Taiping Folks

I got down from the bus and almost immediately saw one of my dearest friends on earth, Kal. We greeted each other with a warm hug and smiled at each other happily. I can already tell that we are going to have a blast of a time.

She came with Uncle Daniel, an elder of Taiping Gospel Hall, who very graciously fetched me from the bus stop and gave me a tour of the town, just in case I did not manage to visit the Taiping highlights during my very short stay.

After about 15 minutes' drive and a lot of ooohing and aaahing on my part when we skirted the lovely, lovely Lake Gardens, he said, "We're done!"

It took all of 15-minutes to see the whole town. Perhaps my 2-day-1-night stay wouldn't really be that short after all. Hee!

Uncle Daniel was all of 74 years old, but still as sprightly and energetic as someone half his age. And he's not the only one.

"Come and live here in Taiping. Then you can be like me!" said a lovely lady who fetched me to the bus stop yesterday. She is 54 but looks about 36. And it's all au naturel. There's nary a Botox clinic nor expensive Leonard Drake beauty spas on sight.

[img]"/images/taiping/weathervane.jpg" width="200" align="left" hspace="5"[/img]The air is humid but not at all polluted. They have a KFC, a Pizza Hut and a McDonalds. Their shopping haunt is Fajar, the most happening place in town. Like any town worth its salt in Malaysia, Taiping has its very own clock tower with a quaint weather vane. I've never seen a weather vane in my life before so I took a photo of it to commerate this momentous occasion.

The one thing I noticed about the Taiping dudes I met there was their one-of-a-kind sense of humour. They can joke about anything and everything. It was all I could do to keep my wits about me and give one particular young man a decent comeback. I felt this crazy need to show him that us, city folks can pack a punch or two, too. And I thought my brains would not be kicking in active gear in sleepy Taiping. Yeah, right.

The other witty guy was none other than jolly old Uncle Daniel, the church elder. So out of respect (and knowing what's good for me), I merely smiled and nodded at his clever remarks, not daring to proffer any witty repartee of my own.

The kids in Taiping were very knowledgeable in directions, helpful and respectful to their elders. At least that's what Kal and I observed when we stopped to ask for directions on the way back from the Lake Gardens. As in any town, there were some wolf-whistlers and drivers who honk when there's no reason to. But generally, I felt very safe walking on the streets as compared to walking down the streets of KL.

Time slowed down the minute I stepped into Taiping. And together with it, the beatings of my heart and the rate my mind flits from one thought to another. My parched soul welcomed it. It only became crystal clear the day before I left that my journey there was made in a quiet desperation to seek for solace. In the tranquility of this special town and its people, and in the company of my dearest friend, I found just what I was looking for. I met God.

[i]Photos of this peaceful town will be uploaded soon. Stay tuned.[/i]