Ye Olde Malacca

Hello friends, first I couldn't post, now I can, I don't understand this "internets."
I spent today roaming Malacca, looking to take in some historical sites. I began at the Museum of Enduring Beauty. It was very interesting. It detailed the many ways people around the world alter their appearance in the name of beauty. I saw everything from lip and ear plugs to scarring, tattooing, foot binding, and corsets. Why was this museum in Malacca? I have no idea.
Later, I wandered up to what remains of the old Portuguese fort and church. The English converted it into an Anglican church after they got here. There were a number of graves--everyone seemed to die in their 20s of diptheria or childbirth. Lets hope the same fate does not befall me.
The old part of town looks a bit like a caricature of its former self. Have I said that before? I saw the oldest Dutch building in the East. They've painted everything a garrish pinkish mauve-y color. It boggles the mind.
Later, I took a stroll through Chinatown. It was very atmospheric. Narrow streets, antique shoppes, interesting architecture. I went into the "Baba-Noynya Museum." The Baba Noynyas are the Chinese-Malay community. The house where a wealthy family lived is now a museum. They were merchants who also owned (and still do) a rubber plantation. The houses are long and narrow with nice courtyards open to the sky. The most interesting part of the house to me was the kitchen. There was a giant range--underneath the burners were places for open fire to heat the range. There was a giant rice steamer also.
I had a typical Noynya lunch. It was quite delicious and spicy. It was a bowl full of coconut curry, but rather than rice, it was filled with rice noodles. There were also rice balls floating in the soup. They were about the size of golf balls and had a nugget of chicken inside (not, thankfully, a chicken nugget). They reminded me of matza balls.
Later, I went to the grocery store to buy some fruit. I haven't been anywhere with grocery stores till I got to Malaysia. The fruit here is considerably more expensive than in Vietnam and Cambodia. Why? I don't know.
Tomorrow I get on a bus and go to Singapore. I don't think there's much to see in terms of sites, but I figured I may as well go since it's a short (3 hours?) bus ride away. I think it'll be nice. I will try not to get caned.
Good evening friends! Stay well, and as my Zayde likes to say, "Keep the cards and letters coming!" (Or as my dad likes to say, "Write when you find work, send home your checks!"--either one will do).