This is part 3 of my Dutch trip report after part 1 and part 2. Mostly meetings with friends, a busy program.
Thursday 16 May
I met Mike and Marjan in Malaysia through the Dutch Expat Society, almost 20 years ago. We became friends and after they returned to the Netherlands we kept in touch. This time I visited them in Huizen, where they liveow and where Marjan had prepared a nice pasta dinner.
Friday 17 May
I had planned a visit to my former principal Carel Poeder and his wife Joanne, but I felt exhausted after meeting family and friends almost every day, so I needed a rest day. Pity.
Saturday 18 May
A meeting with my nephew Aswin. We had a beer in the Blue Tea House in the Vondelpark. It was beautiful weather,
And we enjoyed a beer from the local Amsterdam brewery ‘t IJ (try to pronounce it when you are not Dutch).
Sunday 19 May
I went by train to Gouda where Nellisa and Ed were waiting for me at the station. We share an interest in naturism. In Malaysia it is frowned upon, but in Europe it gets more and more common. Ed and Nellisa have a house in Gouda, but in the summer season they stay on the naturist campsite De Bessenhof in Reeuwijk. A very pleasant visit. More pictures on request haha.
Monday 20 May
Lunch with Roald, once my student, now a friend, we know each other more than forty years. We met at a very interesting restaurant, A Beautiful Mess , run by people with a refugee background. Delicious food from various cuisines. I also met Stefan, Roald’s husband.
Tuesday 21 May
Meeting ex-colleague Rene and his wife Caroline in Nieuwegein. Has become a tradition, either my place or theirs. Always a pleasure.
Wednesday 22 May
Dinner with another ex-colleague, Dick, in restaurant Elements, another tradition. It is a training restaurant of a vocational school. Students have to show their skills, both in the kitchen and in the restaurant. Very good service, creative dishes and not expensive.
I had Tataki (Japanese) , Coquille (French) , Sea Bass (?) and Kheer (Indian). All delicious , and including wine only 42 Euro pp.
Another beautiful day. Sunset at 9:37 pm as seen from my apartment. In a few weeks time it will be the Summer Solstice.
Thursday 23 May
During my stay in the Netherlands, my soulmate Inez and I always try to organise an outing. This time we went to Den Bosch on a day trip. I took so many pictures that I decided to write a separate blog about the day: Dat gaat naar Den Bosch toe. Highlight of the trip was a canal cruise on the Binnendieze.
We came back in Amsterdam quite early and I was so excited about A Beautiful Mess, that I invited Inez for dinner there. She was enthusiastic too.
Friday 24 May
Our UK friend Rodney arrived by plane in the afternoon, I had to prepare my room as a guestroom for him. In the evening we went out for some shopping. He liked the green environment of my apartment.
Saturday 25 May
A full walking day in town. As I have only one bike, we had to walk to the nearest public transport, about 10-15 minutes away. I live in a suburb of Amsterdam, with lots of green.
We started at the Leidseplein, from where we walked to the town center. Rodney had visited Amsterdam about forty years ago, so everything was more or less new to him. The FEBO is an iconic automat fast-food restaurant, an Amsterdam icon. We also had a look at the flower market.
We visited the Begijnhof, a courtyard with almshouses, dating back to the 14th century.
|And of course the Royal Palace and the National Monument on the Dam Square.
Walking to the Pancake Bakery for lunch, we had a look at the Westerkerk and passed the Anne Frank House.
The Leliegracht, one of the lesser canals, very picturesque
In the Pancake Bakery we had the traditional Dutch bacon pancake with syrup.
We finished the day with a quiet dinner at home. We walked more than 12.000 steps, not bad for two octogenarians.
Sunday 26 May
Rodney had shown interest in the Van Gogh museum, so I had booked tickets for it. We had a time slot, but still there was a big crowd.
Here are a few pictures of Van Gogh’s paintings. The Potato Eaters (1885) and Tree Roots (1890), the year he ended his life.
One of his famous sunflower paintings and one of his Irises paintings
It was the first time in decades that I visited the Van Gogh museum. Not being a fan, I found it more interesting than I expected. But what made my visit special, was the temporary exhibition of Matthew Wong, a Chinese-Canadian artist , who was inspired by van Gogh.
Here are two of his fascinating paintings. More about him in my museum blog (hopefully to be published soon).
Monday 27 May
After two busy days, we took it easy, as Rodney was flying back in the afternoon. I found that there was another FEBO in the shopping mall near my apartment. We had a light lunch there. Rodney is holding in his hand the famous Dutch kroket.
Tuesday 28 May
Then it was time for me to transform the guestroom back into my office. My first rest day after a long time.
When I am back in the Netherlands, it has become a tradition to have an outing with my “soul mate” Inez. This time our destination was ‘s Hertogenbosc, the capital city of the North Brabant province. The name of the town is usually shortened to Den Bosch. Dat gaat naar den Bosch toe (That goes to Den Bosch) is the title of a Dutch folk song. Click here to listen.
It is less than one hour by train from Amsterdam. We arrived around 11 am and first went for coffee with a Bossche Bol.
We were lucky that we could get tickets for the Binnendieze cruise, because it is a popular tourist attraction and tickets for that day were almost sold out.. The Binnendieze is a river/canal system within the city walls of Den Bosch, very different from the Amsterdam canals, because a large part is vaulted.
The boats are electric “whisper” boats and as most of the canals are at the back of houses, you don’t hear the din of the city life. Amazing. Our experienced guide told many interesting details about the history of these waterways.
Here are a few more photos. The canals are so narrow that you have to keep your hands inboard and sometimes duck your head. Does the last photo remind you of Gaudi? The architect who restored this vault, was clearly inspired by him 😉
The cruise took about one hour and was the highlight of our outing. But Den Bosch has much more to offer. We walked to the market with the statue of Hieronymus Bosch, who lived here
And we visited the St. John’s Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, with a complicated building history (1220–1530).
Many artworks inside
Visiting a church I always like to light a candle (and make a wish). The organ of the cathedral is one of the most important ones in the Netherlands.
The Noordbrabants Museum was next on our to-do list, but Inez suggested that we should visit first the Slager museum, dedicated to the many painters in the Slager family. I had never heard of them, apparently they were well known in Den Bosch.
Left an interesting painting by Piet Slager sr, depicting the veterans of the Battle of Waterloo. Right the world-famous painting of the Marskramer (the Wayfarer) by Hieronymus Bosch. But wait a minute, something must be wrong, that painting is in the Boymans museum in Rotterdam!
Actually the paining is a reconstruction of the original. The museum shows reconstructions of many masterworks in a temporary exhibition Het Geheim van de Meester (The Secret of the Master). Click here for an explanation (in Dutch).
After our lunch we visited the Noordbrabants museum for a short while, as we had to board the train to Amsterdam before 4 pm (our tickets not being valid during rush hours). The museum has a good collection of paintings by Jan Sluyters.
Click here for a report about the first part of my trip. The last journal entry was about Remembrance Day on Saturday 4 May.
Sunday 5 May
Using bicycle, tram and bus I went to Ouderkerk, where I met Henk and Marian. Henk is a former colleague from the university. We had lunch and I admired their beautiful “wild” garden.
On the fifth of May 1945, Germany capitulated in the Netherlands and each year this is celebrated as Liberation Day. In the same location as on Remembrance Day, one day earlier, a Big Band played a medley of old songs for a (mainly) senior audience. Nice weather.
Monday 6 May.
A rest day. My waterfall “gang” had given me a jigsaw puzzle as a present for my 80th birthday., With a waterfall of course ;-). They didn’t know that in my family we like to do jigsaw puzzles, so I brought it with me to Amsterdam, planning to “solve” it first myself and then share it with my siblings. Soon I discovered that this is a VERY difficult puzzle, without much structure. I may not be able to finish it before I fly back to Malaysia.
Tuesday 7 May
In the afternoon I visited again my friend Lambert, who is at the moment staying in a care home. It was a beautiful day and after having a cup of tea with him, I decided to visit the museum Het Schip, a 20 minute walk away.
I had to cross the Westerpark. In the past there was a gas factory here, heavily polluted, after a lot of cleaning it is now an attractive park. Left the monumental villa of the chief engineer. No tulips anymore, it is now the rhododendron season
Het Schip (The Ship) is a masterpiece of the Amsterdam School architecture. designed in 1919 as a housing complex for the working classes. I had visited the museum several times, click here for a visit in 2017.
This iconic image you will find in any article about the Amsterdam School. Right a detail.
This time I joined a guided tour, where you visit parts of the complex that are not open to the public. We first visited the former post office.
The living conditions for the poor were atrocious in those days and a basement slum has been reconstructed. Up to seven people lived here in one room. The other picture shows the living room of an apartment in the housing complex.
I am planning to write a separate blog about the museums I visited during this trip, with more details and photos.
Wednesday 8 May
A lunch with friends from my school past. It has become a yearly tradition. This time Atie, the wife of my former vice-principal had invited us and prepared a nice lunch. Of course we had enough to chat about. Another occasion where I was the youngest in the company 😉
Thursday 9 May
The start of my “expedition”. With my siblings we had planned on 11 May a reunion in Franeker, where Nanda is living, the partner of my brother Pim. I decided to combine it with visits to my sister Lous in North-Holland and my brother Ruud in Groningen.
I took a train to Schagen where my sister was already waiting for me. We had a relaxing afternoon in their bungalow. They have a big garden and use a “robot mower” to keep the grass trimmed short. Interesting variation on the robot vacuum cleaner that we use in Malaysia.
For dinner Lous and Arend took me to Warmenhuizen, a small village near Schagen. What a surprise to find there the Globe Streetfood Restaurant , where food from all over the world is served in a friendly atmosphere.
Here are a few of the dishes we ordered. From left to right Crunchy tacos salmon, Duck Gyoza and Flammkuchen. Here is the menu. Worth coming back.
Back home I took a picture of the sunset. A few weeks earlier Lous had taken a photo of the same view (compare the trees). Spectacular, could win a prize in a photo contest.
Friday 10 May
We visited the Huis van Hilde (Hilde’s House), the archeology museum of the province of North-Holland. Again only a few pictures in this journal, more in a separate museum blog.
The museum exhibits many objects, found during excavations. Also skeletons. Some of these skeletons have been used to “recreate” the people and dress then in the clothes that were in use during their lifetime. Fascinating, here are a few pictures.
And three more. From left to right Cees (Stone Age), HIlde (4th century) and Jan (still alive). A very interesting museum.
We had lunch in Hargen aan Zee in a beach restaurant, Here is the North Sea and the beach.
Saturday 11 May
The next morning we drove over the Afsluitdijk to Franeker, where we met the rest of my family. Pity that Lous and Nina could not join. We had coffee and sandwiches in Nanda’s garden, beautiful weather.
Franeker is a small town with a rich historical past, It had the second-oldest university of the Netherlands, after Leiden. It is famous for its Planetarium, the oldest working orrery in the world and since 2023 a UNESCO World Heritage site. Now so popular that you have to book a timeslot for your visit. Pim and Nanda had done that for us. It’s only a short walk from Nanda’s house. Here we are waiting at the Planetarium for our turn.
The planetarium (orrery) was built from 1774 to 1781 by Eise Eisinga, a rich wool merchant and amateur astronomer. The planets move in real time, so you can not see them move.
The orrery is located at the ceiling of the living room. One floor up is the complicated mechanism to keep everything moving. I had visited it decades ago and forgotten the details. Impressive.
There was time enough to visit the Martena Museum. Built in 1506 as a city castle in Franeker. Now a museum about the history of Franeker.
The Martinikerk was built in the 14th century. Although I am not a believer, I always burn a candle and do a wish 😉 .
Before walking to a restaurant, we had a drink.
We had our dinner in de Stadsherberg. I had apergetartaar as starter and kalfssukade as main. Click here for the menu (in Dutch).
After this nice reunion dinner, I joined Ruud and Jur to Groningen.
Sunday 12 May
We decided to have a lazy Sunday and enjoy the nice weather in the garden. A big garden needs maintenance, here Jur is watering the plants.
We went out for dinner to restaurant Garnwerd aan Zee. Actually it is not located “on sea”, but far inland.
Another nice meal, although we had to wait very long for our main dish. However they apologised and offered us a drink “on the house”. I had blinis with smoked salmon as starter and a lamb skewer on tzatziki as main. It looks like global cuisine is getting popular in the Netherlands 😉 .
On our way back to Groningen. Can it be more Dutch?
Monday 13 May
On my way back to Amsterdam I decided to have a short stopover in Leeuwarden to meet my friend Nellie. We met as freshmen at the university in 1961, became friends and try to meet each other when I am back in the Netherlands. Behind me the Court of Justice and behind Nellie the Fries museum.
We had coffee and lunch, I had the traditional uitsmijter, two eggs with ham and cheese on bread.
That was the end of my expedition. Nice but a bit tiring for a senior 😉 .
Tuesday 14 May
Lunch with two friends who I had met on Kingsday (see 27 April) . Tulip time was over, I bought roses.
A selfie with Wout and Han.
Wednesday 15 May
Coffee with my former colleague Hans (see 8 May) and dinner with Nico, Paul’s brother in the Entrepot restaurant in Amsterdam. Popular, good reviews, a bit too expensive.
From left to right Raw Sea Bass (nice), Gnocchi (a bit too cheesy) and Lamb (delicious). With wine etc 90 Euro pp.
After the Klang (1867-1874) war, Jugra became the capital of Selangor. Not for very long, the state capital moved to Klang , then to Kuala Lumpur and finally to Shah Alam . The royal capital moved to Klang until now.
Jugra went into decline, overshadowed by nearby Banting. But there still are many historical remains. Left a GE screenshot of the region, right a detail.
On our way to the Istana we passed the Royal Alaeddin Mosque . Unfortunately we could not walk in because Khong and I were not properly dressed (wearing shorts). Pity because it is a real beauty. Wikipedia is wrong in dating the construction of the mosque as 1903-1905, it was much later, 1925-1926, here is a convincing report. After a recent restoration it has been repainted in white, it was yellow before. A major improvement.
The date error may be caused by confusion with the Istana Bandar, situated only a few hundred meters away. That palace was completed in 1905. Both were built by Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, the fifth sultan of Selangor (1898-1938) Although the Royal Town was Klang, the Sultan often resided in the Istana Bandar. After his death the palace was abandoned, it was given a number of other uses.
When I visited the palace with my friends Pat and Roger in 2013, it had recently undergone restoration and was closed, although we managed to get in. Click here for a report. Now it was open to the public, but completely empty inside.
Ther architecture is interesting. We took many pictures.
The interior is empty. It would be a good location for a museum about the history of Selangor.
The only “decoration I found inside.
Opposite of the entrance there is a huge balcony.
Everywhere you see nice ornaments. The Visit Selangor website writes that the design is largely Islamic, mainly of Indian and Middle-Eastern origin.
There are also nice gardens.
A worthwhile visit. There were no other visitors, many Malaysians don’t know this place. When we left a few men arrived to take photos.
There is a lot more to see in Jugra, but we got hungry. We had a look at a nearby fishing village, Kelanang. Always picturesque.
We had lunch in the Kang Guan Seafood Restaurant, with a nice view of the Langat river.. As usual Khong selected the dishes.
Here is our lunch. Five dishes, fried sotong, mantis prawns, tofu, chicken, meehoon. Total price : RM 110. That’s what the Gang of Four calls VFM (Value For Money) 😉
Nearby is a business district, which explains why there were so many formally dressed customers.
It was a nice trip and we agreed that we should not wait a long time before having another outing.
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.
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.
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!
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?
Outside PWD ruinsInsideOutside Rest HouseInside
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 😉
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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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
———————————————– 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 😉 .
———————————————– 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..
———————————————– 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!
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.
———————————————– 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,
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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!
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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 😉 .
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
Here is the report about my second week in the Netherlands in 2023. Click here for the first week.
———————————————– 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 😉
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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)
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– 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.
———————————————– Wednesday 7 June
A day without commitments 😉 Here is a screenshot of my digital calendar.
———————————————– 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.
