For Tet this year I went to Malaysia as it's a nice place to chill out for a week. As I flew Air Asia I had stupid timings for my flights so I had to get to Hanoi airport ridiculously early for the flight, but luckily managed to arrive in Kuala Lumpur in time to catch the bus to Malacca with just a couple of minutes to spare. Despite the roads being busy for new year it was a nice journey in a country with lovely roads and decent busses. I arrived in Malacca late afternoon and went to see what was going on in Chinatown before finding a place to watch the sunset - I do love a good sunset!

I spent the next few days in Malacca just walking around and seeing the sights. It is a pretty small place and there are lots of nice cafes scattered between lots of small museums. They all have pretty cheap entry, and air con, so I got a bit of culture in on my trip. There are churches and ruins of the old fort, and several mosques and temples, the latter of which were very busy for the new year. The river is really nice to walk along, with the buildings on either side covered in art work.

There are lots of different cuisines in Malacca and it was nice to get a bit of Portuguese food for a change from rice or noodles, and there is also an awesome roti stall that I visited many times. Of course there are multiple shopping opportunities too, and I ended up buying a really nice hand made rug that I just couldn't resist. There is also a tower in Malacca and you get into the cabin which then rises to the top and spins around slowly a few times before going back down, which gives a good view of the city. It really was a nice place to spend a few days, despite the trishaws pumping out Gangnam Style very loudly all over the city centre!

After Malcca I made my way to KL for  spot of shopping. Saw a few lion dances around the city, both the big public ones in shopping centres, and also the smaller ones complete with fire crackers on the street outside Chinese businesses.

I spent a day around Chinatown and Little India, and Independence Square, and I also went out to a park with a bunch of lakes and a nice view of the skyline. I hadn't been there before so it was nice to find somewhere new despite multiple trips to KL in the past. Of course I also went up the tower - I can't resist a good view of the skyline of a big city.

As always, the rest of the photos are here