By Cyle O'Donnell
This timelapse sequence covers the entire trip from the old Dutch Quarter, through downtown Malacca, to the restaurant hub behind the newest part of town.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j6L8Ydvf-M&w=560&h=315]
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Walking through the old Dutch Quarter of Malacca, I snapped these photos under the Banyon trees. I put them into this timelapse sequence just to add a bit of glamour on my otherwise normal photo-walk through the old town. The trees were lit up and really beautifully with the colored lights pointed up from underneath.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MofvAlhdDI&w=560&h=315]
Walking through the old Dutch Quarter of Malacca, I snapped these photos under the Banyon trees. I put them into this timelapse sequence just to add a bit of glamour on my otherwise normal photo-walk through the old town. The trees were lit up and really beautifully with the colored lights pointed up from underneath.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbtiVI_38uw&w=560&h=315]
Recommendation number one: Don’t drive to Malacca. Take a bus, take a train – hitchhike. Just don’t drive here. The maps are wrong, the locals are directionally impaired and when you finally find the one road that is supposed to be a straight shot from the highway, it turns out to be a zig-zagging version of a city planners bad joke. It winds through suburbs, combines with other tandem roadways and if you ever need to make a u-turn, forget about it unless you’re willing to take the 5-mile detour needed to get back on track.
But once you’re here, it almost seems worth it. Just kidding. It’s quite awesome, I must say. I have only been to China Town and Little India so far, and I arrived at 5pm today. So even in the short time since being here (currently around midnight), I’ve already had a great time.
After booking a nice, quiet hotel off the beaten track, I was able to find this nice little sectioned-off parcel of road that closes it’s access to cars and sets up shop for the foot traffic. I ran into this kooky, little, old lady with a mask shop containing enough wood carvings to answer for the mysterious bare spots in the various rain forests of the world.
I’m not kidding. This woman had more masks than the prop closet on Broadway. I was in heaven. I love masks so much that I nearly asked her if I could set up a cot in the back and spend the night checking them all out. I didn’t, though. Instead, I talked her into letting me film all throughout the shop and even got an impromptu interview – though, I am not sure that she knew it was happening. And I think that she really didn’t like being on camera once she found out.
At first, she told me to stop filming. But I whipped out a business card and told her that I’d put her in my latest documentary and she loosened right up. So I will try and put the outtakes on my YouTube channel and in this blog (time allowing).
I ate what they said was a “large” pizza on the corner of the main statue in front of this makeshift night market and kept cruising the shops until late in the evening.
Once I realized how hungry I was from not having filled the coffers on the quasi-large pizza, I headed over to this Pakistani restaurant that the hotel manager suggested for me. The food was excellent and I was happy that I took his advice.
The spicy chicken tandoori that I tried was de-li-SHUS! And it should have been, because I was told by the hotel management that it was the best in Malacca… e’hem. Uh, that’s, the best in Malaysia.
The chicken is open-roasted on a spit. They rub the spices on it that you order and give you a choice of dipping sauces. I took the “herb dip,” which included garlic and Italian spices. In addition, the reason that people are actually attracted to this Pakistani restaurant in the first place is the bread. They make it in a clay oven heated from the bottom and slap the flattened bread, spices already wiped on, right inside the giant caldron of an oven, and let it cook for about a minute. You can add cheese to this, in which case they will roll it up into the inside and it will melt along with the rest of the ingredients at the sweltering 700-degree heat .
They serve it on a plate, normally still steaming, with a various pallet of dips which can be ordered to come with the bread. I tried the bean curd. And I can’t say enough about it. It was a splendid contrast to the bold and spicy punch that the chicken packs.
Washing it all down was the famous Malaysian tea. Just say “tea” and it is already assumed that you mean “Malaysian” style. Normally just a black tea with either milk or soy, this tea comes hot. But you can order it with ice as well. I generally don’t recommend the iced version because you can never tell whether or not the water for the ice is filtered – though, the assumption is that it’s unfiltered. But on this warm night, I figured I’d just dive in and worry about the repercussions later.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E3EJmsD3ek&w=560&h=315]
(In this article) Highly recommended: stay at ABC Hotel. The rooms are comfortable, but don’t plan on a discount (single/double RM70 – RM90 on weekends). The showers are hot, the AC is cold, and the management is friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. Contact Mr.Selvam at Mobile: 0126396577 or Email:abchotel1954@gmail.com. Address: No:34, Jalan Kota Laksmana 3, Taman Kota Laksamana, 75200 Melaka. Phone: 062816670.
Coming up this next weekend (Mar 15-17, 2013), I’ll be headed out to Melacca for my first visit to the country’s cultural and historical hub.
There are a lot of places throughout Malaysia that have a truly unique feel and look. There are many places with their own distinct line through the recent past. But in no place is this idea more encapsulated in such a condensed area.
In fact, Melacca is the third smallest state in the country. It’s been dubbed the “Historic State,” and it’s located on the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia.
It’s placement and history here have even so entrenched in the history of global trade that the Strait of Melacca got its name from the millions of international goods that entered its port every year during its height as a trade mecca during the colonial era.
In 2008 it was named as a UNESCO World Heritage site. And though it was the home of the first Malay Sultanate, the monarchy was quashed with the Portuguese claimed rule here in the 16th century.
But you can read more about all that when I return from Melacca with a new photos and footage in tow.
Till then, enjoy this short documentary and get an idea of what I’ll be enjoying when I head there for my three-day weekend!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc50CAvnUJw&w=560&h=315]
This weekend, starting March 15th, I’ll be headed out to Melacca to check off one more of the amazing filming junkets that I have planned for the Malaysia Documentary.
I’m very excited about this trip since Melacca is one of those old-world places that should be on every anthro-nerd’s to-do list. It’s got something for everyone.
There’s history, culture, great sights. There’s even a lot of old architecture for the eyes to feast upon. It’ll be a great experience and I look forward to coming back with not only some great interviews from the locals, but also a nice gallery of photos.
I’ll be taking my time, since this is the first three-day weekend of which I will be actually be spending its entirety in one of my Malaysia destinations.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc50CAvnUJw&w=560&h=315]
Travel Update:
This past week was the Chinese New Year. And since it’s one of the biggest holidays for public and government workers, I spent almost an entire week on the road. It was so nice to get back out and explore my favorite place in Malaysia: Penang.
Penang is one of those places that presents a near opposite persona to the rest of a country. In the case of the very conservative, very Muslim Malaysia, Penang is much more liberal. It caters to tourism in a way that most other places in this country do not – or at least will not. And because they have become more dependent on this form of income, they have long since started to “put up” with the more unpleasant backlash to including many foreigners in their commerce – at least they’ve done so in terms of the way that the foreign element is seen in a majority Muslim country.
My trip started on Thursday morning and because it’s the monsoon season, my trip took more than 12 hours! I left my home port at around 9am and changed buses in Seremban. Then I traveled on what should have been an eight-hour bus ride to Butterworth. From there, I took the ferry across to the island of Penang. And then it was a short city bus to India Town inside of the Georgetown area of the city.
Being that it was the first evening of the New Year break, it was pretty difficult to get a hotel. But I finally checked in at the “Red Inn” on the historic colonial street, “Love Lane.”
Love Lane is the road where one’s “love life” took an expansive turn when the city was first established by the British in the turn of the 20th century. And the name quickly changed from its original designation, which predates the finality of the settlement – and which clearly was not instituted by the colonial era British settlers.
As the story goes, young men from the Catholic school (then named the School of the Assumption Church) would come to this street to meet with the girls of the Farquir Street Covenant School. This street, even today, because of its narrow, high buildings abutting either side, was a clever and opportune location for escaping much of the risk of meeting in other highly visible locations nearby.
As the students grew up, they simply named it “the Lane of Love” which then stuck as this generation was the first to expand upon the building of the infrastructure. Later still, it became even more iconic as more and more westerners used Penang as their jumping-off point to Thailand and parts south in Malaysia. Because many of the old buildings were converted into hotels, it became a hotbed of prostitution and confirmed its appropriate title in the city maps and history books.
Today, this area likely resembles what it must have looked like back then. Only now, the prostitutes have penises and the only clergy in this area aren’t out hunting nuns.
Penang’s location so close to Thailand has poised it to be the one-stop shop for all visa-runners and renewers from the country to the north. And when they (and all the other through-traffic that frequents this island) come here, they bring with them a hint of their party lifestyle from Thailand.
The local shops here have adapted to selling passport photos, …
[Continued on Penang for the Chinese New Year Part Two]
I was going to make this really entertaining introduction about the update for this week’s filming expedition, but ultimately it’s pretty simple.
This weekend, I am taking off to a town just outside of Kuala Lumpur so that I can hop into a giant hamster ball and roll haphazardly down a hill.
There are some other events that I will be doing there, but basically, that’s it. Not a lot of explaining to do. But the images that come to mind after saying just that sentence really does a lot to build up the excitement. And I plan on having a blast. I have always wanted to do this and I have never known how or where these things take place. So perhaps that will be enough for this update.
Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to get updated when the outtakes are released and check in at cyleodonnell.com for more travel and filming updates.
Below are various Google search images to help that ol’ mental pallet in creating the right picture of what I’ll be “climbing into” this weekend!
For the Thaipusam festival, 2013, I took off to the Batu Cave, just north of Kuala Lumpur.
Thaipusam Festival is actually a Hindu Festival. And since there are swathes of Hindu descendants and Indian emigrants here, there’s plenty of Tamil in the air. There’s also plenty of uniquely Indian scents abound as well. I’ll let you make your own assumptions as to which one is less pleasant.
In any case, this celebration comes at the Jan/Feb Tamil month of Thai — hence the name. And it falls on the last full moon in this period.
The festival itself is more of a gathering of people collected with a focus on sacrifice. But it doesn’t start at the festival. The Hindus who show up in 2013 are the ones who had their prayers answered sometime in 2012. They came to this cave, prayed in the temple built into its cavern and were fortunate enough for their wishes to be granted by Murugan, the god of the Tamils.
Of all the mythical religions in human history, the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahabarata and the Ramayana, are my favorites. The stories are more colorful, widely expanded and creatively linked and more intricately intertwined throughout the hundreds of years over which they were created than the Greek, Norse or Egyptian mythology combined.
Officially, Thaipusam is the date which Parvati, the wife of Shiva, gave Murugan, her son, a spear with which he was to vanquish the evil from Soorapadman, the demon son of an Persian princess.
Unofficially, the story says that upon instruction by Shiva to his dwarf sage, Agastya, two hillocks (conically shaped hills or small mountains) were to be built for ceremonial purposes in Southern India. Agastya in turn charged his disciple, Idumban, with the task.
Even for mythical creatures, lifting mountains must be a huge task. So after finding a suitable mountain he needed to move, Idumban sought assistance in a seemingly homeless boy in rags. But the boy refused, saying that the mountain that Idumban wanted to move actually belonged to him.
Angered, Idumban punished the boy with lashings. But as it turned out, the boy was Murugan in an earthly form, sent there to keep an eye on the completion of the task.
Idumban pleaded for forgiveness. And in doing so, he carried a hillock-shaped rock to the top of the mountain. And in return for his sacrifice, Murugan spared Idumban’s life and granted one wish.
Today, devotees who’ve had their prayers answered by Murugan, come from all over the world to this and other locations to perform similar acts of sacrifice. And while it is celebrated all over Malaysia (and India, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia), the two places that this festival is the grandest here are at the Batu Cave and in Penang. In both places, the visiting Hindus climb the many stairs up to the top of a cave.
Some carry giant, colorfully ornamental items on their shoulders in a show of their appreciation (thus their sacrifice) for their answered prayers.
The main part of the celebration involves the procession of devotees from the mother’s temple, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, in the Kuala Lumpur’s China Town area, to Batu Caves. It is a 13-kilometer journey done barefoot.
The day before the procession begins, the murti, a majestic silver chariot, is cleaned and elaborately decorated. The murti normally waits in the mother’s temple. But on the day of Thaipusam, the murti is brought to a chariot and tugged along by men with hooks in their backs attached to ropes pulling the cart. This journey usually takes about 8 hours.
Those who choose to engage in castigation normally shave their heads (not just limited to the men) or carry items up the stairs in the blistering Malaysian heat. The hillock-like ornament that some men choose to carry up the hill is called a Kavadi. It is generally made of the lightest material possible (aluminum frame with peacock feathers and colored paper, balanced on the shoulders and the “penitent” observer who is even assisted up the hill, many times by their friends carrying them to the top. But I am sure Murugan still appreciates the gesture.
Most people walk around and pretend to be in a trance in order to “let the gods in” and allow them to be free of the pain involved in skewering themselves along the chest, back, arms and face. A similar festival takes place in Thailand in October called The Vegetarian Festival. They like to trance it up and pierce themselves with everything from hypodermic needles to the muzzles of M16s.
What most people carry around at Thaipusam, though, is a jug of milk balanced on the head and carried to the top where it is poured into a giant vat. I never figured out what happens with the milk by the end of the day when it’s surely acquired a pungent aroma in the humid Southeast Asian heat. Where’s an army of kittens when you need one?
What I liked most about the festival is that many people aren’t praying for more money, a nice car, or a new video game. Okay, some are. But most come here to give thanks for Murugan’s blessings in healing a sick child, getting lucky in love, or the most revered miracle of them all; to become pregnant. And in the event that this last stroke of luck has befallen those who’ve asked it of the great Murugan, the women will carry their babies draped in saffron robes and balanced on sugar cane stems throughout the journey.
It’s an interesting three days in Southeast Asia. And I highly recommend that you catch the next one!
For the Thaipusam festival, 2013, I took off to the Batu Cave, just north of Kuala Lumpur.
I left with my good friend Aw, who came down from Thailand to help me capture footage of the event. This video is the intro to both the festival and the gear that I took with me.
[Video recently uploaded – may take some time to process and be visible]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cOQSrkJ62Q&w=560&h=315]
Look for the new film, Travel Geek: Documentary Malaysia, to follow in late 2013.