Taiping Weekend

Last weekend found us ready to take our first drive over the Penang bridge to the "mainland" for a visit to Taiping, a small town about 1.5 hours from here known for its lovely lake gardens and a small zoo.  Chris had registered to run in the 21km Taiping Heritage Run taking place on Sunday and we had planned to make it a family trip.  So, even though he cannot run it, we decided to go anyway and support his fellow runners and explore the sites.
Taiping receives the most rainfall of any Malaysian town (there is actually a bookie in one of the hawker complexes that takes bets on the exact time rain will fall on a given day) and it did not disappoint!  Shortly after crossing the bridge, we hit heavy rain - just like home- and it drizzled pretty much the rest of the drive in.  We checked into the hotel and then met our friend Thuan for a late lunch - char koay teow, popiah (kind of like spring rolls, but not deep fried), chicken & rice, fried oysters and some teh tarik (hot tea sweetened with condensed milk....you really need to taste it to believe how good it is).  Chris can even eat with chopsticks left-handed now and Brenna is starting to pick things up.  That's the char koay on the banana leaf... not as good as the Penang char koay, but still good.



After lunch, we drove out to pick up the race packets and then around the lake gardens.  They were beautiful and it was really nice to see some open green spaces after the congestion of Penang.  We saw lots of brides and grooms in the gardens having their photos taken, families out for picnics and walks.  Everyone loves the gorgeous trees arching over the drive!

I loved this little pagoda with the crooked walk.  I read in a book once that the crooked bridge is designed to trap spirits or ghosts as they can only move in a straight line.  Not sure if that is true, but it's an interesting thought.



The morning of the race, we awoke to the sound of rain on the roof at about 4 AM (really miss that sound now that we are in a condo!).  It rained steadily until just before the race start at 6:15 AM, so was a long wet run for Thuan and the others.  It slowed to a drizzle and eventually stopped by the end of the race, allowing us to visit the zoo before it got too hot.  It was a really nice zoo with the exhibits well spaced and the animals all appeared well cared for.  We took a quick tour by tram first and then walked to a few areas.  Chris' range and stamina on the crutches are getting better, but he still can't wait to ditch them!


White-handed Gibbon

Malaysian Eagle Owl

These are just two of the different species we saw.  Will send more photos via Shutterfly to the usual suspects!  It was a nice trip and was great to get out and see some other parts of Malaysia. Can't wait to see more...