124. TOUCHING BASE WITH MALAYSIA

Time to touch base with where I was born and grew up in but contented these days to watch developments from afar.

Soon, I shall go up North again, back to Kuala Lumpur for a night before heading towards Ipoh.

This faux French hill resort provides a cool respite for those escaping the heat of the lowlands. It's an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur so most day trippers were from that city, few stayed over unless they were from out of town. The place was quiet when I spent the night there and I suspect suffers from a lack of patronage. Just very recently, a local tycoon put in a request to operate a casino here, my guess is - he will succeed...

This square is called Cheval - French for horse - so for good measure, some colourful equine sculptures were added...

 Lit up like a fairyland...

At this noodle making factory in Kluang, Johor, this chap has built up a strong pair of legs if this is what he does every day to knead the dough. It's certainly a novel way of doing it and it makes for firm chewy noodles. The wooden pole does the kneading job as he hops about on one leg - providing the entertainment ...

The state of Johor receives a large number of Singaporean visitors who spend millions. Everything there seems targeted at Singaporeans - their shops, entertainment, private residential and commercial properties...

Kukup thrives on its many fish farms. The nicest thing I note is - the numerous mangroves around this fishing village, left to grow organically...

The motley bunch sailing on the good 'ship' Lollipop in this dirty smelly fishing village called Kukup. The dirt and fishy smells hasn't changed. What has changed is - the place now has a busy jetty serving Indonesian human traffic from some islands not too far away resulting in a huge influx of migrant labour to the State of Johor.

Kukup used to be really rustic with homes built out into the water on stilts. All homes were connected by a planked bridge and one walks through looking into their homes, doors and windows were always opened - once again, I note as I revisit small towns and big cities in Malaysia after a lapse of several years, the changes aren't for the better at all......my heart is heavy as I note the degradation of the environment and how many people are very likely no more the original inhabitants of that town, except for perhaps for those in the more isolated areas or landlocked towns...

It feels strange to eat durians with gloves on. This was breaky with fried noodles and fried eggs, finished off with mangosteens and excellent 'real' coffee which only small roadside coffeeshops in small Malaysian towns do so well. The flies added to the rustic cultural experience! What a combination of food items!

Very few SE Asian cities inspire me. As I walked around Kuala Lumpur's city center, I'm more attracted to its older colonial buildings than its modern, shiny skyscrapers...

This National Monument in Kuala Lumpur, when first erected to commemorate WW2 in old Malaya, drew flak as the features of the figures and their uniforms were more Caucasian...

This is the former railway station and HQ. It has several rooms for rent and I've had had occasion to stay in there. It has an old world charm albeit tacky. On this trip, I'm told by the driver, it's haunted - I told him I didn't bump into anything along its dim corridors but after that revelation, don't think I'll spend any nights there...my best memory of it is this old style lift with a collapsible door and a staff member accompanies guests in it...the old Raffles Hotel in Singapore had the same lift way back when...

The retro art deco minaret of the National Mosque...

This lovely old fountain was a gift from Queen Victoria...

While others gawked at the Petronas Twin Towers, I was more interested in admiring this wall which circled a condo. It was so simple so brilliant...so effective...

...and of course, signs like these always catch my eye...

 

Stylish outside, spooky inside...but such a lovely old building with so much character and history. It's unlikely I'll travel this way again to the Cameron Highlands. My next place to check out will be Ipoh, further up in the North West...

The rooms in this Tudor style inn were quite spooky - note the reflection in the mirror with a bright light! Unused rooms were gloomy, doors and floorboards creaked, dim corridors, lights flicker...

A place that still stands after all those years so very long ago - when as a Girl Guide in school, I had visited this school in Tanah Rata, which had an infirmary nearby where we visited the patients and sang to them...

To the manor born...

What's more English than Devonshire tea with clotted cream and strawberry jam in an English country garden setting...?

St Augustine very likely did his travelling on horseback, donkey and camel but at least he was right about the world being an excellent classroom. Even if one is unable to travel to distant lands, the neighbourhood will do nicely...

Last laugh...