又下西洋

It's been a customary move for me to stay in a heritage hotel whenever possible for the past few years and The Majestic is just what I want.

Donovan, of Dutch ancestry, is the in-house guide who conducts complimentary historical walk for hotel guests twice a day. An ecologist by professional, he gives good historical perspective and interpretation of the 600 year-old city during the 2-hour walk.

Intrigued by the baba nyonya culture, I had peranakan food most of the time, in old mansion-converted restaurants. The baba nyonya heritage museum is solely a private museum, converted from an old residence of the 曾 family, the 4th generation of baba nyonya now. Being wealthy and having 文化承擔 at the same time is not easy, at least for the Chinese. If the same size of property were to be found in HK, it would have long sold to developers for building characterless and soul-less 豪宅.

The Cheng Ho Cultural Museum is a nice little surprise. It stands on the land where Cheng's 官廠 used to be.

Looking at the diverse faces of people and the languages they speak is so much fun. Malay, Portugese, Dutch, Chinese, Indian and an eclectic mix of these are simply awesome. And the Cantonese spoken there is just adorable : 七溝半(七個半), 要水冇(要唔要嘢飲)...

I guess my honey's ancestry must have been connected to Malacca in some ways. Hohohohoho.