Phespirit goes to Malaysia
Malacca     March 2003

PAINTING THE TOWN RED Not a scene from High Plains Drifter, rather this is the Dutch colonial part of Malacca in all its garish crimson glory. Christ Church is on the left, the clock tower is on the right, and the Stadthuys (the town hall) stretches behind.
THE STRAITS OF MALACCA Now I've done a string of horrible things Like murdering, pillaging and theft I've looted the junks in the Straits of Malacca Put Spanish explorers to death But prejudice would be the ugliest thing For a waitress so lovely to feel Is it because I'm a pirate You seem to have cancelled our date? And is it because I'm a pirate That now it's a quarter to eight? Your prejudice turns you against me But I am prepared to wait .....
PORTA DE SANTIAGO This tiny gate is all that is left of A'Famosa, the sixteenth century town fortress, built by the Portugese, and now the oldest surviving European architectural remnant in Asia Small but significant.