Eating ear in Melaka

I have been in Melaka for the past two nights and am leaving tomorrow to meet Jen in Kuala Lumpur. It took two hours to get from KL to Melaka and I arrived just as it started to rain. I am trying to always take public transport over taxis so my first mission was to wade through the taxi touts and work out the Melaka bus system to take me to my hostel.

I finally got to the hostel quite wet and having walked a fair distance with my big bag on my back. I met Howard the hostel owner and he gave me a tour of my new home for the next three nights. No hot water, no air conditioning, no place in the room to store valuables. My first bad feelings about the hostel though were quickly dissolved when I realized how much of a character Howard was.

"The problem with hostel guests," He remarked as he gave the tour "is that sometimes you have guests who talk to each other, and sometimes you have guests who are shy, and sometimes you have guests who just don't want to make new friends. Why is this? Everyone should be friends! Life is too short!" Howard then took me to the main foyer of the hostel where a big group of backpackers were sitting on big cushioned seats and chatting. Howard made the introductions, remembering everyones names and I joined them, within half an hour I felt like I had known everyone for years.

The first night I was there Howard went rushing round the hostel asking if anyone want to go to dinner. A small group of us jumped into his car and he took us to this local food place where you sit on the street and eat. He did the same the following night which is where this picture below was taken.

You can just about see me behind the giant German girls head.

The food we were eating here was Satay and the restaurant is famous in Melaka. In the center of the table was a boiling pot of satay heated by gas and you would cook all your food in the pot. I had chicken, vegetables, seafood of unknown origin and ear. I don't know what animal owned the ear but I want to try as much new stuff as I can on this trip and eating an ear fell under this category.

Melaka itself is a very chilled out place. Through the ages the city has been taken over or influenced by so many different countries that it has British, Dutch, Arabic, Malay and Chinese heritage. There are old ruins, temples and mosques dotted round small winding streets with lots of cafes and restaurants you can sit in and watch the world go by. You sometimes find yourself thinking your in Europe somewhere rather than Malaysia.

I am leaving Melaka tomorrow feeling very relaxed and chilled out after watching sunsets from the roof garden and meeting some interesting people. I'm looking forward to meeting Jen and then heading into the jungles of Malaysia but will be a little sad to leave Melaka and am sure I will return to stay at the 2 quid a night hostel again someday. The hostel is called Ringos Foyer and the owner is a legend!

bx