Ipoh and Taiping

I was in Ipoh last Sunday for my cousin’s wedding.

I have no idea why my dad wanted to go for the wedding dinner in Ipoh, as my cousin would organize one in KL this weekend anyway.

Probably he wanted to opportunity to meet up with his sisters and brothers and relatives. Which doesn’t make sense either as he is not close to any of them.

Well, except maybe just one.

Since most of my relatives on dad’s side are in Ipoh, I am not really chummy to any of my cousins. In addition, they are at least five years older than I am.

I do have cousins of similar age to me. But they are all girls. And my dad isn’t close to their parents.

Which basically means that I don’t really have cousins.

Anyway, there we were at the dinner. Thankfully, there weren’t many annoying marriage questions directed at me. Just a simple “Do you have a girlfriend yet?”

In family gatherings, no, in any gatherings with my dad around, he would always answer questions intended for me.

I have gotten used to it. Hence, in such gatherings, I would seem like a quiet boy. Or indifferent.

Whatever.

My dad answered no for me. The relatives chipped in, “He’s what, 24? Nowadays where got people marry so early one. No need to hurry. Wait till thirty. Thirty is a good age to marry.”

I very nearly rolled my eyes. At the absurdity of that statement.

So anyway, the marriage issue was neatly wrapped up.

The food was OK. I have learnt to control my appetite, so that my waist is under control too. ;P

On Monday, we drove up to Taiping to check out the Taiping Zoo.

Yeah, I know. First, it was the Night Safari in Singapore and less than two weeks later, I was at another animal enclave.

No, I don’t have a thing for animals. Unlike another goddamned fabulous blogger (in his own words).

We were there because my family wanted to check out the place, as my brother might be doing his industrial training here.

And no, I don’t think he has a thing for animals either.

Taiping Zoo is OK. A bit rundown and not well-maintained. As proof of how terribly it was maintained, there were rats in the cages, eating from the same food bowl of the animals.


Not only that, some cages were overgrown with plants and without animals inside.

It's basically like any other zoo in Malaysia - lethargic animals in enclosures which are mostly to small for them. Not much landscaping done either.

Surprisingly, there were quite a number of visitors. Mostly kids with their parents. My brother even said that the zoo is profitable, unlike the one in KL.

From the look of things, I found that hard to believe.

After that, we had lunch in the town of Taiping and returned to Ipoh.