melaka trip

bee and i headed up north to melaka (or 'malacca' in english) over the weekend. it was a short trip for bee to do his dvd shopping. as for me, there was really no major reasons why i wanted to go there other than to have a short get away. 

malaysia has not changed in any major ways since i last drove in about 3-4 years ago. if any, i think had stagnated. the place is just as disorganized and major road works that were going on since the time i last visited were still going on. amazing. i half-suspect there were politics at play behind the scene that made the process so slow. then again, as a visitor, it would do me a lot of good to just observe and be respectful. but one thing is for sure, the people are just as nice. still very warm.

and as for melaka itself, i personally think it has lost its old charm. and i suspect it is due to the wave of commercialization that followed after it was awarded the world heritage status. and i say that becos everything has become so artificial and, short of a better word, commercialized. hotels and shopping centres have sprung up everywhere, shops that used to sell their traditional chendol and local fares have disappeared and replaced by new shops that sells things like durian puffs, fermented tou fu, souvenirs, bad quality tee shirts, etc. really disappointing.

we drove back sunday morning. despite all the observation, it was not too bad a trip.