Malacca among 45 ‘must-visit’ places

KUALA LUMPUR: Malacca has been listed by influential The New York Times as one of the 45 places to visit this year.

“With its lantern-lighted canals and silent, narrow streets lined with decades-old ornate temples and shophouses, few places in South-East Asia conjure romantic images of the past as effectively as Malacca,” it said in a write-up which became its second most-read story of the day. Under the heading “The 45 Places to Go in 2012”, it said that Malacca, as a Unesco World Heritage site, had been captivating “record numbers of tourists lured by its unusual architecture and cuisine, which reflect centuries of foreign influences”.

“When you’re not exploring places like the 17th-century former Dutch town hall or Jonker Street’s antique shops, gorge on Malacca’s outstanding local specialties, like creamy, piquant nyonya laksa at the family-run Donald & Lily’s.”

Other Asian places which it recommended were Myanmar, Tokyo, Lhasa (Tibet), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Moganshan (China), Kerala (India), Koh Rong (Cambodia) and South Korea.
Besides recommending the always popular cities such as London (The Olympics! The Queen! Charles Dickens turns 200!), Vienna and Florence, it also recommended a number of places less travelled such as Antarctica. It described Antarctica as “still remote and exotic. Now, luxurious too”. But the clincher was its suggestion for a trip to space.
“It’s not just the imaginings of science fiction geeks. Pretty soon anyone with US$200,000 (RM620,000) will be able to travel to the last frontier.”

It noted that Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 with the goal of pioneering commercial flights to space. “Last year, the company began test-flying SpaceShipTwo, an aircraft that will enable two pilots and six passengers to travel to suborbital space.
“Although no launch date has been confirmed (a 2012 date was pushed to 2013), about 450 people from around the globe have already purchased tickets – the first passengers will be (surprise!) Richard Branson and his two children, Sam and Holly.”
-thestar online.