Melaka and Singapore

Friday we left Kuantan around 4pm for what we thought was about a 3.5 hour drive to Melaka on the west coast (between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore). We didn't exactly follow the directions we were given and ended up taking a much longer route, which included a detour through a palm plantation. This was no ordinary detour- the signs were small arrows on wood hammered into the ground and the narrow dirt road twisted right through the middle of the plantation...crazy. Anyway, once we surfaced from the woods and found the paved road again we ended up in Melaka around 9pm. We stayed at an old Chinese hotel called Hotel Puri in the downtown-Chinatown part of the city. Saturday morning we walked around the city in the blazing heat. The temperature in the car said 38C...yikes. Anyway, we saw some of the old Churches, Melaka was settled by both the Dutch and Portugese, and was in British control at some point as well. So the history and architecture is pretty interesting, a lot more culture than in Kuantan!

A trishaw in Melaka- notice the Mercedes logo on the front!

Chinese temple in Melaka

Chinese parade in Melaka, nobody really knew what for exactly

Saturday afternoon we drove from Melaka to Singapore, checked in at the Hilton and then I relaxed for the evening while Mum and Dad went for dinner. Sunday I wrote the MCAT all day and then we went for dinner at a steakhouse at the famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore sling!

Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Today is Wednesday and we're heading up the coast to Pulau (Island) of Perhentian to go scuba diving for a few days!

cheers-

s.