January 20, 2000      More sighseeing today.  We went to the art museum, took the subway to the suburbs, and saw a chinese street opera.  The opera was the clear winner although not at all what we were expecting.  A solo performer was on stage lipsynching to a soundtrack while gracefully dancing with ribbons.  She was mesmerizingly beautiful in costume and dramatic face paint.      For the surreal moment of the day, we had a gang of eight bicycle rickshaws, each driver wearing identical neon yellow shirts, pass us on main street.  All were singing the chorus to Guantanamera.      Breakfast - Waffles.      Lunch - Roast pork and rice.  The pork was "crispy crunchy" and the sauce reminded me of barbeque.      Snacks - Coated green peas, spring rolls, and curry puffs (which tasted just like a Bolivian saltena.) Hotel - $21, Food - $18, Trans - $6, Museums - $4, Random (stamps) - $3     Total - $52

January 21, 2000      We crossed the border today and travelled by bus to Malacca, a historic port city on the west coast of Malaysia.  In the 15th century, Malacca was home to a powerful sultantate who became rich trading spices.  The city (and sultantate) saw a serious decline in its fortunes due to successive colonization by the Portugese, Dutch, English, and Japanese (1511 - 1959).      Arriving at a crowded pier, the driver apparently announced we were in Malacca and for everyone to please get off his bus.  It was an unsettling experience as we couln't find any street signs nor anyone who spoke English.  This part of town was also exclusively Malay, who are exclusively Muslim, adn no one was returning our nervous smiles.  After a few right turns, we were back on the map and easily walked to the touristy and friednly city center.      We explored for the rest of the day.  In Chinatown, we saw a reflexology clinic and I (was) volunteered to go in.  Although an experience, it was not what I expected (think Midnight Express).      Breakfast: Roti prata and coffee      Dinner: Sauteed chicken with dried chilli and rice, ice cream Hotel - $7, Food - $8, Trans - $12, Random (reflexology - $6)     Total - $35

January 22, 2000      We visited several museums and temples today.  Our favorite was the Baba Nonya Heritage House which displays a local family's life and possessions over the past 200 years.  It had several interesting features including a small, removable block in the bedroom that overlooked the front porch (an early version of caller ID), open courtyards, and a locking staircase (that kept burglers out and husbands in).  I especially like the Chinese paintings that upon closer look were actually fine embroidery (that can take up to 5 years to make).  Lady like the silk wedding apparrel that is passed down and worn through the generations.      Later, I went for a haircut, always an experience with the language barrier.  We celebrated another good day with a sunset drink at a bar overlooking the Malacca river.  Fishing doesn't appear to have changed much here - just small wooden boats and casting nets.      Breakfast - Groceries.      Lunch - We found a small place in little India.  Here we were served stewed, spicy mutton and chicken with rice and vegetable, all on a large banana leaf.  In South Indian style, we ate with our hands.      Dinner - Sweet and sour chicken with rice. Hotel - $6, Food - $16, Museums - $6, Random (haircut) - $2     Total - $30

January 23, 2000      The highlight of a deliberately slow day was a river (history) cruise.  Our guide was (unintentionally) funny and spoke just like Paul Harvery.      And now for the rest of the story...      Breakfast: Groceries and reading the paper in the park.      Lunch: Banana leaf curry chicken.      Dinner: Fast food and ice cream Hotel - $6, Food - $14, Museums - $5     Total - $25

January 24, 2000      Happy Chinese New Year!  Today is the 1st day of the 1st lunar month.  It is the start of a big, fifteen day holiday (like Christmas).   Everyone goes home to be with family, exchanges presents (usually money in red envelopes), shoots fireworks, plays mahjong, etc.  At the family dinner the standard toast is "Gangxi Facai" which means "Congratulations, get rich".      Without a Chinese family of our own, we celebrated by travelling to Kuala Lumpur.  KL was something of a disappointment: drity without being interesting and busy without being electric.  The substandard accomodations didn't help. Hotel - $9, Food - $14, Trans - $4, Random (internet) - $2     Total - $29