The Journey East

For quite some time,we have planned to go on a journey East to Kelantan. My wife has never been to the Eastern side of the country before so like all good husbands, I have promised to take her there.  However, due to other commitments this plan has been shelved several times.  This time around, we managed to make it a success and on the morning of 26 May 2015, at 9.00 am sharp, we took the first step and left home, driving towards Batu Kurau.  We passed by this picturesque and rustic building by the road before we took ar turn towards Jelai.  This building is just too pretty and so we just have to take a picture of it.  

  

There is a road sign to show the way toward Jelai and Pantai Besar.  If you are coming from Taiping, then just turn right at this junction shown in the picture below.   Yes, go towards Kg Masjid and not towards Redang Panjang.

From there on, the road is a bit winding and on the first half, it is going uphill. So for those who can't stand sitting in cars what sway from side to side, please be prepared to feel "seasick"..   However, as it was not a public holiday nor was it a weekend, there was almost no traffic on the road and we could move along quite fast.   This road leads to the Kuala Kangsar-Gerik Highway.  Not long after we entered that Highway, we make our first toilet stop at the Selat Pagar R & R.   It is on the left side of the road and toilets are reasonable clean. 

Walkway leading to budget chalets by the lakeside 

Fishing enthusiasts will rent these chalets

The bridge over Tasik Banding

From the Selat Pagar R&R to Gerik, the road is straight and wide.  But still there was not much traffic that morning.  At Gerik we make the second toilet stop at the Shell petrol station. While I filled up the petrol tank, the ladies emptied theirs. From Gerik  moved towards Jeli, on the East-West highway.  After half an hour of driving or so, we arrived at the Belum Forest Resort and Tasik Banding.  The view of the lake from the bridges was beautiful.  We stopped for a while to have a closer look at the lake and also to take some pictures.  However, bad luck struck me and I tripped over a root and fell.  The camera in my hand hits the ground and stopped functioning!   From then on, I have to use my mobile phone camera to take pictures for the rest of this trip.  The picture below is the last one taken by the camera before it retires.

   

After that incident and much chiding from my wife about how clumsy I have become, we continued our journey.  The road once again goes uphill till we reached the Titiwangsa R&R.  This was supposed to be the highest point along the East-West Highway.  The air was cool and the R&R centre was well maintained.  The toilets here were "not-so-clean" because they should be, after charging a person 30 sen per entry.   The refreshment centre - Amiza Titiwangsa - was nice and the food here was not expensive.

       The Titiwangsa R&R 

As the journey continued, we passed a few interesting landmarks.  One of which is a stone hill which stood out quite prominently in the midst of the secondary forest.  The second one, is a tunnel like structure built over the road, perhaps to protect vehicles from being damage in the event of some minor landslides.  These are things that make the journey more interesting and like what some people say - you will be amazed by what the unexpected.  

A tunnel-like structure along the road

The interior was quite bright and looked beautiful.

      This stone outcrop looks pretty.      

A few hours later, there were sighs of relief as well as sounds of excitement in car as we approached a road sign telling us that Jeli is just 11 km away.  

By 2pm we arrived at Machang.  We looked for a good place to stop for lunch.  According to my advisor, there is a place by the name of Nasi Kerabu Golok Kak Jah, along the main road of Machang, which serves good authentic Kelantan food.  However, as it was already late, there was not much food left for us.  So, we move into the next stall, which was quite crowded and still has a lot of food to offer.  

We stopped here for lunch.

We had nasi gulai ayam, nasi mangga, and nasi dagang.  

This was the first time my wife has tasted real Kelantan food.  There verdict - delicious, and more tasty than the Malay food that she had tried back home.   But she needed some time to get used to the presence of flies. 

Finally, we arrived at Kota Bahru.  Again, we find some of the buildings along the way towards the town centre very attractive.   Below are pictures of some of them:

A mosque near Kota Bahru

.This is the state education department complex.

We checked in at Tune Hotel Kota Bahru City  Centre which is strategically located beside KB Mall.  For food, there will be no problem for the hotel guests at all, as there is a cafe next to the hotel and a few good restaurants opposite the road.  Even within the KB Mall, there are fast food joints as well as a food court that serves a variety of traditional Kelantan food.  My only complaint would be that the hotel do not have parking space at all, and yet in its online advertisement, it states that one of the facilities provided is parking.  That is misleading.  Parking is outside the hotel at the public space and it is most difficult to find a parking lot during the day and early evening.  In addition, these are metered parking lots and we have to remember to insert the right amount of coins or risk getting fined.  The rate is quite high - at 40 sen for half an hour, thus the meter does not move when anything less than 40 sen is inserted.    Other than that, the hotel gave good value for money in terms of good service and good accommodation.

A view of Kota Bahru skyline from the window of my room

 The KB Mall that is just next to the Tune Hotel

After a rest for a few minutes, we moved on to explore the city of Kota Bahru.  First,  we went to the Royal Museum area and walked around to visit touristy-places that are located there.     

This is the Istana Balai Besar

This strong-room was once the Bank Pitis, the government's treasury.  

Istana Jahar

 Gerbang Sultan Ismail Petra

This is the handicraft village

Handicraft village

When we reached the Handicraft Village complex, it was already late and so there were not many visitors there.  In fact, I think we were the only visitors there!  Then, at the centre of the courtyard, members of a recording crew were busy preparing the set for a filming session.  This was when Martin Yan was spotted by one of us.  She got so excited that she asked the director if we could take a picture with the celebrity chef.  No problem.  So, here we are with Martin Yan.  Martin Yan is going around the country for his new series which will be aired sometime in September by NTV7.  I guess it was our lucky day.  We move to the famous Restoran Nasi Ulam Cikgu, next door by found it closed.  So, we decided to go to the Pintu Pong Night Market food court to have our dinner.   The details of food experience in Kelantan will be written in the next post on this blog.  Hope you will follow it. .   

Broken Glass-topped Security Wall

Long before the advent of cctv security cameras, there were walls with barbed wires and broken pieces of glass bottles used as a means to prevent unwanted intruders from climbing over the brick fence to gain entry into a premises.  This method of constructing a brick wall and then embedding the top with broken pieces of sharp glass is no longer in practice.  In fact, it would be very difficult to find such walls anymore.  Most for such walls have either been demolished or replaced.

This one could be one of the last walls in Taiping where the top is implanted with broken glass from bottles of different colours.  How effective was this preventive security measure?  I am not sure.  But, I believe that it does have a deterring effect on the would-be intruder.  Surely, they would choose an easier wall to scale rather than one with all these sharp broken glass at the top.  This is especially so when the operation is to be done at night.  Great care has to be taken so as not to get oneself cut due to carelessness.   Gone were all those large houses with such broken glass-topped walls.  Could be the modern masons no longer have the patient to break bottles and to place the broken pieces one at the time on the top of walls anymore.   With modern technology available, such practice will be a thing of the past soon.           

Another,Set of Wall Murals in Ipoh

In my earlier post, I have mentioned about wall paintings along the backlane in the new town area of Ipoh.  Then, a few years later, Ernest Zacharevic, was invited to Ipoh by some rich people to do wall murals in the old town area.  This is the same man whose works in Penang brought him fame.  He is also the one whose mural stirred up quite a storm in Johor Baru.   Anyway, in Ipoh he did seven wall murals and the main attraction to his artwork is that he can blend his painting with the real surround to make them look surreal.  In a way, it something like a form of three dimensional art.

Above, is a painting of a humming bird.  From afar, the bird seems to be trying to get at some berries from the tree.  Real humming birds are quite small.  I have seen them fluttering around trees, just like what you see here.  They will pick up ripe berries, fruits and insects while they hover in the air.

Talking about birds, here we have a young girl who is trying to get at the birds which are "caged" above the ventilation holes.  Ernest Zacharevic excels in blending real things with his drawing.  The red plastic chair and the bird cage are real while the girl is not.  I saw people coming to "help" the girl while posing for a picture.  

Not far from the drawing of the girl and the birds, is this giant packets of "kopi O" or black coffee hanging on the wall of a building.  Bring a drinking straw when you come, and then position yourself to "drink" from one of the packets. That will be an interesting trick shot.  I have seen people doing that too.

Because Ipoh was a famous tin mining town in the past, the theme of tin-mining is what this mural is all about.  The drawing depicts a scene of an old fashioned tin-mine and the old ways in which tin was mined in Ipoh.

This old man seems to be enjoying a cup of hot coffee.  This is no ordinary "uncle", he is the icon of the famous Ipoh Old Town White Coffee.  In fact, the wall belongs to the Old Town White Coffee restaurant.  If I've got my information right, the boss of this place is one of the sponsors for all these murals.   

Jalan Sanders, Ipoh

This is used to be the name of a short road that runs through the railway quarters in Ipoh, from St John's Road to Connolly Road.  Today, I don't know what it is called.  Even Google Map left it unnamed. The road sign is not there anymore and Connolly Road is now named Jalan Tun Perak.  According to Durai Raja Singam, in his writings on Malayan Street names, Connolly Road was named after  Dr RM Connolly, a District Surgeon of Taiping and Ipoh. Jalan Sanders used to be roaring with life and the field next to the road was a hive of sporting activities in the evenings. Today, it is merely a shadow of it former self.  The houses along the road are dilapidated and most are now unoccupied.

At the junction of St John's Road and Jalan Sanders, is this famous mamak restaurant known earlier as the murtabak restoran, but is now named Restoran Goodshed.  This is because it is located just opposite the railway goodshed.  That place is now the Ipoh inland port terminal.  Once, it was supposed to sell the best roti canai and murtabak in Ipoh. Today, the roti canai and its signature murtabak don't taste the same anymore.  Nevertheless, I read a food review somewhere, that it is still one of the top place to go for a murtabak in Ipoh.  In the 1970's a piece of roti canai cost 15 cents and a murtabak cost $1 only.

This is Jalan Sanders seen from St John's Road.  The old row of wooden railway quarters are still there. However, only a few of the rain-trees on the opposite side of the road are still there    The first house seen in this picture used to be the house of a carpenter, Mr Chong -  and his family. No one stays there now.

   

The first house on this block is No.107 Jalan Sanders. This house holds special memories to us. This the house in which we all grew up.  The original house number is not there anymore but someone has replaced it with a chalked written one.

A closer view of No.107. The front door and the windows have been nailed closed, meaning no occupies this house now.  However, as shown in the earlier picture, it seems like there is someone staying at the back portion of the house.  A zoomed in view of the side of the house revealed that there is a car with the registration number ADY 7278, parked inside the side entrance.  Why would someone want to occupy the back portion and not the main part of the house will remain a mystery.  

Bits of the past in Kuching

A short visit to Kuching, Sarawak to attend a niece’s wedding, gave me some time to roam around the city and look at things which are no longer seen over at Peninsula Malaysia, at least along the west coast.  When one talks about heritage, one usually thinks of old building and architectural structures and forget about the living heritage.  Living heritage are sometimes more valuable – it’s the old ways of life – which may disappear soon together with the last generation of practitioners.  Here, in Kuching, I found, much to my delight, that much of what has disappeared back home, are still in practice.  For instance, at the famous waterfront to the Sarawak River, old fashioned boats are still being used to ferry passengers across the river for only 50 sen per person.   That rate belongs to the 1970’s for a ride across a river in any kind of boat.   This kind of trade – as a boatman – has long disappeared in West Malaysia.  One just can’t earn enough to sustain a living, doing this. Modernised form of transportation and improved road infrastructures has made this form of trade obsolete.  

Talking of modernised form of transportation, I noticed that although new and air-cond. buses are now moving people around the city, the old-fashioned, open-windowed buses are still going around doing its public service, faithfully.  The design, the paintwork and even the seats are still the same for the last half of a century or so.  Of course, such buses are also still plying along rural routes in West Malaysia, but over here, they are very well maintained. Riding on these buses brings back memories of how I have to change stage buses three times for a journey from Ipoh to Penang in the early 70’s.  And, all those buses looked like this one that I saw in Kuching.

As a youngster, I used to enjoy ice-balls.  Those days ice-balls cost only 10 sen each.  They are made by pressing shaved ice into a ball, the size of a sepak-takraw ball, and then had red syrup or sarsi poured over and into it.  On a hot day, sucking the red syrup out of the ice-ball is delightful.  Now, no one makes ice-ball this way any more.  Then, you know what, there is this stall by the side if a road in Kuching which is still selling something that is so similar to our ice-balls.  They called it ice kantong. Same principle, shaved ice and then squeeze the ice onto a stick and pour syrup over it!!    On that  hot afternoon, it was selling like hot cakes!  The next thing that caught my attention was the tool the hawker used to shave the ice.  No one use such a thing back home anymore – it is a wooden ice shredder!  You just push a block of ice over the blade sticking out of a wooden stool-like equipment and the ice is shaved.  This was used by the cendol man, the ice kacang man and the ice-ball man, long, long ago over in West Malaysia.  This is what I meant by living heritage.  This man is doing it exactly just the way his grandfather did. 

         

Making Ice Kantong

Still using an old wooden ice-shredder

Backstreet Art in Ipoh

Penang is already well-known for its street art or wall graffiti by Ernest Zachervic.   Some are painted on worn-out walls while others are created out of iron bars within its Heritage Enclave . Recently, Johor Baru too, hit the headlines for its controversial wall graffiti. However, a bit less well-known to many, is that Ipoh too has its share of street art and came up with its own version.  However, the street art of Ipoh is only found on the walls along a back lane, between Hugh Low Street (Jalan Sultan Iskandar) and Hume Street (Jalan Masjid Panglima).  It seems these are the work of an art teacher, Eric Lai and his students.  Generally, they are centred around the theme of games children used to play and other common local economic activities which were carried out in the past.

 

This a drawing of a rice farmer riding a water-buffalo, which was a very common sight in the rural areas a few decades ago.  Today, not many farmers use buffaloes.  Tractors and modern machines have replaced them

 

This is a picture of a lady rice farmer carrying a sickle.  Again, this was very common in the past, but now harvesting is mostly done by machines.

 

A fisherman landing his bountiful catch.

 

Young men and their lion dance.

 

Another favourite hobby of young people in the past - keeping fighting .  There used to be a lot of fighting fish in the padi fields and the nearby ponds.  My cousin, Ah Chai, used to claim that the best fighting fish are those from the rice fields of Thailand.  They are the best fighters.  These fish just can't stand the sight of another of its kind.  The moment one is put into a jam jar with another, both will change into dark colour and fins, gill covers expanded. Watching these fish fight could be quite a experience for the uninitiated. Almost immediately, they really tear at each other, usually leaving the loser dead.  Do children of today still challenge each other to a fighting fish fight?  I don't know. I have not seen any children carrying fighting fish in plastic bags or jam jars around to visit friends anymore. 

 

Then, we have a Malay cultural activity here - kuda kepang.  This is a kind of hobby horse performance that is a popular form of dance in Johor.

 

A zoomed-out view of the back lane.  Notice the emptiness - unlike in the past, now there is no children running around, playing games and shouting at the top of their voices.  In the past, for most of the children in towns, the back lanes were their playground.   .   

 

An Indian classical dancer is depicted here.

 

Children playing hide-and-seek.  This was something we used to see at back-lanes, but not anymore. 

 

The children telling the viewer not to reveal where they are. 

 

Ah! So that boy on the left is supposed to seek the others.

 

Boys won't let the girl join them

 

Another common economic activity in the past.  Mining for tin ore.  Panning or dulang washing, as it is called, locally.

 

This looks like another old favourite game of chicken and the fox.  The mother hen is supposed to protect the chicks from the fox. 

 

Blowing soap bubbles using bottle-cap openers.

And, on sunny days - children used to cycle to the nearest stream or waterfall for a swim.  Their bicycles are on the left.

 

 

 

From the drawings I  get the general impression that the artist is trying to preserve memories of his childhood days on the walls of this memory lane.  Maybe he used to stay there. Anyway, it is a job well done, indeed. Let's hope he and his students will continue to add more pictures like these to the existing ones.   Like they say, every picture has a story to tell.  I'm sure, for every one who was a child in the 1950's - 1970's era, can identify with these drawings and will have their own story to tell to their children and grandchildren who otherwise may find these drawings quite meaningless. 

  

 

 

Bits of Bukit Mertajam in Taiping

This is the process of the unstoppable "progress" that a society has to undergo.  Sometimes bits and pieces of a particular community will undergo changes and disappear from the memory of its residents. That's part and parcel of progress and it is inevitable.  But fortunately, there are people around who like to  "preserve" some of these bits and pieces from disappearing altogether. So,  I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled upon bits and pieces of the old Bukit Mertajam railway station in Taiping town.  The old railway station at Bukit Mertajam has been torn down and has been replaced by a 'modern' one.   This is something which is happening to all the old railway stations on the west coast of this country  They have to make way for a modern double-track railway system. And, they are all being razed down and are being replaced by  modern ones, except for two - one in Batu Gajah, and another in Taiping.   I have often wondered what happened to the "remains" old these old landmarks?   Well, I discovered that the First Gallery in Taiping does have an interest in preserving such 'relics'.  So, they have brought bits and pieces of Bukit Mertajam old railway to their backyard.   I don't know if these bits and pieces will be re-assembled or not, but they are left there - safe from total extinction, at least for the time being.  The First Gallery in Taiping must be congratulated for acquiring these bits and pieces, which I am sure, are not wanted by Bukit Mertajam's folks.  Whether they are a gift or whether they were purchased as scraps, the First Gallery people must be commended.   They have preserved a piece of the past, which can no longer be seen elsewhere, for the future generations to see and appreciate.    

      

 

 

This is a part of the overhead bridge for passengers to cross the railway lines from one platform to another

 

The signboard that used to be at the old railway station

 

 

The overhead bridge 

 

 The interior of the overhead bridge.  The timber is still in good condition.

               

 

 

 

Will it be re-assembled?   Hopefully, so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once re-assembled, it may lead visitors from one part of the First Gallery to another.