Malacca is a short two-hour ride south from Kuala Lumpur. We were already half-way here when we visited Sepang the other day. Malacca is one of the popular tourist destinations for both locals and foreigners. When we used to live here, my parents would come out here on day trips for shopping or eating.  The Dutch Square in the old town of Malacca All the buildings in the old town and some of the roads are painted terra cotta by the British after they took possession of Malacca from the Dutch in the 1800s. The locals now call it "Red Square" for obvious reasons.  When people ask me what my nationality is, I tell them I'm Malay-Gene. And then they tell me that I'm stupid  We walked up the hill above the Red Square to St John's Fort built by the Dutch  The fort used to be a Catholic church  Catholic church built by a French priest in 1859. So many different influences here in Mallaca!  Kids walking back from school.  Bomba Melaka Malacca was an important trading port and strategic centre in Asia and was under Portuguese rule from 1541 until the war with the Netherlands in the mid 1600s. We saw the sign on the firetruck above and it reminded us of the Spanish word for fire fighter, "Bombero", which is very similar to the Portuguese word "Bombeiro". It turns out that some Malay words are also influenced from the time that Portuguese occupied this part of the country.  Did you know Jamaica also invaded Malacca? Well, maybe not the entire city, just this one store. Irie Mon.  We visited this museum to escape the heat, and inadvertently learned a lot about Malaccan history and culture I had to take a picture of this furniture in one of the rooms in the museum depicting Chinese culture in Malacca. This looks *EXACTLY* like our living room did when we used to live in Malaysia. My mom still has some of these pieces that she brought over to Toronto. I think she may have bought them here. It's very funny seeing your childhood preserved in a museum. Makes you feel kind of old.  The Red Square is a popular place for rickshaws to pick up customers for a tour of the old city  Brightly decorated rickshaws in Malacca has become a thing now. Hello Kitty! was popular, and we saw a Frozen-themed rickshaw as well  Lot of local tourists enjoying Malacca  In Malay, it's called Melaka. We love it!  Malacca River is also a popular tourist attraction. You can hop on a short cruise for a couple of kms to see different sites along the river  Vendors selling watermelons along the shores of the river  Malacca River  Jonker Street is the epicentre for shopping in Malacca Shopping and eating are the two most popular activities here in the city. We broke our no restaurant rule and sat down in a place that served Nyonya cuisine, cooked with traditional Malaysian spices. Delicious. We didn't do any shopping because, well... no money and no space on the bikes...  Line of stores and shoppers on Jonker St.
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