I last visited Taiping a year ago. Click here for my report. This time, I had several reasons to go back to what I call my second hometown. I wanted to meet my friends and watch the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Besides, my AMD and old age limit my activity, so I wanted to see whether I could still travel on my own.

On 16 October, I took the ETS to Taiping. It is a convenient way of traveling; there is a canteen, and you have a reserved seat. I need help finding my seat number, people are always very friendly. Bring a jacket; it can be very cold on the train ;-).

My friends Lay Chun and Kar Seng picked me up from the station, and after lunch at the CRC, they dropped me at the Furama Hotel, where I know the staff and always have the same room.

Near my hotel, there is the ruin of the former Majestic Cinema, which was destroyed by fire a few years ago. Being a fan of Urbex, I have explored the interior and wanted to have a look inside again, but a friendly passerby warned me that there were drug addicts inside, so I decided not to take risks.

Instead, I sat down for a while at the Lake Gardens, only a short distance away from my hotel.

Later that afternoon, I had a meeting at the New Club with Barry Teoh, the club manager. He had collected lots of information about the history of the New Club, I told him about my research regarding the fountain in the Lake Gardens. It was an interesting discussion, looking forward to meeting him again.

That night, I had dinner with Lay Chun, Kar Seng, and Young at the 83 Restaurant in Pokok Assam. I forgot to take more pictures, delicious food and nice company,

Back at the hotel, the reception told me that there would already be a procession for the festival, passing Jalan Tupai near the hotel, so I went to have a look. There are several temples dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods in and around Taiping, and they have their own procession. Notice how, in the top-left picture, the bearers sway the sedan chair to indicate the presence of the deity. Many colorful floats and music bands.

The next morning, I went to the Circus Grounds for CCF, one of my breakfast traditions. For many years, I always had a nice chat with the owner, Tong, who became a friend, but a few years ago he retired, handing over the stall to his son. It was an unexpected surprise to meet him, as he is now living in Singapore. He had come back especially for the Festival! I was actually too late for my CCF; it was finished already, but they managed to scrape together a last serving for me. It is nice to have friends.

I also met my friend Foo there, but only for a short while, because the procession was starting already, passing the Circus Grounds.

I continued to the townhouse of the Ng Boo Bee family. I had attended the festival in 2019, 2023, and 2025, always enjoying the hospitality of Teng Hin and Bok Kin. An offering table has been prepared in front of the house, where devotees in the procession pause for a while to pay their respects. I was very happy to attend again this year.

Here are two aspects of the rituals. Left a flag bearer is approaching the offering table. He pays his respects and then strikes the ground three times with his whip. The other picture shows a devotee, personifying Ji Gong, the Crazy Monk. A popular historical character in Chinese culture, he didn’t care about rules and regulations, wearing an unkempt, tattered robe, and he loved his Guinness Stout. He is popular with the poor and the sick.

The sedan chair carriers take a turn and run to the table, stopping just in time. Many youngsters take part in the procession.

In 2019, my first experience, I wrote a separate blog about the festival, the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, with many videos. This time I took only one. Notice the Kavadi bearers, the Hindu Navar Festival falls in the same time of year.

Several devotees have pierced their cheeks with a metal “spear” of considerable length. Helpers assist them when they have to turn or take a rest on a stool.

Floats, music, drums, it remains a fascinating spectacle, although it is less extravagant than in the past.

After the procession, I had lunch with the family at Soon Lee. Vegetarian, of course. In the afternoon I relaxed at the Raintree Walk. Several trees have collapsed on the road and are now a tourist attraction, supported by stilts/ Others have fallen gracefully to the other side.

Dinner that evening with the Ng family, Teng Khoe and his wife, and Su, the son of Teng Hin. Interesting chat with Teng Khoe about the fountain, donated to the fish market by his ancestor.

A night view of the Lake Gardens. The next day started gray with a drizzle, I was in a lazy mood and skipped breakfast.

My friends Grahame and Safina picked me up from my hotel for lunch at Kenduri Village, a nice Malay restaurant. And I had dinner with my “gang” at the M&M food court.

A night view of “my” hotel. The next morning, I went out for breakfast, on my own this time 😉

After checking out, my friend Neal picked me up and we went to his house. The first time we met was 20 years ago. We had an interesting chat about Taiping and the Taiping Heritage Society. He may be even more critical than I am.

We drove around Taiping a bit. He showed me that the town council is doing work at the Lake Gardens.

I asked him to stop for a while at what I have called the Shame onTaiping, a blog written in. 2013. Here is the Perak Railway building, recently damaged by fire.

A poster on the fence mentions a cleaning operation, but I could not see any difference. It is a nice place for Urbex, but this time I didn’t explore the interior (see my last year blog for photos).

Same for the Rest house, fenced off, but you can just enter freely.

We had a banana leaf lunch at Bharatha Matha Vilas, a nice South Indian restaurant, where I had a surprise meeting with Toh Puan Nori, the wife of the OBJ. Before Neal dropped me at the station, there was still time to visit the Pillars of the Residency.

I wonder who has put this nice, but useless signboard there.

The remains of the New Rest house (later the Casuarina Hotel) seem to be seriously haunted. Another signboard shows a drawing of how the former Residency may have looked like. It must have cost a lot of money, but in a forest, the design is almost invisible.

The conclusion of this trip: My reduced vision and my old age limit my activity, but I can still travel to Taiping and enjoy my stay there, because I have friends who are willing to support me. I am looking forward to my next visit.