The Best that Was Malacca

Malacca is one of the more known historical cities of Malaysia. I think it was primarily because it is one of the cities which preserved the influence of both the Dutch and the English conquerors. For me Malacca was not a new name as I had read it numerous times in history books when I was in school. I think it got famous because of its Straits of Malacca, which was one of the more important ports in the olden days.

So much so that when I found myself living very close to it, I promised to make it one of my 'must see' cities. Well, the opportunity to visit it would only come after being in Singapore for almost 3 years. And the rest as they say is history.

When I say history, I meant that I found Malacca full of history really as a place. Such that even its’ much publicized Portuguese settlement was just that, history and nothing more. We went there and we found that there was nothing to see and nothing to be amazed about.

But that does not mean that all was lost. For their Chinatown and their Dutch town (if one could call it as such) were pretty impressive and amazing. I spent one whole day just walking around the historical landmarks within. From the clock tower to the palace to the museum, to the Buddhist and Indian temples, to the Baba House and of course, the Saturday night flea market, Malacca deserves a short weekend visit for expats who are starting to develop the symptoms of ABS.

I visited Malacca, Malaysia from 28 February until 2 March 2003.