Visit of Yolanda & Math

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In 1976 , at the age of 32, I became a physics teacher, and Yolanda was one of my first students. After she graduated we kept in contact and have been friends now for almost 50 years. She and her partner Math have been traveling all over the world, but never in Malaysia. Until this year, when they first visited Sarawak, Sabah and Bali, before staying a few days at our place in KL They arrived in the evening and after a beer , we took them to 1 Utama for dinner.

We bought an ice cream cake for her, as it was her birthday!

The next day I went with them to the KL city center (KLCC).

The park has impressive ficus trees, but of course the main attractions are the famous Twin Towers.

It was a hot day, so after a short walk in the park, we went inside the shopping mall, to the top floor, to my favourite coffee shop in the Kinokuniya bookshop.

I considered having lunch in the mall, but when I saw the crowds queuing for the restaurants, I changed my mind and suggested taking the metro back to Pasar Seni. Aric had mentioned a popular mamak, where we had a simple lunch.

After our lunch, we first walked to the historical city center, passing the beautiful Friday Mosque. Designed by a British architect and built in 1909. Now overshadowed by skyscrapers.

It was getting very hot, so we shortened our walk and took only a few pictures. Three architectural landmarks. In the left picture the former headquarters of the Federated Malay States Railways (1905). In the center the Dayabumi building (1984). The right picture shows the Merdeka 118 tower (2023).

When you are interested in architecture, have a look at this blog post: KL Heritage,

Yolanda and Math are planning to visit Taman Negara. Here she is asking information at a travel agency. The other picture shows a nice piece of street art.

It was my plan to finish the trip with the KL Mural Art. But I could not find them, only a few normal ones. Click here to see what we missed.

Walking back to the MRT station, we passed the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. We were back home around 4 pm for a shower and a rest.

We had dinner at our favourite seafood restaurant, where Aric and I are regular customers.

The second day of their visit, Aric took a day off from his laundry shop to drive us around. First we had breakfast, with Roti Goyang, soft-boiled eggs on toast. A favourite of mine, here the “shaking eggs” were put on garlic toast.

Our first destination was the Batu Caves. The temples inside the cave are dedicated to Lord Murugan, and his huge statue is visible from far away.

It is a popular tourist attraction, but also a place of devotion for Hindus

You have to climb 272 steps to reach the entrance of the caves. We did it slowly to protect our knees.

As we climbed higher, the views of KL became better, although it was a bit hazy.

Many long-tailed macaques are watching you, looking for food. Don’t carry it in a bag, they will snatch it. Almost at the top of the stairs there is the entrance to the Dark Caves. Nowadays, you can only enter on a guided tour. I was lucky to visit them in 2003 with my caving friend Liz Price. The Dark Caves, the first year I used a digital camera!

I have visited the Batu Caves many times, but every time, the huge cave with the temples is fascinating and impressive.

Decorations everywhere. The peacock is the transport animal of Lord Murugan.

Math is a tall guy, had to be careful not to hit his head. Both of us have a knee problem, so we very happy that we could climb up the stairs (and later climb down again).

The caves have a few levels, with Hindu temples. Sunlight enters through an opening in the roof.

After the main cave, we visited a few more caves at the bottom of the stairs, not much climbing required. You reach them via a zigzag bridge.

Many live peacocks and peahens. Two elephants guard the entrance.

The cave has many statues and paintings from Hindu mythology. An orgy of colours.

We skipped the last cave, only took a picture of Hanuman, guarding the entrance. Before leaving, we bought some peacock feathers.

Our second destination for the day was the National Art Gallery. It was my third visit, I lke the museum very much.

During my first visit, I found that the museum had a cafe, but I never tried it. This time we did. Not cheap but excellent coffee and nice food.

I wrote a blog post about the museum it with many photos: The National Art Gallery.

On the upper floor there was a temporary exhibition of digital art.

We spent some time here, creating our own museum artworks. Fun!

A very useful digital artwork at the entrance. The whole museum collection is on this wall, as thumbnails . When you point to a thumbnail, it will be enlarged with details about date, artist etc.

We went home after a tiring day, took a rest, and went out later to SEA park to an open air eatery, specialising in nasi lemak bumbung

The next morning Math and Yolanda left for Melaka.

Fraser’s Hill

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It has been quite a long time since I last visited Fraser’s Hill, and with the hot weather in the Klang Valley, it seemed a good idea to go again for an overnight trip. We stopped for lunch in Kuala Kubu Bahru at the Xin Yen Kee restaurant. Delicious udang galah.

I like the quiet town of KKB very much, and this time there was an unexpected surprise. As usual in Malaysia’s eateries, the toilets are at the back of the kitchen near the exit to a back lane (lorong). This lorong was decorated with mural art from beginning to end!

Followers of my blog know that I am skeptical about the mushrooming of mural art in Malaysia. But this in KKB is very well done, with several artworks depicting historical scenes. The old Kuala Kubu was destroyed by flooding in 1883 and 1926. In the 1880s Frank Swettenham was the British Resident of Selangor. And not so many people know that Selangor had a civil war from 1867 to 1874, similar to the better-known Perak War.

I took many more pictures, but decided to keep them for a separate blog about Kuala Kubu Bharu, because there is a lot more to tell about it.

We continued to Fraser’s Hill where we had booked a room and a dinner in Ye OLde Smokehouse. Colonial style in everything, stiff upper lip included.

As we had spent much time in KKB, we checked in a bit late, but in time for a High Tea. Nice scones, but missing the sandwiches. First, we sat down on the terrace.

But after a drizzle started, we moved inside.

Nice interior.

The drizzle soon stopped, we walked in the garden a bit, enjoying the evening breeze and the nice flowers.

We had ordered dinner late, around 8 pm. Not many customers.

From the colonial-style menu, we chose two English classics. I had Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Aric had Boeuf Wellington. Both were delicious.

Aric wanted to have a Bombe Alaska as dessert. although both of us had no idea what is was. Surprise! After the waiter had placed the bombe on our table, he switched off the lights, poured a glass of liquor over the bombe, and lit it! A nice mixture of ice cream, whipped egg white, fruits and more.Enough for 3-4 people, but we managed to finish it.

The next morning we had an English breakfast on the terrace. “Beef bacon”, not real bacon, the restaurant is halal.

Before leaving, Aric used his drone to take an aerial view of the Smokehouse and its beautiful green surroundings.

Although I have given up exploring remote, difficult waterfalls, I am still interested in visiting “easy” ones. The Jeriau waterfall is such an easy one, a half-hour walk, with only some stairs at the end. It is one of the few waterfalls where you start upstream of the fall and walk down.

Aric discovered a frog.

I needed to wet my feet before I climbed up the stairs, back to the entrance.

We drove back to the village. Fraser’s Hill is a relatively new hill resort, younger than the Cameron Highlands and Maxwell Hill, developed in the 1920s. It is located on the border between the states of Selangor and Pahang. Next to an old telephone booth, two border lines are marked, Left Selangor, right Pahang.

Here we try to stand with our feet in two different states 😉

The iconic clock tower is not really old (1989) but a popular spot for pictures. We had a simple lunch with roti canai and teh tarik.

On our way down, we passed a spot that was new to me, the Paddock.

Although there was an (unused) ticket booth , we could just walk in. There is a copy of a hobbit house, a windmill, you can ride a horse, and there is an archery range. Not really worth a visit. The sculpture is not modern art, just look at it with your head tilted 90 degrees clockwise.

Driving back, we passed a group of pig-tailed macaques. We took some pictures, but kept the car windows closed, because these macaques can be quite aggressive. An impressive alpha-male kept watching us.

On our way back, we stopped at what is left of the Gap Rest House. About 20 years ago I stayed overnight there. In those days, there was only a very narrow access road to Fraser’s Hill. There was a one-way traffic system, odd hours going up, even hours coming down. The Gap Rest House was a perfect stop for a drink or a meal. Actually, the Rest House is older than Fraser’s Hill, it was already mentioned in a travel guide from 1913. After a second access road was constructed, it lost its importance, was abandoned and is a ruin now. A pity.

Nowadays, the Rest House is almost invisible from the road, overgrown by jungle. Aric used his drone to take an aerial view.

The stairs leading to the building are still there, with a clear warning: Watch out for snakes. I wanted to have a look at the ruin, Aric reluctantly came with me, using my walking stick to tap everywhere. We didn’t see any snake.

The building is structurally intact and in good condition.

There have been renovation attempts, I have visited the building several times in the past 20 years and taken pictures of the decay. Maybe I should write a separate blog about it.

In 2011 I could still walk on the suspension bridge in front of the Rest House. Finally, another drone picture of the building. Notice the suspension bridge.

A few hundred meters further down the road, there is an Indian temple. Still maintained, the authorities should do the same with the Rest House.

One more waterfall on our way back to KKB, the Air terjun Semangkok .

As usual, a trip full of variety!

Gua Lepak

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In Malay language, gua means cave and lepak is a verb, meaning to hang out, relax. Gua Lepak, the Hanging out Cave, has a restaurant inside a cave. We had dinner there on 15 February after Aric had read about it on the Internet.

The cave is one of the many caves in the Batu Caves limestone hill, famous for the Hindu temples inside the main cave. This cave is a much smaller one, about one km away at the south-eastern side of the hill. See the GE screenshot. Notice how the hill has been encroached on all sides by urban development.

It was an interesting experience. We needed Waze to find Gua Lepak, located in an industrial area. Parking was no problem, maybe difficult in daytime, but the Gua doesn’t open until pm. Entering we first passed a number of food stalls, most of them closed, a bit of a desolate atmosphere.

Before ordering our food, we decided to explore the cave first. Walking down a few steps, we reached the entrance. Nicely decorated. Although the neon sign might suggest otherwise, smoking is not permitted inside the cave.

It is clear that a lot of work has been done to make the cave easily accessible, with (often colorful) lights everywhere. A smooth walkway, here and there, paintings on the wall. Near the entrance we noticed tables and chairs.

In many places the ceiling is very low, easy to hit your head. Interesting rock formations everywhere.

It is not a large cave, after a few hundred meters you exit near where you entered. In the picture you can see the steps to go out.

At the exit, just outside the cave, again some fancy decoration.

Near the entrance there is a Malay stall where we ordered food and drinks.

We entered again and found a suitable table. They had given us a number, so they knew where to serve us.

Service was fast, and the food was quite nice.

It was not crowded, but there were a few more (Malay) customers.

Back home, of course I immediately Googled for more information about Gua Lepak. I found two useful STAR articles, both published on 11 March 2024. In the first one, concerns are voiced about an eatery in the cave, because it might endanger the efforts of the Selangor state government to create the Gombak-Ulu Langat Geopark in the state. The newspaper article contains a poll where citizens can give their opinion. The second one is an interview with the young Malay entrepreneur who, with his family, is managing the Gua Lepak complex. He argues that the rock formations in the cave have not been damaged, only some mural art has been added.

Not surprisingly, the result of the polls (~2000 votes) was that a large majority was against the eatery in the cave, less than 10% was in favour. A few days later, on 15 March, the STAR published a third article, that the Land Office had issued an eviction notice and closed the eatery.

End of story? No. A fourth article in the STAR of 21 January 2025 wrote that the eatery in the cave had reopened, already in October. Repeating concerns about the Goepark After this publicity I expected that the Gua Lepak would be closed very soon again. I suggested to go soon with our UK friend Rodney and only three days later we visited Gua Lepak again.

The atmosphere was the same, not much activity. I had read that the manager and his family actually had a license to operate food stalls in front of the cave.

Also that they had plans to add more options for families and groups of friends to hang out and chill. Like a karaoke room, a surau, a game room, and even a homestay. That explained the fancy decorations in this part of the establishment.

Entering the actual cave, after we had ordered food.

There were a few groups of Malays enjoying their dinner. I think not many other races will visit this place.

We had the same food package as during our first visit.

After our dinner, we showed Rodney the cave. He really enjoyed it.

In the STAR article, the manager had pointed out that they had not damaged the structure, only added some mural art. Some of the paintings are very Islamic.

They left the structure intact. Another activity they have added is rock climbing.

My expectation that the authorities would immediately close the eatery again turned out to be incorrect. In a fifth article in the STAR of 23 January, it was reported that the manager had applied for a temporary occupation licence (TOL). Maybe that request had been granted.

A few weeks ago we went again, this time with our friends Paul and Fahmi. There were no other stalls open, except this one where the lady recognised Aric ;-).

We ordered the same package again.

After the dinner we walked through the cave. Mind your head, especially Paul.

Some parts of the cave have a higher ceiling.

The cave still has a bat population. Aric managed to take a few pictures.

A few more pictures. In the last photo we are standing outside the cave, probably where there can be rock climbing.

We will see how the situation develops. It is a nice location to visit with guests from abroad. With proper management, it could become a major tourist attraction in KL I would have voted in favor of Gua Lepak in the STAR poll 😉

A waterfall Puzzle (and more)

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On my 80th birthday, 17 April 2024 , a few of my waterfall friends surprised me with a present.

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A Waterfall Puzzle!


“How did you know that I like doing jigsaw puzzles?”. I asked. They didn’t, it was the waterfall that made them decide to give it to me as a present.

Actually, not only me, but all my siblings have been avid jigsaw puzzlers. In Amsterdam I had dozens of jigsaw puzzles and even here in Malaysia I still have a few, They are big, 2000 and 3000 pieces, the huge one has even 5000 pieces. Too big for me nowadays, if anybody is interested, he can get them for free, just contact me.

But I still like doing jigsaws. In 2020 I received (by post!) a present from my brother Arie and his wife Ineke, after I had visited with them the heritage building shown in the puzzle. Not an easy one but doable 😉 .

We even have puzzles made for us from one of our own photos, by a specialised company. Here is an example, a photo of my siblings and their partners at a reunion meeting, a couple of years ago.

And here’s another one. The photo was taken by my youngest brother Otto, and we asked him to make a puzzle of it. This puzzle still needs to be done.

All this to show that I come from a jigsaw family 😉

As I was going back to the Netherlands a few weeks after my birthday, I decided to take the puzzle with me to Amsterdam. There I started with optimism, a puzzle of 1000 pieces should be no problem.

The usual approach is to collect the border pieces first. The puzzle is of Japanese origin, high quality and the puzzle pieces fit accurately.

The next step is to select an “easy” part” of the puzzle. I chose the white region of the waterfall and discovered soon that even that part was not easy at all.

I used a few tricks, one is to spread out all the puzzle pieces, just doable for a 1000-piece jigsaw. The next step is to sort the pieces according to colour.

As I had many other commitments, it became clear that it would be impossible to complete the puzzle during my stay. At a reunion meeting with my siblings, I asked if anyone would like to give it a try. My brother Ruud showed interest, so I put the puzzle back in its box, the various colors in separate plastic bags.

When my brother Pim brought me to the airport, in June last year, I gave him the puzzle and he passed it on to Ruud when he visited him in Groningen a few months later.

Unfortunately it was getting clear that Ruud’s health, both mental and physical, was deteriorating. When I asked about the puzzle in February, his partner Jur replied that Ruud would not be able to do it. My sister Lous was willing to take over.

Then things went fast. On 9 April Ruud passed away, only 76 year old. The funeral took place on 15 April. I could attend it digitally via life-streaming. On a condolence visit Lous received the puzzle..

It was a hectic time. Two days after the funeral I turned 81 and the weekend after that was Easter.

That weekend Lous sent me this photo. She had started the puzzle on 18 April and finished it three days later. Amazing.

“What shall I do with it now”, she asked. These Japanese puzzles always have a tube of glue included, so the puzzle can be glued on a piece of cardboard and hung on a wall as a kind of painting. “Can you split in separate pieces and put them back in the box?”, I asked. Then I will take it back to Malaysia, put it together, glue it and hang it in my home as a kind of in memoriam for our brother.

She managed to do it. Here is the result. The puzzle is now waiting for me to be taken back to Malaysia.

What started as a post about a puzzle, given to me by my waterfall friends, became more personal. Although Ruud probably never touched it, it will become a memorial for him.

KL Lake Gardens

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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.

Machap and a housewarming party

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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.

2025 is a leap year!

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Before you start protesting, we are not talking about the Western (Gregorian) calendar but about the Chinese one 😉 .

In the Western calendar, a year has 365 days, but one orbit of Earth around the Sun takes 365.25 days, 6 hours more! To compensate for this shortage, an extra day is added (29 February), when the year is divisible by 4. As 2025 is not divisible by 4, it is NOT a leap year. Have a look at Appendix* f for more details.

MoonThe Chinese calendar is a lunar calendar, based on the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. One orbit takes on average 29.53 days. Therefore, a lunar year is 12 x 29.53 = 354.36 days, 11-12 days shorter than the solar year.

As a result the lunar year moves forward 11-12 days yearly with respect to the solar year. The Islamic calendar is doing that.

Does that matter? It depends, for an agricultural society it does, because a lunar calendar has no relation with the seasons.

The solar year has seasons because the Earth’s axis is tilted. Here is a diagram. There are two times when the Sun is right above the equator. Day and night are of equal length all over the world. They are called the Spring equinox (~ 21 March) and the Autumnal equinox (~21 September). Around 21 June, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, the Summer Solstice, when daylight is at its maximum in the Northern hemisphere. Half a year later, the daylight is minimal. around 21 December, the Winter Solstice. (Of course in the Southern hemisphere it is just the other way around).

I wrote “around” and in the diagram a few dates are mentioned. In Appendix 2 I will explain why the dates vary, although the events are fixed.

Another way to describe the location of the Sun, is by using degrees (ecliptic longitude is the technical term).. We start at the Spring equinox (0°), and go counterclockwise. Then the Summer solstice is at 90°, the Autumnal equinox at 180°, and the Winter solstice at 270°.

Can we also divide the solar year in months? Sure, by dividing the Sun’s orbit in 12 sectors, each of 30 degrees. Each sector corresponds to a solar month. It is what the Chinese solar calendar does. It introduces 24 Solar Terms, two for each month, one for the start and one for the center. It is called the Center Point of that month. (similar to a Full Moon day in the lunar calendar). Here is a diagram of the 24 Solar Terms.

The diagram contains lots of information, the names of the solar terms (in English and Chinese) and the approximate dates. When you are Chinese, you may find a few familiar names: Qing Ming (15°), Dhong Zhi (270°) and Li Chun (315°). More about this in Appendix 3.

To explain the lunisolar calendar, we need the dates for the lunar and the solar months. Lunar data( for the years 2005-2045) can be found here and the Solar Terms (for the years 1900-2049) are here.

Here is the info for the first lunar month in 2025. The link above gives 29 January at 20:35 for the New Moon. So, the first month of CNY starts at 29 Januarty. The next New Moon is at 28 February, so the last day of the first month is 27 February.

The Solar calendar starts with Li Chun (the beginning of Spring). Using the Solar Terms link above, we find the date for that solar term: 3 February at 22:10, so the first solar month starts on 3 February. The next solar term (Rain Water) is at 18 February 18:-0, so tne Center Point is on 18 February. I have collected the results in the table below. The first lunar month contains the first solar center point.

I have done the same for the next two lunar months.More or less the same but the Solar Center Point shifts to more the end of the lunar month (8 resp. 7 days). That makes sense because a solar month is slightly longer than a lunar month.

Here are the other months for 2025. Notice the month I have given a blue color.

As you see there is a lunar month that doesn’t contain a solar center point!. When that happens, that month is considered a leap month. It just duplicates the earlier month. The result is that a lunisolar leap year contains 13 lunar months.

Notice how after the leap month the solar center point is at the beginning of the lunar month. Each lunar month it will advance 1-2 days, so after 2-3 years there will be another leap month. Not necessarily the sixth month, like this year. See Appendix 4.

In the Chinese lunisolar calendar, a lunar month is a leap month when it does NOT contain a solar center point.

Appendix 1 About a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar

A leap day is added when the year is divisible by 4. This makes the length of a year 365 + 1/4 = 365.25 days. But the solar year is actually 365.2422 days, slightly less. Therefore, the Gregorian calendar has a second rule: when the year is divisible by 100, it is NOT a leap year; This makes the average year length 365 +1/4 -1/100 = 365.244 days. A better approximation, but it can be made even better by a third rule: when the year is divisible by 400, it IS a leap year; making the average year length 365 + 1⁄4 − 1⁄100 + 1⁄400 = 365.2425 days. More information about leap years can be found here.

Appendix 2: Why do the dates for solar terms vary, while the events are fixed.

Because a normal year is 6 hours short of a solar year, the solar terms will shift 6 hours! Take for example Li Chun. In 2025 it falls on 3 Fberuary at 22:10, but in 2026 on 4 February at 4:02. Six hours later, so next year Li Chun will fall on 4 February. Another cause of variability is the time zone system we are using on Earth. All dates and times in this post are in China/Malaysia time (UTC + 8). in that timezone the Summer Solstice falls in 2025 on 21 June at 2:42. New York is using Eastern Time (UTC-4), the Summer Solstice in that timezone is 12 hours earlier and falls on 20 June 22:42, one day earlier.

Appendix 3 About Dong Zi, Qing Ming and Li Chun

The Chinese festivalls follow the Lunar calendar , with three exceptions. Around Qing Ming (Cheng Beng) Chinese families visite the graves of their ancestors. `And around Dong Zhi, Chinese celebrate the harmony in the family. Li Chun is of special imporatnce for the believers in Feng shui. All three belong to the solar calendar, they don’t move around.

Appendix 4: How to find a leap month

You don’t need mathematics to find a leap month, just the tables for moon phases and solar terms as given above. Solar Center Points advance relative to lunar months, so we must find a lunar month where the Solar Center point falls on the first day of that month. We have to continue until 2028 before we find a month that fits that condition. Here is the relevant part of the table for 2028

I2028 will be a leap year, the 5th month will be duplicated.

A meeting with distant relatives

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A friend of Aric, Darren, has a big construction project in Genting Permai. A few months ago he sent us a short video of a monkey, picking up a piece of fruit, left by his staff on the grass near the showroom of the project. Here is the video, watch it. Look how carefully the monkey picks up the fruit, smells it and then climbs the tree to eat it. If you watch closely, you can see that it is a female, carrying a baby.

Actually, it is not a monkey, but an ape as it has no tail. It is a Siamang, a member of the Gibbon family. They live in trees, eat fruits and young leaves, and are an endangered species, mainly because of habitat loss. In If you have ever heard their loud and melodious “singing” in the morning, you will never forget it.

Darren’s staff continued putting pieces of fruit on the grass, and soon she got used to humans and became a regular visitor, bringing her family. Siamangs are monogamous and live as a family, in this case of father, mother, a subadult (?) and a baby. Recently Darren invited us to join him to the project. Here is a video of how the mother welcomes him, still carrying the baby. She walks on her legs, using her arms to balance. Fascinating to watch,

We had bought a big bag of apples, cut by the staff into smaller pieces. Here Darren is feeding the family. They are friendly, not at all aggressive.

Father, mother and baby. Note how hairy they are and how black.

Individual portraits

Note how long the arms are. And the fingers

Two more pictures, brightened up by Aric, to show more details.

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It was very enjoyable to feed them by handing over a piece of apple. which they accepted politely

I tried to feed the baby, but that was not easy, because the mother grabbed the fruit already, and did not share it with the baby.

Aric took most of the pictures. Here is a selfie. While we were feeding the siamangs, we enjoyed coffee and biscuits, presented by Daren’s staff.

When they had finished the fruits, the family went back to the bamboo grove, but kept watching us. There were still a few pieces of apple left, I walked to the bamboo, and the mother came swinging down, to accpet it, this time leaving her baby in the bamboo. Aric took a short video.

What a wonderful experience.

I have given this post the title A meeting with distant relatives. And that is true, because both humans and gibbons belong to the same Ape superfamily. Here is our pedigree.

The lesser apes gibbons) split from the great apes (orang utan, gorilla, chimpanzee and human) about 16-20 16 million years ago. That is very long ago, but we are still family 😉

One more drawing of our various sizes.

A Trip up North 2025: Ipoh

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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.

A Trip up North 2025: Taiping

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For a report about the first part of my trip, click here. After a cup of coffee with Paul and Fahmi, they went back to KL and I checked in at Furama. When I made a reservation for three nights, the reception told me that “my” room 201 had already been booked for the Saturday night. Of course I could have taken another room, but I I found a better solution. I like Furama, but for many years I I wanted to try the Peking Hotel, because of its heritage value.

So I booked Furama for the Friday and Sunday nights and moved to the Peking hotel for the Saturday.

Here is the Furama hotel and my favorite room.

After a short rest I walked to the Lake Gardens. Always beautiful and this time even more so, as there was no breeze at all, creating a perfect mirror.

A few more pictures, taken while walking the Raintree Walk.

The Raintree Walk was created a few years ago, when one of the majestic raintrees fell down in a storm and blocked what at that time was a vehicular road. The Taiping town council decided to make part of this road a pedestrian area, the Raintree Walk, a brilliant move. It has become an attractive place for both locals and tourists.

The raintrees around the lake are about 140 years old and have reached the end of their lifespan. More trees have fallen and are now supported by metal stilts. Here they are.

A few weeks ago a fourth one toppled and fell flat on the road. It caused a lot of commotion, because an oriental pied hornbill was nesting in the tree.

A few details. I thought it would be impossible to preserve this tree, but my Taiping friends tell me that it has been propped up!

Not all the trees fall on the road. Some fall graciously on the other side and stay alive.

What to say of this? An ugly eyesore for me, an added attraction for others.
De gustibus non est disputandum

After several days of Malay food, I was in the mood for a Western meal. I had a nice spaghetti with prawns and pesto at the Rainy Corner, near Furama. Read here the report about how the owner Andy and I met and became friends 😉 .

The next morning I had breakfast, the usual Chee Cheong Fan at Tong’s stall in the Circus Grounds, now managed by his son. Foo joined me and was willing to drive me to the Peking Hotel. That’s what friends are for 😉 .

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This is the Peking Hotel. It was built as a private residence for a rich businessman, became the headquarters of the Kempeitaii during the Japanese occupation. From 1965 until now it has been a hotel. Many years ago I had a look inside, it was a bit rundown. Now it has been renovated and it looks very attractive.

The interior with the lobby and the steep stairs to the first floor. The reception suggested a room on the ground floor, as there was no elevator. But I preferred a room on the first floor because of the beautiful design with the stained glass windows.

The room was clean, with a comfortable bathroom, but I was surprised that the toiletries consisted of three pieces of soap, no shampoo, not even a glass. There was also no water cooker, nor tea and coffee bags, no cups or spoons.

I went out for lunch to the nearby Peace Hotel, where I had a nice Char Keuy Teow (CKT).

Walking back to the hotel, I found a 7-11 where I bought a few 3 in 1 coffee bags. The receptionist said that there was hot water in the pantry. But no cup!! She looked in the kitchen and found a mug. So I could make myself a coffee, using the toothbrush as a spoon. Not a suitable hotel for tourists. Also too expensive at RM 140.

Later that afternoon I met David, a Taiping Heritage friend, at the casual market. We discussed heritage matters while enjoying a delicious “mountain” ABC.

I had dinner with my Taiping gang, this time in Aulong. As usual the food was excellent, value for money. After the dinner, I had an interesting chat with Suet Fun who is now the president of the Taiping Heritage Society.

The next morning I went for breakfast to the Casual Market. I have been there often for CKT with my friend George, but as I had it already the day before, I had wonton mee this time.

I had a look at the reconstructed market buildings. Brand new, well done. Have a look at my report less than one year ago, Taiping, April 2024, to see how much progress has been made, This was the market for vegetables, beef and poultry. But can it still be called a heritage building?

Now completely empty. Will the original occupants, now relocated in Tupai, come back? I understand that many want to stay there.

The Siang Malam, also empty. This was a famous food court. The hawkers have been relocated near the Dobi Line. Will they come back?

The fish, fruits, and pork market. Also empty. Two stalls have been rebuilt. Looks nice but I am worried that this will just show in the future visitors how the markets once functioned. Will the whole market complex become similar to Pasar Seni in Kuala Lumpur?

Followers of my blog know of my fascination with the two heritage buildings on Station Road, opposite the KEVII School. See for example my post Taiping Bandar Warisan from 2019,

For many years they were going down the drain, so it was a pleasant surprise that in March 2024 an ambitious project was launched to transform the two buildings into the Taiping Boutique Hotel., to be completed in two years.

One year has passed since then, the billboard with all the VVIPs is still there, but no sign of any work. The Rest House is fenced off, but a backdoor is still open.

The other building is also fenced off, But there is a small door to enter. The bicycle was still there , click here for the photo I took last year. , I am sure that somebody is living (illegally?) in the building. I decided not to trespass.

I walked a lot and got thirsty, so I went to the Ansari Cendol for a refreshing cendol. The price for biasa is still RM 2 only, I had the one with pulut for RM 2.60.

I checked in at Furama, took some rest and later in the afternoon Foo picked me up for a drive to the Tekah airport. A few months ago I found on the Internet a company that organises Micro Flights from that airfield. I contacted them and showed my interest. Not cheap, but for a Taiping fan like me. a must ;-). A few days before my arrival I tried to book a flight, but they were already fully booked for the weekend! I must plan earlier next time, now I only wanted to have a look and talk with the guys.

When we arrived, we were surprised that a small plane had landed. It was a plane of the Malaysian POlice.

A group of Special Force Police was flown in from KL for parachute training. \. Friendly guys, they offered us tea. I also talked with a guy who was working for the Flytrike company. He showed me the microlight aircraft. Fascinating.

That evening I had dinner with my friends Bok Kin and Teng Hin. They took me to a restaurant in Kamunting, , Yoong lamb herb stew , where we had as mainn dish , guess what, a delicious Lamb Herb Stew 😉 .

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After this pleasant dinner, we went for dessert to the Circus Grounds where I had a red bean soup. I often had my breakfast here but never came at night, so I was surprised that it was so busy.

The next morning I had breakfast with other friends, Yeap and his wife. A tradition, often we had our breakfast at Lian Thong’s restaurant, but that traditional shop had now been transformed into something modern. We went to a Mamak, where I had a good rava thosai instead.

I took the ETS to Ipoh, where I was going to meet Aric and Rodney. The train was full and took only 45 minutes.See A Trip up North 2025: Ipoh for the last part of my trip.