02.28.537N 101.50.751E  Thursday 20^th November  What a difference we immediately felt on arrival in Malaysia – very few entry formalities, a relaxed attitude to Custom’s clearance and little concern about leaving our boat prior to checking in.  After the rather dirty Bali Marina and the filthy and swelly waters in the Republic of  Singapore Yacht Club the Admiral Marina here in Port Dickson is a delight…. Modern with  a beautiful infinity pool, cosy bar and all facilities on hand at a fraction of European prices.

Our beautiful pool

Admiral Marina building

Day one saw us settling in and enjoying a traditional Malaysian meal – incredibly neon, gaudy and noisy with fast, friendly service – huge amount of delicious food at a tiny cost – ten of us drinking 8 large beers, 8 soft drinks, butter prawns, fried squid, chilly chicken, fried rice, lemon chicken, seafood soup, Singapore noodles and vegetables – just £5 a head.

The neon diner!

Day two we (Anahi, Liahona and Glendora) all set off in two taxis to Port Dickson town to clear in (and out) with Customs, Immigration and Port Control – all very friendly, easy and laid back - before a longer journey to Malaka city…….and what a place that turned out to be!  It should be said here that in all our travels throughout Indonesia and now Malaysia we have been treated with the utmost courtesy; there is zero letching or leering, absolutely no feeling of being threatened, hardly any pestering or hard selling on the streets, no visible thugary or crime and honesty second to none i.e. giving the right change, running after us if we have dropped or forgotten something and local people going out of their way to explain their culture, religions and history.  Malaka, with its rich Portuguese, Dutch and British influence was no exception and the pretty canals, shabby chic buildings, abundance of restaurants not to mention a plethora of museums is a place not to be missed.

Shabby chic buildings

…with a certain style

…all of their own. 

The rickshaw boys speak near perfect English and gave us a history lesson on route and the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum was enchanting although the Malaysian guide could have been speaking Portuguese or even double Dutch so far as understanding anything she said in her very fast, high pitched English……but the exquisite antiques, paintings and photos of yesteryear in any case told their story even though we were not allowed to photograph anything.

The rickshaw boys too their profession very seriously – they were fit and energetic, proud of their role and proved to be great guides with a lot of historical knowledge.  The bikes were immaculate with flowers, brollies and music and we really enjoyed our hour.

Famous houses along our rickshaw route

Today we all cleaned, and we cleaned, and we cleaned and we cleaned the boat from tip to toe inside and out – including all the scum around water line, a legacy from Singapore, and the black greasy diesel dust from the traffic in the Strait……

Cleaning the hull

Tomorrow at dawn we head off towards Langkawi – the south west monsoon rains have arrived with a vengeance and we are not looking forward to the forecast squalls, busy shipping lanes, unpredictable tugs and fish farms with no lights not to mention the Klang river mouth which is sure to be full of telegraph poles, trees, logs and fishing buoys.  In fact Glendora had a clear plastic bag wrapped around their prop shaft on the way here and Lee had to dive in and untangle it all……..yuck!!  We will again try to find anchorages of some description so we are not sailing at night…….