perak

Why I Always Come Back to Taiping, Malaysia – Stunning Lake Gardens & Cool Mountain Retreats

August 18, 2019 by Bino 8 Comments

There are times when I obtain the resolve to go somewhere just because of a picture that I’ve seen. That pretty much led me to Taiping, Malaysia; a seemingly nondescript town in between Penang and Ipoh. Taiping – translated in Chinese as “Everlasting peace” – is not a tourist town, with its claim to fame being the rainiest city in Peninsular Malaysia. This has benefited the town with an extremely verdant vegetation, the kind that even others from the tropics would envy over. As for me, all it took was one picture of the beguiling Taiping Lake Gardens, with its lush greenery and calm waters with almost perfect reflection for me to get smitten.

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Things to Do & Eat in Ipoh, Malaysia (2019) – Of Crumbling Colonial Architecture, Heritage Trails, Limestone Caves & Hipster Cafes

August 17, 2019 by Bino 19 Comments

Exploring Ipoh while on an impromptu heritage walk, I had my doubts on how such a sleepy town could actually be the 3rd largest city in Malaysia. Seeing Ipoh for the first time, I felt like I had stepped into a bygone era when people still traveled by rickshaws and opium dens were the order of the day inside the many Peranakan-style shophouses. The quietness of the old town’s streets coupled with the charming but crumbling colonial architecture only seemed to add to the allure.

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Majestic Kuala Kangsar – Royal Town of Perak, Malaysia

January 16, 2014 by Bino 1 Comment

Nestled in a valley with the Perak River meandering its way around it, the royal town of Kuala Kangsar is another one of those classic Malaysian outposts replete with grandeur and serenity. Cities such as Ipoh and Taiping I could consider as laidback, but Kuala Kangsar, despite being the place of residence of the Sultan of Perak, felt empty. It was as if the whole town was a museum showpiece. We were to discover later that this assumption was not so farfetched.

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