Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Melaka River Cruise

Last weekend, we took my parents on a little discovery tour of Melaka. Yes, although Mum is Malaccan, the little town has developed tremendously since she actually stayed there years ago.

We took them on the Melaka River Cruise, a ride my Mum initially did not want to take "See Melaka in a boat?". Anyway, I think she was glad that she didn't miss it because the river bank has been given a facelift with new walk ways.

The boat ride took us almost 45 mins. Here are some scenes I captured along the way:

This is Kampung Morton, a beautifully restored kampung with the houses given fresh paint.

One example of the kampung house. Wish we could have stepped into one.

Common scene along the river.

The new walkway along the river.

The Red Bridge, so called because during the Japanese occupation, they beheaded thousands of locals on this bridge. During the Hungry Ghost Festival, people still pray for the souls who were lost then.

This is our local Leaning Tower, a Catholic Church that is leaning on one side. It is packed on Sundays.

Refurbished shoplots along the river, making it look like it's a scene taken from somewhere in Europe, doesn't it?

A newly built fort to add more stuff for tourist to see along the Red House area.

"Noah's Ark" - the restored Portugese shipwreck now used as a museum. Never been on it before.
Some random windmill, which they claim is exactly like the windmills you'd find in Holland.

KS said he was proud to be Malaccan after the ride. Although it was a good ride, it could be further improved by having stops along the way ie. seeing the houses at Kampung Morton, having souvenir shops along the river to encourage visitors to stop by, a stop at the small theme park, which was absolutely bereft of any visitors as we passed...

Instead, they are building a monorail along the river to compete with the boat ride. Doesn't seem to make sense.

6 comments:

Grace said...

It has certainly cleaned up - Matt and I were there a few years back, do you remember we stayed at Hotel Puri? I remember the river, I pangsai into it. One of the old peranakan houses was along the river (closer to the mouth of the river) and one of nenek's friends lived there. We went to pay a visit and I went to use the toilet. It was an open hole with the river underneath! Scary. You wouldn't want the kids to use it, a misstep could mean into the river. Ugh. Nevertheless, I made a small contribution to nature that day.

jo said...

thanks for the gross detail. i had a good sprinkling of the water on my face as i sat right in front of the boat.

grace said...

Mind you, there were rows of houses along the Melaka river so my pangsai isn't the only contribution!

Ron said...

Yum, maybe that's why Melaka nyonya food is so famous! Did you eat any steamed river fish?

Grace said...

Don't take it too hard. People dig up soil from NZ to put on their face to beautify themselves. So you have some traditional Malacca dirt on your face.

jo said...

no, we didn't have any steamed river fish. and i'm glad to say that there are no more outhouses hanging over the river any more.

NZ mud is entirely different! it's not human faeces.