Stuif's Adventures

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Taiping (27-30)-7-2008
When IT and computers sometimes threaten to drive me crazy, there is no better escape than quiet and peaceful Taiping!
From Sunday 27-7 until 30-7 I visited my friend George, who has found his second home there.

Nothing spectacular happened, it was just pleasant and relaxing.
Sunday afternoon we walked in the foothills of Bukit Larut. Many orchards with durians, manggis, rambutan. We bought a few to take home.
The next morning we went to the Indian temple for some bird watching. We saw a Minivet, but soon our attention was drawn to a group of people who were cleaning an old brick bridge across the stream.
It turned out to be a volunteer work camp organised by the Service Civil International.
The atmosphere was so friendly that we decided on the spot to come back the next day and do some volunteer work ourselves..:-).
From the bridge it is only a short walk to the remains of the old "New Club" swimming pool. What a pleasure it must have been in those old colonial days, to take a bath here, with the water coming from two nice waterfalls.
To keep it in style, we decided to have lunch at the New Club itself.

I had dinner that evening with the Law family and their friends. I got in contact with them through their son Tzuo Hann, the Crazy Guy on a Bike on his Long Way Home . A nice evening with good seafood in a Matang seafood restaurant.

The next morning, after breakfast, we joined the SCI group. Our job was to help removing the moss from the bricks.
What a nice group of people! Heartwarming to see that it is possible to have a group of Malaysians together, where race does not matter.
After lunch (again in the New Club!) we went in the afternoon to the Austin Pool, which I had never visited before. Must come back another timeand explore more.
And in the evening we were invited for a buffet dinner in the residence of the OBJ for Larut, Matang and Selama. He and his wife like karaoke, and of course George contributed a few songs as well. I met a lot of nice people.

For the return trip to KL, I had suggested to George to follow the Perak river, from Kuala Kangsar until Teluk Intan.
But first of course breakfast in a stall of a famous karaoke singer. With durians, provided by Yeoh and his wife Girlie.

It was a slow but nice trip along the mighty Perak river. We had lunch in Parit, a charming town halfway.
In the afternoon we visited Pasir Salak, where the British resident, J.W.W Birch was murdered in 1875, in his bath house. Now a museum has been built there, with the fight for independence as main theme.
Interesting contrast between the truly Malaysian group in Taiping, and the rather one-sided, very Malay-oriented approach of the museum.



Orchard *
 

Dokong fruits
 

Buying durians
 

Yummie!
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Durian supper
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Tarzan George at work
 

Drying laundry
 

Near the Indian temple
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George and Steven on the bridge
 

The old 'New Club' swimmingpool
 

Left waterfall
 

Right waterfall
 

Cultivated flower
 

Another cultivated(?) one
 

Dinner with the Law family
 

Cleaning the bridge *
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George, doing his bit
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A German volunteer at work
 

Getting dirty himself
 

Cleaning is no problem
 

Cleaning the cleaner
 

The swami with his fans
 

My fan Muniz and me *
 

Group photo
 

Austin Pool
 

Refreshing bath
 

The OBJ and I *
 

Karaoke champions..:-)
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Yeoh, buying durians
 

Durians for breakfast, wow!
 

The mighty Perak river
 

Rural kampung beside the river
 

Clock tower of Parit
 

The mosque of Parit
 

Main street in Parit
 

Detail
 

Perak river with the new bridge
 

Construction of a new bridge in Parit
 

Entrance of Pasir Salak
 

The museum
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Museum entrance with the river
 

Malay history of Malaysia
 

The Dutch are coming!
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Hanging of Birch's murderers
 

wrote on Aug 8, 2008:
ooooo.... Jan... U dun karaoke???? Nvm I will sing to u... whoahahahahaha.... and u listen..... and I hope all the orang utan and the monkeys won't start to come and chase me...... ehheheheheheh

wrote on Aug 8, 2008:
wah..... i can see all the muscles showing out.... ooooo this durian must be tough to open.... hehehe

wrote on Aug 8, 2008:
oooooooooo....... my favorite... the king............ Where's the queen?? The maggis??? My favorite too.... I can wallup 5kg alone... hahahahahaha

wrote on Aug 8, 2008:
Pity Jan do not Karaoke and meeting this man has little significance to him.

Jan,
You have not miss any point. Long ago, Zen and me agree that professional managers do not take part in Monkey Show nor allowed them selves to be groomed as Stars. Can't say much whether the same guidelines would be applropriate to your profession.

wrote on Aug 8, 2008:
:-)

wrote on Aug 9, 2008:
I hope that is not the brick bridge (upper right) that was cleaned up. The moss and the overgrown vegetation gave it a nostalgic and rustic look in the early morning sun.

wrote on Aug 9, 2008:
Gone. Gone. Gone.

geetee wrote on Aug 11, 2008:
Only the guy in red is a champ, Jan. He is Chai Chin Wen (popularly called "Hor Chiew Boon" or Whiskered Boon in Hokkien), the 2007 Astro Seniors Singing Competition Champion who won the grand prize of RM30,000 plus other goodies. In between TV and guest appearances at functions he operates a mee stall which serves up a variety of delicious fare.

Liz wrote on Aug 11, 2008:
I went past Pasir Salek earlier this year and noticed it had changed a lot since my earlier visit in 2001. But I wonder how many tourists they actually get there!

Kwai Loh wrote on Aug 11, 2008:
Almost none, I would say. Some local tourists during weekends

lightlingmk2 wrote on Aug 12, 2008:
I know this bridge. It looks nice after cleaning

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