in a carrot juice and then a banana juice to wash down the fish flakes. There was one food stall that specialized in dishes that used pig organs, yum yum. The rest of the day was pretty mellow: more eating, bikini waxes (a mildly heinous experience) and then a little down time at the hotel. We met Ruchi for dinner at Jumbo's, a seafood restaurant that served mainly Chinese dishes. Upon recommendation of a friend, we ordered the chili crab: an entire Sri Lankan king crab covered in spicy chili sauce. Of course Lindsay and I got chili sauce everywhere, however Ruchi maintained a tidy appearance while cracking and eating the crab, I'm really not sure how he accomplished that feat. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to load up our packs and to catch some z's.

On Friday we bought bus tickets and headed north to Malaysia to a port city called Malacca. The bus ride lasted about four hours and was pretty uneventful. The hilly, volcanic terrain is covered in rows of palm trees--I'm guessing that the palm kernels are harvested to produce palm oil. We arrived in Malacca around 2 pm, checked into Hotel Puri and immediately went out for lunch. We were keen on sampling Baba-Nonya cuisine, a mix between Chinese and traditional Malay food, and found our rendeng to be very tasty. After lunch we started a walking tour of historic Malacca--the port was a major trading destination between the 13th to 19th centuries and was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch and British--and discovered an absolutely charming city. The buildings are painted in vibrant colors, the roads narrow and windy, and the squares packed with brighly decorated rickshaws. Probably the best part of Malacca was the exposure to the three dominant sects of Malaysian society: the Malays (Muslims), Indians (Muslims and Hindus) and Chinese (Buddhists). Between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, we visited a Buddhist temple, strolled down Chinese-dominated Jonkers Street (famous for antiques), stopped into an art gallery, and visited a relic church, dilapidated fortress and replica of a sunken ship from the days of European colonization.

We took the two hour bus ride to Malaysia's bustling capital, Kuala Lumpur, this afternoon. You'll hear more from me soon...