Kota Bharu trip, July 2023

Here is a report about a 5D4N trip to Kota Bharu, organised by Paul and Fahmi. When I showed my interest, they invited me to join, It’s a long drive from KL to Kota Bharu, we used the inland route via Gua Musang, it took us about 7 hours, with some sanitary stops and lunch in the Gua Musang R&R.

Paul and Fahmi had booked a homestay a bit south of the town center, in a kampung, but the house was modern and big enough for us, with three bedrooms.

After a rest we went out for dinner The KST restaurant has good reviews and was not far from our homestay. Fahmi selected a fish for the Ikan Bakar and picked a variety of fresh vegetables for the Ulam, a Malay salad, where you dip the raw veggie in a sauce of your choice. .

Left the ulam with two sauces, right the Ikan Bakar.

We also had Mango Salad and Tomyam soup. I nice start of our trip.

The next morning I took a photo of our homestay.. The owner (?) is living in the left part of the house. We had very good privacy in our part.

For our breakfast we went to another popular eatery, Kopitiam Kita. Famous for its Roti Titab, toasted bread with an half boiled egg and some kaya in the four corners.

We had to queue, but found a table reasonably fast.

The Roti Titab looks a bit weird, but was actually very tasty. Coffee was also good. Friendly service.

We drove to the center of the town and parked our car. Left the clock tower in the town center. Inspired by the Big Ben (?), could not find the date when it was built. Right a recent one, near the river. Both not really special.

One of the attractions of Kota Bharu is its Mural Art. Nowadays Mural Art can be seen all over Malaysia, after Zacharevic’s creations in Penang and Ipoh started the trend. Often they are of mediocre quality, using a wall just as a canvas. Here in Kota Bahru they are quite acceptable, often depicting Kelantanese topics, like wayang kulit or kite flying.

One section is dedicated to the Palestine war, a bit depressive but quite interesting. Kelantan is probably the most conservative Islamic state of Malaysia, strongly against Israel and in support of Palestine.. Here is a collection of scenes.

Another section, less depressive, is about Kelantanese life, food, customs etc.. The carpet on the floor has been painted!

Various scenes of kampung life.

Nice countryside.

Left Wayang Kulit, right Silat (Malay martial art).

And of course food 😉

After walking around in this quarter of town, we had a look at Kota Bharu’s famous Siti Khadijah Market. The market is not old, it was opened in 1985 as the Buluh Kubu Market, but in 1997 renamed Siti Khadijah, after the wife of the Prophet Mohammed. Three storeys high, very colorful. The ground floor is a wet market.

Kota Bharu has quite a number of museums. We only visited Istana Jahar, built as a royal residence in 1855. Now it houses the Museum of Royal Traditions and Customs of Kelantan.

When you are interested in colonial architecture, there is no need to visit Kota Bharu. We found only one building, a bank, built in 1912 and completed in 1922. It now houses the War Museum. In 1941 the Japanese invasion of British Malaya started with the landing of troops on the beaches of Kota Bharu.

Nearby is the Royal Landing Pier, We found a suitable place for lunch. In the background you see the clocktower near the Royal Landing Pier.

Walking back to our car we passed one more example of street art, an interactive one this time. Of course I had to try it 😉 .

After a long rest in our homestay we went out again, to the Cahaya Bulan beach.

Paul is not really a cat lover, not clear why cats always like him !

The beach is nice, but not spectacular.

Many food stalls along the beach.

We ordered deep fried squid (celup teping sotong) and prawns. With a coconut as a drink.

The stall even had an outside toilet!

The next day was already our last day in Kota Bharu. We still had to try the Nasi Kerabu and went to Liniey Nasi Kerabu Tumis, where we had to queue for some time, as it is a very popular eatery. But it was worth it.

Our first destination for the day was the Kampung Laut Mosque. We had to cross the Kelantan river to reach the mosque.

The mosque is one of the oldest in Malaysia and has an interesting history, which is explained in a number of panels. Its original location was close to the Kelantan river and erosion and flooding threatened to destroy the building. After a major flood in 1966-67 it was decided to dismantle the building, transport it to another village and rebuild it there. But that was a temporary solution only, Now the mosque has been brought back to Kampung Laut, at a safer distance from the river and protected by a heavy cemented wall from future flooding.

We could enter the mosque but as Paul and I were wearing shorts, we first had to cover our aurat (in this case our knees). The caretaker was very friendly.

The state of Kelantan has been in the past part of the Kingdom of Siam, Only in the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 it was decided that Kelantan would become one of the Unfederated Malay States , controlled by the Brits. .This explains why there still is Thai influence in Kelantan.

We visited two Buddhist temples in Tumpat, first the Wat Phothivihan with a giant Sleeping Buddha.

A few more photos. The entrance of the temple is guarded by two lions, one male and one female. When you look carefully you can see that the picture shows the male one 😉 .

We continued to the Wat Machimmaram, with a giant Sitting Buddha.

After so much local food, we were in the mood for something Western, so we went to the Aeon Mall, where we had already done some shopping the day before. But the whole mall was closed from 12:30 until 14:30! We had forgotten that it was Friday, Prayer Time, and that Kelantan is a very conservative Islamic State.

Luckily we had some biscuits at our homestay where we took a rest, before we went out in the afternoon. To another beach, Pantai Senok. A pleasant surprise. The main attraction is the forest of casuarina trees, planted in a grid pattern. Many families were enjoying the shade under the trees

Because of the grid pattern, you can see through the trees in certain directions.

A nice background for pictures.

Really a nice location.

The beach is also attractive. People were riding horses and flying kites.

We walked along the beach until the dam, separating the beach from a river. A small lighthouse marks the mouth of the river.

Using Google Search Paul and Fahmi had found a restaurant, not far from the beach, which specialised in oysters (tiram in Malay). When we arrived at this Maggi Tiram Kmah restaurant, we found a pleasant place, with friendly staff.

It’s all oyster dishes they serve 😉

We had a delicious dinner, starting with fresh oysters , followed by nasi tiram, nasi telor sotong and maggi tiram (soup)

The left picture shows the telor sotong (squid eggs) and the right picture shows three cheese-baked oysters, given to us free of charge. The total bill, including drinks, was RM 45. Unbelievable 😉 .

Here is a Google Earth screenshot with the locations we have visited. Click on the map to enlarge and see details.

The next day we started our drive back to KL. We stayed overnight in Kuala Terengganu, where Paul and Fahmi had booked a hotel.

Kuala Terengganu has two interesting mosques, This is the Crystal Mosque, built between 2006 and 2008.

And this is the Floating Mosque, built between 1993 and 1995. A real beauty.

It was a nice trip. Thanks to Paul and Fahmi for inviting me.

A Wedding Dinner

It is many years ago that Aric and I attended a Chinese wedding dinner! When our friend Henry Hor came to our place in April, to invite us for the wedding dinner of his son Benjamin, we accepted his invitation. When I decided a few weeks later to visit the Netherlands, I planned my timetable in such a way that I would come back just one day before the dinner, hoping that my jetlag would not be too severe 😉 .

For those not familiar with the tradition of Chinese wedding dinners, here some information. A Chinese wedding dinner is a big and expensive event, where hundreds of guests enjoy a traditional many-course dinner. The size of the event is indicated by the number of tables, where eacht table is for 10 pax. The price for one table can easily be in the range RM 2000-3000. At this occasion there were 30 tables. To contribute to the cost of the event, the guests don’t give the wedding couple a present, but an ang pao envelope with money. On arrival we presented our ang pao, and we were given our table number. Henry is busy here, doing some checking.

Left the wedding dinner invitation. Benjamin is living in the US, Anita in Malaysia. They met via the Internet and married last year in the US. Now Benjamin came back for the church wedding. He brought quite a few of his American friends. Anita who is planning to move to the US, is Chindian. So the dinner was Chinese, but the company was an interesting mix of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Mat Salleh, very Malaysian.

A few pictures of the hall. On the invitation a starting time of 6 pm is mentioned, but almost nobody comes that early. We arrived at 6:30 pm

Still enough time to greet friends. Left Aric and George, right Khong, George and me together with Henry

At around 7 pm the couple, Anita and Benjamin, entered the hall.

They were seated at the main table, near the stage, with their close family. Then the dinner could start. An eight-course menu. Free flow of wine and beer.

The first course is always a variety of starters. Read the menu for details.

Followed by seafood soup (left) and and chicken chop with mango salad (right)

In the meantime the MC (master of ceremonies) introduced the speakers and also photos and videos were shown on the big screen above the main stage. Here is “our” table.

There was one more table with our friends. Left photo (from right to left) George, Boon Chee and his wife. Right photo (from right to left) Richard Yap, Teoh and his wife. We know each other through Bukit Kiara and IKEA, before COVID disturbed our lives.

Fourth course: steamed pomfret with ginger in soy sauce.

The next two courses, left butter prawns with egg floss, right mushroom and broccoli

Henry, Anita and Benjamin at the VIP table, listening to the speeches on the stage.

Then it is their turn. Benjamin has to open a bottle of champaign (or maybe sparkling wine),preferably with a loud pop ;-). Then groom and bride have to fill the tower of glasses. This is a traditional element of the ceremony.

Next is the official toasting with all close relatives and friends on stage.

Everybody has to sing yam seng, cheers in Cantonese, litterally “drink to victory”. The “yam” must be kept as long and loud as possible, followed by a short, explosive “seng”. Here is a short video, showing that not everybody was familiar with this very Chinese custom. the MC had to help 😉 .

These events are very suitable to meet old friends. Left the Gang of Four, we still meet regularly. Right Boon Chee, Andrew and I, we have not met each other for many years.

In the meantime the last course had arrived, Mixed fruits and a dessert of sea coconut and snow fungus. This time Aric was serving the others at our table.

The finale of the dinner. Bride and groom visit tables for another yam seng toast and pictures.. Not all tables, just tables with their friends and relatives.

Here I am toasting on the good luck and happiness of the couple. Yaaaaaaaam Seng.

A pleasant evening, nice to meet old friends. i had no problem with jetlag!

Taiping, February 2023

Before starting to write this blog, I decided to take a look at the two blogs I wrote about my visits to Taiping last year, in March and June. I noticed that my Taiping visits are usually very similar: I meet friends, enjoy the Lake Gardens, explore the town and its heritage, have nice food. etc. This visit was not different, so be warned ;- .

On 15 February I took the ETS to Taiping I like train travel, it is more relaxing than driving. I always choose a seat in coach C, because the canteen is there 😉

In Taiping my friends Lay Chun and Kar Seng were waiting for me. We had lunch in the 226 Kim Hai restaurant in Aulong, where they are regular customers.

Nice food and as usual they didn’t let me pay for it. Malaysian hospitality!. From left to right, pork ribs, bitter gourd omelet (my favourite) and mantis shrimps.

After lunch they dropped me at Furama. From my hotel room I always had a view of a beautiful (but abandoned) bungalow. I was a bit shocked to see that the bungalow had been completely destroyed and replaced by a non-descript eatery.

After taking some rest I walked to the Novotel where I met my friend Derrick and his “gang”. They were on a road trip, staying overnight in Taiping and he had asked me to show them Taiping. As they had already been walking around in the Lake Gardens, I took them to Kuala Sepetang (Port Weld), where we walked around. Here a view from the bridge.

The first railway in the FMS, from Taiping to Port Weld, was opened in 1885. Dismantled in 1941, now only a signboard remains. On our way back we had dinner in Matang. The Light House restaurant is famous for its seafood porridge.

The next morning my friend Yeap picked me up from my hotel. We had breakfast together, another tradition. This time we had thosai in a mamak.

I had asked Yeap if he had contacts in the Taiping Sikh community, because I was interested to visit the Gurdwara Sahib. Not surprisingly he had, after breakfast we went to the Gurdwara where we met Datuk Balraaj Singh. The present Gurdwara was built in 1970 to replace a beautiful building, completed in 1921. The Taiping Gurdwara Sahib has an interesting history, going back to the times of captain Speedy, who in the 1870s went to India and came back with a group of Sikh sepoys to protect the interests of Ngah Ibrahim. A few years later they formed the Police Corps of Perak and in 1881 a wooden Gurdwara was built in the police compound. During the first world war, most Sikhs left to fight and many didn’t come back. Access to the gurdwara was problematic for their families (high security), in 1916 it was decided to build a new gurdwara.

Left the modern gurdwara, right the only remaining image of the beautiful old building.

Yeap’s wife was interested to see the gurdwara and joined us. Visitors are welcome, but you need a headcover. I had brought my cap, for Yeap and his wife there were shawls. What a handsome couple 😉 . We first visited the main hall (called the darbar), the entrance door was decorated with the Ik Onkar symbol, meaning literally There is only one Creator.

The darbar is a big empty space, dominated at the far end by an elevated throne on which rests the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism. First I thought we were alone, entering the hall, but coming closer to the “throne”, we noticed that somebody was sitting behind it, reading the book. It was the Granthi, the ceremonial reader of the Guru Granth Sahib.

A gurdwara also has a langar, a community kitchen, where free vegetarian meals are prepared by volunteers for everybody, irrespective of religion or race. There is also a school and a library. Left the communal kitchen, right a few classrooms.

The courtyard of a gurdwara always has a big flagpole, carrying the Sikh flag. As there was no wind during our visit, you can not see the Khanda on the flag , the official symbol of the Sikh faith, After finishing his reading, the Granthi came to greet us and offer us a cup of tea. Here I am standing between him and the caretaker of the gurdwara.

A nice experience and a very interesting religion!

I went back to my hotel but stayed there only a short time, until Goh, another THS friend picked me up and took me to his house. He is a good photographer, a few years ago we had explored Taiping, resulting in an blog Taiping Old and New. He is also an avid gardener and I had asked him if I could have a look at his garden. His wife prepared coffee and we had a nice “senior” chat

He had a big collection of Desert Roses. We are trying to grow them at home, not easy. He also showed me the budding flower of the Queen of the Night, a species of cactus that only blooms for a single night. I asked him to send me a picture of the flower, which he did the following day. So beautiful.

It was almost lunchtime, we went to the Casual Market, where we had char kuey teow. There are two stalls in Casual Market, preparing this popular food, this time we had the fishball variety. The official name of this food court is Larut Matang Hawker Centre, sometimes also called the Cashier Market, but Goh was adamant that this was not correct.

After lunch we drove to the foothills of Maxwell Hill. The next day an exhibition “A Tale of two Hills” would be opened in the Maxwell Base Camp, we decided to have a look already

Everybody was busy with last-minute preparations, but they still had time to show us around. Left Suet Fun (mentor of the project) explaining the project to another early visitor. Right a description of the four contributions. Narrative and narrator are the new fashion words 😉

The contributions contain photos, videos, text. Here are two narrators with their narratives.

After Goh dropped me at my hotel, it was time for a well-deserved rest, Later I went to the Lake Gardens. A few years ago part of the Circular Road has been closed for traffic after a few raintrees had fallen on the road. It is now the Raintree Walk, very popular. One more part , until the Zoo, is now also for pedestrians. Very good initiative of MPT (the Taiping town council).

Until now four of the majestic raintrees have fallen on the road.

Several other trees have fallen in the opposite direction and still manage to survive.

Some more pictures of the Lake Gardens. I like the photo of the ladies who have brought a table and chairs and are enjoying an afternoon tea (?) at the water edge.

A walk in the Lake gardens in not complete for me without having a look at the cannonball trees.

I had invited Bok Kin and her husband for dinner that evening and they suggested the new Brew House, next to my hotel. I asked them to notify me when they had arrived in the restaurant, then I would join them in a few minutes 😉

The food was not really that special, but it was very nice meeting them.

During my visit in June I had visited a number of Hindu temples with Muthu Pulai, another THS member. He had suggested a day trip to a Muniswaram temple in Prai (Penang) for the following day, but when I was back in my hotel, I received his message that he had to cancel the trip last-minute. So I had to improvise a program for the next day.. Fortunately my friend Halim was free.!

I decided to start with Chee Cheong Fun breakfast at my usual stall no 37 in the Circus Grounds food court opposite Novotel. Very close to Furama, on my way I passed the colorful Dobi Line.

At the CCF stall I met Foo, earlier working at Furama, having breakfast with a friend. The stall is now managed by the son of Mr Tong, who has retired. Food quality still the same.

Later Halim picked me up from my hotel. First we went to his house, He has a lovely house and a beautiful garden.

Halim has recently started painting and I was interested to see the results. I was quite impressed. A few months ago he had a mild stroke, causing him some speech problems and I was even more impressed by the way he handled this (hopefully temporary) handicap. He carried a notebook to write down what he couldn’t tell and was not shy to communicate with other people.

There are several places I always like to visit when I am in Taiping, many of them heritage related. We had a look at the Residency pillars, cleaned a few years ago by THS and other NGO’s. See my report Taiping October 2020. They still look quite impressive.

The same can not be said of the remains of the former Casuaria Resthouse, still a ruined mess.

Then it was time for lunch, in the nearby New Club

Halim told me that he could see a waterfall from his home in Taman Lake View and that he would like to visit it. I told him that it was the Kamunting fall (Sg Ranting fall). After lunch we drove to the Indian temple near the Water Reservoir, where the trail to both Taiping waterfalls starts. I told him the trail to the Ranting fall is not that easy. We will see, during my next visit.

Back in my hotel, there was the usual afternoon rain.

After the rain stopped, I walked around the town. The egrets were still coming back to roost, It is a fascinating sight to see the flocks of birds return around 7 pm

In Jalan Kelab Cina the façade of a shoplot has collapsed a few months ago, damaging a few cars parked in front. The owner has now put up shielding with a warning sign “Park at your own risk”. Through a hole I could take a photo of the interior. Will be interesting to follow the development, if any, of this property. Taiping has (too) many of those ruins.

Next I walked to the Central Market. Part of it, Siang Malam is being renovated. Left a picture I took last year June, right how it looks now. There is progress !

Left the interior of the Siang Malam, still a lot has to be done. Right the main building of the market. No visible activity since last year.

Not really hungry after my lunch in the New Club, I just had some snack food in my hotel.

The next day I woke up early for a day trip with my friends Henry and Soon Lay. Visiting temples and caves around Ipoh was the target of this trip. We did so many interesting things, that I wrote a separate blog about it Take Your Time. Here two pictures, to give you an impression.

The next day was already the last one, going back by ETS in the afternoon. First I had breakfast with Henry and Soon Lay in D’Cherry , Tupai district.. According to Henry the best Nasi Lemak in town. Quite good.

After breakfast they were willing to drive me around the town, so I could have a look at a few of my “favourites”

Recently the STAR published an article about the Taiping murals A total of nine has been planned. We passed one that was still under construction. Here is a picture taken by me next to a Google Earth Street View. Personally I have reservations about this approach, using the wall just as a canvas. Compare it with what Zacharevic has done in Penang and Ipoh, basically using the structure of the old wall instead of obscuring it..

Here is another (in)famous example. Again the wall is just used as a canvas. Infamous because Amelia Earhart never landed in Taiping. See my latest blog Did Amelia Earhart land in Taiping? Two recent newspaper articles, from the STAR : QuickCheck: Did pioneer female pilot Amelia Earhart make a stopover in then-British Malaya? (verdict: “FALSE”), and from the NST: Earhart’s Taiping mural will not be erased . Sigh, Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur

Then it was time for what I call the Shame of Taiping, the two heritage buildings on Station Road, the former Perak Railway building and the Rest House. In 2013 and 2019 I wrote blogs about it, Shame on Taiping! and Taiping Bandar Warisan. Here a few photos, when you compare them with the two blogs, you will see that the decay has progressed.

The Perak Railway Building (Later PWD). At least now solidly fenced off (after the interiors was demolished completely)

The Rest House has also been fenced off, but it is still easy to enter.

Opposite those two ruins, the impressive buildings of the King Edward VII school. But don’t be mistaken, when I visited the school in 2018, parts were not accessible because they were infested by termites.

Finally a photo of me and my favourite ruin. Located at Jalan Sultan Jaafar, behind KEVII I read that the the land is for sale for RM 1.3 million. I would like to find out who were the original owners/tenants and why this bungalow was left to rot.

After Henry and Soon Lay dropped me at my hotel, I packed my stuff, checked out and waited for Halim. Our plan was to visit the Kota Ngah Ibrahim, have lunch, after which he would drop me at the Kuala Kangsar station.

First we went to the Ansari Chendol, where the biasa chendol was still only RM 1.80.

Then we drove to Matang where the fort has now be renamed Muzium Matang. Because it is more than the fort now. The building next to it, which I always called Speedy’s bungalow, has been renovated and is open to the public, free of charge. That was the reason for our visit, the fort itself I had visited many times,

The beautiful building next to the fort was actually the Security Guardhouse of Ngah Ibrahim’s police force.

We spent quite a lot of time in the museum, lots of information, the captions were not always easy to read

The restaurant Halim had in mind for lunch was Selera Azrorasa, located in Matang Gelugor. Famous for its fish curry, he said. Nice location, very remote. We ordered food and soon discovered that the service was very slow. And it was still quite far to Kuala Kangsar. I was getting worried.

Finally we decided that we had to leave, we asked the waiter to “tapau” the food (common practice in Malaysia to “take away” food) . Ten minutes before departure I arrived at the station. Halim took our lunch home and told me later that the food was good. I ordered coffee and sandwiches in the train canteen 😉 A funny ending of a very rewarding Taiping trip.

Take Your Time

During my recent visit to Taiping, I went on a daytrip with my friends Henry and Soon Lay. In 2019, before the COVID pandemic started, we made a similar trip: Two Caves and a Waterfall. This time Henry had selected a number of interesting locations around Ipoh and Kampar. Too much for one day, especially as Henry’s favourite expression is “Take your time”

After picking me me up from my hotel at 7 am, we drove to Ipoh, where we had breakfast at Roti Canai Pak Syeikh, considered to be one of the best Roti Canai in Ipoh.

Our first destination was the Gua Wu Ji Ngam temple. Gunung Rapat has many Chinese cave temples, in 2018 I have visited several of them, here is my report Gunung Rapat Cave Temples. This temple is not very well known and it took us some time to find it. First we took a wrong sideroad and ended up near the Mirror Lake, which now has become a commercial tourist attraction (entrance fee RM 5).

Nearby is another temple , the Da Seng Ngan temple , already visited by me in 2018, so I only took a few pictures this time. The interesting story about this more than 100 year old temple, is that in 1974 a flash flood and a resulting mudslide completely covered the temple. It was only in 2006 that the temple was excavated and restored.

The Gua Wu Ji Ngam temple is located less than 100 meter away. The only information we could find about this temple is on Google Maps. When we arrived , only the friendly caretaker was there, who gave us permission to explore the temple.

Soon a group of devotees arrive for a prayer session..

The caretaker was willing to take pictures of us and of course we took a picture of him as well.

The temple is attractive and has two interesting features. The murals are one of them, rock paintings of deities.

The other one was the structure of the cave. Using metal stairs we could climb to the upper level where erosion (by seawater?) had hollowed the limestone rock. There were two levels of erosion. Must have taken millions of years.

Easy walking on the lower eroded level, with a nice view of the temple below..

The next temple we visited is also not well known. Again we could only find it on Google Maps. Not even sure about the correct name, probably it is Wat Dhammamonkon. Anyway, it is a Buddhist temple in Thai style, with two magnificent Naga’s guarding the entrance.

;;A beautiful tree stands at the entrance of the temple. Despite the warning not to carve into the holy tree, people have done that in typical Malaysian style: carving four numbers, hoping it will bring luck in the popular 4D lottery.

Actually this temple was not our destination. We were looking for the the Big Coral Cave, about 200 meter away from the temple. Again, only information in Google Maps

Henry at the entrance of the cave.

It is also a temple. Quite interesting. Many statues.

The same layered structure as in the Gua Wu Ji Ngam

Interesting stalactites and other limestone formations.

Exploring the cave, we came to another exit.

There must be many more interesting features in this cave complex. Henry tried to reach the opening in the picture below, but the rocks were slippery and we were not equipped for real cave exploring, so we have to come back another time.

Our next destination was the Istana Raja Billah in Papan, but first it was time for lunch.. Restaurant Meng Fuong in Pusing would have been a suitable choice, I had enjoyed their “puppy duck” and their freshwater prawns several times. But on our way Henry spotted a food outlet “in the middle of nowhere”, part of a coffee factory. We decided to give it a try

The name of the outlet is Cascada by Magical Beans. It was surprisingly popular, but we found a free table.

I had a Rosemary Chicken Chop that was was quite nice. Soon Lay had Cheese Baked Rice and Henry ordered a Burger.

The Istana Raja Billah is a mansion in Papan, built in 1896 for a Mandailing nobleman.

Unfortunately not open to the public, we could only walk around it.

I found one window, where the blinds had a small gap, just wide enough for my smartphone to take a picture of the interior.

More details.

While we were walking around, a family arrived, we chatted a bit and discovered that they were living in Sri Damansara, very close to Damansara Perdana where we are living. Characteristic for Malaysia, in my experience, you will find easily a connection when meeting strangers 😉

Although it was not in Henry’s to-do list, we had of course to visit Papan, one of my favourite locations in Malaysia. I have several times brought friends to this ruined village, see for example my blog Tour Guide! .

I had read in the news that recently Papan has been made a tourist attraction, but I was still shocked a bit how different the atmosphere had become. Look at all the signs. But for a first-time visitor it must still be a fascinating experience.

Two new galleries have been opened in Papan, one about its heritage and the other one about the history of New Villages in Malaysia. I am very interested in New Villages, Taiping has two (Pokok Assam and Aulong), so I was quite surprised to read on one of the poster boards: In some cases, 22-hour curfews were placed upon the populations of New Villages, such were the case in Tanjong Malim, Pusing and Papan. Papan a New Village, how can that be?

We decided to visit one more place on Henry’s list and chose the Vine Garden, another location with limestone formations, only found on Google Maps. Not far from the “mysterious” temple which Aric and I had visited recently, see my report .A Nice Outing.

A few pictures of this temple. Henry and I at the entrance gate.

Part of the collection of deities left behind by devotees.

During our trip we didn’t have the coordinates of this vine garden. We expected a trail, but there was not really one. We noticed a gate, Henry explored a bit, but found nothing. Our second attempt meant entering a palm oil plantation. Soon we found that it was water logged, so we decided to turn back. We may try again after the end of the rainy season, because we were very close to the Vine Garden, less than 100 meters!

Our drive back to Taping took longer than expected, because of big traffic jam. Henry and Soon Lay dropped me at my hotel to refresh and rest a bit.

Later they picked me up again for dinner. They suggested the Raintree Kitchen Restaurant and that was a good choice. Both local and fusion food.

I had smoked duck spaghetti and ambra as a drink. Henry and Soon Lay had the Nasi Ulam set and the Tomyam Fried Beehoon. A place to keep in mind.

It was a wonderful trip, thanks to Henry and Soon Lay

CNY 2023 Waterfall Trip

On 22 January the Chinese Year of the Rabbit started and on day 3 I went on a waterfall trip with my waterfall gang. A revival of an older tradition, more about this at the end of this blog. Destination was the Lata Juang waterfall, recently discovered by Joshua Tee and added to WoM. He is the new webmaster of the site and suggested that this waterfall might be suitable for a senior like me, easy access and only a short hike.

It was quite a big group, my two waterfall godsons, Siang Hui and Nick (with wife Ping and niece Yin) came from Teluk Intan. Joshua, his partner Eve and fellow hiker Ong came from Kajang. They were wiling to pick me and my Dutch friend Paul up from my condo. My other godson Teoh also wanted to join, but had to cancel last minute because he got Covid.

We met in Gopeng and managed to find a Chinese restaurant that was open (not easy just after CNY!). .We had noodles with Yong Tau Foo, not bad.

From Gopeng we took the Simpang Pulai road to the Cameron Highlands. Soon we reached a minor side road, quite rocky, not suitable for a sedan car, but no problem for Joshua’s Ford Ranger. After about 1 km he parked his car and we prepared to hike. From left to right: Yin, Ping, Nick, Paul, Siang Hui, Eve and Joshua.

After a stream crossing we followed a clear trail.

Soon we passed a house, surprisingly nicely designed. Nobody at home, but later, on our way back, we met the owner, a grumpy man who clearly was not happy that we had visited the waterfall.

It was easy going, here and there a fallen tree blocked the trail, but Ong had brought his parang.

In less than half an hour we reached the waterfall, the last few hundred meters following the river.

And a nice waterfall it was. Two tiers, with a huge pool.

Time to enjoy and relax.

When you have been following my blog posts, you know that I have slowed down considerably the last few years. The years are counting, I am getting clumsy, I have lost confidence in the jungle, also because I have an allergy for wasps and bees. So, when the idea came up for a waterfall trip on day 3 of the CNY, my first reaction was not to join. But when Joshua said it was an easy, short hike, and a nice pristine waterfall, I started to hesitate. When Nick added, please come with us, I decided to join. Very happy that I did, as you can see in these pictures. The right picture shows me with my two “godsons” Nick and Siang Hui,, really a pity that Teoh could not be present.

We didn’t stay long, about one hour, here we are preparing to hike back.

Walking back the same way.

Back to Simpang Pulai, we looked for a restaurant and found a nice one

Quite acceptable food. Pork knuckle, fish, sotong, taufu, two veggies and a few beers. As I was happy after a successful trip, I wanted to pay for the lunch. Not easy in Malaysia, but this time I managed haha.

We started our drive back to KL at 3 pm, expecting that there might be a traffic jam, as the next day would be a normal working day. But that the jam would be so bad, was still a bit of a shock. It also didn’t help that halfway heavy rain started. But Joshua was an experienced and relaxed driver. We reached my condo at 9 pm, after 6 hours.

Sungkai (left picture) was especially bad, it took us about one hour to pass the town. The right picture shows the queue for the ladies toilet at a petrol station. For the men’s toilet no queue of course. To be a male has its advantages 😉

A very rewarding CNY waterfall trip.

The tradition to organise a waterfall trip on day 3 of the CNY started in 2012. To give you an impression of the CNY trips we made, I give a list here, with a picture and a link.

2012: Lata Naga Air. With SIang Hui, Nick and Harry. Yes, that’s me in the picture

2013: Ulu Lecin, with Siang Hui, Nick and Faye

2014 Upper Damak, with Siang Hui and Nick

2015 Lata Enggang, with Siang Hui, Nick and Rani

2016 Trong with Siang Hui, Nick and Rani. The plan was to visit upper Nyior, but we found it was out of bounds because a military exercise took place in the region.So instead we revisited Trong.

2017 An unsuccessful waterfall trip With SIang Hui, Nick, Teoh and Rani. We wanted to visit Lata Jala but failed

The next few years we didn’t make a trip with CNY for various reasons, one of them being of course the Covid pandemic. Only last year a trip was organized, again to the Lata Jala fall, that we had failed to reach in 2017. But I decided not to join, as explained above. This time Siang Hui, Nick,Teoh and Joshua reached the fall.

I really hope this tradition will continue, although I probably will not join myself.

The River of Life again

When we walked the River of Life route recently, we started at the trail head near the Midvalley Megamall and stopped at Chinatown, because we wanted to have a look at the murals there. Click here for a detailed report. So we skipped the part from Chinatown to Masjid Jamek, considered the be the most beautiful part of the route.

As there are LRT stations both at Masjid Jamek and near Midvalley (Abdullah Hukum) , I suggested to Paul that we could walk another time, one way, from Masjid Jamek and going back by train.

We met at the exit of the Masjid Jamek LRT station and started our walk from there. A clear signboard gives information about the River of Life project.

Our walk started in front of the Masjid Jamek, one of the masterworks of Arthur Benison Hubback, built in 1909. Non-Muslims can visit the mosque, but there is a dress code. Left an explanatory signboard, right the mosque as seen from the main entrance.

The route passes the magnificent (old) Supreme Court building, another creation of Hubback (1915). Not in use at the moment and the interior needs urgent repairs. The picture has been taken from the new pedestrian bridge crossing the Gombak river. In the right picture Paul is looking at the mosque, located at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers.

The next few hundred meters are for me the highlight of the River of Life project You pass the back of the former Government Office (1897). The front side, facing Dataran Merdeka, is probably the most photographed building of KL The tranquil , peaceful backside was an unexpected surprise for me

Continuing along the Gombak river, you have nice views of the Mosque and the confluence of the two rivers.

Before you reach the next bridge, there is interesting mural art. These three buildings are still in use, as can be concluded from the numerous aircon’s .

Almost next to it, this building looks vacated, not a good sign . The façade has been used to paint various sketches of Kuala Lumpur’s past

It looks like after the bridge you can continue at the same side of the river, but soon, the raod is blocked (left pic), so you have to cross the bridge here, where you can find a modern work of art. (right pic)

You will pass now the Central market (Art Deco , 1937). The left picture shows a part of its façade, with towering above it the new Merdeka 118 skyscraper, still under construction. It will become the second-tallest skyscraper in the world. I can’t resist the temptation to digress for a while. When I see a photo like this I immediately have the association with a phallic symbol and that these symbols have been constructed since time immemorial. The right pic shows the Asinelli tower in Bologna, built in 1107 😉 .

Left a detail of the Central Market and right one of my favourite buildings in KL, the Dayabumi building. Completed in 1984 and for one year the tallest skyscraper of Malaysia. For me it is a fine example of Islamic Architecture.

Passing the Dayabumi complex (left) we reach the Pasar Seni LRT station (right in the center), where we cross again the river.

From there we followed the same route as during our first trip, so not many photos. It is basically a bicycle lane and we noticed a few cyclists.

Mural art (left) and the Tun Sambanthan monorail station in Brickfields (right)

This time we decided to cross a bridge and continue at the other side of the river, so we didn’t walk through Brickfields. Distance is a bit shorter, but it is not interesting at all.

And there is one part where you have to walk a few meter away from busy, noisy highway traffic. Really to be avoided.

The Kalaimman temple is at the other side of the river. The majestic tree is now even more impressive

As soon as possible we crossed back to the other side of the river, and continued the trail until where we had started during our first trip. There was a sign near the building that it is the Southern Gallery. Completely empty, maybe there are plans to put some exhibits inside.

To reach the Abdullah Hukum LRT station we had to cross the Midvalley complex, where you can get easily get lost. Christmas atmosphere.

To reach the station we had to cross once more the Klang river.

Here is a Google Earth map of our walk, in green. For comparison also the route of the first trip is shown (in yellow) . Notice the part where we walked at the other side of the river, avoiding Brickfields. To be avoided at all costs, Brickfields is much more interesting,

River of Life & KL Murals

The River of Life (ROL) project was launched in 2011 and aimed at reviving the Klang River and Gombak River within the city of Kuala Lumpur, transforming the banks into waterfront areas with economic , touristic and commercial value through river cleaning and beautification. An ambitious project, here is the masterplan. Click to enlarge. I have put a few markers,the Klang en Gombak rivers, the Friday Mosque , where their confluence is and to the right Midvalley where the City of Kuala Lumpur ends.

In 2017 the first phase of the project was officially opened, the region around the confluence of the two rivers and the historic city center. A pedestrian bridge has been built across the river from where you have a nice view of the Masjid Jamek, and the river banks are brightly lit at night. During the visit of my family in August we took pictures from the bridge. The Friday mosque in the centre, left the Gombak river, right the Klang river. Spectacular, but too blue in my opinion.

Probably it is because of this part of the project that in 2019 the River of Life has been listed in world’s top 10 Waterfront Districts. .

C4 (Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism) is quite negative: River of Life – a vanity project that fails to measure up

Another part of the project is a biking/hiking trail along the Klang river between Masjid Jamek and the Midvalley megamall. My friend Paul had walked this trail and was willing to show it to me. He suggested to start at the Midvalley side,

The start of the trail is marked on Google, close to Midvalley, but we needed Waze to find it, at the end of a minor dead end road (left picture). A signboard River of Life made it clear that we had reached the correct spot. The building behing the signboard looked nice but was unused.

The first part of the trail is very pleasant. It is very wide as it is meant primarily as a bicycle route. The right picture , looking back at the Midvalley complex, shows a group of cyclists

Along the route descriptive panels give information about the history of the Klang river.

We passed building sites, still under construction. A nice sculpture with an unfinished building. A nice flower in front of a fence.

We could have crossed the white bridge in the background to the other side of the Klang river, but decided to follow the bicycle route.

Entering Brickfields. Beautiful trees. We passed the St Teresa school.

In the left picture above you can see a small white building. This is the Sri Poovaadai Kaliamman temple, built around a gigantic banyan tree. An interesting surprise.

After the temple it is not possible to walk along the river, but a blue bicycle ribbon leads you through Brickfields,

It is an interesting part of the walk, Brickfields is very Indian, We passed another temple, the popular Sri Sakthi Karpagar Vinayagar temple.

I walked around in the temple and took pictures.

Left the Tamil Methodist Church (1908), right a Muslim Surau & Mosque. Brickfields is multi-religious 😉

After passing through Brickfields the route joins again the Klang river. In the center the Merdeka 118 building, 679 meter tall, the second-tallest skyscraper in the world.

Murals along the route, at the other side of the river, a homeless person has hung his laundry to dry, and is taking a nap.

We passed the iconic Old Railway Station, a creation of Hubback (1917) and reached the underground MRT Pasar Seni station

Here we decided to leave the last part of the route, to Masjid Jamek, for another walk and instead explored the KL murals in the region around Petaling street in Chinatown,

Lots of murals have been created during the last years, to liven up the neighborhood. Many different styles. Here is a collection, without comments

I like it when there are some 3D elements, like the barber chair and the kids jumping rope.

In another back lane the walls have been painted with scenes of KL’s past. It attracts tourists, but it is not really my favourite

A nice contrast, skyscrapers around Chinatown. Two times Merdeka 118 (why did they not come up with a more interesting name?) and in the center a photo of the attractive Wisma Tun Sambanthan (1988)

We had to go back to our car, near Midvalley but didn’t want to walk all the way. Therefore we walked to the Maharaja Lela station of the Monorail and took it back to Brickfields

We were hungry, but it was too late for Thosai or Roti Chennai. Finally we found a Chinese pork noodle stall. Good quality food and not expensive.

After lunch we walked back the last part. Passing again the temple. Notice how huge the tree is. The last picture is at the empty building, near my car.

Here is the route we followed, the Monorail part in orange. It was an interesting walk, we are planning to walk one more time and then include the part near Masjid Jamek.

A Nice Outing

On 22 October Free Malaysia Today had an article with the intriguing title Mysterious 135-year-old temple in Perak’s jungles .Of course I was interested and wanted to have a look myself. But where was this temple located? The article mentioned Jeram and Jalan Chenderiang. Still a bit too vague. Fortunately my friend Siak Hong Law had visited the temple many years ago, he gave me the exact location. The temple is actually on Google Maps, named as 石山脚寿仙岩观音庙, which Google translates as the Shouxianyan Guanyin Temple at the foot of Shishan

As the temple is still a two hours drive from PJ, Aric and I decided to make it a day trip, combine the temple with waterfalls and food. We started with breakfast in Tanjung Malim. The Thye Fah coffee shop is popular and well patronised.

Their special ice coffee has a frozen coffee heart on top. I had my half-boiled eggs, the buns with butter and kaya were really delicious. A good start of the day.

After our breakfast, we drove to Jeram and from there to the temple. In the left picture you see how to drive, first following the Chenderiang road until you turn left into a small road. I forgot to take a picture of the junction, so I took a screenshot of Google Street View. The description by the author of the FMT article of the temple as “hidden in the depths of a thick jungle.” and of the road as “you have to travel along a stretch of dirt road snaking through an oil palm plantation” shows that he has a rich imagination. The road is tarred, passing a few industrial sites, then following the peaceful Sg Dipang. No jungle at all.

After less than 2 km, this road ends at a clearing, next to a former tin mining lake. Peaceful surroundings.

The entrance of the temple

The temple complex is partly built inside a limestone cave. Overgrown with trees. It is a Taoist temple dedicated to Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. According to the FMT article more than 135 year old.

Here is a collection of pictures, taken inside and outside the temple.

Left a statue of Guan Yin, right a statue of the White Guard, one of the Heibai Wuchang deities, escorting the souls of the deceased to the underworld.

The friendly caretaker told us that the temple bell was quite old and that attempts have been made to steal it. The bell is now tied with metal chains to its scaffolding.

Outside the temple there is an interesting Datuk Kong shrine.

Next to the temple there is a fascinating collection of idols, left there by devotees who had no place for them in their home and didn’t want to destroy them.

We walked around a bit, there are many small caves

It was a very rewarding visit.

Quite near the temple complex there are popular waterfalls, the Salu Falls. We had a look at the lower fall, easily accessible on a cemented path

It’s only a short walk and you can see and hear the fall from some distance already.

Here is the waterfall. There are more upper tiers, but they are more difficult to reach..

The Salu falls have now been upgraded to the Taman Eko Rimba Sungai Salu. Taman Eko Rimba is a fashionable concept, you can find them now all over Malaysia..

I had to smile about the warning signboard. Started in 2011, counting yearly accidents and fatalities. I guess that when nothing had happened in the following 6 years, they gave up updating the signboard.

Time for lunch! We were not far from Tanjung Tualang, famous for its udang gala restaurants. We had our lunch in the You Kee restaurant. We knew that the prawns would not be cheap, but they were delicious, We had three big prawns each and there was Tofu and paku salad. The bill was RM 97, value for money.

On our way back home we noticed that we were not far from the Lata KInjang waterfall. Most Malaysians will have seen this waterfall, driving on the North-South highway. Not many will have visited the falls. Also these falls have been upgraded and are now named Taman Eko Rimba Lata Kinjang. Access is not cheap, we paid RM 21! (Foreigner RM 10, Malaysian adult RM 6 and car park RM 5). Here are some pictures. It was already a bit late in the afternoon, we just walked to the hanging bridge and back again. We reached our car just before it started to rain.

We made this trip on 16 November 2022, three days before the GE15 elections. This is the small town of Chenderiang, near Lata Kinjang.

A rewarding day trip, very Malaysian. A combination of Culture, Nature and Food. Malaysia Boleh!

Family trip to Kanching

For a long time there has been a plan to visit a waterfall with Aric’s family, but it was not easy to find a suitable date. As 10 October was a holiday, we decided to make a trip to the Kanching waterfall between Selayang and Rawang. When we arrived at the carpark, it became clear that we would not be the only visitors, it was full, we had to drive a bit further to an additional parking. Here we are ready to go, notice the many bags with food for the picnic 😉

There are 7 waterfalls (and 2 more far upstream). Here are the first and the second fall.

The third fall, the Kapor fall, is the most popular waterfall. Too crowded, so we walked further up.

Where the cemented steps end, a trail continues, we expected that less people would hike that far. And that was the case, but there were still many people at my favorite fall no 5. I managed to take a picture of the fall without people!

We found a suitable, more quiet place between fall 4 and 5, a big rock where we could enjoy our lunch.

There was a small cascade next to our rock, a perfect place to enjoy the cooling water.

A few of us went for a while to fall no 5 to take a shower.

During my waterfall hikes I always liked to leave a stone marker at the waterfall. Here there was no need to do that because another visitor had already built two ones. In the right picture Zhi Le is blowing bubbles..

Ready to walk back.

Two views from the bridge. Left the rock where we had our picnic ( of course we left no rubbish) and the small cascade . Right looking down to fall number 4.

The Kapor fall was even more crowded now. Near the entrance we met an ice cream seller, I could not resist the temptation to have a roti ice cream 😉

We were still hungry and decided to go to Restoran Tom Yam Serendah, where we had enjoyed nice food several times in the past. Then it was a small basic restaurant near the main road, but now it had moved to a new location, very clean but less atmosphere.

The food was ok, although the tom yam not as nice as before. Still cheap, RM 180 for 11 pax!

After our lunch we were in the mood for coffee, we decided to visit the World of Phalaenopsis , which not only has orchids, but also a nice café. However, here there was again a massive crowd, so we only walked around and bought an orchid to take home.

Driving back we looked for a kopi tiam, but we were not lucky. Finally we ended, almost home, in the DIB restaurant in Damansara Perdana. DIB stands for Deaf In Business, it is a relaxed, very friendly place, where we come regularly.

We had coffee, I was not yet hungry, had only a waffle with ice cream

it was a very nice outing, worth repeating (but preferably on a weekday)

Did Amelia Earhart land in Taiping?

In September 2019 I published two blog posts about Amelia Earhart, the American aviator, who flew over present-day Malaysia from Bangkok to Singapore on 20 June 1937. A mural had been created in Taiping, honoring her landing on 20 June at the Taiping Aerodrome for a refueling stop.

In my two reports, Amelia Earhart and Taiping and Amelia and Taiping (Part Two) I showed that Amelia Earhart never landed at the Taiping Aerodrome and not even had the intention to do so. I shared these reports with the Taiping Heritage Society (THS). Lukewarm response, no follow-up. A few months ago the Perak Heritage Society came into action: “She Never landed in Malaysia”  Amelia Earhart Mural In Taiping Puzzles Locals It will be interesting to see if now something will happen.

Here is a bit more information about how the confusion started./

In 2007 a Wikipedia contributor, Andrew Kidman, starts a topic Taiping Airport. He adds content in the following years, for example on 1 February 2009 :

” … The airport also achieved fame through the famous American aviator, Amelia Mary Earhart in 1937, when she was doing her world flight and stopover at the Taiping Airport for refueling petrol. Amelia Earhart was doing her flight route from Thailand to Singapore, her permission to land at Taiping Airport was allowed on 7 June 1937 by the then Resident-General of Malaya….”

The second sentence is correct, the first one is his own conclusion and erroneous. His last edit of Taping Airport was in April 2009, he is not active anymore, I have tried to contact him, without success.

Yes, Amelia Earhart received a letter on 7 June that she was permitted to land at the Taiping Areodrome. Does that make Taiping at least a bit special? To make clear that this was mot the case, we must keep in mind that in 1937 Malaysia did not exist, it was British Malaya, consisting of the Straits Settlements , the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States, Crossing the airspace of British Malaya, Amelia needed several authorizations. In my second blog copies of these letters are shown. Each gives authorization for a specific period (‘in or about June’) and mentions the airports where she is permitted to land. Here is the list, with date of the authorization letter and the airports. Kedah and Johore were unfederated states and had to give authorization separately.

  • 15 June Straits Settlements (Penang, Singapore)
  • .7 June FMS (Taiping)
  • 17 June Kedah (Alor Star)
  • 17 June Johore (Batu Pahat)

Taiping was just one of the five airports where she was allowed to land. But she did not , as is clear from the book Last Flight. In her report she mentions a few times Alor Star (We checked over Alor Star airport but did not stop, and headed for Singapore)

Amelia Earhart never landed in Taiping and had no intention to do so