Melaka revisited: Part 1, St Paul's Hill in Bandar Hilir

It has been a while since I last went up to St Paul Hill in Melaka because of the very thoughts of cramming around with day trippers and tourists wasn't very inviting. Also the fact that it is so difficult to get a decent parking around Melaka these days, tourist or no tourist...The visit on a sunny December morning proved fruitful as there weren't really that many tourists (yet) and we were lucky enough to see a performing art rehersal for the big cultural event to be held on the site itself later that evening...

 The Cheng Ho museum that also display old fire trucks within its gated compound...

 Beautiful vista of the straits...to access, on can use the side path up the hill instead of going through the museum complex which will cost some tourist dollars...

 liked the old granite wheel, probably remnant of some kind of mill

 the exposed part of the original stairs made from red sandstone which are porous...

modern mistake: tiled over the old charming ones...

 The bell tower painted in white contrasting against the chapel which was built in sandstone

 A dancer rehearsing furiously under the mid morning sun inside the chapel's compound...

 Burial tablets dating back to 16th century encircle the chapel's open interiors

The burial tablets are predominantly carved with latin inscriptions, some in old Dutch or old Portugese, like this one in dark granite stone...

Melaka revisited: Part 2 - St Paul's Hill in Bandar Hilir

The compound of the church is usually alive with hoards of tourists and curious locals and today wasn't an exception.....blocking them off the camera lenses' frame need a lot of patience and opportunistic timing

 This old street artist under the clock tower was very chatty and doesn't mind telling old tales to anyone who cares to listen...

 The statue of Francis Xavier lost its arm in a freak accident and the story is in the Wiki link below...

 This is the tree that gave Melaka her name: buah Melaka, a bitter-sweet fruit (mostly bitter)

Here's an article on Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s_Church,_Malacca

Our Christmas do of 2015...

This year, as every year, we had a Christmas do at home with some special guests...

 the setting...

 simple diced ripe tomatoes with a pinch of fleur de sel, olive oil and crushed parmiggiano reggiano chips...

 Cucumber raita with tuna bits

 Block of foie gras with balsamic reduction and apple purée, and a glass of bubbly champagne...

 Prawn bisque, served over pan-fried sea prawns with pernod and Madagascan vanilla...

 Christmas terrine of pork, served with sour apple salade and Balsamic reduction and orange glaze...

 Braised lamb with trompettes de la mort mushroom, gravy on baked potato puree...

Choice of cheese with salad on the side...

Gold Tortoise Shell Bug

When we were children, this was a pretty common bug in our garden and we children used to catch these and keep them as pets in empty match boxes. They exist in a range of sizes and colours, all of which are metallic and jewel-like. Unfortunately rare these days -  I have not seen much of them even of excursions to the edge of forests...