Trip to Taiping I: Splendid Sepetang

Covid put a two-year damper on my BEC outing plans. On Malaysia Day 2022, we were finally able to organize a short 2 day-1 night trip to Kuala Sepetang, Kuala Sangga, and Taiping. Surprisingly, two of my neighbours joined because they were intrigued by the itinerary. It didn't take long for our registration drive to fill up one express bus. On the morning of the 16th, we left KL a little late due to some stragglers, and encountered some congestion on the highway. An expected situation considering it was a long weekend. Lucky for us (some would disagree), our tour guide was a chatty fellow, so he could really talk and talk and talk. When the tour guide wasn't talking, we had onboard rosary prayers and KTV.  

Arrived at Kuala Sepetang at 1 PM, so the bus directly dropped us at Xin Seafood Restaurant. Strategically located on the banks of Sungai Sepetang, we got to a great view to go with our seafood lunch. Once we had our fill of fish, cockles, prawns, calamari, crabs, and clams, we walked over to the pier to start our river cruise. Two boats pushed off and headed towards Kuala Sangga, a village with no more than 30 families living there. Over the years, even the primary school closed down, and more and more people moved out. Can't blame them because there's no running water, and electricity is generated from solar panels, or small generators. The main attraction was the century-old St. Anne's Chapel, that was built by a pioneering group of Teochew Catholics from Mainland China. In 1954, a huge fire engulfed the village, but the chapel miraculously escaped damage. As the years went by, the chapel remained although not a single Catholic lives there anymore, due to the generosity of the non-Catholics who re now responsible for the upkeep of the chapel.  

Moving on, we had an eagle-feeding session in the middle of the river. When we arrived at the spot, the local guide blew a whistle and started tossing chicken fat into the water. In no time at all, eagles started congregating and swooping down to get a piece of the fatty snack. Wonder if these feedings will give the eagles heart attacks. 

Once we had run out of chicken fat, the boats headed towards a fish farm. On the floating platform, tilapias and horseshoe crabs, and some other fish are reared. Each of us was provided with a cup of fish feed, but it was obvious that the fish weren't hungry judging by how much of the stuff was floating around on the surface for the water. The local guide also let us manhandle a cute little puffer fish. On the second floor was a cafe, but they ran out of hot water, so we gave that a miss. We were running late, so we headed back to land to catch the charcoal factory tour.

Kuala Sepetang is located within the Matang mangrove forest reserve, which has a sustainable model for mangrove logging. The forests are properly managed, and the mangrove trees are replanted to avoid depletion. The charcoal factory owner explained the process to us, and I was quite surprised by some of the things he said. Firstly, mangrove logs actually sink in water because they are so dense (the logs are transported to the factories by boat). Secondly, the charcoal is not made by burning the logs. The logs are actually heated in a dome shaped kiln for weeks on end, to release its water content, and later sealed for a week to let it cool down. Seventy percent of the high quality charcoal eventually ends up in Japan. The rustic wooden factories, the canal, the neat piles of mangrove logs, the shady trees-- could very well be a scene from Japan. 

Running out of sunlight, we quickly made our way to the next destination in Kuala Sepetang, which was the Chapel of Saint Peter. The chapel actually looks like a small classroom with louvered windows, and whiteboards and blackboards all around. While I was at the chapel, mum went gallivanting in town with her buddies. The local guide was nice enough to bring them around in his motorcycle with a sidecar for some sightseeing, and tapau-ing Ho Ka Sai, which is a local drink of Milo mixed with kopi. Not my kind of drink. 

Taiping was where we spent the night. Checked-in at Furama Hotel (no relation to the one in KL), a budget hotel located very close to the Taiping Lake Gardens. Dinner was at Medan Selera Tai Hu, which wasn't much to shout about. Some of us went on a night walk on the edges of the Taiping Lake Gardens after dinner. Much of the lights were switched off, but we could still see a huge flock of egrets roosting in a tree for then night.