Treasure Hunters

Now that the whole birthday thingy is over, reality has kicked in... hahaha. I'm now in Penang for my brother's graduation. I started my journey on Wednesday morning. The whole day was spent driving...

(drove until the steering wheel cover also torn)

driving... (with a slightly better view)

and... driving (picture paints a thousand words... hahaha)

We broke journey in Taiping in my aunt's place to meet up with my beloved grandma. She had a fall earlier this year and had to go through an operation. She was in Kluang with my mum for some time before she moved in together with my aunt for a couple of months. I missed my grandma a lot. She's awesome!

My grandma has a tattoo... check it out! See the green markings on her hand? That is an old school tattoo! They are more happening than what we make them out to be. But she didn't like my latest haircut though. Hahaha. Her hair is all-white, her eyebrows are white... Snow White but we (my bro and I) aren't even close to dwarfs!

My bro and I got up on Thursday morning thirsty for an adventure... actually, more like I was thirsting for one. We decided to go check out the historical sights of Taiping since we are both historical buffs.

Our first stop: THE OLD CLOCK TOWER

Sitting at the heart of the town, this magnificent clock tower was originally built with wood and had gone through much renovation during the years.

Outside the clock tower is an old BRITISH-LIKE PHONE BOOTH which bring out the feeling like you're in London or something... hahaha.

The clock tower houses a small little office and counter for tourists (that's me...) to make queries and find out more about Taiping. So we chatted with the person in charge, En. Annuar.

We had a long chat as I asked him more about the first RAILWAY TRACKS FROM TAIPING TO PORT WELD and how do I go about getting there. Mr. Annuar then replied that the tracks no longer exist because people have removed and thrown it away to make way for development. People just didn't see the value in it!

I was a little angered with the whole thing! Port Weld-Taiping was the first railway line that ran in Malaysia. It was opened on 1 June 1885 to transport tin from Larut and other tin-rich areas to be exported through Port Weld. Imports came in from Port Weld and was sent through the trains as well. I had to study ALL of these facts to sit for my HISTORY PAPER and now they tell me that it's not there! The sleepless nights and the amount of oil burnt staying awake...! Totally nonsensical and unacceptable!

Seeing our enthusiasm and passion for history, he then hinted that if we really, really, really wanted to see part of the railway artifacts... we actually could! I got super excited. He said that it was in King Edwards school! I thanked him and immediately rushed to the school!

Being the smart and Mr. Know-it-all that I am, I reached the school, parked my car...

Only to realize that it's the wrong school!!! I was actually at ST. GEORGE'S SECONDARY SCHOOL! And they are "enemies". Hahaha! How am I supposed to know which is which. I'm not even a local. However, the school was beautiful!

Sadly, we also found a dead rat in St. George's School's drain... Hahaha!

So we asked directions and headed down to King Edward VII Secondary School. When we reached there, we rushed in and met the Asst. Principal who told us that... This ISN'T the school! We were like... "WHAT?!!"

It was actually King Edward VII Primary (2)... Can you imagine if we had gone to Primary (1) and then later told that it was actually Primary (2)? Hahaha. Anyways, our spirit were still up although I had a very hard time trying to convince my brother that it was all worth it because he wanted to badly go off to Penang already!

So we headed down to the school... King Edward VII Primary (2)!

We rushed to the office in excitement totally looking forward to this discovery that even many Taiping people didn't know about! In the office, we were met by this guy who attended to us.

When we asked him about the artifacts, he didn't even know about it! He told us that the school had no such things! Our hearts sank!

We didn't give up and continued pressing in... Thank God a lady nearby heard our conversation and noted to the man that there were some "plates" hanging at the back and that maybe we were looking for that!

The guy's response was classic. He went something like this, "Oh, besi yang gantung kat belakang tu, eh?" ("Oh, the metal that's hanging at the back, is it?") Me and my bro were staring in disbelief. Without any escort or help, we searced and finally found what we were looking for... "Part of The Lost Tracks of the Taiping-Port Weld Railway Line"!

Also serving as a carpark?!!

Feeling like treasure hunters!

This was really the highlight of the whole trip! The rest of it fails in comparison! You have got to really go and check this out if you're down in Taiping. If you're looking for something a little more different, I think this would be it!

It was fun but a little tiring so it was absolutely cool to have a room with a sea view when we reached Penang! Yippee... I love the sea!

And a bonus pic of me trying this funky pink sunglasses! Hahaha! Price tag still attached!

That's all for now! Sleep beckons me!