Malacca - design, colour, history, food

Griffin and I have just made a short trip to Malacca (Melaka), in West Malaysia. It is a place with a long, interesting history that includes Malays, Chinese, Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and, inevitably (somehow) British influences.

Perhaps it is the intermixing of all these cultures that has lead to such interesting decorative elements in Melaka - starting with the handmade beaded slippers that are made for Nyonya weddings (both the bride and the groom might wear them), as well as for other special occasions. In the photo, you can just glimpse the graph paper on which the design has been drawn. It is attached to the cloth and then each bead is hand sewn over it. Very beautiful work and with lots of wonderful designs.

Then there are the tiles found outside a lot of the old houses in the centre of Melaka. The ones for walking on are, of course, plainer and more utilitarian-looking than the ones that run along the bottom of the front wall of the house in various lovely colours and patterns.

If you stand back and look up, you are likely to see some very interesting ornamentation around the windows as well. Something like Melaka rococo? Such a fantastic combination of elements from both the west and the east.

Notice the vertical bar on the open window used to move the louvres up and down to regulate light and the breeze.

Not all the older houses in Melaka are well preserved but those that are provide a feast for the eyes. The usual house front is very narrow - about 21 feet - but this is made up for with the length of the house which can be up to 200 feet! The skyline created by the roofs of the houses was reminiscent of Hanoi in Vietnam. Wonder what created this kind of building? Taxes on the width of the house perhaps?

These particular houses are along the Melaka River that runs through the centre of the old town and creates its own special atmosphere, with people loitering on the bridges and lights glimmering in the water at night.

Melaka is also justly famous for its food, including the Nyonya cakes (the Nyonya people being a Malay-Chinese mix) and the rice porridge. This is eaten for lunch, rather than breakfast, and the basic rice soup is sharpened up with the addition of lots of extras, including small salted fish, eggs, pickles, fried onion, boiled chicken - in whatever combination you like! There's a huge cuisine in Melaka that we only just touched on. You could spend ages working your way through all the delicacies on offer. There seems to be an endless variety of cakes alone!

In the collage, you can see the varied opportunities there are in Melaka for photo-taking. It's a very picturesque place and the museum there gives a very full overview of Melaka's most interesting history.

If you have any comments or questions, please get in touch with us: ron@astsabah.com and jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Trying to be selective!

The Pesta Ka'amatan is now at an end - we'll have to wait another year for the next Harvest Festival. It's a wonderful month of celebration - and a real problem as far as photos go! I took a lot and just can't decide which ones to show you.

So have a look at these pictures that were all taken at the Heritage Village which is part of the Sabah Museum. During the first week of May, in particular, there were lots of activities going on in the traditional houses that are built around a lovely pond and up a hillside.

One of the moments that made me smile was seeing a woman fishing in the pond! She looked completely at home. (Top left) There was a house especially for weavers, embroiderers and beadmakers and they sat quietly getting on with their own work. Cloth, embroidery and beads were for sale. (2nd left top) In a replica of an old Chinese house, there were a couple making pots and carving them. It was lovely to see the young woman using the old pot as her model for the one she was working on. (3rd left top) And everywhere you went, you bumped into people wearing their traditional dress - so modestly and so proudly at the same time. (Top right) In a lot of houses, there were groups playing music and dancing, sometimes for visitors and sometimes for themselves. I tried using the local type of castanets that one group was using - not as easy as it looks - but a terrific sound. (Bottom right) And there's something elegant about the headdresses that sway as the wearer moves! (Bottom middle) Sometimes people just sat and watched what was going on - the same as I was doing! (Bottom left) In this second collage, you can see one of those elegant, totally confident older women you would love to get to know. (Top left) And there were a couple of friends who decided to sit outside, away from the air-conditioning, for a while. (Top middle) Then a beautiful pair of children who were very involved in the dancing and being taught carefully how to maintain their traditions. Just getting dressed correctly is something to learn! (Middle) On the right is a close up of the necklaces the young boy was wearing and the gold decorations on the front of his shirt. (Right) From the young to the old - we saw an old man do a very energetic dance, with foot stamping and arm waving! It was a privilege to see him. The younger people with him explained that he was the oldest person in their village to do this particular dance. (Bottom left) And finally, there's the humorous guy - he was sitting outside to have a smoke and you just wish you could talk to him and have a laugh together. (Centre bottom)

Pesta Ka'amatan - the Harvest Festival month - the month of May in Sabah. What a great time to be here! The high points of the festival are in the first week and the last two days of the month.

If you have any questions or comments, do write and let us know. Send a note to ron@astsabah.com or jude@astsabah.com. We'd love to hear from you!