We celebrated Ouest’s 15th birthday in Melaka. It was one of those birthdays where we weren’t really sure where we would be ahead of time, so it was nice that we were at least in an interesting town.

The day started out with unwinding the snubber line from the anchor chain. The boat had swung in so many circles with the crazy currents that the line had twisted into a tight knot around the chain. I didn’t realize it beforehand, but afterwards if you had asked me what the odds of losing a finger in that operation were, I’d have said 50/50. Nice sweaty hot way to start the morning, but I still had all my digits afterwards and the boat was free to spin again.

Lunch at the Baboon House. No baboons here, but it was a beautifully decorated place with some great food, and a really nice Key Lime cheesecake. Some quiet Happy Birthday singing under our breath was allowed, but alerting the staff was not.

Every so often there’s a random hint that Christmas is around the corner.

He looks like he stopped to pose for a picture, but he was really just pedaling past.

The Christ Church of 1753 is a reminder that Melaka was a strategic port for hundreds of years, going from Portuguese, to Dutch, to British rule. Even Japan snuck in there for a few years during WWII. These buildings, and much of the interesting architecture around town are survivors of the Dutch era.

The church wasn’t all that interesting inside, but I did appreciate sitting in a church pew that wasn’t just a solid wood bench.

Rickshaws are everywhere in town, all sporting Instagram worthy decorations.

It’s probably totally unneccessary in a small town like this, but hey, why not go up and get a bird’s eye view?

Swimming and diving competitions are on hold, from the looks of things.

Bumfuzzle is smack dab in the middle of this picture, anchored out front of a huge land reclamation project. A couple of square miles worth of land right in front of us is all new. Probably a bit of a bummer for those who once had waterfront property.

I’m guessing these are compliments of the Dutch era as well.

Coconut shake’s are ridiculously good.

Piously fell asleep to the Lord.

The Melaka Sultanate Museum.

In case you were tempted… Again, a 14 foot croc was pulled out of here a few days after we left. They were hunting for him while we were there.

Anyway, it was a quiet birthday for Ouest, but a nice day spent wandering around town as a family. Happy Birthday, Ouest!