Kampung Melayu, Geneva: AKULA WAS HERE

If you dont know where Berjaya Colmar Tropicale Resort buildings cedok its idea from, its from this place, Colmar, France.

But I am sure you already knew that, so I wont waste my time writing about how our dear ex PM went to Colmar, France, was so impressed with the architecture of this one small place in France, went back to Malaysia and `WALLA!' there is this French village in the middle of Pahang jungle.

I went there recently, after hearing so much positive things about Colmar.

What I found out was, actually the place where all the old building is located is dubbed as Little Venice. Its part of the Old Colmar town. And why Little Venice, you might ask? Well, there is one, I repeat, ONE canal which runs through it, thus the Venice connection. But who am I to question hundred of years old history? Little Venice it is.

It might be that because I went in the middle of winter, and the weather is cold. It could also be because the fact that I went to Little Venice in Colmar on Sunday and all the shops were closed, except this one little souvenir shop which embraced the true capitalism spirit (to make as much profit as possible, even if every other businesses in France are closed on Sundays). It could also be because of my foul mood since I left the winter jacket at home and wore only an England rugby jersey with a thin leather jacket with no gloves. Its also possible that I was shivering from the cold winter that I have to differ in opinion with every people who had been to Colmar and found it an excellent place. Here goes...... in my honest opinion, there is really nothing interesting in Colmar, seriously. If there is no colourful, old building, its just another town in France. Thats it.

The thing is, from my view, the canal is really dirty, the same as what we usually have in Malaysian rivers, and the whole approximately 1 km of Little Venice could be covered on foot in less than 10 minutes. Of course I expect more from this so called world famous attraction. I spent 3 hours driving from Geneva just to see a bunch of coloured old buildings? Well, thats the fact from my view anyway. People who loves Colmar are more than welcome to differ with my opinion.

The other thing, which I found lacking was the public amenities. Okay, I understand if there is no public phone, since most of us carries one anyway. But rest rooms? With thousands of visitors and tourist visiting this place, logically one would think that its there for the public convenience. What more in n the cold weather, people tend to go to the restroom quite a lot, and to my knowledge there is only one offered. Never mind that sole thing is a coin operated one. Put in 2 EURs and the door opened up revealing a sitting toilet for all to see since its located at then end of a fountain, a place where crowds are attracted to. So you go in, and after you did your `business', zip the flyers and step out. To flush you have to go out and press the button from outside! And of course, while doing all that, the door is still open revealing your deposited treasures to those up there in the surrounding buildings. Anyway, at a push of the correct button, the door closed again and the toilet machine rumbles like a Transformer character to clean itself. A modern marvel huh? I have a pic of the said modern marvel, but my friend is in the pic, standing beside it, waiting patiently for his turn. I would post it here, but since I dont want to risk being sued, I chose not to. Anybody have that lingering thought why the canal is dirty?

Having said that, I have to admit that the coloured timber buildings, looks good in pictures. Well at least, I didnt waste my time there. I took a lot of pics in the cold winter weather. Enjoy.