Taiping, April 2024

Posted on April 8, 2024 by janstu

Before I will visit my hometown Amsterdam in May, I wanted to visit my (second) hometown Taiping. I booked hotel Furama for three nights and arrived on 1 April by ETS, where Lay Chun and Kar Seng were already waiting for me at the station. This time we had lunch in CRC, the Chinese Recreation Club. I had stir-fried pork with ginger, very nice.

A few weeks earlier, Lay Chun had noticed, passing the ruined Town Rest House, that something was going to happen, a “ground-breaking” ceremony, but for what? (left photo). If you have been following my blog, you know about my interest in, and fascination with the two ruined buildings along Station Road, see for example my report Taiping Bandar Warisan, written in 2019. So of course I was intrigued. On 9 March my friend Liew Suet Fun attended the ceremony and reported about it in the Friends of Taiping Heritage Society FB group. It’s a private group, just become a member if you are interested in Taiping Heritage.

The ambitious plan is to restore/rebuild the two ruins and transform them in a 4-star boutique hotel! Many VIP’s were present. See the right photo.

After our lunch we drove past the two buildings. The fencing of the Rest House, temporarily removed for the ceremony, had been put back. Note the remains of the right wing, destroyed by fire last year.

We also had a look at the other ruin, originally the Perak Railway Headquarters. Here I am standing next to the signboard with all the VIP’s. The plan is to keep the facade and add two floors. The “Taiping Boutique Hotel” is expected to be completed in two years.

Actually the building has already occupants. The fencing looks solid, but it has a “secret” entrance, Here it is, a small makeshift door to enter the building. The bike has been parked nicely next to the entrance.

Left the “room” , I thought it wise not to explore further 😉 . Through a small gap in the fence I could take a picture of another “room”. I wonder if the authorities are aware of this use by homeless people.

Here is my “own” room in the Furama Hotel.

I walked to the Lake Gardens, only a few hundred meters away from Furama.

My friends Grahame and Safina had invited me for dinner. Because she is Muslima, I expected a “buka puasa” dinner. But Grahame was the cook and he had prepared a very traditional English dinner with roast lamb , roast potatoes and veggies!

The next morning I had breakfast with my friend Foo. We often have Chee Cheong Fan at Tong’s stall in the Circus Ground, but it is now managed by his son and they have two weekly closing days on Monday and Tuesday. So we went to the Wan Li Xiang coffee shop, next to the Mall. Also quite good CCF.

After breakfast we had a look at the “rebuilding” of the iconic Taiping wet market. Here is the oldest part (1884), the fish, fruits and pork market. Making good progress, the “grapevine” rumours that it should be finished in autumn this year. I am missing the cast-iron metal structure parts, I hope they will be reused. The Taiping people are still a bit worried, read this July 2023 article in FMT: Mystery of the vanishing (Malaysia’s oldest) market.

The other part of the market (chicken, beef and mutton) is still barren, although the piles of wood suggest that work will start soon.

Foo also showed me the house where he was born, and told me interesting details about his life as a kid, enjoying the long stairs, leading to the first floor. It is now an electronic shop, I asked the lady if I could take a picture of the stairs. She must have been surprised, but did not object.

Detail of the first floor facade. Nice architecture, well kept.

Walking back to my hotel, I enjoyed Taiping as usual. I passed the Tsen Loong Association, it was open, I had a look inside.

A nice bungalow near to my hotel, built in 1915. Many street names have been changed in 1955, for example Birch Road is now Jalan Maharaja Lela. First time I noticed that a road near my hotel was originally named Jalan Speedy. Now it is named after Ngah Ibrahim. who asked Speedy to come from Penang and help him in the conflict between the Ghee Hin and Hai San.

One reason that I like Furama hotel is that it is a few minutes walk to the Lake Gardens. The gardens are beautiful any time of the day.

In the afternoon I walked to the Galeri Perbandaran, where I met Jamilah and Aiman, both very interested in Taiping Heritage.

Dinner at the Lemon Tree seafood restaurant in Matang. It has become a kind of tradition during my Taiping visits to have a dinner with a group of friends. They almost weekly join for dinner, this time was a special occasion because one of them had won a Tesla car as a lottery prize. Very nice dinner, as usual.

The next morning I had breakfast with George and Jenny, George was in Taiping for Cheng Beng and to meet friends, quite busy, so it was nice that we could meet, I had very tasty pork noodles.

I walked back to my hotel. Passing the colorful Dobi Line and relaxing for a while at the Lake Gardens.

I skipped lunch, as I was preparing for a buka puasa dinner with my friend Halim. He had suggested that I could fast from noon onwards. Abstaining from food is no problem, but not drinking anything was impossible for me, especially as it was really hot in Taiping.

I didn’t know that my Singapore friend ST Lee would also be in Taiping. We have not met for may years, so we arranged to meet 3 pm at the famous Ansari chendol place.

I decided to walk, although it looked like it would start to rain soon. I had just started, when a car stopped next to me. The driver opened his window and asked me, do you need a ride, it will rain soon. Surprised by his friendliness, I accepted his invite. Andy was the owner of the Rainy Corner restaurant near my hotel. He was on his way to deliver some goods. When we arrived at Ansari, I asked him to join me for a drink. Malaysian hospitality on its best!

A few minutes later ST arrived and we had our cendol. It was in September 2017 that we accidentally met in the same Ansari Cendol!

Here we are standing in front of his Taiping house in Jalan Barrack.

I walked back to my hotel and decided to have a look at the Rest House, mainly to check if it was still possible to “sneak” in with the “new” fencing. And yes, that was still possible. Left picture shows the present condition of the facade, with the signboard showing how the
“new” building will look like. Right the gap in the fence. I do not understand why this has not been blocked

Some more photos, also of the interior. I am not an expert, but I think renovation or restoration is no longer an option, it will be rebuilding, hopefully keeping at least the original design.

Halim picked me up from Furama at 4:30 pm. We visited a Pasar Ramadan to shop for the dinner. Those markets are often crowded, we went early on purpose.

We arrived at Halim’s house around 6pm, I was prepared to wait until 7:30. But what a surprise, at 6:30 he and his wife said, come, let’s eat! It turned out that both were not fasting that day because of medical reasons! It was a nice dinner, too much to finish everything.

Halim is an accomplished amateur painter and was happy to show me his paintings, in the right picture pointing to his latest creation.

They drove me back and I asked them to drop me off at the Raintree Walk. Very scenic to walk back to my hotel.

The last day, my friend Yeap picked me up from my hotel, we had breakfast in an Indian restaurant.

One reason for my Taiping visit was to have a look at the graves of the Malay nobles who had killed J.W.W Birch in November 1875. Recently I came in contact with Sabri Zain, who is very knowledgeable about the Perak War. See my report The Battle of Kota Lama. He wrote a FB page about these graves. They are located in Matang, not far from Kota Ngah Ibrahim!. Even many Taipingites are not aware of their existence! Their location is indicated on Google Maps, access is easy. Here is the small cemetery just beside the road.

There are two graves, of Dato’ Sagor and Pandak Indut. The grave of Maharaja Lela may not have been preserved. I found another page about the graves Makam Dato Sagor Yang Terbiar, dated 2017 Since then the site has apparently been cleaned and is now reasonably well maintained.

Modern technology, click on the QR-code and you will get the English text. The right photo shows the (smaller) grave of Pandak Indut

The grave of Dato’ Sagor is a lot bigger.

Here are two interesting snippets from the Straits Times Overland Journal, 8 February 1877, about the hanging of the pahlawan-pahlawan Melayu (Malay warriors/heroes)

The road passing the tombs, ends at this massive rubbish dump. Probably a reason why the site is quite unknown.

On my way back to my hotel, a last look at the Lake Gardens, before checking out.

I had lunch with David Chiang at Lian Thong, one of my favourite restaurants, where I had roti goyang and coffee. David is a young energetic entrepreneur with an interest in heritage. He has lots of ideas about bringing back to life Taiping heritage sites.

Then it was time to take the train back to PJ

As usual, a rewarding and interesting trip.

Rymba R&R

Posted on January 3, 2024 by janstu

Since I wrote a blog post about Bukit Lanjan in March 2021, its hiking trails have been maintained and further developed by volunteers (Rainer, Pathman, Mark and many others)

Here is an example of a trail that I often walk. Clockwise, uphill using the trails, downhill the tar road to protect my knees. Click on the GE screenshot below to view the Komoot report of a recent hike, with many photos.

Halfway I have a coffee break at Sunset Boulevard, marked in the GE map. This location has been upgraded a lot with furniture and has become very popular.

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Another location shown on the GE map is Rymba R&R. R&R stands for Rumah Rehat , the rest stops along the highway. Rymba Hills is a residential area, visible bottom left on the map. Over the past year this rest stop has been developed by Pathman, who is living nearby. Here are two pictures, one taken in April, the other one in November.

And here is the present situation. The plastic arm has disappeared 😉

When Pathman told me that he often came here in the evening to relax with a drink, I showed my interest to join him, as I am living “around the corner”. But we never managed to fix a date. Until this time! Not the two of us, discussing the meaning of life, but a New Year meeting of the Bukit Lanjan hikers. There were two options, starting with a hike at 4:30 pm, finishing 6 pm at Rymba R&R, or skipping the hike and meeting directly at Rymba R&R. The plan was that everybody would bring something to drink and or eat. Many people first wanted to hike, here is a group picture at Sunset Boulevard.

Some more photos of the hike. In the center is another interesting location, the Hard Rock cafe. Steep parts of the hiking trails have ropes.

In the meantime the non-hikers already came to the R&R

Around 6 pm the hikers arrived and the party started. There were drinks and snacks, Pathman had provided music and solar lights

It became a very pleasant gathering. We were very lucky with the weather, this time of the year there is often a heavy downpour in the afternoon.

I went back home before it got dark, because I didn’t want to take risks of stumbling at my age. So these photos (and quite a few others in this post) have not been taken by me.

As you can see, everybody is enjoying the New Year party.

Pathman created a YouTube video of the party. Enjoy!

A nice start of the New Year 2024!

Taiping, November 2023

Posted on December 5, 2023 by janstu

At first i considered calling this post Eat Eat Eat, because during this trip I had three sumptuous dinners with friends. But I also did more than eating, so I kept the title neutral. There were two reasons why I came back to Taiping so soon after my October visit. My friend LIew Suet Fun had [published a new book and I wanted to attend the book launch on 25 November. And Sharen, another friend, born in Taiping but mostly living in Switzerland, had asked me to join her to Taiping and be her “guide” .

I boarded the ETS not in KL Sentral this time, but in Sg Buloh. First the feeder bus to the Mutiara MRT station, then the MRT to Sg Buloh. For me a much better option. The MRT has now a special section for ladies only. In the ETS I always choose coach C, because the canteen is there 😉

I am very fortunate to have friends in Taiping who are willing to provide transport. Tung Lay Chun and Kar Seng usually pick me up from the station and bring me to my hotel. But first we had lunch, they know many nice eateries. This time they took me to the SSL Traders hotel in Kamunting, where the restaurant had a very affordable lunch promotion.

I had booked my usual room 201 in Furama, dropped my luggage there and went out again to visit my friend Goh Keat Soon. During my October visit, we had been looking for old heritage buildings, but shortly after he was admitted in hospital with a heart problem, now discharged and recovering. I decided to walk to his house. When you click on the map you can see the many pictures I took during my walk (no need to sign up or login)

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A few old buildings. The left bungalow, built in 1932 is in good condition and still inhabited. I had visited the interior during my August 2020 visit. The right house, in traditional Malay style, looks abandoned and will probably continue to decay . Taiping has many of these houses, and actually they are for me a big part of Taiping’s charm.

It was nice to meet Goh and his wife

On my way back I followed the Raintree Walk. As I took a wrong turn, the total walk was almost 5 k.

During my October visit I had invited Lay Chun and her “food gang” for a dinner and I did the same thing now. They picked me up from Furama and drove to the 83 restaurant in Pokok Assam. We where with 9 pax, ordered 7 dishes and the bill was RM 235.90 (about 46 Euro). Amazingly cheap

And the food was delicious. I forgot to take a photo of one of the dishes 😉

That was a well-spent first day of my visit. The next morning I was planning to have breakfast with my friend Foo, Chee Cheong Fun at the Circus Ground food court, near my hotel, but he warned me that the shop was temporarily closed. He suggested the Wan Li Xiang coffee shop, even closer to my hotel, where they also served CCF. We met there and the CCF was also quite good.

I told him about the book launch in the New Club at 10:30 am and he offered to drive me there. We share an interest in Taiping heritage, it was he who had drawn my attention to the 1932 bungalow shown above. On our way we passed the isolated tomb stones on the slopes of the ….. hill. There are actually three, the third one looks like being partially excavated. I have tried to find out who are buried here and when, but until now in vain.

We had still time enough to have a look at the Pillars, the only remains of what was once the Residency. Right a old photo of the Residency. After Ipoh became the capital, the building was used for other purposes (survey department?, public works department?) and apparently it was destroyed by fire, but when? Another mystery.

The book published by Liew Suet Fun has as title Musings from the Nest .For a number of years she and her husband Peter leased the Nest bungalow on Maxwell Hill from the Methodist Church. They transformed the bungalow in colonial style and made it a heaven on earth. I visited the Nest for the first time in 2017, with Aric and my Ipoh friend Hong, report here. The subtitle of her book “why can’t we stay here forever” applies to me, so I came back in 2018 three times, in April, July and December. I would have liked to continue, but in 2019 Suet Fun closed the Nest, because she was writing a book, then came COVID and a disastrous storm , destroying big parts of the access road to Maxwell Hill. Finally the Methodist Church, for reasons unknown to me, claimed back the Nest.

Peter started the book launch with a short introduction, after which Suet Fun explained how they became managers of the bungalow. She read a few passages from the book, followed by a Q&A session.

Of course the book was for sale (RM 60) and you could have it signed by the author. It was a nice event, for me especially interesting because I met people I had not seen for a long time. In the right picture Sharen talks to Safina and Grahame, who I last met in October 2020, before the Covid pandemic disrupted our lives.

After the event many people stayed for lunch and some chit-chat. One gentleman, Dr Ng approached me and told me that we have a mutual friend, George Tan, who had mentioned me several times. He introduced another friend to me, Dr Neoh and I asked him if he was a birder. I explained that for many years I had maintained a website Birding in Malaysia and that he was mentioned on that site as not only a birder but also a bird painter. He presented me with a calendar containing images of his paintings.

Of course a photo had to be taken. From left to right Dr Neoh , Dr Ng and Dr Stuivenberg 😉 .Malaysia and especially Taiping is a small world 😉

We ended this very agreeable event with a cendol at the famous Ansari Cendol.

I had suggested to Sharen, as her “tourist guide”, that we could go in the afternoon to Matang, visit the museum there, continue to Kuala Sepetang (charcoal kilns, mangrove forest) and finally have dinner in the Lemon Tree restaurant. The dinner plan was accepted, actually Mei, one of her Taiping friends, was going to invite us and host the dinner. For the afternoon she had her own plans, so I was “free” and had a lazy afternoon ;-). Later Sharen WhatsApped me : Pick up between 7 to 7:10pm. A lady by the name of Elaine & Teng Khoe..Please watch out for a red Honda Civic. Another example of the small world Taiping is, as I had met them already a few times earlier 😉

The dinner at the Lemon Tree restaurant was even more elaborate, with a total of nine dishes for 7 adults and 2 kids. From right, anti-clockwise Elaine, Teng Khoe, Mei, me, Sharen, Mei’s son David, one of the kids and David’s wife.

Delicious food, but of course way too much. Quite a lot was brought home tapau, Malaysian slang for take-away ;-).

Nice dinner, nice company. Of course I was not hungry the next morning. I had a simple roti canai in the same restaurant where I had CCF the day before.

I had suggested to Sharen to do the EV Heritage trip. This is an electric bus trip, taking 1 hour and 20 minutes, following a route along Taiping heritage locations, with an explanation by a guide. Starting from the zoo, three trips daily.

We walked from Furama to the Zoo, where we bought tickets. RM 20 for adults, RM 10 for Malaysian senior citizens. Quite expensive, but until 31 December you get a discount of 30 %.

No online/advance booking possible, only walk-in. As it was a Sunday morning, with many Zoo visitors, I was a bit worried that the tickets might be sold out. But it turned out that we were the only passengers, a worrying sign for the future of this EV heritage project 🙁 .

A nice surprise when we were waiting for the bus. A lady approached me and asked , do you remember me? It was puan Jamilah who I had met in March 2019, when she was working at the Galleria. She had heard (Taiping is a small world) that I was planning to do the EV heritage trip and decided to join. In the bus we met our guide Fendy

Here is the route followed by the bus, Click on the map to see the many pictures I took during the trip. During the trip Fendy commented on the various interesting locations we passed. There were three stops where we could walk around a bit

The bus is comfortable and can accommodate about twenty passengers. Our first stop was at the Raintree Walk, a pedestrian walk at the Taiping Lake Gardens. A few fallen rain trees have become tourist attractions and of course we had our pictures taken 😉

The next stop was at the clocktower, now the Taiping tourist office, where I had a short, pleasant meeting with puan Kamariah. In the pictures Sharen and I in front of the clocktower and with Kamariah and Jamilah inside the tourist office.

The third stop was at the Municipal Gallery, where we stayed a bit longer. Left a picture of Fendy, Sharen and Jamilah in front of the numerous rewards and certificates obtained by the Taiping Municipal council. In the right photo we are standing in front of the Telegraph museum next door.

The gallery building is still almost empty, but outside there are a few interesting heritage items, related to the railway history of Taiping.

What to say about the trip? It was certainly enjoyable, the explanations by Fendy were useful, and the company of Jamilah pleasant. But in the long term I think the project may fail unless some changes are made. Here are a few suggestions.

The starting point should not be the Zoo but the Galleria.
Online booking should be made possible.
Passing the heritage locations is going too fast. Instead of stopping at three locations it would be more useful to let the bus halt for a short while at many more locations, so the guide can explain a bit , while the passengers can take pictures (not leaving the bus)
It is a bit too expensive.

Sharen had her own programme for the afternoon, one of her relatives picked us up from the Zoo and dropped me at my hotel. I decided to have lunch at Prima and then walk a bit around town on my own.

Here are the former British government buildings, a beautiful creation by Francis Caulfield, completed in 1897, now housing the Larut, Matang & Selama district office. A real gem of Victorian architecture

Recently a few huge murals have been created in Taiping. During my visit in October I had taken pictures of two of them. Here is another one, on the walls of the Kwantung association, showing people playing golf.

As it threatened to rain, I cut short my walk and returned to my hotel via the Lake Gardens

That evening my third sumptuous dinner, offered to Sharen and me in the Soon Lee restaurant by the group of people I had invited two days earlier. The same happened during my October stay in Taiping, I hosted a dinner and two days later there was in return a dinner where I was not allowed to pay. It is a quid pro quo aspect of Chinese culture. Delicious food

The next morning I walked to Lian Thong for my roti goyang, half-boiled eggs on toast. Goyang in Malay means shaking. One of my favourite coffee shops, also a very attractive building.

Our train was leaving at 1:40 pm, so I had time to walk around town. First I walked to the ruins of the Perak Railway building, where I had discovered during my October visit that you still could sneak in despite the solid fencing. Nothing had changed. Same at the Rest House next door, you can just walk in and out. The authorities must be aware of this, why don’t they take action?

I continued to the market, where I got a pleasant surprise. They had started rebuilding. It looks like it will not be a renovation but a replica, but at least something is happening. Will it be completed by August 2024, as promised by the minister?

Walking back to Furama I got a call from Yeap that he and his wife were meeting Halim, if I had time to join them. Of course I wanted to see Halim, who has been diagnosed with a serious illness, but still is full of energy. We have become quite close friends.

Yeap had offered to pick me up from Furama and drop me at the station. On our way, he showed me the remains of what was once one of the movie theatres of Taiping: the Mandarin Cinema. A huge building, abandoned since many years, but at least properly fenced off . A new discovery for me 😉

Then it was time to take the train back home. A nice trip with Sharen, although it was obvious that she didn’t need a guide for Taiping 😉

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 4

Posted on July 7, 2023 by janstu

Here is the report about my fourth week in the Netherlands in 2023. For earlier reports see: week 1, week 2, week 3

In this fourth (and last) week I had to prepare the Backershagen apartment for my departure. Do some cleaning and laundry. Main task to empty the fridge.

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Thursday 15 June

Visit from Henk and his wife Marian. I know Henk for many years, since my university time. First we had coffee with vlaai. In the shopping center near my aprtment there is a popular shop that sells this Limburg delicacy. I had bought three slices.

To make it easier to choose, Henk and Marian helped to cut he slices in half 😉 .We continued with lunch. It was a kind of heatwave in the Netherlands, I decided that a bowl of gazpacho (cold Spanish soup) would be a good start of our lunch. But in the supermarket there was no more stock, so I chose the “unknown vegetable soup”. They liked it.

That evening I visited Nico, Paul’s brother for dinner and a chat. He had prepared poussin (young chicken) stuffed with Boursin (French cheese), a Belgian recipe. Excellent dinner.

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Friday 16 June

A day without commitments, so I could relax after three hectic weeks. For dinner and wine I had not much choice, just finishing what was left, some of my meatballs in this case.

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Saturday 17 June

As my first meeting with Lambert, in the Amsterdam public library, had been rather short, I decided to visit him again, this time going to Purmerend, where he lives. Forgot to take pictures.

I am very happy with the public transport in the Netherlands. I have been using train, metro, bus many times, using my so-called public-transport card, With this card you can access any kind of transport in the country. You don’t have to worry about enough balance on the card, it will be topped up automatically from your bank account.

Here a bus to my hometown and the train to Arnhem.

The bus has special seats for senior citizens, and in the Amsterdam metro you are allowed to take your bicycle with you.

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Sunday 18 June

I was lucky that during the last few days, friends invited me for dinner, so I didn’t have to cook myself. In this case Johan and Edmund, living in Vinkeveen in a nice house. They are proud of their beautiful garden and rightly so.

Johan and Edmund had invited Theo, another friend, for dinner. As the weather was good we had dinner in their garden.

Edmund had prepared delicious Surinam food. Theo, also living in Amsterdam, took me back in his car to the town. Nice evening.

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Monday 19 June

Dinner with Dick Jurriaans, former colleage at the Snellius school, in the Elements restaurant in Amsterdam. The kitchen and restaurant are staffed by students from the hotel school, connected to the ROC of Amsterdam. The result is perfect service, a creative menu and a very affordable price.

Almost the Summer Solstice. Compare the two photos, left on 28 May, right on 19 June

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Tuesday 20 June

During this Netherlands trip I had been extremely fortunate with the weather. But for this day there was a warning voor extreme weather with lots of rain in the afternoon and evening. I was invited by Roald, a former student and a close friend for many years, to have dinner at his apartment in Amsterdam, but we deicded to cancel it.

Left a screenshot of the rain radar website, in the center the actual downpour. So I had to prepare some food myself. Vegetarian, I still had some potatoes and cucumber. With a glass of wine, quite acceptable 😉 .

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Wednesday 21 June

It has become a tradition that I have dinner with Inez, the day before I fly back. What would you like to eat, she asked. Real Dutch food, I told her, but I had already tasted many typical Dutch dishes. What about zuurkool stamppot met spek en rookworst? (sauerkraut stew with pork belly and sausage) Great, that was still missing on my list 😉 Actually this stew is really winter fare, but we enjoyed it a lot..

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Thursday 22 June

Departure day. Packing my stuff, switching off the fridge, last minute checking of the apartment. My brother Otto brought me to Schiphol airport.

..This was the fourth week. During my four week stay, I had 25 meetings!

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 3

Posted on July 7, 2023 by janstu

Here is the report about my third week in the Netherlands in 2023. Click here for the first week and here for the second week.

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Thursday 8 June

A visit from Wim, one of my first students and now a long-time friend. We had lunch in Backershagen and chatted a lot. Sunset is still moving (slowly) northwards, two more weeks to go until the summer solstice,

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Friday 9 June

A 3D2N visit to Ruud and Jur in Groningen is usually part of my program when I am back in the Netherlands. This time I combined it with a visit to Gerrit, another former student, who became a good friend. I started teaching in 1976, when I was 32 years old and I still am in contact with a few of my first students, who are now more than 60 years old 😉 .

Gerrit moved a couple of months ago from Amsterdam to Dokkum, a town in the Friesland province. First I took a train to Leeuwarden and from there a bus to Dokkum, where Gerrit was waiting for me. After coffee and cake, we walked to the historical center of Dokkum.

Dokkum has a rich history, in the past it had a harbour, and there are many heritage buildings. Many more photos can be found in my blog A Dutch Trip up North .

It was an enjoyable walk, worthwhile to come back another time. In the left photo I am standing in front of a historical map of Dokkum, in the right picture I am lighting a candle in one of the Dokkumer churches. I may be a staunch atheist, but I like to do this, while wishing something for a loved one.

In the afternoon I continued my travel, by bus and train, to Groningen, where Ruud was waiting for me at the station. We enjoyed a beer in their garden. Actually two beers ;-). Left Affligem alcohol-free beer, which is getting quite popular these days. Followed by a “real” beer, a Belgian tripel, very strong, 8.5 %.

Jur had prepared a nice dinner.

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Saturday 10 June

We made a trip to the northern part of the Friesland province. For me an unknown part of the Netherlands. Perfect weather.

Many more pictures and info in the album A Dutch Trip up North. The right picture is taken at the small village of Moddergat. I had never heard about it, Interesting history and really worth a visit.

For our dinner we went to Lauwersoog, where we had a sumptuous seafood dinner. I started with oysters

Jur and I shared a seafood platter. So much variety of seafood that we couldn’t even finish it. Ruud is not a fan of seafood, but enjoyed his dinner too. I will come back to this restaurant with Aric!

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Sunday 11 June

On my way back to Amsterdam, I stopped in Leeuwarden to meet my university friend Nellie, who is living in Friesland. Talking about long lasting friendship, we met in 1961 as freshmen at the Free University of Amsterdam.

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Monday 12 June

Rene and I were both physics teachers at the Snellius school, many years ago. When he started teaching in Utrecht, we kept in touch. Either I visit him and his wife Caroline in Nieuwegein, where they live, or they visit me in Backerhagen, like this year.

Caroline is always fascinated by the view from my apartment.

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Tuesday 13 June

I started the day with another walk from my apartment. This time part nature, part architecture. Here is a report with many photos: De Zuidas.

The right photo shows the Science Faculty of the Free University where I have been working from 1969 until 1976 for my Ph.D degree.

The Zuidas (South Axis) is a rapidly developing business district in Amsterdam, also nicknamed the Financial Mile. Lots of interesting modern architecture.

In the evening my brother Pim visited me for a mussel dinner. Nowadays mussels are available in the supermarkets even when there is no r in the name of the month (May-August). During this stay the dinner with Pim was the only time that I prepared dinner for a guest, the other guests came for lunch. Easier for me 😉 .

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Intermezzo

Not only did I enjoy the Dutch food, also the variety of fruits was very pleasant. When I am back in spring there are strawberries, now they were there too, even Dutch ones, But there were now also cherries, blueberries, raspberries, red berries and blackberries. Delicious.

And there was rhubarb. Cooked with raisins and sugar, with yoghurt a perfect dessert.

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Wednesday 14 June

A day trip to visit Carel Poeder and his wife Joanne. Carel was the principal of the Snellius school when I started teaching there in 1976. I kept in touch with them and in 2018 Aric and I visited them in France where they have a house. See my blog France 2018, part II. When back in the Netherlands they stay in a house on a campsite near Gaanderen. Nice rural environment.

Joanne picked me up from the Gaanderen station and drove me to the camping.

Originally two caravans, but it has the atmosphere of a real, nice house. A pleasant surprise. It was a short visit, we had coffee and lunch, then they dropped me at the station in Doetinchem.

This was the third week.

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 2

Posted on July 2, 2023 by janstu

Here is the report about my second week in the Netherlands in 2023. Click here for the first week.

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Thursday 1 June

A traditional part of my trip to the Netherlands is a 3D2N visit to my sister Lous in Valkkoog. On my way, by train, I stopped in Alkmaar to visit Ineke, the wife of my brother Arie who passed away last year October. Last time I met him was in April 2022 (left photo). I could not be present at his funeral. It was good to meet Ineke, we talked a lot and she had prepared a nice lunch.

In the afternoon Lous picked me up from Alkmaar, we drove to Valkkoog where we met her husband Arend and had a Korean dinner. For someone with tropical blood, they are quite spartan with temperatures below 20° Celsius inside their bungalow 😉

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Friday 2 June

We made a day trip to Den Helder where Lous and Arend had found two interesting places, a former school, transformed into a library and a botanical garden in a residential area. I wrote a separate blog about it, with info and more photos, A Dutch Trip up North .

We visited the school in the morning and the botanical garden in the afternoon. For our lunch we went to restaurant Lands End , I had kroketten, a typical Dutch delicacy.

This is the most northern point on the mainland of the Province North Holland. At the horizon left the island Texel.

We will keep the Maritime Museum for a next visit.

Instead we went back to Valkkoog where we enjoyed the weather, the beautiful garden and a nice BBQ.

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Saturday 3 June

Before traveling back to Amsterdam I walked around in the village and took some photos. Left a view of the agricultural land at the back of the garden. Right beuatiful Akelei flowers.

The church of Valkkoog and its cemetery.

Right Lous and I in the garden of a neighbour, under a Goudenregen (Golden Rain) tree.

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Sunday 4 June

Lunch with Atie, Annabella and Hans, another tradition. Hans is a former colleague at the Snellius school, Annabella his wife and Atie the wife of Dick Schuursma, vice-principal at Snellius , a good friend, sadly deceased some years ago. Last year they came to my condo, this time we met in the apartment of Hans and Annabella. As a present I had brought two of my cardboard polyhedra, many years ago one of my hobbies, see my blog Beautiful Shapes.

In the afternoon my nephew Aswin (right) visited me with his boyfriend Cedric (left). The weather was still very good, the sunset was shifting every day a bit further to the north (until the summer solstice on 21 June)

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Monday 5 June

As I had no commitments this day, I decided to take a walk to the Amstelpark. During the walk I took numerous photos, whcih you can see in my report Walk in the Park. Left the route I followed.

One of the attractions of the park is the Rhododendron Valley. The season was over, but there were still enough flowers to enjoy. The windmill near the river Amstel is a popular tourist attraction, specially for Asian visitors. But I was early, so it was still quiet.

Left some Highland Cattle, unusual to see them here. On my walk back I passed the Jewish Maimonides school, built like a fortress as protection against antisemitic attacks. Sad that this is needed.

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Tuesday 6 June

Another tradition: an outing with Inez. Last year we visited Kinderdijk, click here for my blog. This time we went to Bergen in the province Noord-Holland. We started with Park Meerwijk where in the period 1915-1918 a number of villas was built in the style of the Amsterdamse School. Beautifil villas with their thatched roofs.

Museum Kranenburgh is not far away, we had coffee there and visited the museum. Bergen is an artist village and there was an exhibition with works of local artists. Some of them were present to tell more about their work.

The museum has a nice sculpture garden.

We went to the beach for a short while. The wind was strong and quite chilly

But we found a sheltered spot in a beach cafe, where we had our lunch. I had an “uitsmijter”, two fried eggs with ham and cheese on bread. Another very Dutch dish.

Inez has a caravan on a camping near the beach, we went there for another coffee before going back to Amsterdam.

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Wednesday 7 June

A day without commitments 😉 Here is a screenshot of my digital calendar.

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Intermezzo

More (mostly) Dutch food. From left to right my signature meatballs, Boerenkool met Rookworst and Seafood Spaghetti. Boerenkool (Kale) stew is a typical winter dish, I was surprised that the supermarket still had fresh kale.

This was the second week.

Netherlands trip, 2023 week 1

Posted on June 29, 2023 by janstu

Our plan was to visit Iceland this year but Aric was very busy with his laundry shop and could not take leave. So I decided to go to the Netherlands on my own, four weeks. When I checked ticket prices, I found that the KLM tickets were very expensive and not even a direct flight. Emirates and Qatar also had a stopover, but were more affordable. I booked with Qatar and had a transit in Doha. A very modern airport, similar to Changi airport in Singapore. Easy to spend a few hours there. Here are some pictures

The first half of the flight was a night flight, leaving KLIA at 3 am (!), the second half was a day flight, leaving Doha at 8 am and arriving at Schiphol at 2 pm. Nice food for lunch, chili con carne.

I arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday 25 May and left four weeks later, on Thursday 22 June. To keep the blog readable, I will split it in four parts, one for each week, and each part subdivided in days.

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Thursday 25 May

I was lucky on arrival, the plane landed not far from the gate, immigration was fast and my suitcase arrived quickly on the carousel. I took the train to Amsterdam Zuid and walked to Backershagen, where I arrived in my apartment around 3 pm, about one hour after landing, a record! A vase of roses was waiting for me, a sweet gesture from Yolanda, Paul’s sister. But there my luck ended. My mobile phone was not working and I could not connect to the Internet.

It took me a few hours to solve the problems. I went out to buy a new sim card for my smartphone and (blurry after the long flight) I had not put the telephone plug back in the wall socket!

Finally I could relax in my apartment and enjoy my favourite Dutch food (cheese, herring, strawberries etc.).

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Friday 26 May

Beautiful weather, although the wind was still chilly. Usually I am back in the Netherlands during spring, when the trees are still bare and gradually are turning green. Now it was getting summer, everything green. Very nice. Here is a view of the Zuidas from my apartment.

Later I visited Pim and Nanda for a nice asparagus dinner.

Sunset very late, at 9:40 pm. It is setting behind the buildings of my alma mater and will still move a bit more North in the next weeks.

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Saturday 27 May

A lunch meeting with my friend Lambert in the OBA, the Amsterdam public library. I used public transport and arrived at the Central Station (left), The town was busy with tourists. Right the St Nicolas church.

The OBA is at walking distance from the Central Station. It is a nice modern building, opened in 2007.

The top floor has a cafe where I met Lambert. The view of the Amsterdam skyline is impressive.

We had a short meeting with coffee and cake. I stayed a bit longer and had my lunch there.

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Intermezzo

I enjoy de diversity of food in Malaysia, but when I am back in the Netherlands I am craving for traditional Dutch food 😉 . From left to right (using Dutch names), Schoudercarbonade met snijbonen, Bloemkool met worst and Witlof met een speklapje. All with my favourite potatoes, Opperdoezer Ronde .

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Sunday 28 May

Whitsun. A day trip with my former student and now long time friend, Yolanda. She was my student in the late 70s at the Snellius school, located at the Startbaan in Amstelveen. The school has been demolished many years ago and is now a residential area. The Startbaan is still there but only the Snelliuslaan reminds of the school.

We decided to walk around the Poel, a lake in Amstelveen. There were yellow irises everywhere. I used the Komoot app to record our walk. Here is a report about the hike, with more photos.

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Monday 29 May

The next day I visited Alphen a/d Rijn, where I was born and where my youngest brother Otto now is living in the family house.

It has become a tradition to visit my parents’ grave with Otto. We bought some plants to decorate the grave.

For lunch we went to McDonalds, where Otto’s eldest son Pascal is manager. He was busy but joined us for a while. We had something very Dutch, a McKroket, never seen that elsewhere in the world. Not bad at all.

During spring there are tulips, daffodils, hyacinths. Now there was a variety of wild flowers like klaprozen (poppies) and margrieten (ox-eye daisies).

I went for another walk with Otto in the region of the Bedelaarsbos. Beautiful Dutch polder landscape. Click on this Komoot report for more photos

One reason to (re)visit this region is that many years ago we put a so-called geocache here: Bedelaarsbos . We archived the cache in 2015 and were curious if we could still find its location. Here Otto is standing on the remains of a tree trunk where we thought the cache was hidden. While we were walking there, I logged another geocache, Tuf-Tuf.

Back home, Otto proudly showed his (first) grandchild and of course I had to take her in my arms as well.

Here Aswin, Xander (his twin sons) and I have pancakes for dinner, skilfully prepared by Otto. Spekpannekoek met stroop (bacon pancake with syrup), can it be more Dutch?

A very nice day. But unfortunate that my bicycle was missing from the (guarded!) bicycle shed where I had parked it that morning.

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Tuesday 30 May

When I am back in Amsterdam. Yolanda and I always have a “luxury” dinner in a restaurant selected by her. This time her choice was Visaandeschelde, a seafood restaurant in Amsterdam-Zuid. The food was so delicious, that I forgot to take a selfie of the two of us. I also forgot what were the many ingredients of the various dishes. They looked likes works of art. Very pleasant service.

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Wednesday 31 May

My “soulmate” Inez visited me in Backershagen for lunch. I told her about my missing bicycle, that I had tried to find it back, but in vain. That it was anyway an old barrel and that I wanted to buy another second-hand one. She said that there was a good bicycle shop near where she lived. After lunch I went with her to this shop, where I bought a “new” second-hand bike for 179 Euro. Left the happy owner, right how I will lock my bike from now on 😉 .

This was the first week.

A Dutch Trip up North

Posted on June 19, 2023 by janstu

In 2015 I published a blog Trip up North and two years later another one, both about trips to the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. During my present stay in the Netherlands I have made two trips to northern provinces, so here is a report about my Dutch Trip up North 😉 .

During my stay in Valkkoog with my sister Lous and brother-in-law Arend we made a day trip to Den Helder, the most northern town of the province North Holland. It is the main naval base of the Netherlands. There is a maritime museum which I may visit another time, because Lous and Arend wanted to show me two other attractions of the town.

The first one was unusual, a public library: School 7. From the outside it looks like a modern.building.

But look at the facade on the onther side and you will see something different. The modern library is an extension of a primary school, built in 1905. The structure of the old building has been cleverly preserved and is visble everywhere inside the library.

Originally the school had two floors , each with six classrooms and toilets for the pupils. The former toilets are now places where you can read a book, listen to a poem or watch a video.

Here are a few pictures of the modern extension. Not suprisingly the library has won prizes, both in the Netherlands and internationally. More info about the awards here (in Dutch).

The library has a friendly atmosphere, you can sit down and read a book or enjoy a cup of coffee and a snack.

We had lunch at Lands End, the most northern (mainland) point of North Holland.

Two seals are watching the Wadden Sea. At the horizon you can see the Wadden island of Texel.

Another surprise in the afternoon, the Hortus Overzee, a botanical garden in the center of Den Helder town, in a residential area. Started in 1939 as the City Nursery, but around 2000 transformed into a tropical botanical garden, with for example a Japanese garden, a waterfall etc. Amazing.

The Bird of Paradise flowers (center) are quite common in Malaysia, but it was a surprise to see them here.

There are several greenhouses, where tropical plants are kept.

It was a real pleasure to walk around in these gardens.

One week later I visited my brother Ruud and his partner Jur in Groningen. On my way I first stopped in Dokkum, to visit my friend Gerrit, who was my student when I started teaching in 1976. So we know each other more than 45 years!

We walked around in Dokkum, a nice historical town.

In the past Dokkum had as harbour, ships could use the Dokkumer Diep to reach what in those old days was called the Lauwerszee.

Left the city hall (1610), right the windmill Zeldenrust.

Left the public weigh house of Dokkum (1593).

The St Boniface church (1871) built in Neogothic style by Cuypers (Rijksmuseum and Central Station in Amsterdam). In 754 Bonifacius was murdered in Dokkum, I learnt in primary school 😉 .

This is one of the 11 fountains , a series of art works, created in Friesland in 2018. This fountain is cooled inside, so the outside is often covered with hoar frost, but during my visit it was too hot 😉 .

A nice town, worth a more detailed visit in the future.

I continued my trip to Groningen where Ruud picked me up from the station. Beautiful weather, time for a refreshing beer. 0.0% beer, getting more and more popular these days.

The next day we visited the northern part of Friesland. Right the Keersluis Munnikezijl, built in 1882 to improve water drainage in northeast Friesland.

Flooding was always a problem in this part of Friesland. After the devastating Christmas Flood of 1717 it was decided to block the Dokumer Diep. The Dokumer Nieuwe Zijlen were completed in 1729 and are now National Heritage.

Left the monument that was erected in 1729 after completion of the works. The right picture shows a monument to remember the resitance fighters who lost their lives against the Germans at the end of WWII.

Our next stop was at the small village of Moddergat (~ Mud Hole). It was a fishing village where in 1883 17 of the 22 ships were lost at sea during a storm, killing 83 fishermen. A few of the fishermen houses have been restored and are now an interesting museum.

In one of the houses the interior can be admired. Often two families lived in one house.

It was another day with beautiful weather. The right picture shows a monument to the women who, especially after the disaster, must have had a tough life.

Our last stop was at Wierum, in the past another fishing village. Built on a terp, a man-made hill. Originally the church was the center of the village, now it is close to the dike, because part of the village has been swallowed by the sea.

More monuments, left a memorial for the 22 fishermen who perished during another severe storm in 1893. Right a statue of a fishermen’s wive who had to walk across the mud flats to stab sea worms, which were used as bait by her husband, What a life! More info about Wierum here (in Dutch)

This part of Friesland was virtually unknown to me. . Here is a Google map of the region, where I have marked the places I have visited.

The next day, on my way back to Amsterdam, I stopped for a while in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, to have lunch which my friend Nellie. We know each other since 1961, when we both were freshmen at the Free University of Amsterdam. The work of art near the station is another one of the 11 fountains, mentioned above.

A tiring, but rewarding 3D2N trip up north in the Netherlands.

Visiting Penang, 2018

Posted on July 1, 2022 by janstu

A very belated report!

In April 2018 we met LCK at a friend’s dinner. We had an interesting conversation and a few days later he visited us in our condo in Damansara Perdana. He told about a few of his projects, a colonial hotel up Penang Hill and his private botanical garden Suriana. When we showed interest, he invited us to visit him in Penang, where he is living.

On our way to Penang, we stopped for lunch in Ipoh. Aric is an Assam Laksa lover and maintains a website: Assam Laksa List where he has collected many assam laksa shops. His verdict about Kee Poh: so so.

Around 3 pm we arrived in Penang, where we had booked a room in the YMCA, next door to where LCK is living

A clean hostel-like hotel.

After we met LCK, he took us up Penang Hill, to have dinner in “his” Bellevue Hotel

The next morning we drove around Penang. Another project of Aric is to take drone images and videos of fishing villages. This is Kuala Pulau Betong in the South-West corner of the island.

For lunch we went to another laksa stall, only known as Laksa Stall Under The Tree in the Sungei Ara region. Aric’s verdict: Very good.

After lunch we went to LCK’s house, where transport to Bellevue was waiting for us. The house is an impressive colonial style mansion.

LCK’s driver brought us to the Bellevue Hotel where we checked in. Spectacular location with impressive views of Georgetown and Butterworth. Notice the geodesic dome at the right, more about that later.

We had a very pleasant room. Colonial atmosphere. Writing this blog more than four year later, I am not sure about details, but I think we had no TV in the room. What a blessing.!

The garden is well kept.

We went for a walk. The hotel is surrounded by other heritage. Left the monumental entrance of the Bel Retiro bungalow, founded in 1789 and still exclusive government property. Right the Penang Hill Mosque, much more recent (1966)

Left the attractive police station (1929). Penang Hill has become a major tourist attraction, which is spoiling the character of the place. Transport is basically via the cable car, bringing up crowds of day-trippers. We walked around and had a snack before returning to Bellevue.

Even Bellevue must take care not to succumb to modern developments. Buggy tours, Segway rides? Why? Sedan chair trips would be more appropriate ;-). Just promote the Garden Terrace, the Panoramic View Restaurant and the Nostalgic Charm of the past.

A collection of prehistoric animals might be fun for kids, but also doesn’t fit in the colonial charm of the place.

And lots of charm Bellevue has. Waiting for our dinner, we enjoyed the views, changing all the time.

Dinner was steamboat, well prepared. A few more visitors were also having their dinner.

The next morning around 8 am. Georgetown is still covered with clouds. Pure magic.

Enjoying an (almost) English breakfast. (No bacon because halal)

And slowly Georgetown appears through the cloud cover

Aric did some droning. A staff member is interested and watching closely ;-). View of Bellevue in the right picture.

General view of the hill. Bellevue is bottom right.

Before leaving, we took more photos of the interior. It is clear that LCK is interested in art and music.

He is a friend and admirer of the American architect and philosopher Richard Buckminster Fuller. The garden of Bellevue has a geodesic dome, a structure popularised by Fuller.

Buckminster Fuller passed away in 1983 and a room in the hotel serves as a kind of memorial. If you are interested to know more about “Bucky” and his relation with the Bellevue Hotel , have a look at this website : Buckyworld Confluence @ Bellevue

At 10am LCK’s driver came to bring us back to Georgetown. It is a winding road, no public access.

Our next destination was the Suriana Botanical Garden. LCK is an architect (Komtar , Jurong Town Hall) but also a trained botanist who has collected in this private garden many rare pants. Waiting for him, we walked in the garden around his house and had a look at a new building, still under construction.

The garden is located between Balik Pulau and Air Hitam.

We had a drink and duriasn at a small house in the garden. Very peaceful surroundings.

Also here a geodesic dome. LCK is very knowledgeable about ginger and banana species.

We walked around with LCK as our guide.

Of course I took many picture Here is an Orgy of Red

And Shades of White

Black & White

After an interesting walk in the garden, we drove back home, with flowers and fruits produce of the Suriana garden. A very pleasant trip, thanks a lot to our host..

Taiping, June 2022

Posted on June 28, 2022 by janstu

In my blog Penang & Taiping, 2022 I reported about a 4D3N trip with friends to Penang and Taiping. I decided to stay a few days more in Taiping, my 2nd home town. I had lunch with my friends in the Old Railway Station and decided to walk back from there to the Furama hotel, where I had dropped my luggage already. An easy walk, about 2km, less than half an hour. The Central Market is under restoration and I wanted to have a look.

As I would pass on my way the house of my friend Ms Long in Barack Road, I called her and asked if I could pay her a visit. I was welcome and we had a nice chat.

In March, during my last visit to Taiping, I also visited the market, Click here for my blog. Left picture shows the main market in March, the right picture was taken this time. I could not see any sign of recent activity.

But progress has been made on the wet market (better known as Siang Malam). Left the situation in March, right this time.

Some details of the restoration.

Of course I also had to have a look at what I have named the Shame of Taiping, the sad remains of the heritage Rest House (1894).

After checking in at Furama I took a rest before going out later to walk in the Lake Gardens and watch the egrets coming back to roost at the bamboo bushes.

After the food orgy in Penang, I was more thirsty than hungry 😉 I bought some chips and had satay in the Taman Tasik food court. A quiet evening.

During my last trip Halim and I had visited a few Indian temples in the Matang region. See my blog for the pictures I took during that trip. I talked about these temples with Muthu Pillai, a member of the Taiping Heritage Society, who knows a lot about Hindu religion. He was willing to accompany me on a trip to several Hindu temples..

Our first visit was to the Vinayagar Temple, dedicated to Ganesha, my favourite Hindu deity, son of Shiva and Parvati. If you are interested to know why he has an elephant head, you should read this: Short story for kids: How Ganesha got his elephant head

Muthu told me that many temples have a place, dedicated to the nine planets, the Navagraha. Nine planets? Actually it is better to call them the nine heavenly bodies. Sun, Moon and the five planets, known in antiquity: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Plus two demons, Rahu and Ketu, related to the moon. All nine play a role in Hindu astrology.

Next we visited the Sivan Temple, dedicated to Shiva. Here some pictures of a few deities.

The left image show Shiva as the cosmic dancer. The right image shows Murugan again, this without his spear, but with his characteristic mode of transport, the peacock.

Muthu helped me to put a pottu on my forhead ;-). While we visiting this temple, we were invited to have vegetarian food. Very friendly atmosphere.

The third temple was the Mariamman Temple on Jalan Kota. Mariamman is an incarnation of Parvati. This temple I had visited already during an earlier visit

Finally we went to the Muniswaran temple at Simpang Halt. When we arrived, the temple was closed already for lunch, but the friendly lady caretaker let us in, through a backdoor of her shop. During my earlier visit with Halim I was captivated by the beauty and serenity of this temple, although the weather was too hot to enjoy everything. The weather was milder now, I walked around and took numerous pictures. It confirmed my earlier impression, that this is one of the most beautiful temples I have seen.

Hanuman

Inside the temple. Right the shrine of Muniswaran

Some of the statues are colorful, as is common Hindu temples.

But I was very impressed with the many “uncolored” statues.

On the Internet I have found colored pictures of this temple, for example in this blog, written by my friend Liz Price in 2014. Are the statues painted for special occasions?

The temple has a romantic, relaxing garden. I was pleasantly surprised to find a Buddha statue in the garden.

A monumental angsana tree on the temple grounds is very old, you can see it on a photo of the Simpang Halt railway station. The temple itself is actually very new.

After our visit we had lunch in the small shop at the entrance of the temple. Really a very rewarding visit.

In the afternoon I visited the Perak Museum. Of course I had been there before, but this time there was a special exhibition about Taiping and its history.

The exhibition was interesting, mostly photos, but not spectacular.

I liked the photo of Captain Speedy, dressed as an Englishman, because mostly you see him in his exotic Ethiopian outfit. The map of Larut should have come with a comment from the museum staff 😉 The map was published in 1883 and shows the Port Weld-Taiping railway, , but this line was not opened until 1885!

A real mistake from the museum staff concerns the landing of Amelia Earhart on 7 June 1937 at Tekah Airport. As I have shown in my blog Amelia Earhart and Taiping, this American aviator flew on 7 June 1937 from Brazil to Africa! And actually she never landed at the Tekah airport.

I walked around in the rest of the museum. Well organised, worth a visit

On my way back to my hotel, I passed the All Saints’ Church, the first church in the Federated Malay States, founded in1886.

A cemetery next to the church has interesting tombstones.

Muthu had suggested to meet again for dinner that evening, after first attending a meeting of the Taiping Toastmasters of which he intends to become a member.. Some of my friends are Toastmasters, with some hesitation I accepted his invitation. It was an interesting experience. Members were asked to give a short, unprepared speech on a given topic. Memories surfaced of my college days as a member of a sorority ;-). Of course I was asked to participate, but i politely declined.

A nice group of friendly people. This photo was taken by Lawren, the outgoing president of the club

After the meeting we adjourned to a nearby restaurant for supper.

The next day I had my usual chee cheong fun breakfast in the stall of my friend Tong.

In the afternoon I was going back by train to KL. My friend Halim often brings me to the station where we have lunch together.. This time he had organised a durian party at his house. Would I mind joining the party, he asked. Of course I accepted his invitation. The durians came from Batu Kurau and were first class. For the first time I tried them together with pulut (glutinous rice) and santen (coconut milk), A delicious combination.