This is another place we visited back in 2012. (That was a busy year, and I can't help reflecting on how I managed to be so productive... We did a lot of intra-Malaysia travel, plus several trips around the region. Yet, given a target to come up with a book and two journal articles, I managed a book, three journal articles, two book chapters, and a hefty contribution to a workshop. The difference? No teaching, and therefore none of the associated admin...)

But I digress...

We remembered Taiping as a low-key and pleasant historic town, with a number of interesting sites in the immediate environs. Nice, but not too distracting, it seemed like a useful place to hide away and write.

But it's been a slightly painful transition, I must admit.

It was disconcerting to be back in the small-town environment where your ears are filled with electronic bird noises, in the name of attracting swiftlets to build profitable nests. (It's a controversial business, by all accounts.)

The weather is also notoriously rainy, which makes for beautiful, atmospheric pictures, but also for irritatingly ploppy walks.

And a large amount of Taiping's heritage seems to be crumbling away, with the conservation energy visible in George Town and Ipoh just not so apparent here. I don't totally understand that, as Taiping's raw materials are just as attractive. Over the couple of days we've been here, we've walked a lot of the "heritage trail", and the remnants are really impressive. Wouldn't it be nice if the prospective return on heritage restaurants, boutique hotels, and other instagrammable experiences could match that on edible birds' nests?

All in all, I initially found myself wondering why we'd been in such a hurry to leave George Town...

But then again, I wonder if the work complications that dogged my first few days here were clouding my vision...

Because there's actually a lot that's really nice.

The lake gardens are as lovely as I remember them.







Our hotel (a new Novotel on which we got a very good deal) is very comfortable (and I've rearranged the room so that I have a work-sofa-corner with a view).

Things are very reasonably priced, and local people are extremely friendly (both factors very likely connected with Taiping's low profile).

The food is excellent. To date, we've had nice yong tau foo from a little place round the corner; started to check out the multiple offerings from Kedai Makanan Tai Chien, including a fine mee rebus and Taiping's coffee/Milo speciality, known as "hor ga sai" (or "tiger bites lion"); sampled some of the offerings from Goreng Pisang, including the eponymous goreng pisang, whose banana is so soft and creamy it tastes like banana custard; and gone back in time at Yut Sun Restoran, where my Hainanese chicken chop, with potatoes, marrowfat peas, and tasty gravy, could have come straight out of a colonial kitchen.

And -- really important, this -- we've located a coffee shop (Doubletap) that's actually open when we want coffee (ie, in the morning).













So, after a slightly rocky start, Taiping has been growing on me... Definitely growing on me.