Malacca, Malaysia

It's always the itchiest fingers which get us into financial fixes (somewhat theoretically and realistically, for I am a student). A few months back, life saw us scrolling through Groupon deals, scouring for a short getaway for quality fist-bumping friendship time together.

And so we chose Malacca, me nodding away in the midst of a frenzied placement, going, "Anything also can!! Yay!!" albeit too over-enthusiastically, and Alexiel making all the necessary arrangements without grumbling. I love you NBS bud. (L) --> btw this originated from MSN, it's the shortcut for the Love sign and it also highlights the ancient origins I hail from sigh....

Malacca is a personality by itself - bits of old, and casket shops notably thrown in with modern hipster-ish cafes on the other sides, as though to celebrate the brevity of life most aptly. Walking through the throes of colour splattered on white building walls, and brightly fluorescent packaging of traditional sweets and foods, Malacca is just like a curious child with eyes wide open, sparkling, and with threads of a technicolour coat strewn on his body.

Malacca is a happy face, taking snapshots for souvenirs and gathering families and friends together. The holiday vibes were strong here, and there was the general prevalence of a relaxed mood around. It probably helped that there were a smattering of cafes and awesome food options around as well, even Vegetarian ones as my travel companion is a Vegetarian.

1.  Vegetarian Tumeric Rice WHICH WAS SO GOOD and much raved about by both of us. We actually went back to the same place a second time. [Geographer's Cafe]
2. Pandan Kaya Pancakes which were firm and crisp on the outside and soft and moist on the insides. Such a trite description may not appear much, but I must add that this is the dream texture of a pancake I've been aspiring towards and was completely awed and big-eyed when I bit into my first mouthful. I need another, the greedy me screams! [The Daily Fix]
3. Coffee aptly named after different Malaysian states as they purportedly originated from said names, but I'm no coffee connoisseur of Malaysian coffee and I'm more of a Teh girl of late, so. That being said, good coffee begets good company and the ambiance and setup of this cafe evoked feelings of chilling in a rainforest without endangered animals and with comfortable chairs as well. All was good. [Calanthe Art Cafe]

Malacca, being touristy, is also a place for awkward tourist shots and weird sides to surface and come alive. If you were wondering, most of these shots were commands from Alexiel to pose. "Eh go stand there. I help you take." "...Okay...." Clearly, my identity has been sealed in the form of being weird with random props and not really giving a shit about my glam factor in photos.

To end off, YOU should go to Malacca too! What an aggressive campaign without much subtlety hahaha but Malacca has its charms of a mish-mash of cultures. I was impressed by how the clutter appeared to align and complement the other facets of culture nicely, all in a confined geographic area. Comparing this to Singapore, the cultural identities of different ethnicities appear to have their localised regions in different areas of Singapore, such as Chinatown for the Chinese, Geylang for the Malays and so forth. However, Malacca just leaves it all hanging around casually, and you see pockets of it all around - the traditional biscuit stalls, the Peranakan-inspired architecture. Perhaps priding ourselves on racial harmony is simply beyond how our temples are close to our churches but a fusion?

I'm still not used to the idea of travel as an escape though, why do you travel to escape? Is the idea of a current life in where ever you are so dreary? Maybe for me it's all about exploration....and then going back to where I'm rooted. I find a foundation and a place to go utterly reassuring that there is a place where I can step my feet back on and return to for familiarity. Wouldn't novelty be best explored through a curious mind better rather than escape from a current life (though I do agree that travelling is a kind of creation of an alternate life and hence escape, but it shouldn't really be the main focus, at least to me)?

Wouldn't an open mind cultivate learning and intensify experiences even more?

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” - Anita Desai

Till then,
G