These statues caught my eye in the maritime museum in Melaka (Malacca) in Malaysia
This room held prisoners of war of all ethnicities, slaves and sailors who committed crimes. Cramped against each other in a dark and congested room, the prisoners had no hope for freedom. Normally ballast was placed in the belly of the ship to act as a stabilizer. However this diorama was put together to re-enact the conditions in the ship (Flor De La Mar)
The original ship still lies undiscovered in the sea bed. We spent the evening in Malacca listening to some music and taking in the sunset.
Happy to see that the common sparrow and the mourning Dove is common in Kuala Lumpur too (got both of them in one frame)
Earlier we had been to the Batu caves in Kuala Lumpur (more for the challenge of climbing the 272 steps that lead to the Lord Murugan temple.)
The climb was not as difficult as we thought, but it is good to be a little cautious of the monkeys. The Grab driver who ferried us was very jovial and informative too. (Grab is similar to Uber cabs) He was talking of things in general and I found that whatever he said made sense.
As the sun went down, clicked this picture from the windshield.
While in Malaysia, we visited Kuching in Sarawak (situated in the island of Borneo) A wonderful place, the island and the people. Very warm and helpful, things move at a leisurely pace over here. Borneo is owned by three countries. Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
We flew in from Kuala Lumpur to Kuching and headed straight to the Sarawak cultural village by road. The roads were well marked and lush with greenery.
We got to see the traditional dance by the different tribes. I was taken in by the skill and accuracy of the boy with the blowpipe.
The world rainforest music festival is held here every year and many renowned musicians converge over here to perform.
Many of them are so much in awe of the place that they leave their instruments behind as a mark of reverence and respect for the simple minded people.
The highlight of the Malaysia trip was the visit to the Semenggoh wildlife sanctuary where we could see Orangutans.
We were lucky to spot six of them, four adults and two young ones.While watching them at close quarters I noticed that many of their movements and actions were very similar to that of humans (except that we can't eat with our feet)
"We are not talking to each other, but we don't mind posing for you" This could be one of the captions that I could think of after clicking this sunset picture at Colaba.
They were actually posing for me, because after clicking when I started walking, they too started walking with me. Sunset is a good opportunity to click good pictures, like these kids having a lively chat while the sun goes down.
While clicking I saw this lighthouse, which came into existence in 1770. This is situated at the prong of Colaba.
When the Portuguese occupied the island of Bombay in the 16th century they built a watchtower on the Old woman's island (Colaba)
Later it was. modified into a lighthouse by the British in 1770. It was further improved in 1800 by a powerful wick lamp.This was the first major lighthouse in British India followed by one in Madras in the same year.
After many changes in the lamp, in 2008 it got its present 70 Watt metal Halide lamp.
Not much has changed in the Marinedrive area of Mumbai. Like this font from the 50s still stands as a sign board in the area.
Some of the buildings with rounded corners which I have seen in the early 60s, still stands.
The heritage structure next to Churchgate station stands in all its glory with the tricolour and the ever present yellow taxis of Mumbai justapositioned in the front. Incidentally I found that the taxis are cheaper than the Uber.
Years have gone by but the buying and selling power of this simple flower lady remains the same (not far from the Sensex office)
The bus service by BEST keeps improving as the years go by. Like they have seperate lines for gents and ladies (ladies from the front)
In the bus I was highly impressed by the conductor's interaction with the passengers, always jovial and happy, cracking a joke here and there. One lady did not know where to alight, but had the address on her phone. The conductor took the phone from her and had a look at the address. Then he opened google map on her phone and fed in the location on the map. From the route he got the stop which was closest to her destination and issued a ticket accordingly. All this with a smile. I would call this as customer delight.
