Today was our first full day in Melaka. We started with a walking tour of the city. The first few spots of the tour had not yet opened, so we ducked into a drinks shop where Rachel had a vivid purple dragon fruit smoothie and Brian had a Durian milkshake. Brian is now able to identify Durian by smell any time it is nearby!
We resumed our tour and saw many Chinese temples and Peranakan houses until we had just about melted from the heat. Off to an air conditioned restaurant and back to our room for a bit! In the evening we checked out the newest mall in Melaka. It was quite a contrast to see a mostly western style mall after spending most of our time in Chinatown where things just seemed a little slower and carried on the way the always had.
The trishaws are something else to see. A trishaw is like a large tricycle with a bench seat in back for some passengers. The trishaws in Melaka are decorated in fake flowers and banners, have horns and car alarms and many other things to set them apart and make you want to ride them. We never rode on one, partially because we prefer to walk whenever possible, but the streets were very narrow and did not lend themselves to pedestrian traffic.
