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Malaysia (Johor Bahru and Malacca), 1988:

My memories of this city -Malacca - close to the border of Singapore and about 91 miles from the capital, Kuala Lumpur - maybe fleeting, but the place is very historic. Malacca is a former Portuguese colony - they ruled the place for 130 years until the Dutch replaced them in 1641. After the Dutch captured Malacca from the Portuguese in 1641, they continued to use Batavia (now, Jakarta) as their headquarters. The place is very beautiful.

Among the places we went to: the St. Paul's Church on top of the, well, St. Paul's Hill (pic #5 above). It was once the prayer house of the Portuguese Catholics, then turned into burial ground for their noble dead by the Dutch. The tombstones have Latin and Portuguese inscriptions on them. St. Francis Xavier was buried here in 1553 (see pics #7 & 8 above) before his body was moved to Goa in India.

I also visited the fortress, called A'Famosa which suffered severe destruction during the Dutch invasion. What's left were just the entrance walls (pic #4 & 6 above), still well preserved. Also, the Stadthuys (1650) - pic #2 & 3 above -which was the official residence of the Dutch Governor. It houses the Historic and Ethnography Museums which has many traditional bridal costumes and relics on display. Nearby, one will also find the Christ Church built in 1753, another fine example of Dutch architecture.

Someday, I'd like to return these places again. Meanwhile, thanks for all the memories!

Hongkong, 1990:

Shopping capital of Asia...what else could one expect? Lots of malls and shopping centers plus a sprinkling of the old and new. British and Chinese- influenced architecture everywhere. The place is miniscule but caters to both one's aesthetic and material senses --shopping and other stuff money can buy. HK as a residence is simply a status symbol...like most developed, tiny island/nations It's the place to go if you like to be seen with all your material gains in life. It's small, it's fun but requires a lot of money to really indulge in your craving for shopping...but that's about it.

I went here on a tour with my aunts in 1990. We stayed in a relatively-modest quality hotel on the Hongkong-side -the other being, Kowloon-side - of the island. As noted, my aunts had their shopping-spree on most of the days we were there. Their night markets were truly fantastic, with goods at really, truly - in the real sense of the word - cheap prices! They stretched for several blocks and offered all assortments of things money could buy. While my companions shopped, I simply went on my way and sampled the tremendous variety of food - and there were a lot! Brrrp!

...on to more Travels

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