I really didn’t know what to expect when I visited Taiping, “a small city” located in the state of Perak in northwestern Malaysia. Not too many western tourists stop here as it lacks the flashiness and glamor of such tourist meccas as Penang and Malacca. Probably Taiping’s biggest claim to fame is being the wettest city in Peninsular Malaysia.

Shortly after checking into my hotel in Taiping sometime late in the afternoon, the sky opened up with a very fierce torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightening. It rained hard for all of 15 minutes before it abruptly stopped. It was like the last movement of a symphony and I was tempted to give Mother Nature a standing ovation. After this initial downpour, Taiping was relatively dry for the remainder of my short visit.

As one of the oldest settlements in Malaysia, Taiping is steeped in history. Walking around old town (downtown), there are many old colonial buildings and a little further out is the Taiping Prison and the World War II Memorial Cemetery. By far, the most outstanding thing in Taiping are the magnificent lake gardens.

The Lake Gardens is truly Taiping’s centerpiece – its reputation is justly deserved. I can honestly say that I have never been to a more beautiful urban park. Rising above the lake and the town are the jungle-clad highlands - located just 10 Kilometers away (and at 1100 meters above sea level) is Bukit Larut, Malaysia’s oldest hill station retreat.

Although Taiping has the reputation of being of a small town, it is actually a sprawling city of close to 200,000 people if you include all the satellite communities and towns which make up the metropolitan area. Approximately 60% of Taiping’s population are Chinese with Malays accounting for roughly 30% and Indians 10%. I was told that these three ethnic groups live for the most part in different districts.

In addition, a lot wealthy people from Kuala Lumpur retire in Taiping because it is such a peaceful and relaxing city, quite a change of pace from the hustle ‘n’ bustle of the big city. Most of these “wealthy retirees” have built rather opulent homes around Taiping Lake Gardens but they maintain a rather low profile.

This Traveler can honestly say that Taiping is the most pleasant city that I have visited in Malaysia. While Taiping may be unsophisticated and kind of worn & frayed around the edges, her inner beauty grows on you after awhile.

It should be noted that Taiping has some wonderful Gourmet Chinese restaurants including two that are completely vegetarian. I highly recommend Su Hean – the food was extraordinary, very cheap and 100% vegetarian.

I found out about a hidden monument in the jungles of Bukit Larut from a group of Malaysian hikers that I met along the road. With the help of a Malaysian guy who was doing some road repairs, I was finally able to locate the trail head and he volunteered to escort me on the jungle trail to the monument. See part I of story

Although a short hike of only 250 meters, one should not attempt it alone. It is so easy to get lost and the footing up the muddy slope is somewhat difficult as the trail is overgrown by the dense jungle vegetation. I found myself climbing over branches and vines; fortunately, my guide knew exactly where to step.

Of course, one must be prepared to “pick up” a couple of leeches.

After about 15 minutes of relatively strenuous hiking, we finally reached the monument. Partially covered by vines and jungle greenery, the monument commemorates the visit of Mr. Birch, the first Englishman to climb this hill. Engraved on the stone was the following:

“THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO CLIMB THIS HILL WAS MR T.W.W. BIRCH. FIRST BRITISH RESIDENT OF PERAK IN 1875”

The hill to the monument was later remained Birch Hill after the famous Englishman.

After returning to the main road safe and sound, I breathed a sigh of relief after completing this minitrek successfully without incident. Too bad that my all my camera batteries were dead so I wasn’t able to take any pictures of my expedition. Just the same, there was definitely a sense of exhilaration of having been one of the privileged few to have actually seen this almost forgotten monument – truly an important piece of Malaysian history.

While writing this blogpost, I did some research about this monument. It seems there is a discrepancy about the correctness of the inscription. An excellent report about the rediscovery of the forgotten monument and its context in Malaysian history (and the history of the state of Perak) explains everything.

Shortly after arriving in Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill), the historic hill station located only 9KM from the city of Taiping, I commenced on a hike to the electrical towers located about 3.5KM from my hotel. In order to reach Bukit Larut, you have to take the land rover shuttle in Taiping.

Situated at 1100 meters above sea level, Bukit Larut affords some excellent panoramic views of Taiping and on a clear day you can see the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The sunsets are simply spectacular.

Hiking up the narrow paved road to the towers, I met a group of tourists from Taiping - a middle aged lady and her three nieces - who accompanied me for the first Kilometer. Hugging the hillsides was the luxuriant green vegetation of the rainforest.

Nearing the power plant and twin electrical towers, I ran into some Malaysian hikers who excitedly told me about a relatively obscure trail off the side of the road that led to a monument dedicated to an old Englishmen. A gardener who was working on the road volunteered to be their tour guide and he escorted them through the dense jungle vegetation to the monument. Sharing with me some digital pictures of their mini trek fueled my curiosity.

Apparently few people – foreigners and Malaysians alike - are aware of this forgotten monument in the jungle. As I was intrigued by “this discovery” I asked them to give me more information about the trail. They warned me that although the trail was right off the main road, the signage was very poor, and the trail up the jungle slope to the hidden monument – although only 250 meters long - was difficult to navigate because of the somewhat treacherous footing. They recommended that if I found the trail that I do not attempt to make the hike by myself.

Continuing my hike, I passed the electrical power plant and started looking for trail. I must have wasted over 30 minutes or more trying to find the marker for the trailhead without any success. Just as I was about to give up and head back to my hotel, I sighted a Malaysian man who was working on the road. Sure enough he knew exactly where the trail was and volunteered to lead me to the monument.

Upcoming - The adventure continues with the treacherous hike through the Jungles of Bukit Larut to the Birch Monument

Walking around the Taiping War Memorial Cemetery was both a very enlightening and somber experience. So many young men – from late teens to early 20’s - died on the battlefield during World War 2 fighting for the Allied forces in the British Colony known as Malaya (present day Malaysia) against the invading Japanese Forces .

On one side of the cemetery, most of the grave sites are for Christian soldiers who died in battle (mostly British and Australian). On the opposite side of the cemetery, most of the grave sites are for the Muslim, Gurkha and Hindi casualties of war. Most of these soldiers came from India and Nepal - at that time, British colonies - deployed by the British to fight against the Japanese.

Looking at the various headstones, I discovered that the British used various Indian regiments in the war effort – including the many Punjab regiments, the Indian Army medical corps and the 13th Frontier Force Rifles. The designs on the headstones for the different regiments were very exotic, especially the ship with a serpent head used for the headstones of the 2nd Punjab regiment.

I can imagine that there are a number of Malaysians today of Indian extraction who can trace their roots to these heroic soldiers who died on the battlefield in World War 2.

Sometime after the war, the British pulled out of Malaya and the independent nations of Malaysia and Singapore were eventually formed.

I called my sister from Taiping, a city of 100,000 people in the state of Perak in northwestern Malaysia. Now most people with any sense of geography know that Malaysia is located south of Thailand and the whole country is very tropical, by virtue of being so close to the equator.

Now my sister is not ignorant by any means, having earned a B.A in Sociology from UC Berkeley and having worked as a social worker for a good part of her adult life. Furthermore she has traveled to such diverse tropical places such as Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean. Yet I had found it very difficult to refrain from laughing out loud, when my sister innocently asked me “Is it very tropical?”

I answered her in rather stern tone “Yes, Taiping is very tropical. It is considered the rainiest city in Peninsular Malaysia.” Excuse me for being such a smart-ass!

Funny thing is that it rained relatively little during my brief five day stay in the Taiping Area. Shortly after I checked into my hotel in downtown Taiping, there was a rather fierce torrential downpour with thunder and lightning which lasted a brief 7 minutes. And I loved every minute of it!.

Outside of this brief deluge, there was only some moderate rainfall - during day three of my stay, there was some steady rain sometime late in the afternoon, and on my departure day, there was some light rainfall throughout the state of Perak. Oh well….

I would like to share with you my favorite trio of restaurants in Langkawi, Malaysia’s most popular beach destination. Almost all tourists are self-styled restaurant critics. I am no different, except there is one caveat - I’m a vegetarian (97% vegan). While I’m not fussy, I am very conscious about the way the food is prepared - you know, minimal salt and oil etc. If the produce used in the restaurant is organic and grown locally, so much the better. Finding some decent vegetarian friendly restaurants in Cenang Beach, Langkawi’s liveliest resort area, was a little difficult as many of the restaurants specialize in the traditional Malay cuisine which is heavy on fish sauce, meat and seafood, however I did see a number of Indian and Middle Eastern restaurants that offered vegetarian entrees, and a lesser number of Chinese and Thai restaurants as well.

Be forewarned, there are some pseudo fancy Indian restaurants in the area, but menu prices looked a bit on the high side and judging from the lack of customers, the food at these places was probably mediocre at best!

My wholehearted recommendations are as follows:
**** Let’s hear the drumroll please!****

1. The Oasis Pub and Restaurant
   ****

   Located about 200 meters south of Underwater World, this small beachside café specializes in North Indian Tandoori and Western food. After sunset, the ambiance at the Oasis Beach Club is very special with large colored light bulbs and candlelights illuminating the outdoor dining area. Did I say romantic? At the Oasis, there’s a good selection of set Indian dinners – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian – and for Langkawi, entrée prices are fairly reasonable. The fact that I ate there two of the four nights that I stayed in Langkawi has to tell you something – the food was very tasty. Only negative thing that I can think was that the service can be somewhat indifferent.

2. Red Tomato Café
   ****

   Located just 50 meters north of AB Motel was RED TOMATO, this small rather eclectic café offers a variety of mostly Mediterranean and Western dishes. The ambiance is very tropical, funky and offbeat – a place where most western tourists feel comfortable and judging from the crowds that gather here for the early morning hours, this café is hands down the most popular place for breakfast in town. While I was having breakfast there one morning, Red Tomato was so busy that the Maitre-D was putting people on a waitlist. What did I have for breakfast? A large mixed fruit salad with yogurt and granola accompanied by some delicious organic coffee (not Nescafe, thank G-D) and a toasted baguette. Don’t miss out on their wonderful homemade bread and rolls!

   The European lady who owns the place is a little quirky, but her Malay husband, Oli - by occupation, he is a building contractor in Langkawi - seems to be a really amiable gentleman. He even posed for a series of pictures for me. I didn’t have a chance to make it there for dinner, but the menu had some decent vegetarian options including some delicious sounding salads. Service can be a little bit spotty though and prices are a little on the high side for Langkawi. In addition, their free Wifi is very fast - a lot faster than the service I paid for at the AB Motel. Soymilk is available upon request for their mixed coffee drinks.

3. HAROO
   ****1/2

   Owned by a middle-aged couple from Korea, Haroo is located on a side street directly opposite Underwater World. Haroo offers a very diverse dinner menu, but their breakfast offerings are rather standard - toast, eggs, hash brown and a small juice. The service is very good and the prices are very affordable. The one time I went there for dinner, I ordered a very delicious vegetarian curry dish, rice and a side of garlic bread. Hmm very tasty! The husband personally greets every guest that walks into the restaurant with a bow and a smile, while his wife mans the kitchen. Overall, this is probably my favorite restaurant in LANGKAWI as the husband and wife tandem are such gracious and humble hosts. Their daughter, who is very fluent in English, is quite artistic – see her tribute to chairs and coffee houses on the far wall. Excellent calligraphy. Highly recommended!

MALAYSIA is absolutely wonderful! If you’d like to get a feeling for this very exotic Southeast Asian destination, by all means check out my critically claimed slideshow video on MALAYSIA (available in high definition). The video is based on my recent 13-day journey to MALAYSIA. Highlights include Kuala Lumpur, the cosmopolitan capital city; Melaka, an historic colonial city with a mixed Asian-European pedigree; Cameron highlands, a popular mountain resort with many tea plantations and hiking trails; the last segment of the show will take you to the popular beach resort of Langkawi. ENJOY!

P.S. If you’re wondering what Selamat Datang means- well in Malay language, it means Welcome.

My body needed a tune-up after a 4½ hour trek into the jungles clad hills of the Cameron Highlands. It wouldn’t have been so bad except for an arthritic right hip which started acting up about 600 meters into the hike. Talking with other members of the small hiking group afterwards, it seemed that everybody had the same thing in mind – MASSAGE tonight!

Later that evening, I wandered downtown Tanah Ratah looking for a place where I could get a therapeutic massage. At the end of the strip, I found a massage shop that looked pretty respectable, so I walked in. After being greeted by the Mamasan, a middle aged Chinese lady, I told her that I wanted a one-hour full body massage. She quickly hooked me up with LULU, a rather vivacious young Chinese lady who had recently arrived from Beijing, China. Apparently Lulu was on loan to the Mamasan who knew her family back in Beijing. Even though Lulu had a very limited facility with English, I was able to communicate with her that I wanted a moderately hard massage. Now I have had plenty of massages (both body and foot) before in Southeast Asia – mostly Thailand - but Lulu’s massage technique was far superior to any massage that I’ve had in recent memory. She kneaded my muscles in my legs, shoulders, arms and upper torso thoroughly. Lulu was exactly what the Doctor ordered. She is what they call, a Natural!

After the massage was finished, Lulu escorted me back into the lobby. With Mamasan acting as a translator, I was able to have a conversation with LULU and found out more about her. When I inquired why Lulu had left her homeland to work in this small, quiet mountain resort town in Malaysia located a good 4 hours from Kuala Lumpur, the answer was very simple (and just as I expected) - MONEY. According to Mamasan, Malaysia was considered an upgrade from Mainland, China – the standard of living was higher, and most Chinese people could make more monies in Malaysia doing the same type of work. In Lulu’s case, she could make far better monies working as a Masseuse in the Cameron Highlands than in her native Beijing.

As a young lady of only 31 years, I asked her whether she missed the glittering discos, fancy nightclubs and bright lights of the big city. Shaking her head, she said no. Even though Tanah Ratah had virtually no nightlife, it suited her fine. When I asked her whether she had children or a boyfriend in China, she shook her head again, smiled and said no. Her plan was to stay in Malaysia for 2-3 years, make some monies, then return home. As it was time for me to leave, I thanked LULU for the wonderful massage and giving her a healthy tip and I told Mamasan (the proprietor) that I would probably return the following night.

I returned the following night, and this time around I had LULU give me a 1-hour foot massage. As she massaged my feet, she allowed me to take a series of pictures of her working me over. Again, she did an excellent job. Before leaving, I took some pictures of Lulu with Mamasan and her coworker just outside the shop. Since it was my last night in Tanah Ratah, I told Mamasan that I would return later and take all three of them out for dinner at a nearby Indian Restaurant. Mamasan said that she would be delighted.

Upon my return a couple of hours later, Mamasan apparently had a change of heart. She decided it wouldn’t be feasible for her, Lulu and her other employee to join me for dinner as she would have to close up the shop for an hour – she didn’t want to lose out on any potential business. No problem, I said, as I bade farewell to Mamasan and to LULU, thanking her again for her wondrous service. She was the best masseuse this side of Beijing, China.

STARBUCKS is a worldwide phenomenon. While traveling in Thailand and Malaysia, I was amazed at the number of Starbuck cafes in these Southeast Asian countries. In particular- Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, the capitals of Thailand and Malaysia respectively, are top heavy with Starbucks cafés. It seemed that everywhere I turned – across my hotel in KL and Bangkok (Ancasa Hotel and President Park), in fancy shopping centers and on the ground floor of large high-rise office buildings - there was a Starbucks. I really wasn’t shocked to find a Starbucks in downtown Tanah Ratah, a small tourist town in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. It even had a mock fireplace and an upstairs coffee-drinking gallery to boot.

Out of curiosity I checked online as to how many Starbuck outlets are in these countries. According to a 2007 census, Thailand had 132 Starbuck cafes, with Bangkok having the lion’s share at 72. In the meantime, according to the Starbucks Malaysia site, there are a total of 108 cafes in Malaysian with Kuala Lumpur leading the pack with 41. While Black Canyon is major competitor to Starbucks in Thailand; in Malaysia, Starbucks controls 45-50% of gourmet coffee business with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves a distant second.

In Malaysia, I found the service at the local Starbucks to be excellent (better than the USA) and the employees well versed in English; in Thailand, the service was very friendly but most of the Starbuck employees had limited facility with English. I must give props to Starbucks (and all the coffee retailers) in Malaysia, because they offered free WIFI, no strings attached. In Thailand, getting WIFI access at Starbucks was a real hassle as you received a complimentary 1-hour (thereafter you had to pay a nominal sum for continued use), but you had to jump through all sorts of hoops in the online signup process, fuggetabout it! I wish STARBUCKS in USA would take a cue from their colleagues in Malaysia and offer free WIFI and eliminate the gimmicky Starbucks card.

From what I observed in both of these countries, the clientele at a typical Starbucks café was a mix of local business executives and white-collar workers, the young University crowd with deep pockets along with tourists and expats. For Thais and Malaysians, having a Cappuccino, an Iced Caramel Macchiato or any one those fancy designer coffee drinks represents a real splurge as the prices are almost the same as in the United States. Please consider that the standard of living and the average salary is considerably higher in the USA, and the cost of one large cappuccino ($3.00 -3.40USD) will buy you a decent dinner at a local restaurant in both Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Apparently, having coffee at Starbucks confers a measure of status with the locals. Yes, Starbucks is Huge in Thailand and Malaysia - such is the way of the World.

Coming up, the Starbucks Index.

I have just published on YOUTUBE my long awaited, critically acclaimed slideshow video on MALAYSIA. This is my 12th travel production that I have put up online and I really believe that Malaysia Farewell ranks as one of my best efforts to date. It is simple and straightforward - the pictures and the music carry the story as there is minimum text. Unlike my prior shows on YouTube*, this will be first one in High Definition. Selamat Datang!

I guess you’re probably wondering who has reviewed Malaysia Farewell – besides Jerry, an old family friend and yours truly, no one else – let it be known though that I am my own harshest critic. My rating for this home production using ProShow Gold V4.0 is 8.5 on a scale of 1-10. I really don’t want to toot my horn anymore, but you must view this latest effort - it is that good!

The video is based on my inaugural 13-day journey to MALAYSIA in November/December 2008 and is intended to be an introduction to this very tropical and exotic destination located just south of Thailand. Highlights include Kuala Lumpur, the cosmopolitan Capital; Melaka (Mallaca), the historic colonial city with a mixed pedigree of Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese Heritages located just 2 hours south of KL; Cameron Highlands, a popular hill resort about 1 mile above sea level with sprawling tea plantations covering the hillsides and a popular locale for jungle hikes; last but not least, the final segment features Langkawi, probably the most popular beach resort in Malaysia and a decent dive destination as well.

Just a couple of notes (and anecdotes) before you view the show. The footage on Kuala Lumpur is very scanty as I was there for only a brief 2 nights/1 day, just long enough to pack and unpack. The section on Melaka is the biggest chunk of the show as there are tremendous photographic opportunities in this UNESCO World Heritage Site including China Town, the colorful night bazaar, old forts and a hybrid culture and architecture that is reflective of Melaka’s colonial past (both Dutch and Portuguese). In Melaka, there is definitely a clash between the Old vs New (and East Vs West) as evidenced by the proliferation of modern shopping centers, new condominium complexes and luxury resorts in addition to manifestations of Western Culture - KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, McDonalds and the like. Finally in Cameron Highlands, where I stayed for 5 days/4 nights, I have omitted gruesome images of THE WOUND, an injury I suffered on the top of my left hand while hiking through the jungle in search of the legendary Jim Thompson.

*Also see Streets of Bangkok

As usual, I have one cameo appearance in the show and there is one rather comical moment! ENJOY!