Taiping Trip (2023)

 After the movement control order finally ended in Malaysia in 2020, whenever I drive out to do some grocery shopping or send my dad to and from his work, I would pass by huge aging trees on both sides of the road. 

 

Last year, although I was appalled to see a few fellers chopping down rows of trees, I understand these trees had become a nuisance and posed a danger to road users, especially during the monsoon season. Many branches and some of these trees fell across the road, causing a massive jam.

 

“Mom, I feel very sad that these trees need to be felled.  These beautiful trees remind me of the trees at Putrajaya Botanical Gardens”, I told her when I saw fellers chopping down the trees in stages.

Some trees near the Putrajaya Lake at Putrajaya Botanical Garden (Toe Bean, 2019)

 

“I remembered when I was a teenager, a friend took me and a few friends to Taiping Lake Garden. I recalled trees similar like these growing on both sides of the road. The branches and leaves from the trees on both sides of the road merged and provide shade on the road. Have you been to Taiping Lake Garden?” my mom asked.

“No, I haven’t but I will someday” I replied.

Earlier this year, I visited Ipoh but somehow missed out on visiting Taiping.  After the trip to Ipoh, it was only then I realized that the ETS train also goes to Taiping, right up to Padang Besar in Kedah.

“Yoshiki, let’s go to Taiping after I return from China. I want to explore the famous Taiping Lake Garden and try the food there.” I enthusiastically invited my brother. 

When the right time came, my brother and I took the ETS train, this time to Taiping. 

 

Once we got out of the train station, a billboard advertising Spritzer, a famous spring water company that has a factory based in Taiping greeted us. I was aware there is an eco-park built by this company. Unfortunately, the park is out of the way, so we had to forgo the visit. I ordered a grab ride to Novotel, the hotel where we were staying for a night.

 

Novotel is located next to Taiping Mall and very close to Taiping Fire Station. Novotel is located approximately 10 minutes’ walk from Taiping Lake Garden (Toe Bean, 2023).

 

We stayed on the 13^th floor, room 1305 and it was nice that we were able to view part of the lake and some of the town area.

 The view of the lake, hills, and Taiping town. This picture is taken from our hotel room. (Toe Bean, 2023)

More views of Taiping town from our hotel room (Toe Bean, 2023)

 

After checking in, we tried to find a place to eat lunch but then we discovered most of the shops in Taiping close very early, and many restaurants or cafes close on a Tuesday, the day when we arrived.  So the choices of restaurants and or cafes were limited that day. We had a very late lunch at Yinn’s Pastries, a café that was once house a Chinese leader’s family in the community. The old house was then converted into a very quaint café.  The café sells very nice cempedak cheese cake.  Cempedak is a local Malaysian  fruit, similar to Jackfruit.  The food served there is nice however, the prices of food is similar to the prices in Nilai, the place where I am currently residing. However, due to the rise in food prices, I think the café owner has no choice but to raise the prices of the food sold.   

The ambiance of the old building at Yinn’s Pastries (picture above).  I had croissants with egg and avocadoes. The Cempedak Cheesecake tastes fantastic (Toe Bean, 2023)

 

After our meal, we visited Antong Coffee Mill, that is the oldest coffee mill in Malaysia that has been producing coffee since 1933. This area has a functional factory and a shop selling mostly coffee.   The factory showcases its coffee-growing, roasting, and processing methods. Other notable local products are the outstanding coffees of Ipoh and Durian Coffee.  My brother also recommends the expresso ice cream and cold expresso (packed in plastic bottles). 

 

Some of the interesting sculptures and deco at Antong Coffee Mill (Toe Bean, 2023)

 

It is also claimed that Sun Yat-sen's Hong Kong-born mistress Chen Cuifen lived in the villa, which houses the current Antong Coffee Mill office in the early 1900s when Sun Yat-sen was a revolutionary leader in China.

 

The villa that used to house Sun Yat-sen’s mistress in the early 19^th century. (Toe Bean, 2023)

 

After purchasing some coffee as souvenirs from the shop, we went to our next destination which is the Dataran Warisan Taiping. As we explored the area, I realized that Taiping is a very small town, the rows of buildings are built in squares, like most old towns in Malaysia that were once British colonized.  The only difference is here I could see a range of hills as the town’s backdrop.  As my brother and I walked in the town, there were many old buildings for example the schools that were built by the British colonials. There were even two shops selling newspapers in the physical form which is very rare as many of the newspapers have gone digital.

 

Some views of Taiping town which is filled with old colonial-style buildings and the range of hills as the backdrop.

Then we headed back to the hotel as thick, black clouds begin to gather.  It was not long perhaps ten minutes after we arrived at the hotel, it started raining cats and dogs.

Since there is a gym in the hotel, we used the facilities to work out before having our dinner at the hotel restaurant. The quality of the food served is superb and highly recommended.

 

After the workout, I saw a pretty rainbow. It was an awesome sight as I have not seen a rainbow for a long time ever since my visit to Desaru. (ToeBean, 2023)

 

The first thing in the morning the next day, I visited the Lake Garden.  Many people both young and old walked around the walking track around the lake.  Perhaps the community there should rename the Lake as Mirror Lake as the body of water reflected the surrounding, including the clouds, trees and buildings.  I immediately fell in love with the place. 

 

Some of the wonderful scenes at the Lake Garden (Toe Bean, 2023)

 The lake itself is not very large and it took me approximately an hour to complete the loop.  When I was standing at the entrance of the Lake Garden, I finally saw the aging tree that my mother had described.  Two of the aging trees that stood near the entrance were about to tumble down. Some environmental activists managed to persuade the local council not to fall the trees.  Instead, these two trees were propped up using metal structures and they are still standing tall.

The picture of the two trees being supported by metal structures so that they would not be uprooted. (Toe Bean, 2023)

 As I walked along the rainforest trees, I found myself ending up near Taiping Zoo. As I  was rushed for time as I had to board the train home, I did not visit the zoo.

At the entrance of Taiping Zoo (Toe Bean, 2023)

 

Overall, I find Taiping a good place for a person to retire.  The lifestyle in Taiping is easy and slow. I find the shopping mall in Taiping is half dead. The mall does not have any full tenants renting empty shop lots. Instead, there were many retirees sitting at the benches, enjoying the air conditioning of the mall,  away from the scorching heat.

Many shops close early and it is quite difficult to find food, especially at night. Yet Taiping is famous for its delicious food. Foodies love flocking to Taiping as their cuisine is said to be one of the best after Ipoh. Food in Taiping used to be dirt cheap but due to the increase of food prices, it is no longer the case although it is still relatively cheaper compared to food prices in Kuala Lumpur and Nilai,      

The town is very small, but famous for its beautiful hilly and lake views. Many tourists could be seen flocking to this area to enjoy nature especially the lake garden area and Bukit Larut, a famous hiking place for both local and international tourists.  I was told that the hike takes 7 hours to complete. Both my brother and I dislike hiking so we did not do the hike up the Bukit Larut trail.

Taiping is also famous for its history and many historical buildings as it used to be colonized by the British. So, many British colonial-style buildings can still be found in the town.

I highly recommend this place for nature and history lovers.