Malacca–last day…last night…How I wish we had more time

The day after our FABULOUS  massages…we were on our own…WHAT a treat.

Diane and I woke later…. had breakfast and a walk …then wandered back to the hotel to pack….what a lovely and leisurely way to start our day.

This was the view from our window

Before we hit the road to Malacca we had lunch at this lovely inn.

Every time I saw the flags I thought they were American! Even after four days!!

It was time to get on the buses and move…

Our drive from the Cameron Highlands was a nightmare.

I say this as a Los Angeles and Dallas veteran.   Holy Heck. The tour company in Hong Kong was fed a bill of goods when it came to the drive time form the Cameron Highlands to Malacca.

As Diane gave her bag to one of the bellman, he asked where we were going. When she told him, he said, casually, “oh, that’s a 6 hour drive.”  WHAT?  Our itinerary said 4….well it turned out to be 8!  WHAT???????  Good thing I didn’t’ need to use the bathrooms…much….

Take into consideration school holidays….traffic…wrecks…Friday night traffic and storms…yep….8 to 9 hours…..of driving…it made us reconsider the beauty of the Cameron Highlands….was this traffic worth it??  I’m still not sure.

I had my IPod…my book….friends…so we chatted and made the best of what could have been a bad situation.

We got to Malacca LATE.  We were supposed to have time to shop and then enjoy dinner and the night market.  NOPE

As we walked to the restaurant, this beautiful Dragon greeted us.

It was huge and hung over an entire intersection:

The night scene is quite lively.  There are carriages to give a tour, and it seems the crazier and louder, the better.  It was like Christmas on wheels!

We were scheduled for a super late arrival. SO….I volunteered Diane and I to do reconnaissance on the night market….We would go and scout the situation while the rest headed to dinner…this way, we would know IF we were missing anything decent…I am always one to take one for the team.

The night market was very night market—ish.  We have one right near our house in Kowloon…but it is always fun to shop.  The group ate and some went out to shop and some did not.  That is also the beauty of an Asian Tour. 

Some found treasures to take home

Susan with her elephant bank!

We spent the night in a lovely hotel, and then had half of the next day to tour Malacca.

This is our hotel!  It was set back off of the street.  What was cool was the canals right across the street.  It reminded me of Venice, CA!

We had a walking tour of Malacca.  My favorite part was the statue at the top of a hill. It was of St Frances Xavier.  He was responsible for bringing Christianity to Malaysia. 

When he was being considered for Sainthood, the Vatican needed to see that his body was not deteriorating, so his right arm was cut off and sent to Rome.  Years later, his body was moved, and the statue erected.  As fate would have it…a tree limb struck the statue and hacked off…you guessed it…the right arm!

Crazy huh?

The view from near the statue

Our guide peaking out the doors of the temple and Voila!

Here he is!

Some of the sights from the city!

After our tour we had one hour (this stunk) to do some shopping.  The area our tour ended in was in the art district.

Corey laughs at me b/c I tend to bring home wall hangings and pictures from every trip…He says we are going to run out of wall space!  We always have the guest bedroom! 

Here are Carol, Diane Susan and I with our Batik finds!

Susan was our negotiator!

Diane and I also bought pieces from Mr. Titi!  To prove himself he showed us the “Art in Malacca Book” Sure enough he was there!

Our shopping and time in Malacca came to an end much too quickly…also the problem with group tours…when the bus is pulling out..it is time to go!

Here are a few group shots as we gathered for the bus