The trip of our lifetime: malacca

We decided to write one last post about Malaysia and combine some of our old activities with the rest.

It is really nice to meet people you can connect with and share memories. This is what makes travel truly special. We met up with our friends once again from our first week in KL, Elise & Holly. They were travelling around Malaysia and landed back in KL for a few days. We were happy to have them stay at our apartment since we have 2 beds and baths here. They were wonderful guests. We had some fun exploring KL together, ordering in McDonald's when pizza wasn't an option (just because they deliver one day, doesn't mean they deliver the next).

Anyone who knows me knows that deep down I'm a nerd when it comes to my entertainment. I've been a fan of Star Trek since I was a kid. I loved the over exaggerated acting of William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk (the "T" is for Tiberius"). "Star Trek The Exhibit" WHAT?! In Malaysia?! No joke. According to this, it is the largest display of Star Trek paraphernalia anywhere. We had to go! Anna, of course, would've been very excited if I decided I didn't want to go at all, but I couldn't in clear conscious not go. We arrived at the science center on the second last day of the exhibit.

After answering some skill testing questions about the show, I proved my worth as a closet Trekkie and was granted access to the exhibit. The first thing I see is Kirk's chair from the original series. After screaming like a little girl, I instantly sat in the chair and got a picture. I tried the buttons and everything and realized it's the real deal! We later started into the exhibit and they had setup Captain Picard's entire cabin set up from Star Trek TNG (The Next Generation). We weren't supposed to take pictures, luckily Anna's Ukrainian gypsy skills were on hand. They had real props from all the different series from the original all the way to the new movie coming out. Uniforms, weapons, communicators, face masks, actual scripts, which I tried to read and act out with Anna. I didn't know a persons eyes could roll so far back into their head.

The greatest part of the tour we happened upon was a totally faithful reconstruction of the entire bridge from the Star Trek TNG set. I, of course, assumed the roll of Picard, and I had Anna as my ship counselor, Deanna Troy.

We took a day tour of one of the oldest towns in all of Southeast Asia. Malacca, which is both a province and a city in Malaysia, and of course it is also a UNESCO world heritage site due to its age and historical significance. It was established in 1400 as a small fishing village. Today the fish are gone, so now tourism is its big industry. From the 1500's on it was a heavily disputed territory. First by Portugal, than the Dutch, and later the queen mum herself, England.

As we were lazy to plan this ourselves, the tour guide showed us all the interesting things in Melaka:

St. Peter's Church, 1710, with tiles from Portugal, stained glass from Italy.
Metal Structure of Jesus trying to teach his buddy to walk across the water
Old Dutch Fort made out of lava rock, which was a church back in the day, that stands on top of St. Paul's Hill.
Statue of St. Francis, with his right hand missing (Due to the fact he died in Malacca and the Vatican requested his right hand to be sent to them to verify it was him….this has to be what CSI was like in the 1700's)
The King's Well which was built for his wife from China to bathe in
Vibrant Chinatown with streets like Harmony street, where a Buddhist Temple is next to the Muslim Mosque and a Christian Church.
Christ Church Melaka, 1753, which was never red to begin with, but the British decided to show off their royalty colours. (Also they painted most of the buildings red, and it is still there to be seen).

As our last 2 days in KL are approaching it is only best to reflect on the last two months.

We will miss:

All the crazy over the top malls, that you get lost and spend days in.
Our fantastic brand new condo, with an amazing pool, free wifi and a café to boot.
KL Monorail, where the only place where the rain can't touch you, and a girlfriend who knows all the stops
The constant view of the Stadium Negara, which in two months was never occupied by more than one security guard.
The feeling of being locals in such a distant land and being able to help others discover KL
The 10$ movie night out, including tickets, reclining love seats, popcorn and drinks
The shabby IT Mall with everyone always asking you "YES, I can help you"
Becoming epic jaywalkers, who deserve only gold medals encrusted in diamonds
Ali being the tallest man in Malaysia, feeling like everyone are his minions
Shopping in the Non Halal section and feeling like rebels
The Terima Kasih song, which will be engrained in us for the rest of our lives
The catchy election songs, that we know all the words to (jom kita mengundi)
The realization that America is not the center of the Earth, but China is
Daily drug busts and prostitution rings, where are ours?
All the fun people we met, and how much we learned about Kazakhstan

We will NOT miss:

The incredibly, impressive and completely consistent daily thunderstorms.
The lovely prayer call at 5:30 every single morning.
The 3 schools, with screaming children at 7:30 in the morning.
The amazing glares that Anna endured
The fact that shoe size 48 (13 in Canada), is a made up number and doesn’t exist in the world
Size XL is almost a medium back home
The suspicious lack of dogs, all around
The stray cats without tails, like ever, and I mean ever
The scooters with their own rules and a hunger for murder

All in all Malaysia, you kept us warm and completely drenched and we will miss you.

Love Anna and Ali

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