Wednesday, Feb 28th, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Greetings!

First, thanks to all of you who sent along birthday wishes today, and especially my travel buddies on this trip who celebrated with me at lunch today.  Most every day traveling seems special, but this one was even more so.

Today's bus ride took us to Melaka (Malacca), a coastal port town southeast of Kuala Lumpur.  Founded in 1400 by a Sultan from what is now Singapore, the port came under Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Japan control until Pat's birthday (Feb 1, 1948) when it was included in the Federation of Malaya.  In 1963, Malaysia was formed with the merger of Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore and Malacca became part of it.

We walked from the town plaza to one of the historic streets, which features the  Chen Hoon Teng Buddhist Temple, the Masjid Kampung Kling Shiite Mosque, and the Sri Poyatha Moorhi Hindu Temple, and a Christian church - demonstrating the town's commitment to an integrated and tolerant community, and its nickname as "Harmony Street".

We had lunch in Nyonya-Baba cuisine, a mixture of Chinese (mostly southern Hokkien or Fujian influence), Portuguese, Dutch, Indian, British, and Malay cooking with most dishes being spicy in nature.

We ended the day back in Kuala Lumpur, by taking a tour of the Twin Towers in the evening. Walking the Sky Bridge which connects them at the 41st floor, we ascended to the 86th floor observation deck in Tower One.  Hearing that the Mayor had announced that 367 skyscrapers were currently being built, and that 32 would be even higher than we were standing, we imagined a sea of metal and glass all around us in the near future.  We also wondered about the need for comprehensive transportation within the City to accommodate the many workers needed.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Wednesday, Feb 28th, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.