{"id":32961,"date":"2025-11-04T16:13:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T08:13:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=32961"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T02:05:31","slug":"taiping-october-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=32961","title":{"rendered":"Taiping October 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My fourth visit to Taping this year! The main reason was the 9 Emperor Gods Festival. But it so happened that my friend Lay Chun celebrated her birthday, and she invited me to her birthday dinner. On Monday, 27 October, I took the MRT and ETS to Taiping. The train was fully booked. And freezing cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the station I took a Grab to Hotel Furama; I always have the same room; it feels like my second home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I went out for my lunch and walked to the Peace Hotel, where I had my Char Kway Teow. After Lay Chun introduced me to this stall, I became a regular visitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A few days earlier, there had been heavy rain with flooding and evacuations in several regions around Taiping, but now the weather was splendid, so I decided to walk around a bit. One of the reasons I love Taiping is the mixture of beauty and decay. Here are two examples. The beautiful Peranakan house on Jalan Stesen and a ruin, which also has its charm..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I passed the former Perak Railway Headquarters (later the PWD department), which was recently destroyed by fire. The third fire in a heritage-related, abandoned building in the last three years. Very suspicious, in my opinion. More about the “Shame of Taiping” later in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PWD building 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rest House 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Majestic Cinema 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Before returning to my hotel, I relaxed for a while at the Lake Gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One month ago, Siang Malam reopened after the rebuilding. I was interested to have a look and when I mentioned it to my friends, they liked to join. Pleasant atmosphere, quite a big crowd. I had Wantan Mee, not bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 9 Emperor Gods Festival is held during the first 9 days of the ninth lunar month. The main procession is on day 8, and the firewalking is on the final night. In 2019, I watched the procession for the first time. Click here<\/a> for a report. I found it so spectacular that I came back in 2023 (report here<\/a>), so this was my third time. Again, I was the guest of Ng Teng Hin and Bok Kin, in the townhouse of Ng Boo Bee, Teng Hin’s ancestor..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ng family always prepares an offering table. When the procession passes the house, they stop for a while and perform rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are two short videos about the procession..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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