Back from Melaka

I returned from Melaka. Sad to say, I did not run at all in Melaka despite bringing my shoes, T-shirt and shorts. The main reason was my right knee has been acting up again. The second reason is there are not many spots to run in town itself. The streets are narrow and are barely wide enough for 2 cars to pass through. Having said that, there is a nice loop around Bukit Cina where there are thousands of chinese graveyards, some said to be 600 years old. Kind of spooky to run there at 6.00 am in the dark. I'll skip that, thank you.

The second and better place to run is along Klebang beach just 10 km away from town. I guess the route would be about 3 km long one way. You can't really run on the beach unless you can run on water - there is a sea wall and concrete wave breakers all along the "beach". It's not really a scenic place with views of condos, ships and stalls but still the cooling sea breezes must count for something. I spent Thursday evening there and not a single runner was in sight.

The main reason I went to Melaka to see the historical sites but the battles between the Portuguese vs. locals, Portuguese vs. Dutch and later Dutch vs. English has left its toll on the sites. All that is left are ruins which are sometimes scribbled with grafitti. As for the formerly grand Melaka river, it is now a just a badly silted and tiny stream.

There are still a numerous old Peranakan buildings and houses left in Melaka town but there is not much Peranakan culture evident, I think. Nowadays, Peranakan is a dying culture with many of the younger generation assimilated into the larger Chinese community.

I also went to the crocodile farm and the Melaka Zoo at Ayer Keroh. The less said about the ruinous state of the farm the better. Spending the morning at the Malacca Zoo was however worth both my time and money (RM 7).

Other than the above, the history exhibits at the Stadhuys building were very informative. There are plenty of museums in Melaka for the historically inclined. There is even an UMNO Melaka Historical museum. Why would I visit that place ? I didn't.

Overall Melaka is OK for a few days visit although those expecting a visible evidence of history will be dissapointed.