Our visit to Europe in 2026

Posted on July 9, 2026 by janstu

On 11 May, we flew to Amsterdam. For Aric, it was the first time since 2019, but I had been back in 2023 and 2024. Last year, we were planning to visit Iceland, but I got a vision problem (AMD) that affects and limits my activities. This year we decided to travel together for five weeks, after which I would stay in Amsterdam on my own for two more weeks.

Iceland was the main destination and Aric made am elaborate planning for a 19D9N visit. We asked our UK friend Rodney to join and visited him on a 5D4N trip before flying together to Reykjavik. Aric proposed also a 6D5N trip to Germany. And of course there were visits to family and friends. So It was a full program.

I will write several blogs about the various trips, but start here with a chronological report. Only two photos per day, not easy to make a selection.

11 May

Traveling from KLIA to Schiphol, a direct, long flight. Notice how the route avoids the Middle East and Ukraine/

12 May

The pilot announced that the temperature at the airport was only 6° C. We took an Uber to my apartment, where an unpleasant surprise awaited us: the central heating was not working properly. An uncomfortable start to our trip.

13 Nay

Trying to contact a central heating technician. In the afternoon, we visited my soulmate Inez, who had stayed with us several times in Malaysia.

14 May

After a long city walk, dinner with my brother Pim.

15 May

Start of our Germany trip. Lufthansa flight to Dresden, via Frankfurt. Hotell with view of the old town center.

16 Nay

Exploring Dresden. Many more pictures in a separate blog.

17 May

A fascinating day trip to Saxon Switzerland. The Bastei bridge is located high above the Elbe river. Lots of climbing. See separate blog.

18 May

By train from Dresden to Gorlitz. The main reason that Aric wanted to visit this town, was the pedestrian bridge crossing between Germany and Poland.

19 May

The town has featured in movies and is worth a visit. Also about Gorlitz, a separate blog/

20 May

A traveling day. From Gorlitz by train back to Dresden, and flying back to Amsterdam via Munich.

21& 22 May

The central heating still wasn’t working, but it wasn’t as cold in the house anymore. There was a problem with the fridge, though. And we were both recovering from a bad cold. Two recovery days, to get ready for the family reunion.

23 May

The family reunion started in the family house in Alphen. We visited the cemetery where my parents were buried, and had dinner in an Afghan restaurant. A very nice day, see the report for more details.

24 May

It was Whitsun, a public holiday in the Netherlands. We stayed at home, just walked in the neighborhood, had a look at -the university where I had spent my student years.

25 May

One more relaxing day. We wanted to eat poffertjes, the traditional Dutch mini-pancakes. But I forgot that Whit Monday is also a public holiday, Beautiful day, but the market and the shop we had in mind, was closed. We found another one and that evening we had mussels for dinner.

26 May

Time for action—a day trip to the windmills of Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had been there a few years earlier, but it was Aric’s first. Perfect weather. More details in another blog.

27 May

An outing with Inez. First, we visited the Abbey of Emond, expecting it to be historical ruins. A mistake, they had been replaced many decades ago by modern buildings. The afternoon we spent at Inez’s caravan in Bakkum, enjoying the quiet atmosphere. We had dinner in IJmuiden.

28 May

Staying at home. I tried (in vain) to solve the fridge problem and finally a guy came to inspect the central heating. He found a faulty part; his company would send me a quotation for repair.

29 May

A very active day. Aric had read about a new Apple museum in Utrecht and, being an Apple addict, wanted to have a look. We had lunch with Yolanda and Math, and walked around in the town center. Back in Amsterdam, we had dinner with Nico and Yolanda, the brother and sister of Paul. Probably two vlogs about this day later 😉

30 May

A traveling day. With EasyJet to Gatwick, where Rodney was waiting for us. He drove us back to Bognor Regis, where he is living. We had Lunch there and later dinner in the garden of his home.

31 May

Exploring the region around Bognor Regis. We visited Chichester with its famous cathedral, which was unfortunately closed. We walked to the Halmaker windmill, passing through an enchanting tree tunnel.

1 June

Instead of Stonehenge or the White Horse m we decided to visit the Cerne Abbas Giant, a two-hour drive away. When we arrived at the 55-meter-tall giant with his erection, it had started drizzling, not a good idea to walk closer. A nice pub in the village was alos closed. We continued to Dorchester for a pub lunch.

2 June

Of course, Rodney had to show us his love baby, a classical Morgan. Aric was even allowed to drive it a short distance. In the afternoon, we drove to nearby Arundel, a very picturesque town with a famous castle/

3 June

First day of our trip to Iceland. We took a taxi to our homestay in Reykjavik. In the evening, we went out for dinner and to get a first impression of the town. At 11 pm it was still broad daylight.

4 juni

We rented a car for 9 days with Rodney as driver and Aric as navigator. Aric had prepared Google Maps for each day with the various points of interest marked. Here is for example the map for this day. We could only visit a few,

The first of many churches we visited. The National Religion is Evangelical Lutheran, but most Icelanders are secular. Waterfalls all over the island, often spectacular, like this one. Aric had booked idyllic homestays, often in the middle of nowhere. Well equipped, we prepared dinner and breakfast with food bought in local supermarkets.

5 Juni

The long daylight allows you to do a lot in one day. We started at 10 am and reached our fantastic homestay at 10 pm, visiting another church, two waterfalls, an open-air museum, basalt formations, and much more. Too much, we decided to limit our program.

6 Juni

Aric had booked a whale-sighting boat trip for the afternoon and booked a hotel in the small town of Húsavík, where the excursions start. On our way, we passed a very dramatic waterfall. The trip took about 3 hours, we were given much-needed protective clothing. There is no guarantee that whales will be sighted, but we were lucky to spot quite a few. With my AMD, I can not see details, but Aric managed to take a few perfect shots. A well-organized trip.

7 juni

A long 11-hour drive. The main destination was the remote Puffin Island. On our way we stopped for a while only at Hverir, one of the most active geothermal sites of the island. A few hours later, Aric was walking in the snow. Puffin Island was worth the long ride, with hundreds of colorful birds, which you could almost touch. Our accommodation for the night was a former church, transformed into a charming homestay.

8 juni

This day we followed the south-eastern coastline of the island. We had a look at an artwork of eggs, representing all bird species from Iceland. We found another waterfall. that was not in the list prepared by Aric. And we stayed overnight in a luxury homestay, with its own hot bath tub.

9 juni

Glaciers in Iceland can reach the sea, where broken pieces of ice gradually melt in the sea water. We visited another church, with a grass roof.

0 juni

On this day we took part in the most spectacular event of our Iceland trip, a three-hour “expedition” to an Ice Cave, a man made tunnel inside a glacier. Later that same day we visited a waterfall, where there was a path behind the falling water In the late afternoon we visited the famous Blue Lagoon. And we stayed overnight in a fisherman hut, transformed into a homestay. What a day.

11 June

Our last full day. Before returning the car, we visited two of the top attractions in the region of Reykjavik, the spectacular geyser and another dramatic waterfall. Many tourists who stay only a few days in Island, visit these places. Our last night we stayed in a hotel in Reykjavik. After dinner we walked around in the old part of the town.

12 June

Traveling day. Rodney back to UK, Aric and I to Amsterdam

13-14 June

Recovery days. Defrosting the fridge, doing laundry. My brother Otto came to help us with the fridge. He and Aric managed to repair it!

15 June

On this day, Aric was supposed to fly back to Malaysia. During the trip to Iceland, I had noticed how dependent I had become on others due to my AMD. I worried about whether I would be able to spend the next two weeks independently in the Netherlands. It was a huge relief for me when Aric decided to change his return flight and fly back with me on June 29.

16 June

A day trip to Leiden. Aric thought he had never visited this historic town, but during our long city walk (8 km) he remembered a few locations from an earlier visit, more than 20 years ago. Separate blog about this trip.

17 June

My brother Pim had a cataract operation and the eye clinic had advised him to come with an escort. We joined him and after the (successful) operation, took a Uber to his home, where we had coffee. Aric and I continued with another city walk and had lunch with pancake in the Pancake Factory at the Prinsengracht.

18 June

After visiting my friend and former student Roald, another city walk. This time lunch with Apple pie.

19 June

A resting day

20 June

We visited our friends Marjan and Mike. When they lived in Malaysia, we met them and became friends. I kept in touch when they returned to the Netherlands, for Aric it was nice meeting them again after so many years.

21 June

Pim had recovered fast from his cataract operation and could drive again. With him we went to Franeker, where we stayed overnight in the house of Nanda, his partner. In the afternoon we visited the Planetarium and had pizza for dinner. Very hot weather.

22 June

The four of us drove to Groningen where we met Jur and Jasper, partner, esp. son of my brother Ruud who passed away one year ago, when I was in Malaysia/ It was my wish to visit his grave. We had dinner later in a restaurant where I had dinner with Ruud and Jur in 2024. A satisfactory closure.

23 Juni

Traveling back to Amsterdam. During a conversation with my siblings about our past, the topic of the HEMA had surfaced, a traditional department store, famous for its “rookworst” (smoked sausage). They still sell them and that evening we had a traditional winter stew with the outside temperature more than 30 degrees!

24 June

Resting day

25 June

A long traveling day by bus and train to Doetinchem where we met Carle Poeder and Joanne. He is now 95 years old and was the school principal in 1976 when I started teaching. They had a house in southern France, where Aric and I visited them, years ago. Very nice meeting them again,

26 June

We visited my former university colleague Henk and his wife Marian. There was a heatwave in the Netherlands (a code red alert: stay at home), that explains how we were dressed. They had visited us 20 years ago in Malaysia and were pleased to meet Aric again.

27June

A last-minute visit of former school teacher and friend Hans. It was still very hot.

28 June

Our last full day in Amsterdam. The Amsterdams Bos park has a special area for nudist recreation, called the Zonnewiede. We decided to have a look. Although a Sunday, there were a few visitors only. Later that night we went for the last time to the town center, to take night view photos.

29 June

Flying back to Malaysia.

Sri Perdana & Sri Negara

Posted on May 10, 2026 by janstu

In May 2025, I visited the Tun Razak Memorial with my friend Pek Foong. Click here for a report. We share an interest in Malaysian history, and when she suggested to visit two more historic places in Kuala Lumpur, I was eager to accept her invitation.

Our first destination was the Galleria Sri Perdana, the former residence of Mahathir, Malaysia’s fourth PM. When he became PM in 1981, he should have moved to Sri Taman, the official PM residency, where both Tun Razak and Hussain Onn had lived during their tenure. Instead, he decided to build a new residency and converted the old residency into a memorial for Tun Razak.

HIs government acquired Sri Timah on Federal Hill, the residence of the Malaysia Mining Corporation chairman, demolished it and rebuilt it for RM 11 million as Sri Perdama. Mahathir and his family lived there from 1983 until 1999, when they moved to the present Sri Perdana in Putrajaya. The residency was handed over to the National Archives in 2000 and last year reopened to the public as a gallery.

The Galleria Sri Perdana is located on a 46-acre site, visitors have to park outside the gat. A friendly security guard said he could take me to the gallery on the back of his bike. I thanked him, but said I still could walk 😉

The entrance to the gallery is free of charge; you only have to register. Not many other visitors.

After registration, we were directed to a separate section of the residency, meant for important guests. It has its own staircase and leads to a luxury apartment.

Paintings show the former occupants of the mansion, Mahathir Mohamad and his wife, Siti Hasmah.

The ground floor of the residency was meant for official use, cabinet meetings, state banquets, etc.

The location of the residence on Federal Hill allows abundant views of the KL skyline.

The basement would not look out of place in a grand hotel.

The first floor houses the family’s private quarters and is, for me, the most interesting part. The room of his daughter, his private office.

Kitchen and dining room. You wonder if Siti Hasmah sometimes prepared dinner for the family.

The master bedroom and bathroom.

Mahathir had his personal barber and his private gym.

At the end of our visit, we had a look at the official cars, used while he was the PM. It had started to rain, Pek Foong had an umbrella and was allowed to drive her car to the entrance, where she could pick me up.

It was an interesting visit.

Next, we drove to Sri Negara. Here is a Google Earth screenshot. It is located near the KL Lake Gardens. I have marked the lake with its original name, Sydney Lake, and also marked the location of the Tun Razak memorial. The building was designed by the famous architect A.B. Hubback and completed on1913.It was a guesthouse for high-ranking British officials, it was never a residency. Nearby, also marked in the map is Carcosa, another design of Hubback, but completed 15 years earlier. It was the residency of Frank Swettenham, the first Resident-General of the Federated Malay States.

Basically I understand why the two mansions are often taken together as Carcosa Sri Negara, but it is unfortunate and very confusing. See the appemdix

The guesthouse (King’s House, Governor Rest House, Federal Lodge, Sri Negara) has been opened to the public since the end of 2025 as a gallery to highlight Malaysia’s development to independence in the 20th century.

When we visited the gallery, it was free access, but you had to book a time slot for a guided tour. We arrived a bit early, there is a cafe on the ground floor.

While waiting for the guided tour, we visited the ground floor which is an art gallery

Our guide told about the history of the building and took us to the galleries on the first floor We started with a audiovisual presentastiom.

In each gallery the guide gave a short introduction, after which we could walk around.

The galleries mainly contain posters with documentation. A guided tour is not really suitable, it would be better if you walk around at your own pace.

Also her you have a spectacular view of the Merdeka 118 skyscraper.

Both floors are surrounded by verandas.

The rain had stopped, so I could walk around the mansion and admire the architecture.

It is in the planning to restore also Carcoa. It would be wonderful if the government decides to make it a museum of colonial history,

A few weeks later I came back to Sri Perdana, this time with Aric and our UK friend Rodney. Main reason was to have a look at the cars, as he is fond of (old) car models. No rain this time, so I could take a picture of the exterior.

We visited the memorial again, but I didn’t take many photos this time.

Of course I gad to take a photo of Aric and the laundry facilities in the basement. And during my first visit I had overlooked the cupboard with the shoe racks at the entrance of the family quarters. Malaysian culture, you take off your shoes when entering a private home.

Part of the car collection.

A Snake Temple

Posted on April 17, 2026 by janstu

When Aric said, Let’s go to Klang and visit a temple there. It will be a surprise for you, I immediately accepted. One afternoon, we drove to Klang and used Waze to find the Tian Hock Keng temple (Temple of Heavenly Bliss). Here is the temple, when you look at the roof, you may already guess what makes it special. On Google Earth, you see its location. beside the Klang river, and next to a highway.

The temple is relatively new, built in the 1980s. In 2017, the Klang Third Bridge was opened, and the access road is dominating the temple. It is a typical Chinese temple, mainly Taoist, but with elements of Buddhism (an impressive shrine for Guan Yin) and folk religion (a Datuk Kong shrine).

You enter the main hall by crossing a bridge.

The entrance to the main hall makes clear why the temple is named the snake temple. No dragons here, but snakes. Everywhere, decorating the pillars, on the roof, apparently more than 60 sculptures.

Four huge cobras adorn the four pillars.

Frightening for people with ophidiophobia.

The temple also has a few real snakes. In cages. The albino python is very impressive/

Entering the main hall, you will find several beautiful small wooden shrines. Maybe they are used to carry deities out during processions.

Should you still have any doubts, the octagonal window in the ceiling with the eight trigrams and the Yin Yang symbol proves that this is a Taoist temple.

We bought a set of 24(?) joss sticks, 6 candles, and a pack of “hell money”. A signboard showed where and in which order the sticks and candles had to be placed. Took quite some time 😉

This is the main altar. The temple is dedicated to Xiao Jun Er Fu, a Taoist deity. According to legend, he was one of three brothers who defeated an evil serpent during the Song dynasty (960-1279), and was later deified.

He is generally depicted with a green face (left picture, with a snake curled around him)

There were a few ornamental tables and chairs. Perhaps they are used when a medium enters a trance and can answer questions from devotees.

On the left side of the main hall, there is an entrance to the underworld!, guarded by Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Note that you can not enter the underworld, there is a modern sign Do Not Enter. But I could take a picture 😉

Here are Ox-Head and Horse-Face

The Datuk Kong shrine is very beautiful and much more elaborate than the usual Datuk Kong shrines I have seen. All the figures are Datuk Kong, with a lot of symbolism. For example, the one in the center is dressed in yellow and represents balance and well-being. Their headgear looks like a tengkolok, worn by sultans and royals. The three in front are wearing songkoks. The walking stick is a common attribute and offerings can not contain pork.

Below the main shrine, there is a small shrine dedicated to Hu Ye, the Tiger god, also a protector deity.

At the end of our visit, Aric burned the josspapers.

A very interesting temple. Not much information is available on the Internet, but this FMT article is quite informative.

The Ng Boo Bee(?) Fountain

Posted on April 8, 2026 by janstu

On 10/01/2025, the Ipoh Echo published an article Ng Boo Bee Fountain Restored, about the iconic fountain in the Taiping Lake Gardens. I visited the fountain a few times, last year.

A quote from the article:

Originally located in front of the Taiping Market, this iron fountain was made by Penang Foundry and was donated by Ng Boo Bee

When you Google for Ng Boo Bee Fountain, you will find many similar hits: Donated by Ng Boo Bee in the late 19th century, originally located in front of the Taiping market, removed to the Lake Gardens when the New Clocktower was constructed in the 1960s.

Unfortunately, this story is completely wrong.

I will split this post in three parts, about the fountain in the Lake Gardens, about Ng Boo Bee and- about the origins of the incorrect story.

The fountain in the Lake Gardens

It was an eyeopener for me that there has been a fountain in the Taiping Lake Gardens from the beginning. Presented by the Chinese community, see my blog, Taiping Lake Gardens. I searched the NewspaperSG archive and found another report about the opening of the Lake Gardens.

Source: Straits Times Weekly Issue, 28 November 1893. I have added a transcription.

When Mr. and Mes. Swettenham arrive, they are met by the two leading members of the Chinese community, Chung Keng Quee (Ah Kwi), and Chin Ah Yam (Ah Yam). During the Larut Wars they were sworn enemies, as leaders of the Hai San and Ghee Hin, now they have become friends and both have been appointed Kapitan Cina. They hand over a silver key to Mrs. Swettenham and ask her to present the fountain on behalf of the Chinese to the Public Garden.

So that settles the question if Ng Boo Bee was related to the fountain. He was not and the name Ng Boo Bee fountain should not be used. Maybe name it Peace Fountain?

About Ng Boo Bee

Although Ng Boo Bee (1853-1921) has been very important for Taiping, not much information can be found on the Internet. There is no Wikipedia topic about him, like there is for Chung Keng Quee. In the Wikipedia article Malaysian Chinese there is only a picture of him with British officials, nothing about his life. Here is the picture, he is seated second from left, flanked by Sir John Anderson(incoming Governor of the Strait’s Settlements, and Sir Frank Swettenham (the outgoing Governor).

Ng Boo Bee was not only an important tycoon and a millionaire, but also a philanthropist . Here is a part of the obituary, published in the Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle
after he passed away in 1921.

The Taiping people will remember him because of the handsome fountain he donated in 1908 to the fish market of Taiping. Not only decorative, but also functional because there were tanks around the fountain to keep the fish alive.

Two senior THS members remember the fountain, it was still there when they visited the fish market in the early1960s with their mothers. A few years ago they interviewed an old fishmonger, who told them how sad he was when the fountain was destroyed to make place for more stalls. So the fountain donated by Ng Boo Bee, doesn’t exist anymore. It would be wonderful to have a picture of that fountain.

It is not clear when it was destroyed. But this newspaper clipping might be a clue.
Source: The Straits Times, 3 February 1965 A big freshen-up campaign by Taiping council.
Here is a paragraph that might be interesting for this post:

The council is also considering sponsoring design competitions for a new $100,000 market, a clocktower $50,000 and a $30,000 water fountain.+

The clocktower and the fountain were built, although the fountain (and the roundabout where it was located), do not exist anymore. No new market has been built, could the money have been used to upgrade the Fish Market (resulting in the destruction of the fountain)?

The origins of the incorrect story.

I have spent much time the last few weeks searching for the source of the wrong story. The initial mistake is that the Ng Boo Bee Fountain was located at (outside) the fish market, instead of inside.

The earliest reference to a fountain AT the market that I have found, is this one: Ng Boo Bee Fountain, Taiping (4 February, 2006). It gives some information about Ng Boo Bee and then continues:

Ng Boo Bee’s fountain was made of cast iron at the Penang Foundry. It was originally installed at the Taiping Market, but was later moved to the lawn outside the Lake Gardens.

Another “old” reference is the Taiping Heritage Trail (~2015) which mentions the New Clocktower and writes about it:

Market Square used to feature an iron fountain (Ng Boo Bee Fountain) but this was relocated to the Lake Gardens and replaced by this extraordinary concrete clock tower

These two references are from popular, reliable websites and have percolated the Internet for many years. Even if they are corrected, it will take a long time before the Ng Boo Bee Fountain in the Lake Gardens has disappeared from cyberspace.

What might help, is an entry in Wikipedia about Ng Boo Bee, but to create it, would be a gigantic job.

The Taiping Lake Gardens

Posted on April 5, 2026 by janstu

A few weeks ago, I published a post about the KL Lake Gardens, now renamed Perdana Botanical Garden. The gardens were developed in the 1880s and opened on 13 May 1889. During this period Sir Frank Swettenham was Resident of Selangor, and his wife, Lady Sydney Swettenham, was a strong supporter of the project/ In her honor the lake was named Sydney Lake.

I knew that Lady Swettenham was also a supporter of the Taiping Lake Gardens, I searched for more information and found a Wikipedia article Taiping Lake Gardens, in which she is mentioned in the history section. But how? I was shocked. Here is a quote:

The Taiping Lake Gardens was originally a mining ground before it was established as a public garden in 1880. The idea of a public garden was the brainchild of Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker.^[1] The garden was developed by Charles Compton Reade (1880–1933), who was also responsible for planning the Kuala Lumpur garden town, together with Lady Swettenham.

That the garden was developed by Reade is clearly nonsensical, as he was born in 1880., the year that Colonel Walker came with the idea.

I asked Marianne, a member of the Taiping Heritage Society and experienced in using the NewspaperSG online archive to search for information. She found a gem. Here it is

Source The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 4 December 1893
As it is not easy to read, I have added a transcription.

The Public Gardens (the original name) were opened on+ 17 November 1893 by Sir Frank Swettenham, the Resident of Perak and his wife, Lady Swettenham. She performed the opening ceremony by turning on the fountain presented by the Chinese community. Frank Swettenham gave a speech in which he praised W.R Scott who had put his whole heart in the project.

Not only the reference to Raede is bizarre, also the opening date of the Garden is incorrect, and it is not the first public garden in what soon would become the Federated Malay States, because the Kuala Lumpur public garden had been opened in 1889, 4 years earlier.

What I often do, when I find discrepancies in Wikipedia, is to check the history of the article. Followers of my blog may remember the Amelia Earhart saga, where the author of the Tekah Aeodrome article , had wrongly assumed that she had landed there on 7 June 1937.

So I checked the history of the Taiping Lake Garden topic, and I was shocked to find that the creator of the Lake Gardens topic on 5 February 2009, was the same Andrew Kidman, who created the Tekah item on 12 June 2007. He has been quite active between 2007 abd 2012, creating 36 Wikipedia pages. No sign of life after that, I have tried to contact him in 2019, no response.

Does it matter, these two mistakes? Yes, because these errors have percolated the Internet during the more than 15 years that they went unnoticed. Google for the history of the Taiping Lake Gardens and you may find that they are the oldest public gardens in Malaya and designed by the New Zealand town planner Charles Compton Reade.

In my opinion, the Taiping Heritage Society has the best credentials to correct the errors.
I am willing to assist them.

A humorous detail: Swettenham compares the two public gardens in Taiping and Kuala Lumpur. He can do that because, before becoming the Resident of Perak (1889-1896), he was the Resident of Selangor (1882-1889). This is his opinion about the Taiping Lake Gardens:

Of course they could never expect to have such a beautiful garden as in the adjoined State of Selangor when the grounds seemed to have been formed by Nature for the purpose

Would current visitors of both gardens still agree with him?

A final remark

Lady Swettenham opened the gardens by activating the fountain given by the Chinese community of Taiping. The beautiful fountain is still there and has been rejuvenated last year. It is commonly called the Ng Boo Bee Fountain. But that is incorrect. In my next post I will explain the confusion.

The Gang of Four at Ulu Yam

Posted on March 30, 2026 by janstu

In2021 I wrote a post about the Gang of four, describing the friendship between four senior citizens. This year we will be all octogenarians, so our activities are getting more limited. After the COVID pandemic we have made three day trips, to Kampar(2022), Janda Baik(2022), and Jugra(2024). This time Khong suggested to have lunch at the WK restaurant in Ulu Yam, I suggested to combine it with a visit to a Buddhist sanctuary in Ulu Yam and Stephen proposed another restaurant in Ulu Yam, with the best prawn tom yam he had ever tasted.

We started with coffee in Serendah, a coffee shop where Khong was a regular.

Next, we continued to the “Buddhist Sanctuary”, which I had visited twice in the past, in 2007 and 2012. So long ago that I only remembered it was a nice, quiet place. It still is, but it is not a sanctuary. It is a monastery, following the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is much more important than its remote location would suggest. I am interested in (Theravada) Buddhism, but not in the Tibetan variant so I had to Google for more information. The monastery serves as a major seat of the 7th Tharig Rinpoche, a spiritual leader of the Sakya sect. Here is the official website: Ulu Yam Sakya Tharig Monastery .I have found no info about a Thai background, although locals sometimes call it a Siamese temple. The monastery was officially opened in 1998.

This interesting statue at the entrance is not the Buddha, but a Bodhisattva. It is Avalokiteshvara, the male version of Guan Yin, the god of compassion.

The entrance to the main hall is flanked by the 18 Arhats.

The impressive main hall.

There are two huge prayer wheels. When you turn them three times (clockwise), it will bring you luck. Of course Khong and I did it.

The twelve Zodiac signs are also there. I am a monkey, Aric is a dragon, of course I had to take “our” pictures.

A small shrine and a statue of the 6th Tharig Rinpoche.

Nice atmosphere.

A photo of the Gang of Four.

Outside the monastery there is a cemetery and a columbary.

After this very interesting visit, it was time for lunch. We followed Stephen’s suggestion and went to the Hock Lay restaurant in Ulu Yam, where we had the “best Prawn Tom Yam ever””, fish, tofu and veggie for RM 139. Value for Money.

A nice outing. I hope that we don’t have to wait two years for the next one.

CNY 2026

Posted on March 29, 2026 by janstu

In my last blog post about the Chinese New Year, CNY 2025. I mentioned a few more CNY-reports. Interesting for me to read them again, as I forgot many details. They are basically all very similar, spending a few days with Aric in Parit Baru, meeting his extended family, and having lots of food.

This post is not different, but I have tried to change the format a bit and add some details.

Preparations

Compulsory preparations for CNY are buying new clothes and having a haircut.

Early Celebration

Ten days before CNY, there was an early reunion for Aric’s maternal family in Kepong.

Family members had prepared food for reunion dinner in buffet style.-

Of course ther was Yee Sang, tossing a salad.The higher you toss, the more luck it will bring you.

There was also a birthday celebration and of course the traditional group photo.

Two days before CNY

We arrived one day earlier than usual, because Aric needed time to prepare the CNY decorations. We reached Parit Baru in the evening and had dinner in the fishing village, a few km from the family house.

Not many people yet. We had dinner with Aric’s older brother Ah Peng, older sister Aei Ling, and her two kids, Teng Wei and Chun Yee. Of course, we had seafood.

CNY Eve

It is nice to join Aric at Parit Baru, after so many years, it feels like I am a family member. But it is also a challenge, because it is difficult to get some privacy. Fortunately, the family has a bungalow, a few minutes’ drive from the family house. We stayed overnight there, and Aric was my Grab driver when I needed some rest and privacy.

Next morning, we drove back to the family house, where an offering table had been prepared, prayers for the ancestors. That is a tradition on the last day of the year. At the back of the house, there was another, smaller offering table, which I had never noticed earlier. Apparently, it can be found in the countryside, also on the last day of the (lunar) year. Google gives various explanations (chicken, local deities, ancestors).

Aric was busy the whole day, preparing the CNY decorations with the help of nephews and nieces. It was a kind of three-dimensional construction kit, not easy.

I had nothing to do, so I decided to take some pictures of the house and its surroundings. The house is located in a Malay kampung. Many years ago, Aric’s father and two uncles started a hardware shop here. Three families lived in the house. The hardware shop is doing well.

In the past, the three families always had the reunion dinner on CNY eve together, but this time it was separate. Aric’s brother Raymond had arrived with his family. Of course, we had the traditional steamboat 😉 .

CNY day 1

Here, Aric is inspecting the result of what they had prepared the day before. He is a perfectionist, so he was not 100% happy. “It could have been better” But it was good enough to enable him to create his usual digital CNY card.

There was another offering table for the ancestors. The first day of the month, so vegetarian this time. Note that the table is set for nine ancestors. The Deity on the altar is Tua Pek Kong, the Taoist god of Prosperity.

It was a quiet morning, but a bit hot to stay inside the house.

In the afternoon, we drove to a small shrine, a few km from the house. It’s a Datok Shrine, dedicated to a local deity, you find them everywhere in Malaysia. This one is situated nicely beside a small stream. We visit it every year.

Back at the house, I took a few pictures of the shrines there. Left is the shrine for the sky god, right a small Datok Shrine.

During the day, many more cousins, often with their kids, had arrived. I know the names of Aric’s nephews and nieces, but not of his cousins. Here everybody is relaxing in the common living room, playing cards or watching their smartphones.

Scenic photo of the front door with Aric’s decorations.

CNY Day 2

This year (and also the next two years), CNY and Ramadan start in the same lunar month. Because the Islamic calendar requires the new moon to be sighted, the actual start of the fasting is one or two days later. Parit Baru has a Kedai Kopi with very good roti canai, we went there for breakfast on the last day that it was open.

More photos of the family house. The living room and the kitchen are shared by the three families, but meals are prepared separately. There are three fridges, dining tables, kitchen sinks, etc.

Left the part of the kitchen for Aric’s family, the other photo shows the tables for the families of the two uncles.

Left the toilet and shower section. Right the backyard, doing laundry is a daily chore.

After many days of Chinese food, I was in the mood for something different. We drove to Sungei Besar where they have a McDonald’s. I enjoyed a cheeseburger.

CNY day 3

The last part of my pictures of the family house. The house is partly wooden, especially the first floor, where each family has its private rooms. During CNY so many people come back that all available space is used to put mattresses. Good that I could escape to the bungalow 😉 .

Giving and/or receiving Ang Pow is part of the CNY celebration. The small red envelopes contain money and signify good luck and prosperity. They are usually given by older people to younger ones. I give Ang Pow, as Uncle Jan, but I also receive them, not sure why ;-). Giving Ang Pow to Aric’s nephews and nieces is always a nice ritual. Aric invites them to the family room, where he has prepared surprises for them.

A few of the young ladies had prepared two beautiful vegetarian Yee Sang plates. The three families did the tossing in the common living room.

Day 3 is always the party day for the Cheah family, with Aric as the organiser. It was a bit unfortunate that it started raining in the afternoon.

The family had decided to use a caterer for the buffet dinner. Indian food for a change.

For the young kids, a fire was prepared, so they could put marshmallows on a stick and fry them.

Later, the rain stopped. Aric always organises a kind of lottery game.

The traditional group photo. More than 50 people.

Of course, there were fireworks.

CNY day 4

In the morning, there was another offering table, set for one ancestor only. The first wife of the grandfather, who had passed away on day 4, many years ago. The family is very traditional in keeping the rituals alive. In the right photo, you see how everybody is folding “ghost money” to be burned later.

After lunch it was time to go home.

I had asked Aric to bring his drone and take some aerial views of the family house and the surroundings. At the horizon the Bernam river, with Perak at the other side.

Left Pekan Pari Baru, right a close-up of the Cheah “mansion”.

CNY day 5

I was quite exhausted after a 6D5N stay in Parit Baru. But on day 5, we were invited to another CNY reunion in Damansara Mutiara, near where we live. Another big crowd, I escaped to the garden. Aric’s extended maternal family this time.

Both kids and adults like to play cards.

And of course, another group photo, the third one for me 😉

Hokkien New Year Eve,dy 8

After recovering during the weekend, there was a nice, small-scale finale on day 8. Aric’s brother-in-law is Hokkien, and they celebrate the New Year on day 9. We visited them in Puchong on the evening of day 8.There was the usual offering table.

Although I am not a Taoist, I don’t mind joining them in prayers.

Folding the joss papers and burning them.

After midnight, there were fireworks.

The KL Botanical garden

Posted on March 11, 2026 by janstu

In May 2025, my friend Pek Foong invited me for a walk in the Lake Gardens, a visit to the Tun Razak Memorial, and a drink in the Royal Lake Club. It was a nice outing, resulting in a blog post: KL Lake Gardens. During that walk, I didn’t see any lake, so a few days ago I came back with my friend Paul for another walk. Here is a Google Earth screenshot, with our walk marked in green.

I took the MRT to Museum Negara, where I met Paul. I have visited the National Museum only once, decades ago. I must go again soon.

It’s a short walk, using a tunnel under a busy highway, to reach the entrance of the Lake Gardens. The official name is now Kuala Lumpur Botanical Garden.

Here is the lake. It is not a former mining pond, like the Taiping Lake Gardens; it was created in the 1880s by damming a small river. The park was officially opened in 1889, and the lake was named Sydney Lake, in honor of Lady Sydney Swettenham, a strong supporter.

The park is close to the center of Kuala Lumpur and well-maintained, although the paddleboat section was closed.

Signboards indicate the various attractions.

Trees have information boards. There were not many flowers during our visit.

A decorative building is a nice place to rest.

Another attractive building made of bamboo.

Peaceful and scenic.

The lake is located in a valley, and stairs lead to the higher parts of the gardens.

There is a deer park.

The Tun Razak Memorial is located just outside the Botanical Garden.

It is really a beautiful garden.

Halfway, we took a rest for coffee and biscuits. An exotic visitor was interested in the crumbs. It looked like a pitta, but it is a Splendid Starling, that has escaped from the nearby Bird Park. Its habitat is East Africa. Not shy at all, a nice surprise.

Attractive bridges are very suitable for taking pictures.

Walking back, we had a good view of the Merdeka 118 skyscraper, the world’s second-tallest building.

We will come back another time.

Calendaria

Posted on March 6, 2026 by janstu

On Tuesday, 17 February 2026, the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse started. The next day, Wednesday 18 February, was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian Lenten fasting. And on 19 February, in Malaysia, the fasting month of Ramadan started. A remarkable coincidence? On 19 February, a Facebook article was posted. If you have FB, you can read the article by clicking on the screenshot.

The article states that this coincidence happened the first time since 1863 and will not happen again until 2189 It is rare because three calendars are involved: the Muslim calendar, the Chinese calendar and the Christian calendar.

I am interested in calendars and have written several times about it (here and here and here), so I was interested and decided to check the statement. First, some information about the various calendars.

The Gregorian calendar

Introduced by Pope Gregorius XIII in 1582, it is the globally accepted civil calendar. It is a solar calendar, 365 days with a leap day on 29 February if the year is divisible by 4 (except for century years not divisible by 400).

The Islamic calendar+

The Islamic calendar is lunar, a lunar year equals 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days, and is 11-12 days shorter than a solar year. So the lunar year moves forward through the seasons. After 33 years, it has made a complete cycle. All Islamic celebrations, like Hari Raya, Muharram, etc/ are movable feasts.

In 2026 the first day of Ramadan fell on Thursday, 19 February. In the table, dates for a few more years are given. The first day of Ramadan moves forward 11-12 days each year, and in 2059, 33 years later, it falls again in February.

Year	Start of Ramadan	Commnet
2026	Thursday,19 February
2027	Monday, 8 February	11 days earler
2028	Friday 28 January	11 days earlier
2029	Tuesday, 16 January	12 days earlier
…..
2059	Friday, 14 February	33 years later

The Chinese calendar

This calendar is lunisolar, to avoid the drifting through the seasons, every few years an extra lunar month is added. As a result the Chinese New Year is still a movable feast but with a limited range (the earliest date is 21 January, the latest date is 20 February).

In 2026 the Chinese New Year started on 17 February. The table shows the same years as the Ramadan table. Note that in 2026, 2027 and 2028, CNY and the start of Ramadan use the same New Moon. The 2-day difference occurs because CNY uses the astronomical New Moon, whereas in Islam, a New Moon must be SIGHTED. More in the appendix. Also note that in 2059 the start of Ramadan and CNY “coincide” again!

Year	Chinese New Year	Comment
2026	Tuesday, 17 February
2027	Saturday, 6 February	11 days earlier
2028	Wednesday 26 Janaury	11 days earlier
2029	Tuesday, 13 February	2028 was a leap year
…..
2059	Wednesday, 12 February

The Christian Calendar

The Christian calendar is often identified with the solar Gregorian calendar, but that is a bit confusing. Yes, Christmas and related events like Advent and Epiphany are celebrated on fixed dates, but Easter and related events like Lent, Pentecost, are movable feasts related to the moon cycle in a complicated way. Easter falls on the Sundayafter the first full moon on or after the Spring equinox. This leads to a window for Easter (22March-25 April) and also for the beginning of Lent, 46 days earlier, Ash Wednesday (4 February-10 March). Comparing the windows for CNY and Ash Wednesday, note that there is a partial overlap,

Here is the table for Ash Wednesday. In 2026 it fell on 18 February and again a few more years are shown. Because of the complicated procedure to determine the date for Easter, date for Ash Wednesday looks quite irregular. But note that in 2059 it falls on the same day as CNY!

Year	Ash Wednesday	Comment
2026	Wednesday, 18 February
2027	Wednesday, 10 February	8 days earlier
2028	Wednesday, 1 March	12 days later
2029	Wednesday, 14 February	15 days earlier
……
2059	Wednesday, 14 February

Combining the three calendars, we see that indeed, 2026 is special, because CNY (17 February), Ash Wednesday (18 February) and the start of Ramadan (19 February) occur within two days. According to the FB article, this is extremely rare; the next time it will happen is, according to “calendar experts”, after 163 years, in 2189. The FB message was copied many times, for example, on Instagram.

But is it true? Look at the year 2059 in the three calendar tables. n 2059, after 33 years, CNY (12 February), Ash Wednesday (12 February), and the start of Ramadan (14 February) will occur within 2 days.

The claim that the next occurrence will be in 2189 is FALSE. It will happen again in 2059.

What about 2092, another cycle of 33 years later? I checked the data, and the answer is NO. CNY falls on Thursday, 7 February, and Ramadan starts on Saturday, 9 February. But Ash Wednesday is one week later, 13 February. The “calendar experts” may be right that there is another occurrence in 2189, but they have overlooked 2059.

Appendix

The Islamic and Chinese calendars can have celebrations at the Same New Moon, but never at the same date; there is always a difference of 1 or 2 days. The reason is that both calendars define the start of a lunar month in different ways.

The astronomical New Moon is not a day, but a specific time on that day. For example, the New Moon occurred on 17 February 20:01 Malaysia time.
The Chinese calendar uses this time. there fore, 17 February was the first day of the Year of the Horse.
The Islamic calendar states that a new day starts at sunset and that a new lunar month starts when the new moon is visually sighted. But on 17 February at sunset, the new moon has not yet occurred, so the first sighting can only take place at sunset on 18 February, and the first day of Ramadan will be 19 February, two days later
It takes about 10-15 hours after the new moon for an observer to spot the first sliver of the new moon

I will illustrate this using data for an occurrence of CNY and Hari Raya. As Hari Raya is a major celebration for Muslims, as CNY is for the Chinese, a coincidence of the two is so special that it got its own name, Kongi Raya. It will happen in 2029, 2030 and 2031

Here is the table, with the times of the new moon added.

Year	New Moon	Chinese New Year	Hari Rya
2029	18:31	13 February	15 February
2030	00:07	3 February	4 February
2031	12:31	23 January	25 January

In 2029, the new moon occurs on 13 February at 18:31. Impossible to sight the moon, Hari Raya start two days later. One year later the new moon occurs at 00:07. That same eveing the new moon can be sighted, so Hari Ray starts at 4 Fevruary. In 2032, the new moon occurs at 12:31. Not enough time to sight the new moon at susnet, Hari Raya 25 January

The Hindu calendar is also lunisolar, their main festival Deepavali can also occur together with Hari Raya. This is called DeepaRaya and will happen again in 2037-2039

The Sultan Abdul Samad building

Posted on February 13, 2026 by janstu

In 2017, I published a detailed report about KL Heritage. In this report, I give more information about the impressive Sultan Abdul Samad building, the former Government Offices during the colonial era. After the independence of Malaysia, the building housed the superior courts of Malaysia until they were relocated to Putrajaya in 2003. Since then we could only admire the impressive building from the outside. But last year it was refurbished, and a few weeks ago it reopened to the public.

Free access during February, so we joined the crowd to have a look inside. We parked our car under Merdeka Square and walked to the building. The facade must have been cleaned; it looked fresh and wonderful. It was already late afternoon, as we wanted to take night pictures.

We didn’t even need to register; we could just walk in. The building is large, clear ground plans are helpful for your orientation. The group floor has two galleries. We started with the Royal Selangor gallery (number 1 in the plan).

It is mostly a sales gallery. Royal Selangor, world-renowned for its pewter, has its visitor center in Setapak, and has now opened a branch here.

Beautiful stuff, very expensive.

One part of the gallery is the School of Hard Knocks (5), where workshops will be held for people who want to craft their own pewter dish.

There is also a cafe (4) where we decided to have a coffee and cake

Next, we wanted to visit the Kuala Lumpur Gallery(2), but it closed at 6 pm. This gallery about the history of KL will be more interesting, so I have to come back another time. I understand that the exhibits are basically the same as the former KL City Gallery (See my KL Heritage blog), but it will be interesting to see them in this new location

So we walked up to the first floor. Of course we took numerous pictures.

There are more restaurants in the building, on the ground plan I counted six(!). This is a real restaurant,

We could not resist the temptation to take a picture of ourselves.

There were many visitors, both locals and tourists.

At around 7 pm, the lights came on. We went back to the ground floor. This is the backside of the building, a nice, quiet courtyard.

We left the building and crossed Merdeka Square to the Selangor Club. What a fantastic view of the whole building.

A few more pictures.

The building deserves to become one of the top attractions of Kuala Lumpur.

Before driving back home, we took a few more night pictures of other interesting buildings in the region. Here is the Masjid Jamek, rather dwarfed by the modern background.

Old Railway Station and the National Mosque.

KL Tower and the Merdeka 118 skyscraper.

No idea if access will remain free after this month. For those living in Malaysia, use the opportunity. Open from 8 am until 10 pm, but galleries close at 6 pm.

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