A trip to Melaka - Part 2

I know this is coming too late ,was too very busy in the office !!

Continuing from the previous post .

I had to pull my friend who was busy clicking photos ,not that i wasn't clicking !!! One thing which we didn't want to miss was an Old Dutch fort ,we decided to take a Trishaw which we bargained for 15 RM for half an hour and we thought it was a smart deal !!! As we got into the Trishaw and he pedaling ,i was pitying him that he had to pedal in this hot sun for such a long distance only to realize that the destination was 10 minutes walk from the place we took the Trishaw .And now what ? He tells us you see the place and come i will wait for you here .That's when we realized it was not a smart deal ,by the time we see the place and come it will be half an hour !!!

Anyways we entered the 'Sultanate Palace' with a entry fees of 2 RM .

With the ticket we were given two plastic bags ,i was wondering what was that for ? As we neared the steps to the palace , it was written "please remove yours shoes" ,yes the plastic bags were to put your shoes and carry it along. The palace is a replica of the original palace and is based on the sketches found. The whole palace was made up of wood .It was beautiful .

The roofs had so much of symmetry in them .

It seems that not a single nail was used in the construction of this palace. By the end of half an hour we were out and we paid him the money .

As we decided to enter the Fort nearby we heard a loud heart thumping drum sounds nearby ,so we went where the crowd was gathered . I am not sure what was the function about but the music was really attracting everyone and towards the end the drummers came out of the stage and energy with which they were beating the drums was very high .

Everyone's foots were tapping and finally the music stopped and all these drummers lay on the ground ,it was very weird .Looked as if they were all drunk.

Next we entered the fort also known A'Famosa . Built by the Portuguese in 1511 as a fortress it sustained severe structural damage during the Dutch Invasion. The British had set to destroy it but timely intervention by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1808 saved what remains of A' Famosa today.

Thru the A'Famosa building are steps which lead to St. Paul's Church. Built by a Portuguese Captain by the name of Duarte Coelho, the chapel was turned by the Dutch into a burial ground for their noble dead and renamed it 'St. Paul's Church' from the the Portuguese's 'Our Lady Of The Hill'. Old tombstones found inside the ruins are the final resting place of several Dutch and Portugese nationals .

There was a person with a guitar playing soothing music .The view from the ruins which is on top of a hill was great !!

To be continued...

A Trip to Melaka - Part 1

Last Saturday Myself and my friend went across Singapore to a Historical place called Melaka .
Founded by Parameswara in 1396 who named his sultanate after the "Melaka" tree, Melaka has provided the stage on which the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch and English played their roles in shaping history.

We packed some tamarind rice and buns for breakfast and left house at around 5:45 A.M . Reached Woodland Checkpoint at around 6:30 AM in Bus no 950 . There wasn't much of rush since the previous day (Friday) was a public holiday . After the Singapore Immigration check again resumed the journey to Johar Bahru. Once the Malaysian Immigration check took a local bus from Johar Bahru (Larkin) bus terminal for 14.50 RM to Melaka . Bus journey was quite comfortable with leg rest and push back seats. It took exactly 3 hours to reach Meleka Central bus station.
Took a tourist map from the tourist information center and boarded a town bus no 17 which was going to Mahkota Parade. Paid 80 cents for the ticket. Unlike Singapore the buses here are Non AC ,that means you get the feel of fresh air. People looked innocent unlike Singapore where most of them looked well off !
The fellow who told us to take this bus,told us to get down when we saw red painted buildings ,we did the same thing . The distinctive red building are definitely an eye catcher.
One of the first thing visible to your eyes are the "Trishaws" (commonly know as Cycle Rickhshaw in India) .
These Trishaws are decorated with artificial flowers which make them ultra colorful. A maximum of two passengers per Trishaw [depending on the space and the people ;-) ] . they charge on hourly basis ,they take you to a particular place (which will be just a few minutes walk) and then wait for you to come back and mind you your clock is still ticking while you are enjoying the historical beauty of that building or place ! Most people might prefer the Trishaw instead of walking in the scorching sunlight.

The first red building we entered was a church namely Christ Church.This church was built by the Dutch in 1753 to commemorate the centenary of their occupation of Melaka. It took 12 years to build this church !!!!! There are people selling painting just at the entrance of the church .

Photography was not allowed inside the church . Next to this is St.Paul's Church , again a red building. There are lot of street vendors sitting selling small souveniors , hats, caps, umbrellas and other interesting things.

To be continued...

Changed ..

Its a long time since i wrote in my blog ..not that many people were waiting for me to write but still , today i felt i should write something ! I have not been away from the blogging world ,i along with my friend run a photoblog which we update daily except public holidays and weekends :) . Its a easier job ,just click the photos and upload it ,of course the photos should be nice otherwise people be least bothered to come to the blog ;-) .
Meanwhile i changed the URL of my blog from http://srsrividya.blogspot.com to http://inmyminds.blogspot.com . My name in the URL was not an interesting thing to do ! And lets see how many people come here !!
Weekend visited a place called Mallaca with my friend . It was a one day trip .The place was really beautiful. More about the place in my next post ,meanwhile enjoy a pic from that place....