Old Colonial Fun.....Taiping

Serenity and peace are what most of us sought for as we continue our arduous life walk each day and yet, sometimes, these two values are so real and near to us if we take the time to plan for a short trip,actually. I will always be grateful  to my sister, Lee Lee for taking the time to take us to a trip to Taiping during the last holidays. It was at this time that I realized how good it is to have family and places to go to relax the body, mind and soul. Technically, only GOD gives us that comfort but He certainly will put the right people in our path to strengthen us and to show us the beauty of his Creation.

I must admit too that my sister, Lee Lee was as drained out as I am but she is such a strong character and a good hearted woman. I love her for her talent in cooking ( she inherited much of it from mom! ) while making us all feel at home when we are down in Penang for a break. This time, she planned a trip for us to go to Taiping and Larut/Matang. It was truly a great outing and one that we enjoyed very much.

That early morning, Soon Ling, SYuen, Felicia, Molly, Lee Lee and myself took our travel down to Taiping. It was a bright and sunny morning. The fellowship was awesome and there was much laughter around. Our first destination – Taiping Museum. As I have been to Taiping Museum before, it wasn’t a real surprise for me but it was always a welcome site for me. Afterall, I am a sucker for museums, actually. We posed for pictures and had a lot of fun in the museum. We also got to see the renovated top floor for the Orang Asli artifacts which was interesting indeed.

 

With slight stomach rumblings and an ever ready storage, Taiping Food Court was our second destination. Upon arrival at the food court, I immediately sought out the big leaf char kueh teow ( fried flat noodles ) but the uncle was nowhere to be found. Instead I was told of a certain stall number that sold the best Taiping char kueh teow and I readily tried. I must admit that it was different than what I used to taste but it is alright, really. Then it was coffee and ban cheng kor or apam balik Taiping style. Now, this one was differently good as the combo of peanuts, sugar and jagung (maize) made it all a succulent treat. Drown down with a cup of kopi peng ( iced coffee ), it was pure heaven! Luckily, the pig stomach soup stall was closed or else we would have gobbled that up too. Yeah, yeah, must have sounded barbaric to foreigners who are not accustomed to our way of eating but they are far better than fried chicken and hamburgers,ok?

Armed and filled with food and drinks, we were off to Taiping Lake Gardens…. What serenity and peace. The scenery by the lake was awesome and inspiring. I guess, I could sit here all day and do absolutely nothing but paint a picture of it. It was so…….calm, peaceful and quiet. The occasional water break on the surface of the calm waters by the fishes are the only disturbances you can find. Other than that, it was so peaceful. We took lots of photographs there and it was just so heartwarming to see everyone having a good time- laughing and resting, I guess. Reminding me of Saturday afternoon Hindustani movie love scenes! After all the fantasy and posing were done, we snapped back to reality and we were off to our next destination. 

We are off to charcoal factory in Kuala Sepetang. Now, this was an interesting place as far as I was concerned as mangrove trees are cut and used as charcoal. It was interesting to see the huge kilns used in charcoal making process. I was told that it took several hours and days for the production of good charcoal. Yeah, I managed to see how a worker sealed the entrance of the kiln after filling it up with sawn mangrove wood. Never knew there was such a market for charcoal! 

We, Malaysians, are one helluva unique people lar! If we can sell charcoal to foreign tourists, we are really champion one lar! We then moved on to Kuala Sepetang village to get some dried ikan bilis ( anchovies ) and some fish stuff while I wandered off and got us some prawn crackers and some drinks to counter our rather heaty day! That day, we declined the offer to take a boat ride to feed the eagles as we were really on a short trip and it was blistering hot that day. Maybe, we shall feed the eagle some other days. From here , we travelled back to Taiping to get the green mee koo buns from Plaza Perbandaran Taiping!

Haiyooh, it was just some colored plain buns which seemed to be the talk of the town. In fact, many would recommend that this mee koo bun be eaten with crab curry and all types of gravy like dishes and it taste heavenly wor…… So, we jammed pack our car with mee koo buns and it was hilarious as we try fitting the buns in the car. I wouldn’t know if the buns stayed as buns or became head rest and pillows for the passengers…..hahahahahhahahahahahaaaaaa……..Honestly, the mee koo buns tasted really good when I tasted one the following morning for my breakfast. 

Now, we are off to our next destination – Trong Leisure Farm & Resort. I guess, we were told that it would be fun being here but silently, I was thinking to myself, “ how much can you do at a duck farm, right ? “ Well, for starters, it was obvious that the lake with pedal wheel boats were an immediate attraction. Secondly, I love to eat ducks! And, this is the place for good duck dishes. Indeed, before we go onto our duck farm exploration, we had an early dinner  of pipa duck and one more special duck dish together with some vegetables and tofu. Wow! It was a nice meal and I really enjoyed that very much.

After the meal, we travelled by a bulldozer and attached cabin seat transporter and taken into the duck farm area. Well, the ladies chased the ducks, played with the ducks and fed the ducks. It was a wonderful experience plus you need to stand the smell of what’s coming out from the duck’s end. The white colored ducks were everywhere while the brown colored ducks were located at the right side of the farm. There are two huge fish ponds available in the farm and so far they are not opened to the public. I was told that the ducks were mainly readied/prepared for the export and local market while foie gras were also prepared here for export too. Interesting indeed. I imagined myself having a plate of duck liver parfait or duck liver pate or even foie gras with garlic laced bruschetta and some greens! Mamma mia! That would have been heavenly, huh?

Well, we cut short our duck feeding and headed to the lake to do our boat ride. Yeah, somehow, the yellow duck boat seemed so alluringly penchant to be rode on. It was fun riding it but with an old man like me, it was like huffing and puffing  plus pure MZ11 ( the legs lar ) power. The best part - no one in the boat fell off the boat nor did the boat turned turtle! That’s the good part. Everyone seemed happy enough and had a full day indeed.

On the way back, it was the quietest ride ever with occasional musical nasal notes being hit at the lower and higher end of the pitch. All in all, it was a great day of travel and I know that it was really fun. I really cherished the times spent not forgetting our “shopping spree” too. It was so much fun and a good time of fellowship with Felicia and Molly ( Felicia’s mom – truly an awesome and fun lady!)

That evening as Joa Wee unraveled the packed pipa duck, he asked “ So, was it a good day?”. I just smiled and replied, “ It was an awesome day, son. Awesome day!” There was no other words best described the day, actually.

Chronicle of a day's work......

Today, the day started well enough for me after my daily roti canai, teh tarik and fellowship with my buddy, Errol Gan. Somehow, the day did not turn out to be well enough as the drama of the day unfolded. Not that I am superstitious or any of that sort but somehow, my tempers flared, anger consumed me , my mind got distorted and my disposition just went down south and all wrong. So , how could a day that started out well, ended up as messed up and then back to being well again? I guess, God works in a mysterious way,huh? Don't get me wrong. I am a firm believer in my GOD , it is just that I am flawed, man.

Well, it all comes down to the fact that it is still " This is the day that the Lord had made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." I guess, today is one of those days when things don't get good as the day progressed. I guess, I got out of the mid-day with not the right spirit at work and somehow, I just got mad at people at work and some things that happened in the office. It has been a long time that I've felt down over the days and the ridiculousness of things happening at work whereby unhappiness, bad work ethics and unfairness had slipped in. It seemed so ridiculous but somehow, people put up with it all for the sake of "not rocking the boat" and "stay at peace." I am constantly reminded of how I should act and react for the day lest I stand accused of "going against the grain". 

Anyway, I picked up two works today and my misery started as I was looking for my first place of work. I was driving round in circles as the client did not give me an accurate address. In the blistering heat of today, the heat and weather can fry your brains!  It took me nearly two hours to figure out and endless driving seeking the place. When I finally got there, it was hard work and fielded a lot of questions. The place was sooted, stuffy and no electricity supply. Glass fragments were everywhere but luckily, I was already wearing safety boots for work. Just when I thought the day couldn't get worst, it DID! The second job was also a horrendous pitch dark, stuffy and no electricity supply place. Double whammy this time! 

Then, the inevitable happened. I had a slip and fell to the ground like some rotten cempedak ( jackfruit) ! I landed on my bums and luckily, I cushioned the fall with my right hand while still holding the company's  iPhone while taking pictures. My elbow hurts while my bum landed on a pile of chili flakes, chili paste,  turmeric powder and grounded poppy seeds. I could have sworn that the client tried helping me out but not reaching out his hands as my right arm was covered with chili flakes and paste! He probably just sympathized but not really reaching out his hands. It was as though he didn't want anything to do with me. Worst of all, he called me "uncle" and he was almost as old as I was! Rats! I tell you , it was hilarious sight, actually. I fell swat like some fat ass idiot on the floor covered with chili flakes, paste, turmeric and grounded poppy seeds ( kas kas as they are known ). 

As I picked myself up from the fall, I could have sworn that the Nepali workers were smiling and choked up their laughter seeing a wide Chinaman fall swat on his ass! Gosh, it was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to me. "Really, Ivan?" was all I could tell myself. So, here I am with my pants ( back section ) covered with the chillies and what not while the most significant embarrassment of all, my ass was virtually on fire and hot because of the chili flakes /paste juices. Boy, not just the cheek of the bums were on fire ; so were the thighs, inner thighs and nuts too, if you get the drift! So, here I am , steadying myself, trying to do my job the best I could, finished it  and then went to the toilet for some washing up. I was touched when the Nepali workers used toilet papers and cloth to help me clean up but I do smell like chili paste, man! Like some pork chops marinated with chili paste and ready for some BBQ grille! Worst still, I realized that the Nepali workers were in their slippers and they did not fall while I, who was on safety boots,fall mercilessly on my ass! Oh! How bad can the day get, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh all you want but it wasn't funny for me as the pain and the burning sensation are real, man. Then the proprietor told me that they do use a lot of bird's eye chilli ( cili padi ) for their paste formula and it doesn't take a genius to guess where the burning sensation is coming from and how long it is going to be! Yeah, yeah, very timely of him and the irony to inform me of their secret formula paste! My God, I would have to take the shame and pain for quite some time! Nope, I did not walk bow-legged as I was very composed about the entire episode. I stayed dignified, calm and composed but smell like chili paste for sure. Luckily, I have some PP banner at the back of my car and I laced it over the front seat. At least, I won't stained the car seat. 

As I drove back home, I was just laughing at myself. What turned out to be a horrendous day was actually a real silly day for me. At least, I could laughed at myself and be at ease with my heart. When I told Soon Ling, my the other half, she laughed too and told me to see if we could save the pants tainted with chili paste! Yeah, I love that pants as it was comfortable though it wasn't an expensive one. By the way, all my work clothes are inexpensive but comfortable. 

I realized that with the medical condition, I could have died by the fall or worst still, could have knocked my head against the plastic pallets and die. Now, that illustration wouldn't look nice of my tombstone tablet, isn't it? Imagine, " Here lies, Ivan Foo, beloved husband, father and son,  the one that fell on his ass while at work and DIED! " Sounds corny, right? So, I am ever thankful that I did not sustained any serious injuries nor had any broken bones nor fractures! Maybe, just a bruised ego and a very hot...... ass!

Just be thankful for whatever day you are having. Be thankful that there is breath in your lungs and you are ALIVE just as I AM! Sure, a bruised ego and a string of abusive laughter but nevertheless, it is still a good day to be ALIVE!