In 1976 , at the age of 32, I became a physics teacher, and Yolanda was one of my first students. After she graduated we kept in contact and have been friends now for almost 50 years. She and her partner Math have been traveling all over the world, but never in Malaysia. Until this year, when they first visited Sarawak, Sabah and Bali, before staying a few days at our place in KL They arrived in the evening and after a beer , we took them to 1 Utama for dinner.
We bought an ice cream cake for her, as it was her birthday!
The next day I went with them to the KL city center (KLCC).
The park has impressive ficus trees, but of course the main attractions are the famous Twin Towers.
It was a hot day, so after a short walk in the park, we went inside the shopping mall, to the top floor, to my favourite coffee shop in the Kinokuniya bookshop.
I considered having lunch in the mall, but when I saw the crowds queuing for the restaurants, I changed my mind and suggested taking the metro back to Pasar Seni. Aric had mentioned a popular mamak, where we had a simple lunch.
After our lunch, we first walked to the historical city center, passing the beautiful Friday Mosque. Designed by a British architect and built in 1909. Now overshadowed by skyscrapers.
It was getting very hot, so we shortened our walk and took only a few pictures. Three architectural landmarks. In the left picture the former headquarters of the Federated Malay States Railways (1905). In the center the Dayabumi building (1984). The right picture shows the Merdeka 118 tower (2023).
When you are interested in architecture, have a look at this blog post: KL Heritage,
Yolanda and Math are planning to visit Taman Negara. Here she is asking information at a travel agency. The other picture shows a nice piece of street art.
It was my plan to finish the trip with the KL Mural Art. But I could not find them, only a few normal ones. Click here to see what we missed.
Walking back to the MRT station, we passed the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. We were back home around 4 pm for a shower and a rest.
We had dinner at our favourite seafood restaurant, where Aric and I are regular customers.
The second day of their visit, Aric took a day off from his laundry shop to drive us around. First we had breakfast, with Roti Goyang, soft-boiled eggs on toast. A favourite of mine, here the “shaking eggs” were put on garlic toast.
Our first destination was the Batu Caves. The temples inside the cave are dedicated to Lord Murugan, and his huge statue is visible from far away.
It is a popular tourist attraction, but also a place of devotion for Hindus
You have to climb 272 steps to reach the entrance of the caves. We did it slowly to protect our knees.
As we climbed higher, the views of KL became better, although it was a bit hazy.
Many long-tailed macaques are watching you, looking for food. Don’t carry it in a bag, they will snatch it. Almost at the top of the stairs there is the entrance to the Dark Caves. Nowadays, you can only enter on a guided tour. I was lucky to visit them in 2003 with my caving friend Liz Price. The Dark Caves, the first year I used a digital camera!
I have visited the Batu Caves many times, but every time, the huge cave with the temples is fascinating and impressive.
Decorations everywhere. The peacock is the transport animal of Lord Murugan.
Math is a tall guy, had to be careful not to hit his head. Both of us have a knee problem, so we very happy that we could climb up the stairs (and later climb down again).
The caves have a few levels, with Hindu temples. Sunlight enters through an opening in the roof.
After the main cave, we visited a few more caves at the bottom of the stairs, not much climbing required. You reach them via a zigzag bridge.
Many live peacocks and peahens. Two elephants guard the entrance.
The cave has many statues and paintings from Hindu mythology. An orgy of colours.
We skipped the last cave, only took a picture of Hanuman, guarding the entrance. Before leaving, we bought some peacock feathers.
Our second destination for the day was the National Art Gallery. It was my third visit, I lke the museum very much.
During my first visit, I found that the museum had a cafe, but I never tried it. This time we did. Not cheap but excellent coffee and nice food.
On the upper floor there was a temporary exhibition of digital art.
We spent some time here, creating our own museum artworks. Fun!
A very useful digital artwork at the entrance. The whole museum collection is on this wall, as thumbnails . When you point to a thumbnail, it will be enlarged with details about date, artist etc.
We went home after a tiring day, took a rest, and went out later to SEA park to an open air eatery, specialising in nasi lemak bumbung
The next morning Math and Yolanda left for Melaka.
On my 80th birthday, 17 April 2024 , a few of my waterfall friends surprised me with a present.
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A Waterfall Puzzle!
“How did you know that I like doing jigsaw puzzles?”. I asked. They didn’t, it was the waterfall that made them decide to give it to me as a present.
Actually, not only me, but all my siblings have been avid jigsaw puzzlers. In Amsterdam I had dozens of jigsaw puzzles and even here in Malaysia I still have a few, They are big, 2000 and 3000 pieces, the huge one has even 5000 pieces. Too big for me nowadays, if anybody is interested, he can get them for free, just contact me.
But I still like doing jigsaws. In 2020 I received (by post!) a present from my brother Arie and his wife Ineke, after I had visited with them the heritage building shown in the puzzle. Not an easy one but doable 😉 .
We even have puzzles made for us from one of our own photos, by a specialised company. Here is an example, a photo of my siblings and their partners at a reunion meeting, a couple of years ago.
And here’s another one. The photo was taken by my youngest brother Otto, and we asked him to make a puzzle of it. This puzzle still needs to be done.
All this to show that I come from a jigsaw family 😉
As I was going back to the Netherlands a few weeks after my birthday, I decided to take the puzzle with me to Amsterdam. There I started with optimism, a puzzle of 1000 pieces should be no problem.
The usual approach is to collect the border pieces first. The puzzle is of Japanese origin, high quality and the puzzle pieces fit accurately.
The next step is to select an “easy” part” of the puzzle. I chose the white region of the waterfall and discovered soon that even that part was not easy at all.
I used a few tricks, one is to spread out all the puzzle pieces, just doable for a 1000-piece jigsaw. The next step is to sort the pieces according to colour.
As I had many other commitments, it became clear that it would be impossible to complete the puzzle during my stay. At a reunion meeting with my siblings, I asked if anyone would like to give it a try. My brother Ruud showed interest, so I put the puzzle back in its box, the various colors in separate plastic bags.
When my brother Pim brought me to the airport, in June last year, I gave him the puzzle and he passed it on to Ruud when he visited him in Groningen a few months later.
Unfortunately it was getting clear that Ruud’s health, both mental and physical, was deteriorating. When I asked about the puzzle in February, his partner Jur replied that Ruud would not be able to do it. My sister Lous was willing to take over.
Then things went fast. On 9 April Ruud passed away, only 76 year old. The funeral took place on 15 April. I could attend it digitally via life-streaming. On a condolence visit Lous received the puzzle..
It was a hectic time. Two days after the funeral I turned 81 and the weekend after that was Easter.
That weekend Lous sent me this photo. She had started the puzzle on 18 April and finished it three days later. Amazing.
“What shall I do with it now”, she asked. These Japanese puzzles always have a tube of glue included, so the puzzle can be glued on a piece of cardboard and hung on a wall as a kind of painting. “Can you split in separate pieces and put them back in the box?”, I asked. Then I will take it back to Malaysia, put it together, glue it and hang it in my home as a kind of in memoriam for our brother.
She managed to do it. Here is the result. The puzzle is now waiting for me to be taken back to Malaysia.
What started as a post about a puzzle, given to me by my waterfall friends, became more personal. Although Ruud probably never touched it, it will become a memorial for him.
A relative of Aric invited us to a housewarming party in Melaka. We decided to go there on a day trip and combine it with a visit to Machap. In January we went to Melaka and Machap with our UK friend Rodney. Our main interest was Melaka’s old town and the CNY decorations in Machap Umboo. When writing my report, Melaka and Machap, I googled for more information about Machap and found on Wikipedia an entry about Machap Baru , one of the New Villages, created during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). I am quite interested in the Emergency, have mentioned New Villages several times in my blog posts, and may write a separate blog post about them.
This time wanted to explore Machap Baru and also to visit (again) the Old Mosque of Machap.
Although nobody was there, this time the gate was not locked, so we ventured inside to have a look at the mosque.
The mosque has an interesting history. In the days of the Melaka Sultanate, a trader from Makassar, Datuk Machap, supported the sultan, but had to flee when the Portuguese invaded in 1511. Following the Melaka river, he founded a few settlements and also a simple wooden mosque. In 1865, a Muslim Chinese missionary arrived in the Machap region. He collected donations to rebuild the mosque in stone. A marble slab in the mosque shows the names of the donors. More in this report: Machap Old Mosque on the website of the Alor Gajah Municipal Council.
In front of the mosque, there is the tomb of Datuk Machap and a few more graves. The signboard is less detailed but mentions that it became a holy place, a Keramat. where devotees came with offerings. Similar to the Datok Kong shrines, you can find everywhere in Malaysia.
The redesign in the 19th century by a Chinese missionary explains that the mosque looks very different from the traditional Malay mosques. There is no minaret, and the beautiful decorations on the walls also don’t look Malay. The mosque is surrounded by a verandah. On the left side, next to a Malay drum, there is the original marble tablet with the names of the donors.
Of course, we didn’t enter the prayer hall. Everything looked well-maintained, but I think the mosque has been closed.
Aric used his drone to take an aerial photo of the mosque. So quiet and peaceful. The water in front is the Durian Tunggal reservoir. Built in the 1970s as a water supply for Melaka.
Of course, I was wondering, how the situation was before the reservoir was built. I found the answer in this topo map, dating to the 1940s. Right a GE screenshot where I have marked in red some roads that already existed in 1943. Note that in the 1943 map, there are three Machap settlements. Twice Machap Umbor and one Macchap Tengah, close to the Masjid Lama, (marked Keramat). In the GE map, I have marked in blue the two Machap settlements that are now deep below the waters of the Durian Tunggal lake.
Looking for more information, I found this report, A day trip to Masjid Lama Machap, Melaka, written in 2014 by Joan Wan. A trip with her father. They meet the caretaker, who tells them that after completion of the reservoir, the mosque could only be reached by sampan until a new access road was built. And that devotees still visited the Keramat but were not allowed to burn joss sticks at the tomb of Datuk Machap.
In another report, written in 2017 by her uncle, he describes how as a young boy he accompanied his mother to the mosque. By a rickety bus, then climbing stairs to the mosque. His mother brought offerings. prepared by Muslim neighbours and a few days before their visit, they could not eat pork. Delightful report.
We continued to Machap Baru. It was time for lunch, we went to the Restaurant Mei Yuan, It was well patronised, we had nice food, Garlic pork, Lobaak, and veggie for RM59.40 only!
We drove around in Machap Baru. Here is the entrance gate and another gate for the Machap Walk. An attempt to copy the famous Jonker Walk in Big Sister Melaka 😉
In the town a mixture of old houses and modern ones. It would have been nice to meet some seniors with memories of the past. We asked about it in an old bakery, but the young owner could only tell us that the shop was old (4th generation) and had moved to here in the 1960s. Maybe from the submerged Machap settlements?
Fortunately, in the second report, mentioned above, the writer describes how he in the early 1960s, visited Machap Baru with a school friend. That was after the end of the Emergency, but his friend had visited his grandmother when the village was still fenced with a security guard. Once he was caught by the security because he brought food to his grandma, which was not allowed..
Here is a drone photo of Machap Baru. Many other New Villages, like Aulong and Pokok Assam, have now merged with a nearby town (Taiping in this case). But Machap Baru is still surrounded by nature and may be about the same size as when it was created in the 1950s.
Nearby Machap Umboo is also a new village, but not related to the Emergency and the Brigg’s plan. Many of the villagers in the river valley were relocated here when the reservoir was created. It is rather confusing that it is sometimes called a New Village, for example, le in these STAR and Malay Mail articles.
From Machap, it was only a half-hour drive to the housewarming party, as the location in Jubang was nearer to Alor Gajah than to Melaka.
In Malaysia, the house is called a bungalow; I would call it an Urban Villa. As is common these days, it is located in a gated community. It’s a big villa, with a well-designed garden. But the houses are too close to each other, I would prefer more privacy.
We arrived in the late afternoon, and most of Aric’s maternal family had already arrived before lunch. Here I am having a toast with the host, drinking a glass of dragon fruit wine! Very drinkable. He had a huge collection of expensive cognac and other liquors.
The family enjoyed watching TV and playing cards. I know almost all of them, I had a friendly chat with several of them, but of course, much of the conversation was in Chinese.
We went out for dinner to a nearby restaurant. The restaurant was crowded as it was the eve of Mother’s Day. Good that our host had booked tables for our party.
After dinner, we drove back and arrived home around 11 pm. A nice, busy day, full of variety.
A friend of Aric, Darren, has a big construction project in Genting Permai. A few months ago he sent us a short video of a monkey, picking up a piece of fruit, left by his staff on the grass near the showroom of the project. Here is the video, watch it. Look how carefully the monkey picks up the fruit, smells it and then climbs the tree to eat it. If you watch closely, you can see that it is a female, carrying a baby.
Actually, it is not a monkey, but an ape as it has no tail. It is a Siamang, a member of the Gibbon family. They live in trees, eat fruits and young leaves, and are an endangered species, mainly because of habitat loss. In If you have ever heard their loud and melodious “singing” in the morning, you will never forget it.
Darren’s staff continued putting pieces of fruit on the grass, and soon she got used to humans and became a regular visitor, bringing her family. Siamangs are monogamous and live as a family, in this case of father, mother, a subadult (?) and a baby. Recently Darren invited us to join him to the project. Here is a video of how the mother welcomes him, still carrying the baby. She walks on her legs, using her arms to balance. Fascinating to watch,
We had bought a big bag of apples, cut by the staff into smaller pieces. Here Darren is feeding the family. They are friendly, not at all aggressive.
Father, mother and baby. Note how hairy they are and how black.
Individual portraits
Note how long the arms are. And the fingers
Two more pictures, brightened up by Aric, to show more details.
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It was very enjoyable to feed them by handing over a piece of apple. which they accepted politely
I tried to feed the baby, but that was not easy, because the mother grabbed the fruit already, and did not share it with the baby.
Aric took most of the pictures. Here is a selfie. While we were feeding the siamangs, we enjoyed coffee and biscuits, presented by Daren’s staff.
When they had finished the fruits, the family went back to the bamboo grove, but kept watching us. There were still a few pieces of apple left, I walked to the bamboo, and the mother came swinging down, to accpet it, this time leaving her baby in the bamboo. Aric took a short video.
What a wonderful experience.
I have given this post the title A meeting with distant relatives. And that is true, because both humans and gibbons belong to the same Ape superfamily. Here is our pedigree.
The lesser apes gibbons) split from the great apes (orang utan, gorilla, chimpanzee and human) about 16-20 16 million years ago. That is very long ago, but we are still family 😉
After my stay in Taiping (click here for the report), I took the ETS to Ipoh, where I would meet Aric and Rodney. The famous railway station of Ipoh was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and built in 1917.
Waiting for Aric and Rodney, I had a coffee in the railway cafeteria, a nostalgic place, but in a rundown condition. There is an ambitious plan to develop the station and its surroundings. Hopefully the heritage elements will be preserved.,
For lunch, we had the famous Ipoh chicken rice, but this time not in the popular eateries in New Town. Aric had found a positive review about a chiken rice shop Sam Ma, quite far away from the town center. Very delicious, tender chicken..
Next we checked in at the Travelodge Ipoh and had some rest.
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Aric and I have visited quite a few cave temples around Ipoh, for example the Gunung Rapat Cave Temples. , but there are more. This time we visited the Tung WahTong, a taoist temple in the Ulu Kinta neighbourhood of Ipoh, built on the steep slopes of Gunung Layang Layang. So a lot of climbing.
There are three halls. Here is the first one.
Climbing further up, we reached the second hall. Good that there was a place to rest..
A steep climb followed to the main hall, dedicated to the Jade Emperor.
The entrance gate and the main shrine.
Two times nine Arhats on both sides of the altar.
This hall is huge, with many rock formations and artworks.
The caretaker showed us a gate, leading to another path next to the altar.
It brought us out of the cave, where we found tables and chairs to rest. Would have been a great place for a kopitiam 😉 .
A very interesting temple, relatively unknown. Aric wanted to take drone pictures, but it started to rain, so we decided to come back the next morning.
We had dinner in the Sun Kong River Fish restaurant. Upmarket and pricey, specialising in fresh water fish, for example this 9-course menu at RM 2388 for a table of ten. This menu contained one pork dish, that appealed to Aric. He called the restaurant and asked if it was possible to order only this crispy pork roll. That was possible, so here we are with a huge plate of pork. The idea is that you take a bun or a wrap and stuff it with a slice of pork and veggie. .An interesting experience, we managed to almost finish the (delicious) crispy pork.
Feeling very full, we decided to go for a walk, although there was some drizzle. We went to the Kinta River Walk.
Quite disappointing, desolate. Maybe we were too late.
The next morning we had dim sum for breakfast. There are many dim sum restaurants in Ipoh, What I liked about the one we visited was that they use trolleys to present the various dim sum at your table.
After breakfast, we went back to the Tung Wah Tong temple where Aric used his drone to take pictures, and a video.
You can not visit Ipoh without trying its famous white coffee. We drove back to the old town and had our coffee at Sin Yoong Long , established in 1937, one of the oldest kedai kopi in town. I liked the traditional atmosphere.
We walked around a bit in the old town. I had read negative reports about Concubine Lane, how it had become a tourist attraction and lost its charm. Before reaching COncubine Lane, we walked through a parallel lane, the 2nd Concubine Lane. Quite attractive and quiet.
The lane has nice mural art. Many years ago, I wrote a report about the Iph Murals. Some of them have been created by my favourite mural artist Zacharevic.
Here is Concubine Lane.. Souvenir shops, food stalls, eateries. More information about the history of Concubine Lane can be found here.
We had a look at the Birch Memorial. Birch was the first British Resident, , murdered in 1875 by Dato’ Maharaja Lela and Dato’ Sagor. I told Rodney how the two streets at both sides of the memorial were named Post Office Road and Station Road. Now they have been renamed, Station Road became Jalan Dato’ Maharaja Lela and Post Office Road became Jalan Dato’ Sagor!. Ironic 😉 .
We wanted to visit another cave temple, the Kek Lok Tong, a Buddhist Temple, but it was closed for renovation.
Insteda we visited the Perak Tong, one of the largest cave temples in the region. This Buddhist temple is a popular tourist attraction. A beautiful statue of Guan Yin, the goddess of Mercy, stands in front of the main entrance.
The main hall is huge.
Guardian statues.
Looking back to the entrance.
More statues.
Inside the main hall, you can climb up to the higher levels.
Further up, you exit the temple hall, and you can continue to the top of the hill, where pavilions have been built. Rodney and I decided that we had climbed enough.
Aric continued to the top and told us that the view was not really special.
After going down, Aric used his drone to take again pictures and a video. You can see the pavillions on the top of the hill.
Time to go back to KL, where we finished our trip with a dinner in Damansara Uptown.
My last “new waterfall” was two years ago, in 2023. In my blog post CNY 2023 Waterfall Trip, I explain why I no longer explore (new) waterfalls. This year I didn’t join the traditional CNY waterfall trip. Here is a photo where a few of my waterfall gang visit the Katoh Upper Fall. Would have been too much for me 😉 .
Joshua Tee, who is now the active webmaster of Waterfalls of Malaysia, suggested to organise a trip to an “easy” waterfall, only a 15 minute hike, an easy trail and a pristine fall. That sounded attractive, although I wondered how a waterfall with easy access could still be pristine. I joined.
One day before Chap Goh Meh, Joshua picked me up from home and we drove to Tanjung Malim where we had breakfast and met the rest of the group. Many of them I had met before. First photo, from left to right Joshua and his partner Eve, Pooi Yee, and my “waterfall godson” Nick. In the other picture JT Ong, Sam, Iwen and Kendrick.
After breakfast, we continued to Behrang Station, where it became clear how a waterfall with easy access can still be pristine: to reach the trail head you have to follow plantation roads where a 4WD is needed. So all nine of us moved into Joshua’s Ford Ranger. Here we have arrived at the trailhead.
And indeed, from here it there was an easy trail to the fall, about 600 meter. To cross a small stream, I preferred to walk through the water and get my feet wet 😉 .
Here is the Gersay waterfall, my waterfall sifu Khong would call it a baby fall. A nice wading pool, and attractive surroundings.
Joshua had suggested that we all bring some snacks and drinks, he had brought two foldable picnic tables !
My contribution was a bottle of wine, here Ong is tasting it.
It was a nice leisure trip, of course many photos were taken. The last photo shows Joshua and me, the present webmaster of WoM and the former one 😉 .
An official group photo.
We didn’t stay long, as the plan was to have lunch in Tanjung Malim. Here Eve and Ong are bringing back the tables.
Nice food, I wanted to be the host and pay the bill, but the others didn’t allow me. Malaysian hospitality at its best.
Here is the location of the Gersay fall on Google Earth. Tanjung Malim bottom right, Behrang Station top left. The plantation road in red, the short walk in green.
I didn’t expect to visit new waterfalls anymore, this was a pleasant surprise.
It is a yearly tradition, the celebration of the Chinese New Year in Parit Baru, Aric’s hometown. Often I wrote a blog post about it: CNY 2024, CNY 2022, CNY 2020, CNY 2017, CNY 2016, to name a few.
This time we arrived one day before CNY, so Aric had time to decorate the family house. Here he is considering what to do.
Many weeks ago he had bought decorative material. In the past many of his relatives already arrived for the traditional Reunion Dinner, so he had helpers, but fewer people are following this tradition nowadays.
Here is the result.
Three families lived in the big kampung house, there were still many cousins, nephews, and nieces around, so two sessions of the traditional steamboat dinner were needed.
The common living room was also decorated and the next morning there was a praying session for the ancestors.
IIn the Chinese tradition, it is the start of the year of the Snake, one of the twelve Zodiac signs. More accurately it is the year of the Wood Snake , click here for an informative YouTube video.
Although there is nothing bad about any of the Zodiac signs, many people are instinctively afraid of snakes, probably because of our evolutionary past. That may be a reason that many CNY decorations and cards don’t show an image of a snake. Here are the two CNY cards we created, the left one by Aric and the right one by me 😉 .
For dinner we went out to the Parit Baru fishing village on the banks of the Bernam River.
Many family members of Aric had not yet arrived. From left to right Aric’s older brother, the two kids of Aei Ling, Aei Ling and me. Picture taken by Aric. Nice local, fresh food.
The second day of CNY more people arrived. Here I have lunch with Aric’s nephews and nieces. From left to right, Teng Wei, Zhen Ee, Zhi Le, Zhi Ee, Zhi Ying, Chun Yee and me. Chinese names! Two are still missing
Part of the CNY tradition is receiving/giving ang pow. Red envelopes with money inside. Adults give it to younger ones (it is actually a bit more complicated). I give it and I also receive some. “Uncle” Aric gives it to his nieces and nephews in a special way, as a kind of game. Just a few photos without further comments
Another steamboat dinner.
During the first dayss of CNY almost all shops are closed , but on day 3 many reopen, and are very crowded. Ong, Aric’s brother-in-law took me to a popular shop in Parit Baru, for roti canai. It was so crowded that we shared a table with two friendly locals. They offered me a cigarette and told Ong about a “chips” factory nearby, inviting us to visit it.
So we went there (Ong riding a motorbike and me on the buddy seat)
Interesting experience. They make cassava (tapioca) chips, mixing them with spices, then frying them and finally packaging them for wholesale. I gave a helping hand, haha.
Back in the kampong, an ice cream seller arrived and I could not resist the temptation to have an ice cream with bread! Quite popular in Malaysia 😉
A group photo is always a part of the day 3 activities. Can you spot me in the crowd? One Kwai Loh and ~ 50 Chinese.
Another tradition, Yee Sang this time the salad dishes were prepared by family members. Vegetarian, one even showing a snake 😉
I took a short video of the tossing.
Of course there were the usual deafening firecrackers
And nice fireworks
It was a nice evening, there was food and lots of beer.
The younger family members performed a dance.
For me it was sometimes a bit too much, so I found a quiet corner, where I could play a game and read a book.
On day 4 we returned home, but in the morning Ong went for a a walk with two kids to the nearby Datok Kong shrine and asked me to join. Nice countryside, palm oil plantations and fruit trees (the fruits protected by old clothes) .
As there was another prayer session, we stayed until dinner, in the same restaurant where we had gone on day 1. Here is Aric, relaxing and chatting with his favourite nephew.
It was a big dinner.
From top left, counterclockwise: Catfish, Sotong, Golden Pomfret, Prawns, Mini-octopus, Crab.
Nice evening view. THen it was time to go home. A 5D4N visit, I needed a few days to recover 😉 .
My Dutch passport expires in July this year, but it includes an MM2H visa which expires already in March.. So I decided to apply early for a new one. Dutch passports used to be valid for 5 years only, but nowadays they are valid for 10 years. Usually, you return your old passport, when you get the new one, but in my case, they contained MM2H visa, so I kept them after they had been made invalid.
The procedure is simple: you must download and fill out a form and then make an appointment with the Dutch embassy. I went there on 16 December.
You have to submit a recent passport photo. There are strict guidelines and that made me worry a bit. Glasses are allowed, but your eyes must be fully visible. Mouth closed, expression neutral, head not tilted, etc. I did my best and this is the result ;-). When I presented the form and photo to the friendly embassy staff, they were accepted without any problem.
Faster than expected I got an email from the embassy that I could come to collect my new passport. I decided to go by public transport and asked our UK friend Rodney, to join, so we could have a look at the CNY decorations in KLCC.
We walked from the LRT KLCC station through the park to the Naza Tower, where the consular section of the Dutch embassy is located. The weather was beautiful and the Twin Towers impressive. The Naza Tower is a modern skyscraper. Launched in 2012, it has an interesting helical shape.
It took only a few minutes to receive my new passport. Before walking back, we decided to have coffee and cake in the lobby of the Naza Tower.
Nice street art around the Naza Tower.
And of course CNY decorations. Like in Machap,visited a few weeks ago, many colorful flowers, but all artificial.
Opposite the Naza Tower a spectacular new building is under construction. The provisional name is Lot M. In the (far?) future a 700-meter tall skyscraper may rise on top of this building.
We walked back through the park. With the very blue sky, the KL skyline was breathtaking. It was a hot day, the wading pool in the park was popular for children and adults.
Kuala Lumpur can be proud of a beautiful park in the center of the city.
In front of the shopping mall, a huge CNY decoration has been constructed. Here Rodney took a picture of me, taking a picture 😉 .
Probably I took this picture. Inside the shopping mall another huge decoration.
This year is the year of the Snake, but where are the snakes? Last year, the year of the Dragon, there were dragons everywhere. Not a single snake here! Probably because many people have a phobia ffor snakes!
The walk through the park had made us thirsty, so we went to my favourite Kinokuniya cafe for a refreshing drink. Then we started looking for a suitable lunch place. I was thinking about the Asian Food Court. On our way, I noticed that there were long queues for all the restaurants.
I expected that it would be difficult to find an empty table in the food court. Then we found one restaurant with many free tables. So, for the first time in my life, I had lunch in a TGI FRIDAYS! We ordered the so-called Hangover Burger, a substantial meal.
Then we went back back home, where we arrived just before a downpour started.
As familiar as Melaka is to me, so unknown is Machap. Aric suggested a mini-trip to both places with our UK friend Rodney, staying overnight in Melaka. He had booked rooms in the Puri Hotel, where we arrived late afternoon on Friday, 17 January. The hotel is located in Heeren Street, now unfortunately renamed after a Malaysian politician. . In Dutch colonial times, the Heerenstraat was the most important street, where the rich people lived. Opposite the hotel the impressive Chee ancestral mansion (not open to the public).
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The Puri Hotel is a nice Peranakan house, much extended and more expensive than when we stayed there the first time, more than 10 years ago.
After a short rest, we went out for dinner to the Kapitol Satay Chelup restaurant, no longer in the town center, we took a Grab car. Still has nice food, but not many customers, I hope they can survive.
We took another Grab back to Jonker Street. The famous Jonker Walk is not so interesting anymore, but of course you have to visit it when you are in Melaka.
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The (food) stalls are quite mediocre, but Jonker Street was almost as important in Dutch times as Heeren Street, so there are nice facades and clan houses to admire.
We passed a small square with a very strange statue of a bodybuilder. Actually, it is a memorial statue for Dr Gan Boon Leong, a Malaysian politician, and native of Melaka, instrumental in the creation of the Jonker Walk, but in his younger years also a bodybuilding Mr Universe!
We stopped at Koong Woh Tong for a refreshing Herbal Jelly. One of my favourite desserts, not sure if Rodney really liked it.
Arriving at the main square, also called the Dutch Square, we admired the many trishaws decorated with colorful LED lights and loud music.
We walked for a short distance along the Melaka river. Left a view from the bridge, right many of the bars on the left bank.
Before going back to our hotel we had a few drinks in the Geographer, a landmark bar in Jonker Street.
The next morning, we had a pleasant breakfast in the hotel garden and admired the interior.
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We checked out and walked around the town. Here are two photos of the Eng Choon Association in Heeren Street.
More buildings, some beautifully restored, others still waiting for an upgrade.
We entered Goldsmith Street, now often called Harmony Street because along the street many houses of worship are located. Here is a view of the street, In the foreground a Chinese temple, further on a mosque. The Indian temple, a bit further down the street , is not visible.
The Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is the oldest functioning Chinese temple in Malaysia, founded in 1645 during the Dutch era.The main prayer hall is dedicated to Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy.
The Kampung Kling Mosque was originally built in 1748 by Indian Muslim traders. The Sri Poyatha Moorthi Temple was built in 1781 and is dedicated to Ganesha. It is one of the oldest functioning Hindu temples in Maritime Southeast Asia. Pity that it seems to be closed all the time.
We didn’t see many murals in Melaka, which makes me happy, but of course, we spent only a little time in the town. The first mural is nice but nothing special. The second one is bizarre. It depicts the Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, famous but no connection at all with Malaysia. Why her? Because she has been appointed Melaka’s tourism ambassador. Apparently, to attract more mainland Chinese tourists. Melaka boleh haha.
You don’t see Buddhist monks often in Malaysia. On the facade of the shop there is a mural of an orang utan, a bit faded as murals should be. And the other pic shows Rodney and me in front of the Dutch windmill.
Melaka is a “museum” town with artifacts from the past everywhere.
We had Chendol near the river. And then climbed up the St Paul’s hill for a view. The straits of Melaka far away.
The Church of Saint Paul with the statue of St Francis Xavier. The hill has an extended cemetery with Dutch and British graves.
The remains of the church contain many tombstones.
We climbed down the hill to the Porta de Santiago, one of the few remains of the A Famosa fortress, built by the Portuguese in 1512. The other pic shows Rodney and a dinosaur.
We were planning to have lunch in the famous Kedai Kopi Chung Wah near the bridge, but it was closed. So we went to another one. Also nice Hainanese Chicken Rice.
It was already getting a bit late in the afternoon when we arrived in Machap. Here is a Google Earth map of the region. There are two villages, about 6 km apart, Machap Baru and Machap Umboo. Machap Baru is a “New Village” created during the Malayan Emergency as part of the Briggs plan. I am very interested in these new villages, but it was not our target this time. We went to Machap Umboo, an even newer village but in a different way! In the 1970s the Durian Tunggal reservoir was created, one of the main water supplies for Melaka, and the original Machap had to be relocated. I guess that its original location was near the Old Mosque of Machap, not far from Machap Baru.
The villagers of Machap Umboo decorate their village during the Chinese New Year and are so successful that it generates publicity and attracts visitors. Leaflets with the various attractions are freely available. In the other picture I am taking a phoyo of Aric admiring a persimmon tree.
It’s a fake tree, as are all the flowers and trees used as decoration. Very colorful,
This year will be the year of the Snake, so you can see (fake) snakes all over the place.
The villagers have used as much as possible recycled items for the decorations. Empty cans, old tires etc .
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Maybe the Dutch square in Melaka has inspired them to create this attraction. And yes, the tulips are also artificial. The drizzle had become rain, time to go home.
At the entrance of the village a Snake Kung Fu master invited us to a fight.
In spite of the rain we decided to have a look at the Old Mosque. In 2019 Aric and I had made a Trip down South, and one target was this mosque. But it was closed and now it was closed again. It was raining so heavily that I didn’t even take a picture. Here is a drone picture, taken by Aric during our 2019 visit. Looks interesting, we have to come back another time.
It was a nice, short trip. Want to see more pictures of Melaka? Have a look at my report Revisiting Melaka, August 2023.
My blog post headings tend to be descriptive rather than imaginative. Here is a blog post I wrote two years ago: Penang & Taiping, 2022 😉 . Very similar, first two nights in Penang, then one night in Taiping. But also different, in 2022 we went with friends, this time it was a trip of Aric and me, like the trips we made earlier to Teluk Intan, Seremban and Melaka.
On our way to Penang we stopped at the Sungai Perak R&R for coffee and Cekodok Pisang (fried banana balls).
We had lunch in Bukit Mertajam with Assam Laksa. Aric is an assam laksa fan and on our trips he is always looking for new laksa stalls. He has a website, Assam Laksa Review, which contains at the moment 28 Assam Laksa shops. This one was very good, Aric gave it a rating of 9 out of 10.
Crossing the (old) bridge to Penang island.
In Georgetown we usually stay in heritage hotels, but this time Aric had booked a very modern one, the OZO hotel in Argyll road. Interesting car parking, you drive the car in a lift, and then it is transported to its place. When you need it again, the car comes out of the lift, nicely rotated 180 degrees!
Another interesting detail, the lobby is at the 20th floor. We had a comfortable room on the 18th floor.
A room with a view !
Recently Aric had bought a new camera for time-lapse photography and that was the main reason he had booked this hotel. Here he installs the camera to take pictures every ten seconds.
After a short rest we went out again, to visit an art exhibition, the Galeri Khazanah. A temporary exhibition of Malaysian artists, from 19 July until 17 August, in the beautiful UAB building, the headquarters of Khazanah Nasional Berhad , the sovereign wealth fund of Malaysia.
Free access, after registration. An interesting collection with 46 diverse artworks by 31 modern and contemporary Malaysian artists.
A variety of styles, abstract, realistic etc.
Left the exhibition poster. The other two pictures show augmented reality artworks. The white base is empty, but after scanning a QR code , a 3D artwork appears for a while in your smartphone camera, positioned on the base. Amazing,
Our dinner plan was to go to a lok-lok restautant. In 2022 we visited with friends the Peng Hwa Lok Lok in Pulau Tikus (No 2 in the link above). But it was closed this time, so we went to another one, the Ah Beng Lok Lok at Padang Brown (No 1 in the link). Also closed! Then we realisded that probably the night before there had been a Hungry Ghost event. So we gave up and found another simple stall, where I had prawn mee (also known as Penang Hokkien mee).
Back in our hotel, we enjoyed the night view. This is a “normal” picture taken with my iPhone.
And here is the artwork made by Aric with his new camera. It is a collage of 150 time-lapse pictures, with a diagonal slice of each picture.
As we had a very early dinner (around 6 pm), we got a bit hungry and went out around 10:30 pm for supper. Within walking distance from our hotel, there is a popular restaurant for prawn mee and loh mee, the Green House. We had to queue! It received a Michelin Bib gourmand, never heard about it, it is a bit similar to what my friends here call VFM (Value for money). My second prawn mee this day, better than the first one 😉 .
Walking back to our hotel, I was as usual impressed by the beauty of Georgetown.
The next morning we had breakfast with fried carrot cake, pau and coffee, in a cafe near our hotel. Befiore checking out, we had a look at the infinity pool on the 22nd floor. OZO is a bit like a little brother of the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore ;-).
One reason to visit Penang was to meet our friend Lim Chong Keat (LCK). He is the owner of the Bellevue Hotel on Penang Hill, we had booked to stay overnight there and had arranged to meet him in the afternoon. So we had a few hours to spend.
We drove to Bayan Lepas, near the airport. Aric knew about another laksa stall there, but first we visited a small waterfall, the Air Terjun Sg Ara. Never heard about it!
Unfortunately the laksa stall was closed, but nearby was a “famous” stall where they sold prawn crackers. We bought two and then went looking for another stall where we could have lunch.
We found another stall nearby where they sold Mee Siam, Mee Siam is a bit similar to Assam Laksa, it originated from Penang but can now be found all over Malaysia and in Singapore. Very tasty and the prawn crackers were the best I ever had.
After lunch, Aric suggested to visit the Wat Chayamangkalaram, a Thai Temple, famous for its large gold plated Reclining Buddha. The temple was founded in 1845 and is the oldest Siamese temple in the state of Penang.
The main hall , with the Reclining Buddha inside, is well guarded
The Reclining Buddha is one of the world’s longest (about 32 m from end to end). Very impressive.
The main hall also has a columbary.
You can spend hours here, but it was a very hot day and the bright sunlight was almost painful to the eyes.
Opposite the Siamese temple. there is a Burmese temple, the Dhammikarama temple. which is even older, founded in 1803. Both are Theravada temples. Because of the hot weather, we didn’t stay long.
Just a few more pictures. The pots in the pond are slowly rotating. The idea is to throw a coin into a pot, when you manage to do that , it will bring you good luck. Not easy.
When you are interested in Buddhism, you can just take a free book, but only when you are not a Muslim.
The two guys are happily carrying the temple bell.
At 4 pm we arrived at the family house of the Lim family. LCK was still talking with a group of botanists from the University of Malaya (UM).
With him we drove to the Bellevue hotel.
The Bellevue Hotel was originally the residence of William Halliburton, the first Sheriff of Prince of Wales Island, as Penang was called in those days. We have stayed a few times in the hotel , I love its old world charm. . The view from the veranda is fabulous.
We had a chat and a drink with LCK. He is an interesting personality, architect of the Komtar tower, now a botanist of international renown, with a wide interest in classical music, a “universalist” like his role model Buckminster Fuller.
A view of the hotel from the garden. And a view of Georgetown. In the garden a geodesic dome. There are many memories of Buckminster Fuller in the hotel.
We had local dishes for our dinner, prawns, veggie and tom yam soup.
Here is another creation by Aric, made with his new toy. This time it contains 30 time-lapse slices.
Rain during the night, still cloudy in the morning. Nice temperature.
The walls of the corridor have informative posters. We had a local breakfast, nasi lemak.
The hotel has an aviary, with several peacocks and other birds.
Around 11am we got transport down to our car. We drove back to the mainland where we found another laksa stall for our lunch. This time in Butterworth, not really special, Aric’s rating: 5-6 out of 10.
On our way to Taiping heavy rain. As usual I had booked “my” room in hotel Furama.
My friend George was also staying in Taiping, we are both friends of Suet Fun, so we invited Goerge & Jenny and Suet Fun & Peter for a dinner in Soon Lee. We thought no booking was needed, as it was the Hungry Ghost month, but that was a mistake, the restaurant was fully booked. So instead George suggested Restoran Kampoung Wan, a good alternative. Delicious food and a pleasant atmosphere.
The next morning we had breakfast in the Rainy Corner, around the corner from Furama. Very good coffee.
It is always a pleasure to be back in my adopted hometown. Here is the famous Dobi Line.
A few weeks ago I had received photos of the Lake Gardens, almost completely dried out after a long dry spell, unusual for rain town Taiping. Now the water level was back to normal.
This time I had a special reason to visit Taiping, I wanted to see how the reconstruction of the two pasar buildings was going on. To be honest, I was impressed by the progress. Left the former chicken, beef and mutton market in April, right how it looks now.
A few more pictures. I will not discuss the issue whether this kind of rebuilding contributes to heritage preservation, but at least they are rebuilding. I hope the original stall holders will return, a bit worried that it might become like Pasar Seni in KL.
A visit to Taiping is not complete without having a look at what I call the Shame of Taiping. The Rest House and the building next to it. The illegal entrance to the Perak Railway /PWD building is still there, but it was now in a makeshift way closed with iron wire. Good that I didn’t enter, because actually the inhabitant was sleeping.
The two heritage buildings have been neglected for many years. In 2019 I wrote a blog with the sarcastic title Taiping Bandar Warisan (Taiping heritage town) about them.
In my blogTaiping, April 2024 I mentioned that in March an ambitious project was launched . Quotes from that blog:
The ambitious plan is to restore/rebuild the two ruins and transform them in a 4-star boutique hotel! Many VIP’s were present. and The “Taiping Boutique Hotel” is expected to be completed in two years.
The glamorous posters are still there. But nothing else happened, as far as I know. Completed in two years ?
We took the old road to Kuala Kangsar and passed the tombs of Long Jaafar. Very well kept.
We stopped for a while in Kuala Kangsar, because I wanted to visit the grave of Major Hawkins. He died on 4 January 1876 during the Battle of Kota Lama , speared by a Malay warrior. Read my blog The Battle of Kota Lama for more info about this battle.
At Bukit Chandan, next to the former Government Rest House (now Casuarina Hotel) lies a small Christian cemetery. Part of it is a war cemetery, Only 16 graves from the Perak War (1875-1876). There is a memorial with information about this (minor) war. Sabri Zain who pointed out a mistake in my blog (right <-> left), told me about this grave. It was easy to find.
Our trip had a nice, unexpected ending. On our way back, Aric mentioned a Cave Temple that was clearly visible from the North-South highway, but where exactly he was not sure. Using Google we managed to find it, it is the Kong Fook Ngam temple.
The temple is just one of the many cave temples around Ipoh. Officially it is closed on a Monday.
But a friendly caretaker let us enter and told us that there was a “Crystal Cave” behind the actual temple. We were allowed to explore. What a spectacular surprise.
Here is a collection of pictures taken in the huge cave complex. Really amazing.
Back in the temple, I bought a candle and placed it at the Reclining Buddha.
What a trip! Full of variety. And yes, with a lot of food.
