A Malacca Vacation

Five days before Christmas, we set out in high spirits with our cousins for Malacca. There, we visited museums such as the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum where we learned about the culture and history of Malacca. We also visited the Maritime Museum, which was a replica of a Portuguese ship. Another historical site was the ruins of the Al Famosa fortress that was built by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca.

One place I particularly liked was the Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary which we visited on the 2nd day. The butterflies there were a lot more colorful than the ones in Singapore. Best of all, they were friendly and easily attracted to us! It felt itchy as the butterflies crawled on my body, but it was kind of fun. Besides butterflies, there were other amazing creatures such as scorpions, alligators, snakes, emus, peacocks, electric eels, otters, weasels and even a bearcat! I think it is called a bearcat because it looks like a bear, and climbs like a cat! So much for a butterfly and reptile sanctuary; it looks more like a zoo to me.

We walked a lot around the town but we also tried the local transport, like the trishaw. It is called a trishaw because it has three wheels. We sat in what looked like a carriage while a man cycled us to our various destinations. On the last evening, we took a boat ride along the Malacca River. I enjoyed the ride very much for the weather was breezy and the river was lighted up with colorful lights.

We spent the last evening at a shopping mall. I am talking about this not because I love it, but because of what happened there. It was pretty late in the evening when we finished shopping. We decided to take a trishaw back to the hotel for we were weary from walking. You might think that it should not have been a problem but guess what? They charged us RM 50 for just a short ride to the hotel! This is five times more expensive than the offer we had earlier. It is most ridiculous! Finally, we decided that it was better to walk back to the hotel. By the time we reached our room, I was exhausted and after a shower slept almost immediately.