GHOST TOWN

En route to the "Pearl of the Orient" (I think that's what they call Penang) we stopped by in Taiping for two reasons.

One was to get some sustenance since 6 bodies were playing orchestra to the different beat and tempo in the car. Actually it was the only sound that was keeping me awake while the rest of the passengers were being lulled by my smooth driving.

And secondly, to verify that Bukit Larut is still the wettest place in Malaysia or whether KL has taken its place, given the amount of rain we get in this metropolitan city!

So, we parked our car at a cost of RM 0.50 which gave us 3 hours of parking. (Yes...it's RM 0.50 and not RM 5.00 or RM 50.00!) and off we went on an adventure in Taiping.

The town was so quiet and we could not help but notice that most of the shops were closed. Our first thought was that it was lunch time (although it was a bit too early as it was only 11.00 a.m. then) or maybe it was a holiday in Perak and we are not aware of it.

It became the topic during lunch why this town is like a Ghost Town on a weekday and none of us could come up with a justifiable answer.

While strolling back to the car, my hubby, the ever "penyibuk" one amongst us, decided to ask one of the locals what has been happening. Then it was revealed to us that the economy is so bad that it's affecting the small shops. In fact most of the shops in town have been closed for over a year now.

We were so saddened by the news that our second mission remains unaccomplished.