When my hiking friend Pek Foong invited me for a drink at the Royal Lake Club, she suggested that we could combine it with a walk in the Lake Gardens. Have you ever visited the Tun Razak Memorial there, she asked. I told her that I didn’t even know it existed. Oh, then I will show you the house where Najib grew up, she said.
At 4 pm she picked me up from home and we drove to the Lake gardens where she parked her car near an attractive building. This was the private residence of Tun Abdul Razak, the 2nd PM of Malaysia. He lived here with his family from 1962 until his death in 1976.
It is now part of the Tun Razak Memorial. Free access, after registration, open until 5pm.We noticed one guard only, probably there will be CCTV. We were the only visitors, I am sure that also many Malaysians are not aware of this mansion.
It is an elegant building of two storeys. The ground floor has spacious living and dining rooms , upstairs there are bedrooms for the family.
There is an attractive courtyard. Pity that the pond was empty.
There are several display cases, one with krisses and another with walking sticks. Did Tun Razak collect them? We used the reflection in the glass for a selfie 😉 .
The first floor contains bedrooms. Left the master bedroom, right the bedroom of their eldest son, Najib Razak, the sixth PM of Malaysia, now enjoying accommodation in the Kajang prison because of his role in the 1MDB scandal.
The bedrooms of the other boys, Tun Razak had five sons and no daughters.
The house looks like a (luxury) private home. There is a home trainer and the safe is a sign that the family had money.
A traditional ironing table. On the ground floor there is a Quran recitation room. Not clear why there is an extra bed in that room. The story is that Najib had to pass the recitation test before his parents gave him permission to go to the UK for his studies.
From the house there is a nice view of the Merdeka 118 skyscraper. The other picture shows the second building of the Tun Razak Memorial, which we did not visit.
We walked from the house to the Orchid Garden.
Here is a collection of orchids that we saw during our walk.
The gardens are well designed. Although the rocks are fake, the fish are real.
We could have continued our walk to the Lake Club, but Pek Foong decided to drive there by car. Here is the main entrance of the Royal Lake Club, a huge complex, not far from the Lake Gardens.
For many parts of the club there is a dress code, but not for the Sunset bar near the swimming pools.
There we met Peter Leong, another hiking friend, for a couple of beers and nice food.
Here is a GE image of the Lake Gardens. I have marked the places where we have been, and also the location of the Royal Selangor Club, the other club in KL. For orientation I have also indicated the Pasar Seni.
It was a nice outing, I am looking forward to a repeat.
A relative of Aric invited us to a housewarming party in Melaka. We decided to go there on a day trip and combine it with a visit to Machap. In January we went to Melaka and Machap with our UK friend Rodney. Our main interest was Melaka’s old town and the CNY decorations in Machap  Umboo. When writing my report, Melaka and Machap, I googled for more information about Machap and found on Wikipedia an entry about Machap Baru , one of the New Villages, created during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). I am quite interested in the Emergency, have mentioned New Villages several times in my blog posts, and may write a separate blog post about them.
This time wanted to explore Machap Baru and also to visit (again) the Old Mosque of Machap.
Although nobody was there, this time the gate was not locked, so we ventured inside to have a look at the mosque.
The mosque has an interesting history. In the days of the Melaka Sultanate, a trader from Makassar, Datuk Machap, supported the sultan, but had to flee when the Portuguese invaded in 1511. Following the Melaka river, he founded a few settlements and also a simple wooden mosque. In 1865, a Muslim Chinese missionary arrived in the Machap region. He collected donations to rebuild the mosque in stone. A marble slab in the mosque shows the names of the donors. More in this report: Machap Old Mosque on the website of the Alor Gajah Municipal Council.
In front of the mosque, there is the tomb of Datuk Machap and a few more graves. The signboard is less detailed but mentions that it became a holy place, a Keramat. where devotees came with offerings. Similar to the Datok Kong shrines, you can find everywhere in Malaysia.
The redesign in the 19th century by a Chinese missionary explains that the mosque looks very different from the traditional Malay mosques. There is no minaret, and the beautiful decorations on the walls also don’t look Malay. The mosque is surrounded by a verandah. On the left side, next to a Malay drum, there is the original marble tablet with the names of the donors.
Of course, we didn’t enter the prayer hall. Everything looked well-maintained, but I think the mosque has been closed.
Aric used his drone to take an aerial photo of the mosque. So quiet and peaceful. The water in front is the Durian Tunggal reservoir. Built in the 1970s as a water supply for Melaka.
Of course, I was wondering, how the situation was before the reservoir was built. I found the answer in this topo map, dating to the 1940s. Right a GE screenshot where I have marked in red some roads that already existed in 1943. Note that in the 1943 map, there are three Machap settlements. Twice Machap Umbor and one Macchap Tengah, close to the Masjid Lama, (marked Keramat). In the GE map, I have marked in blue the two Machap settlements that are now deep below the waters of the Durian Tunggal lake.
Looking for more information, I found this report, A day trip to Masjid Lama Machap, Melaka, written in 2014 by Joan Wan. A trip with her father. They meet the caretaker, who tells them that after completion of the reservoir, the mosque could only be reached by sampan until a new access road was built. And that devotees still visited the Keramat but were not allowed to burn joss sticks at the tomb of Datuk Machap.
In another report, written in 2017 by her uncle, he describes how as a young boy he accompanied his mother to the mosque. By a rickety bus, then climbing stairs to the mosque. His mother brought offerings. prepared by Muslim neighbours and a few days before their visit, they could not eat pork. Delightful report.
We continued to Machap Baru. It was time for lunch, we went to the Restaurant Mei Yuan, It was well patronised, we had nice food, Garlic pork, Lobaak, and veggie for RM59.40 only!
We drove around in Machap Baru. Here is the entrance gate and another gate for the Machap Walk. An attempt to copy the famous Jonker Walk in Big Sister Melaka 😉
In the town a mixture of old houses and modern ones. It would have been nice to meet some seniors with memories of the past. We asked about it in an old bakery, but the young owner could only tell us that the shop was old (4th generation) and had moved to here in the 1960s. Maybe from the submerged Machap settlements?
Fortunately, in the second report, mentioned above, the writer describes how he in the early 1960s, visited Machap Baru with a school friend. That was after the end of the Emergency, but his friend had visited his grandmother when the village was still fenced with a security guard. Once he was caught by the security because he brought food to his grandma, which was not allowed..
Here is a drone photo of Machap Baru. Many other New Villages, like Aulong and Pokok Assam, have now merged with a nearby town (Taiping in this case). But Machap Baru is still surrounded by nature and may be about the same size as when it was created in the 1950s.
Nearby Machap Umboo is also a new village, but not related to the Emergency and the Brigg’s plan. Many of the villagers in the river valley were relocated here when the reservoir was created. It is rather confusing that it is sometimes called a New Village, for example, le in these STAR and Malay Mail articles.
From Machap, it was only a half-hour drive to the housewarming party, as the location in Jubang was nearer to Alor Gajah than to Melaka.
In Malaysia, the house is called a bungalow; I would call it an Urban Villa. As is common these days, it is located in a gated community. It’s a big villa, with a well-designed garden. But the houses are too close to each other, I would prefer more privacy.
We arrived in the late afternoon, and most of Aric’s maternal family had already arrived before lunch. Here I am having a toast with the host, drinking a glass of dragon fruit wine! Very drinkable. He had a huge collection of expensive cognac and other liquors.
The family enjoyed watching TV and playing cards. I know almost all of them, I had a friendly chat with several of them, but of course, much of the conversation was in Chinese.
We went out for dinner to a nearby restaurant. The restaurant was crowded as it was the eve of Mother’s Day. Good that our host had booked tables for our party.
After dinner, we drove back and arrived home around 11 pm. A nice, busy day, full of variety.
After my stay in Taiping (click here for the report), I took the ETS to Ipoh, where I would meet Aric and Rodney. The famous railway station of Ipoh was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback and built in 1917.
Waiting for Aric and Rodney, I had a coffee in the railway cafeteria, a nostalgic place, but in a rundown condition. There is an ambitious plan to develop the station and its surroundings. Hopefully the heritage elements will be preserved.,
For lunch, we had the famous Ipoh chicken rice, but this time not in the popular eateries in New Town. Aric had found a positive review about a chiken rice shop Sam Ma, quite far away from the town center. Very delicious, tender chicken..
Next we checked in at the Travelodge Ipoh and had some rest.
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Aric and I have visited quite a few cave temples around Ipoh, for example the Gunung Rapat Cave Temples. , but there are more. This time we visited the Tung WahTong, a taoist temple in the Ulu Kinta neighbourhood of Ipoh, built on the steep slopes of Gunung Layang Layang. So a lot of climbing.
There are three halls. Here is the first one.
Climbing further up, we reached the second hall. Good that there was a place to rest..
A steep climb followed to the main hall, dedicated to the Jade Emperor.
The entrance gate and the main shrine.
Two times nine Arhats on both sides of the altar.
This hall is huge, with many rock formations and artworks.
The caretaker showed us a gate, leading to another path next to the altar.
It brought us out of the cave, where we found tables and chairs to rest. Would have been a great place for a kopitiam 😉 .
A very interesting temple, relatively unknown. Aric wanted to take drone pictures, but it started to rain, so we decided to come back the next morning.
We had dinner in the Sun Kong River Fish restaurant. Upmarket and pricey, specialising in fresh water fish, for example this 9-course menu at RM 2388 for a table of ten. This menu contained one pork dish, that appealed to Aric. He called the restaurant and asked if it was possible to order only this crispy pork roll. That was possible, so here we are with a huge plate of pork. The idea is that you take a bun or a wrap and stuff it with a slice of pork and veggie. .An interesting experience, we managed to almost finish the (delicious) crispy pork.
Feeling very full, we decided to go for a walk, although there was some drizzle. We went to the Kinta River Walk.
Quite disappointing, desolate. Maybe we were too late.
The next morning we had dim sum for breakfast. There are many dim sum restaurants in Ipoh, What I liked about the one we visited was that they use trolleys to present the various dim sum at your table.
After breakfast, we went back to the Tung Wah Tong temple where Aric used his drone to take pictures, and a video.
You can not visit Ipoh without trying its famous white coffee. We drove back to the old town and had our coffee at Sin Yoong Long , established in 1937, one of the oldest kedai kopi in town. I liked the traditional atmosphere.
We walked around a bit in the old town. I had read negative reports about Concubine Lane, how it had become a tourist attraction and lost its charm. Before reaching COncubine Lane, we walked through a parallel lane, the 2nd Concubine Lane. Quite attractive and quiet.
The lane has nice mural art. Many years ago, I wrote a report about the Iph Murals. Some of them have been created by my favourite mural artist Zacharevic.
Here is Concubine Lane.. Souvenir shops, food stalls, eateries. More information about the history of Concubine Lane can be found here.
We had a look at the Birch Memorial. Birch was the first British Resident, , murdered in 1875 by Dato’ Maharaja Lela and Dato’ Sagor. I told Rodney how the two streets at both sides of the memorial were named Post Office Road and Station Road. Now they have been renamed, Station Road became Jalan Dato’ Maharaja Lela and Post Office Road became Jalan Dato’ Sagor!. Ironic 😉 .
We wanted to visit another cave temple, the Kek Lok Tong, a Buddhist Temple, but it was closed for renovation.
Insteda we visited the Perak Tong, one of the largest cave temples in the region. This Buddhist temple is a popular tourist attraction. A beautiful statue of Guan Yin, the goddess of Mercy, stands in front of the main entrance.
The main hall is huge.
Guardian statues.
Looking back to the entrance.
More statues.
Inside the main hall, you can climb up to the higher levels.
Further up, you exit the temple hall, and you can continue to the top of the hill, where pavilions have been built. Rodney and I decided that we had climbed enough.
Aric continued to the top and told us that the view was not really special.
After going down, Aric used his drone to take again pictures and a video. You can see the pavillions on the top of the hill.
Time to go back to KL, where we finished our trip with a dinner in Damansara Uptown.
My friends Paul and Fahmi asked me if I would like to join them on a short 3D2N trip to Kedah. I was happy to accept the invitation and suggested that on our way back to KL, they could drop me at Taiping, my adopted home town.
After staying there three nights, I could take the train to Ipoh, where I would meet Aric and our UK friend Rodney and stay one night. All together a 7D6N trip. Here is a report about the first part.
We stopped for lunch at an Assam Laksa stall near Kuala Kangsar. We had the laksa covered with telor sarang (a nest egg). Quite nice, the stall is popular.
Our destination for the day was the BujongValley, an archeological site on the slopes of Gunung Jerai. Here is the museum, access is free of charge.
Long before the Sultanate of Melaka there existed in Kedah a flourishing Hindu-Buddhist civilization. Remains of Hindu temples (candi) can be found on the slopes of Gunung Jerai. The museum contains artefacts, found during excavations.
The park has ruins of several candi, some of them were found elsewhere and have been reconstructed here. They are older than Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the Borobudur in Java, but of course less impressive as only ruins remain. Nevertheless, the site has the potential of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
For me it was not the first time that I visited Bujang Valley. Ten years ago, on another Trip up North, I was also there. Not much has changed, the signboards have faded, only QR codes have been added. That there has been a civilisation before the Malay one cane is a sensitive topic. Read here more about recent developments.
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We continued to the Gunung Jerai resort, where Paul and Gahmi had booked two chalets. A long day, we arrived around 5 pm, the resort was in the clouds, we had to look around for our chalets 😉 .
We were just in time for a High Tea promotion, surprisingly cheap at RM 48 (for three!).
Later the sky cleared a bit, from my balcony I had a nice view of the paddy fields in Kedah. The island is Bunting Island, uninhabited, connected to the mainland by the Bunting Island Bridge , constructed between 2002 and 2005 at a cost of RM 120 million and never used.
The High Tea was so substantial that we skipped dinner, had a drink and snacks on our balcony. Paul and Fam got hungry later and used room service to order a light supper.
The next morning we had breakfast (included in the quite expensive room rate of RM 320) and walked around a bit. Beautiful weather, blue sky.
Since my last visit in 2015 (see the link above) , the resort had been enlarged with a plethora of activities. You had to pay extra for them, many made sense, a few were a bit ridiculous like the Jerai Sky View, where you had to pay RM 10 to stand on a glass-bottom platform where you could look down a few meters to the slope under the platform 😉 .
The gardens are well kept and the chalets are comfortable. Paul and Fahmi are standing in front of our chalet, containing 4 separate units.
We drove down the winding road to the plain. Here is Guning Jerai with the famous pady fields of Kedah. Would have been even more beautiful when the paddy would have been fresh green.
Gunung Jerai has many waterfalls, but most of them are seasonal. We had a look at the Sri Perigi falls, almost completely without water.
We met a friendly caretaker who told us that we were just one month too early. That the waterflow can be much more impressive, shows the damaged bridge railing.
Our route followed the coast, with several attractive fishing villages.
In one of them we visited the market. Fahmi bought dried) fish for his family.
Looking for a nice place for lunch, we ran out of luck. A floating “mee udang” restaurant opened at 3 pm only, we continued to a hilltop restaurant, that opened ta 2pm, we decided to wait, it was very hot, we were the only visitors, very slow service. But the food was ok. Probably a place to visit in the evening and watch the sunset.
Around 4pm we arrived in Sungai Petani, where we checked in. After a rest I walked around there is not really much to see. The clocktower was built in 1936 to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V. Teh HSBC bank earby is older, built in 1922 in Mughal style. A very attractive buidling.
And of course there is mural art. Huge paintings, just using the walls as a canvas. Not really my favourite.
Later we went out for dinner and were more lucky, we found a suitable restaurant. Set Talam translates as a tray set, the restaurant specialises in it. Nice seafood.
The next morning, Fahmi had found another nice place for breakfast. Outide Sngai Petani, in very rural surroundings. A popular breakfast place.
Nice breakfast with Lempeng (kind of pancakes) and my favourite Roti Goyang.
Back to town where I took another photo pf the HSBC bank. The ony outstanding heritage building in the town.
More pictures of the mural art. Not bad, but also nothing impressive.
After our exploration of the town, it was already time to go back. My friends dropped me off at Taiping; see the next report.
It was a nice trip, but a bit too much driving for such a short stay.
My last “new waterfall” was two years ago, in 2023. In my blog post CNY 2023 Waterfall Trip, I explain why I no longer explore (new) waterfalls. This year I didn’t join the traditional CNY waterfall trip. Here is a photo where a few of my waterfall gang visit the Katoh Upper Fall. Would have been too much for me 😉 .
Joshua Tee, who is now the active webmaster of Waterfalls of Malaysia, suggested to organise a trip to an “easy” waterfall, only a 15 minute hike, an easy trail and a pristine fall. That sounded attractive, although I wondered how a waterfall with easy access could still be pristine. I joined.
One day before Chap Goh Meh, Joshua picked me up from home and we drove to Tanjung Malim where we had breakfast and met the rest of the group. Many of them I had met before. First photo, from left to right Joshua and his partner Eve, Pooi Yee, and my “waterfall godson” Nick. In the other picture JT Ong, Sam, Iwen and Kendrick.
After breakfast, we continued to Behrang Station, where it became clear how a waterfall with easy access can still be pristine: to reach the trail head you have to follow plantation roads where a 4WD is needed. So all nine of us moved into Joshua’s Ford Ranger. Here we have arrived at the trailhead.
And indeed, from here it there was an easy trail to the fall, about 600 meter. To cross a small stream, I preferred to walk through the water and get my feet wet 😉 .
Here is the Gersay waterfall, my waterfall sifu Khong would call it a baby fall. A nice wading pool, and attractive surroundings.
Joshua had suggested that we all bring some snacks and drinks, he had brought two foldable picnic tables !
My contribution was a bottle of wine, here Ong is tasting it.
It was a nice leisure trip, of course many photos were taken. The last photo shows Joshua and me, the present webmaster of WoM and the former one 😉 .
An official group photo.
We didn’t stay long, as the plan was to have lunch in Tanjung Malim. Here Eve and Ong are bringing back the tables.
Nice food, I wanted to be the host and pay the bill, but the others didn’t allow me. Malaysian hospitality at its best.
Here is the location of the Gersay fall on Google Earth. Tanjung Malim bottom right, Behrang Station top left. The plantation road in red, the short walk in green.
I didn’t expect to visit new waterfalls anymore, this was a pleasant surprise.
My Dutch passport expires in July this year, but it includes an MM2H visa which expires already in March.. So I decided to apply early for a new one. Dutch passports used to be valid for 5 years only, but nowadays they are valid for 10 years. Usually, you return your old passport, when you get the new one, but in my case, they contained MM2H visa, so I kept them after they had been made invalid.
The procedure is simple: you must download and fill out a form and then make an appointment with the Dutch embassy. I went there on 16 December.
You have to submit a recent passport photo. There are strict guidelines and that made me worry a bit. Glasses are allowed, but your eyes must be fully visible. Mouth closed, expression neutral, head not tilted, etc. I did my best and this is the result ;-). When I presented the form and photo to the friendly embassy staff, they were accepted without any problem.
Faster than expected I got an email from the embassy that I could come to collect my new passport. I decided to go by public transport and asked our UK friend Rodney, to join, so we could have a look at the CNY decorations in KLCC.
We walked from the LRT KLCC station through the park to the Naza Tower, where the consular section of the Dutch embassy is located. The weather was beautiful and the Twin Towers impressive. The Naza Tower is a modern skyscraper. Launched in 2012, it has an interesting helical shape.
It took only a few minutes to receive my new passport. Before walking back, we decided to have coffee and cake in the lobby of the Naza Tower.
Nice street art around the Naza Tower.
And of course CNY decorations. Like in Machap,visited a few weeks ago, many colorful flowers, but all artificial.
Opposite the Naza Tower a spectacular new building is under construction. The provisional name is Lot M. In the (far?) future a 700-meter tall skyscraper may rise on top of this building.
We walked back through the park. With the very blue sky, the KL skyline was breathtaking. It was a hot day, the wading pool in the park was popular for children and adults.
Kuala Lumpur can be proud of a beautiful park in the center of the city.
In front of the shopping mall, a huge CNY decoration has been constructed. Here Rodney took a picture of me, taking a picture 😉 .
Probably I took this picture. Inside the shopping mall another huge decoration.
This year is the year of the Snake, but where are the snakes? Last year, the year of the Dragon, there were dragons everywhere. Not a single snake here! Probably because many people have a phobia ffor snakes!
The walk through the park had made us thirsty, so we went to my favourite Kinokuniya cafe for a refreshing drink. Then we started looking for a suitable lunch place. I was thinking about the Asian Food Court. On our way, I noticed that there were long queues for all the restaurants.
I expected that it would be difficult to find an empty table in the food court. Then we found one restaurant with many free tables. So, for the first time in my life, I had lunch in a TGI FRIDAYS! We ordered the so-called Hangover Burger, a substantial meal.
Then we went back back home, where we arrived just before a downpour started.
As familiar as Melaka is to me, so unknown is Machap. Aric suggested a mini-trip to both places with our UK friend Rodney, staying overnight in Melaka. He had booked rooms in the Puri Hotel, where we arrived late afternoon on Friday, 17 January. The hotel is located in Heeren Street, now unfortunately renamed after a Malaysian politician. . In Dutch colonial times, the Heerenstraat was the most important street, where the rich people lived. Opposite the hotel the impressive Chee ancestral mansion (not open to the public).
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The Puri Hotel is a nice Peranakan house, much extended and more expensive than when we stayed there the first time, more than 10 years ago.
After a short rest, we went out for dinner to the Kapitol Satay Chelup restaurant, no longer in the town center, we took a Grab car. Still has nice food, but not many customers, I hope they can survive.
We took another Grab back to Jonker Street. The famous Jonker Walk is not so interesting anymore, but of course you have to visit it when you are in Melaka.
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The (food) stalls are quite mediocre, but Jonker Street was almost as important in Dutch times as Heeren Street, so there are nice facades and clan houses to admire.
We passed a small square with a very strange statue of a bodybuilder. Actually, it is a memorial statue for Dr Gan Boon Leong, a Malaysian politician, and native of Melaka, instrumental in the creation of the Jonker Walk, but in his younger years also a bodybuilding Mr Universe!
We stopped at Koong Woh Tong for a refreshing Herbal Jelly. One of my favourite desserts, not sure if Rodney really liked it.
Arriving at the main square, also called the Dutch Square, we admired the many trishaws decorated with colorful LED lights and loud music.
We walked for a short distance along the Melaka river. Left a view from the bridge, right many of the bars on the left bank.
Before going back to our hotel we had a few drinks in the Geographer, a landmark bar in Jonker Street.
The next morning, we had a pleasant breakfast in the hotel garden and admired the interior.
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We checked out and walked around the town. Here are two photos of the Eng Choon Association in Heeren Street.
More buildings, some beautifully restored, others still waiting for an upgrade.
We entered Goldsmith Street, now often called Harmony Street because along the street many houses of worship are located. Here is a view of the street, In the foreground a Chinese temple, further on a mosque. The Indian temple, a bit further down the street , is not visible.
The Cheng Hoon Teng Temple is the oldest functioning Chinese temple in Malaysia, founded in 1645 during the Dutch era.The main prayer hall is dedicated to Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy.
The Kampung Kling Mosque was originally built in 1748 by Indian Muslim traders. The Sri Poyatha Moorthi Temple was built in 1781 and is dedicated to Ganesha. It is one of the oldest functioning Hindu temples in Maritime Southeast Asia. Pity that it seems to be closed all the time.
We didn’t see many murals in Melaka, which makes me happy, but of course, we spent only a little time in the town. The first mural is nice but nothing special. The second one is bizarre. It depicts the Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, famous but no connection at all with Malaysia. Why her? Because she has been appointed Melaka’s tourism ambassador. Apparently, to attract more mainland Chinese tourists. Melaka boleh haha.
You don’t see Buddhist monks often in Malaysia. On the facade of the shop there is a mural of an orang utan, a bit faded as murals should be. And the other pic shows Rodney and me in front of the Dutch windmill.
Melaka is a “museum” town with artifacts from the past everywhere.
We had Chendol near the river. And then climbed up the St Paul’s hill for a view. The straits of Melaka far away.
The Church of Saint Paul with the statue of St Francis Xavier. The hill has an extended cemetery with Dutch and British graves.
The remains of the church contain many tombstones.
We climbed down the hill to the Porta de Santiago, one of the few remains of the A Famosa fortress, built by the Portuguese in 1512. The other pic shows Rodney and a dinosaur.
We were planning to have lunch in the famous Kedai Kopi Chung Wah near the bridge, but it was closed. So we went to another one. Also nice Hainanese Chicken Rice.
It was already getting a bit late in the afternoon when we arrived in Machap. Here is a Google Earth map of the region. There are two villages, about 6 km apart, Machap Baru and Machap Umboo. Machap Baru is a “New Village” created during the Malayan Emergency as part of the Briggs plan. I am very interested in these new villages, but it was not our target this time. We went to Machap Umboo, an even newer village but in a different way! In the 1970s the Durian Tunggal reservoir was created, one of the main water supplies for Melaka, and the original Machap had to be relocated. I guess that its original location was near the Old Mosque of Machap, not far from Machap Baru.
The villagers of Machap Umboo decorate their village during the Chinese New Year and are so successful that it generates publicity and attracts visitors. Leaflets with the various attractions are freely available. In the other picture I am taking a phoyo of Aric admiring a persimmon tree.
It’s a fake tree, as are all the flowers and trees used as decoration. Very colorful,
This year will be the year of the Snake, so you can see (fake) snakes all over the place.
The villagers have used as much as possible recycled items for the decorations. Empty cans, old tires etc .
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Maybe the Dutch square in Melaka has inspired them to create this attraction. And yes, the tulips are also artificial. The drizzle had become rain, time to go home.
At the entrance of the village a Snake Kung Fu master invited us to a fight.
In spite of the rain we decided to have a look at the Old Mosque. In 2019 Aric and I had made a Trip down South, and one target was this mosque. But it was closed and now it was closed again. It was raining so heavily that I didn’t even take a picture. Here is a drone picture, taken by Aric during our 2019 visit. Looks interesting, we have to come back another time.
It was a nice, short trip. Want to see more pictures of Melaka? Have a look at my report Revisiting Melaka, August 2023.
It is a 30.000 square feet rooftop garden, 35 metres above the ground in the 1 Utama shopping mall complex. It was opened for public viewing on 25th May 2009, but it was only a few days ago that Aric and I visited it, more than 15 years later 😉 .
Most of my Malaysian friends know about this Secret Garden, but not many have actually visited it. One reason may be that the garden is open only on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays, from 10 am to 10 pm. Another reason could be that it can only be reached by lift and only one of the many lifts in 1U goes to this garden.
We went on 31 October, Deepavali. The shopping mall was crowded, but in the garden there was almost nobody.
Of course we took many photos. Here is a selection, there are about 500 different species.
The garden is well-designed with many winding foot paths.
Here are flowers and general views. without comments.
There are benches where you can rest and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.
A beautiful pond
There is even an (articial) waterfall. The other picture shows a marble statue, donated by Dr Francis S.P. Ng, a former Deputy Director-General of FRIM. He was engaged to design and manage the Secret Garden. More info here .
A very unusual growth. Aric managed to take a picture of it, pointing his camera upwards.
Some more pictures.
It was a very nice experience. We will come back soo, in the evening, when the garden lights are on.
Broga Hill is a popular hiking destination, but I had never heard about a Sak Dato temple in Broga , until Aric suggested to visit this temple, as it was famous for its monumental statue of the Monkey King.
It’s about a one hour drive from KL Broga Hill is located in Selangor, but the village and the temple are situated in Negri Sembilan.
The temple is a Datuk Kong temple, where Chinese devotees worship not a Taoist deity, but the “spirit of the land”. The tradition started in the 19th century when Chinese settlers arrived in the country. Often Datuks were once humans who were greatly respected by society. After their passing away, people started to worship their spirits for protection. Often they were Muslim Malays. Interesting about this temple is that Sak Dato was an Orang Asli. He supported the Chenese tin miners in the 1860s and probably became a Taoist himself. See also the appendix
Here is the entrance of the temple. Most Datuk Kong temples are smaller, often even just shrines. This is a large complex , apparently very popular, although it was quiet during our visit.
Climbing the steps, we soon reached the statue of Guan Yin, the goddess of Mercy.
A large hall is dedicated to her.
Climbing further we arrived at the Sak Dato hall.
The interior is simple without images. Inside the hall we noticed a picture of the former PM Mahathir, handing over a National Temple Beautification Award.
There is another Sak Dato shrine in a cave next to the hall. Probably the original one. There is also the grave of the Sak Dato. It was originally located inside the cave, but has been relocated to its present position..
Climbing highere there is a split.To the right leads to a hanging bridge, we first explored the left side which took us to a kind of park with an intriguing collection of art works and statues. A very enjoyable place.
A dragon-turtle is pulling a cart with treasures and a bit further on there are the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.
Of course we had to take pictures with our Zodiac signs,
The park must be a popularr destination for families. There is a wishing tree but you can also hang your wishes here. Everywhere benches donated by devotees. There is also a stall, but it was closed during our visit.
Finally we went to the suspension bridge and walked to the hill qwhere the statue of the Monkey King is located. Quite a steep climb up.
A warning sign for dogs, but the dogs we met were peaceful and sleepy.
I am sure all Chinese know about the Monkey King, one of the main characters in the 16th century novel Journey to the West. For those who don’t know this wonderful folk tale, you can download it here .The statue of the Monkey KIng is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Recirds as the tallest one in Malaysia. It is quite impressive. The other picture shows the monk Tripitaka and his other helpers.
Aric had brought his drone to take video and pictures. Here are a few.
In the hall inderneath the statue, walking around three times is supposed to bring luck.
After visiting the Monkey King, we had to walk down and cross the bridge again.
After our visit (about 1.5 hour) we drove to Semenyih for dinner.
Nice food, steamed cuttlefish with lemon and garlic, paku belacan and deep fried tilapia
Nice, relaxed atmosphere
And a beautiful sunset
A perfect outing.
Appendix
Although the Sak Dato temple in Broga is a popular destination, with numerous hits when you Google for it, it was not easy to find background information.
The Temuan, an Orang Asli group, were the earliest inhabitants of Broga. Because of rich tin ore, Broga was settled in the 1850s by Hakka miners from Huizhou, China.
Broga became prosperous, first because of tin, later rubber.
During the Japanese Occupation (1941–45), many shops in Broga were burned by the Japanese and many villagers fled. In 1950, the British colonial government resettled the Chinese in the area in Broga New Village.
The Sak Dato Temple in Broga is one of the oldest Datuk Gong temples in Malaysia. The temple still holds many old plaques; the oldest one was offered by a devotee Li Yuchang to Sak Dato in 1904
Since 1910 , the Sak Dato procession at Broga has been held annually, even during the Malayan Emergency. After the establishment of Broga New Village in 1950,entry and exit were strictly controlled, so the villagers brought the spirit tablet of Sak Dato to a small new shrine in the New Village. Following the end of the Emergency, the villagers returned the spirit tablet, and renovated the old temple in 1965. In 1991, the temple was renovated again, at a cost of MYR700,000.
Also useful is the inscription next to the grave of Sak Dato
.So the original shrine in the cave is old, the worship of Sak Dato started in 1868. His bones were relocated a few times (?) after the temple was rebuilt in 1991 and finally put in the present grave only last year (?)
Finally here is a very readable travelogue, written in 2013, where renovation of the Guan Yin timple is still going on.
So the Sak Datu temple is old , but the enlargement and extension are recent.
I found confirmation by looking at the historic imagery of Google Earth, This screenshot shows the sutuation in 2010. I have marked the places where I took pictures. There is not yet a park, and there is no suspension bridge. They are working on the Monkey King
Here the situation in 2022
The Sak Dato temple committee has been very successful in developing the temple to attract more visitors.
There have been years when I visited more than twenty waterfalls, but that is over for various reasons. In 2023 I visited one waterfall only, during Chinese New Year, the Lata Juang.
As an octogenarian I have decided to visit only waterfalls with easy access “grandfather falls haha), so I was interested when my friend Edwin recently updated me about Lata Khong. When Khong and I “discovered” this waterfall, almost 20 years ago, access was already quite easy. Now the local Orang Asli community has made a cemented footpath for the last 100 meter to the fall , making access even easier. It makes sense they charge a small fee for parking and entry.
When we arrived in the kampung , we were shocked that access to the fall was impossible. An OA boy explained that a few days earlier the police had inspected the access road and decided that it was damaged/dangerous. Not really clear what kind of damage. Closure until January!. Read the hand-written notice.
That was disappointing, we had been driving from KL for about one hour, so what to do? The solution was to visit the Chamang waterfall near Bentong, another grandfather fall in the same region. I first visited this popular fall in 2004. The recent heavy rainfall made it even more impressive now.
Also here “development” has taken place, it is now called Taman Eko Rimba (Ecological Jungle Park) Chamang, with opening times and an entrance fee (RM 10 for me, a bit steep). There were a few tourists only, they stayed for a while at the huge signboard, then left.
Workers were constructing something new, we could not go down to the waterfall.
Which photo would you prefer?
Even with all the development the Chamang waterfall is still a very attractive one, but you must look for a suitable view point.
On our way back we had lunch at the Fantasy Valley restaurant in Kampung Bukit Tinggi. Very scenic location along the Tanglir river.
Aric ordered Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles and veggies. Big Udang Gala (Freshwater Prawns), not cheap, but so delicious!
Although we couldn’t visit Lata Khong, it was a very pleasant outing.
