Comment: The chicken meat was silky smooth that you can slurp it down your throat. I love the chicken essence the most..
Total RM: 66++ for 6 pax (1 whole steamed chicken, a plate of bean sprouts and 6 glasses of cold sugar cane drink
Day 2: Dim Sum breakfast at here really turned us down.
Comment: Despite the crowd and long queue, there's nothing else to shout of. The dim sum tasted below average and the price was a no-no for us. Costs us more than the dim sum we had in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.
Total RM: Rm80++ for 6 of us.
Our friend was addicted to the tau fu fa! He queued for it again on Day 2!
On our way to Taiping!
We stopped at Kuala Kangsar for the Perak Royal Museum. This museum marked an amazing achievement in architecture. It was built without any architectural plans and nails!!
Istana Iskandariah- The Sultan of Perak's official palace
The first rubber tree in Malaysia. It was planted on 1987 and it is 134 years to date!!
Relishing the view of Taiping Lake Garden
"Jump if you love GREEN!!!"
Us
Our friend cum tour guide in Taiping =)
At Perak Museum, Taiping. It was built in 1883 and it is the oldest museum in Malaysia. Free admission
Comment: Dim Sum here in Taiping was way better than the one we had in Ipoh.
William Kellie Smith, born in Dallas, North-Eastern Scotland to a farmer and his wife on 1st of March, 1870. At the tender age of 20, he traveled to Malaya (old name of Malaysia) to seek for his fortune.
This had proven to be a wise choice, since he was soon engaged by an estate owner to help in the construction of public roads in South Perak and gathered some fortune from his share of the venture's profits. With this capital, he bought over nearly 1000 acres of jungle land in the Kinta District, and cleared it to become rubber estate named.
Followed by his success in rubber plantation, the Smith brought over his family to stay at his first mansion in Malaya, Kellas House which built in 1905 as symbol of his prospering rubber estate venture.
Later in 1915 with the birth of a son and heir, Smith decided to build the Kellies Castle (just in front of the Kellas House). It is believed to be a gift for his wife or for the birth of his son - Anthony.
The superstitious Smith was told that a temple must be built to appease the gods. He immediately transferred his workers to build a Hindu temple nearby, and there is an underground tunnel lying beneath the castle to the temple.
This tunnel was discovered accidentally during a road widening exercise at the 6th kilometer stretch of the Gopeng-Batu Gajah road in 2003. An excavator broke through the timber structure and revealed a section of a tunnel.
The passageway is about 1.5m height and 1m wide. The tunnel is believed to go under the river and connecting the castle to the Hindu temple.
Anyway, this tragedy didn't stop the construction of the castle. But the sudden death of Smith on a visit to Lisbon in 1926 had made a halt to it. He was died of pneumonia. His wife, Agnes, with a broken heart made the decision to sell out all of the Smith's properties in Malaya and moved back to Scotland sadly.
There have been many myths or legends or rumors spreading around about the mysterious castle.
Some say that the Smith's spirit still wandering inside the castle, especially along the corridors, guarding his great mansion.
And that's why much of the structure still intact after so many years.
Some say there are lots of "spirits" wandering around the castle since workers died during the construction and people died during the 2nd world war.
It is believed that there are 4 underground tunnels. One is connecting the Kellies Castle to the Hindu temple 500m in the west, one is connecting to the main gate garage in the south and one is connecting to the road in the east.
How about the last one? It's still undiscovered. There are rumors about this secret tunnel had been used as an execution hub of the Japanese army in World War II. And some say it was the secret tunnel being used by Chen Ping (the famous communist leader in Malaya) in between 50s to 60s.
Some say the Smith's car is parked in one of the tunnels.
*******DAY3- Late afternoon: Sungai Klah Hot Springs Park*******
A wooden bridge to the hot spring
Had so much fun there!
After soaking up in one of the best hot springs
You can boil your egg here
It was late by the time we decided to leave the hot spring
As an overall, it was a memorable excursion to Ipoh and Taiping with my brother, sister, my bf and our friends. Wish to have more chance to travel together again, sometimes in the future!
My next post will be our day trip to Bukit Tinggi, Pahang! Stay tuned XOXO
