Opium Dens in Melaka

Saying good-bye to the stunning city of KL was tough, but I'm getting pretty accustommed to moving on and I am definitely enjoying seeing new places every few days or so.

When we arrived in Melaka, I wasn't overly impressed.  It kind of looks like Mississauga, actually.  Well-developed roads, lots of cars, western-looking stores, buses, etc.  I great big suburb.  Our cab turned down a small road and a maze of one-way roads was revealed.   The driver finally stopped in the middle of one of these roads and we got out and followed Jane into a very run-down looking room -- the front of our guesthouse for the night.  Apparently, Sama Sama is a 300-year old house -- and it used to be an Opium Den, back when Opium was the cool thing to do.  I'm pretty sure the housewoman still smokes the stuff, based on her EXTREMELY chilled appearance and her love for "just one more 'cigarette'".   Right... BTW, "Sama Sama" means "No problem" here.  The house is thus named appropriately.

With the low whirr of the fan, the bird would sway ever so gently... kinda like it was swooping down on you to kill you in your sleep... ahhhhh!!!!!

The scariest part was when we walked into our room and discovered a GIANT bird hanging from the ceiling, directly over our beds.  With the low whirr of the fan, the bird would sway ever so gently... kinda like it was swooping down on you to kill you in your sleep... ahhhhh!!!!!  Despite the black mold growing everywhere, our fellow travelers seemed to love it -- I thought these people were cool previously, now I think they're all nuts.  The indoor jungle was sort of interesting and the weirdo masks ALL OVER the walls I guess gave it character... not my kind of place, needless to say!

After grabbing a quick bite, Sara and I busied ourselves with finding some Internet to occupy the afternoon.  Walking around quaint Melaka in the quest for Internet was interesting.  The pace of life here is VERY slow.  Everything seems to move without hurry, no one is rushing anywhere and sweet little handicraft stores are everywhere.  There was certainly character in this town and it is definitely off the beaten path, if that's your sort of thing.

For dinner, we met back at the hotel and walked to the Bamboo Hut.  There's really no need to go there, unless you want overpriced western food.  The buffet looked pretty good, but at nearly $15 CDN, it was way too expensive.  Liz and I were uber-cheap and split a meal... lol.

We spent a very relaxed evening chatting in the guesthouse, swinging in hammocks and telling jokes.  I wrote a million postcards, so if you haven't gotten one yet, you likely will now!  After killing one too many cockroaches, I finally got to bed, praying that the bird didn't peck me to death in my sleep!  CREEPY!!!!