Do You Remember "MPI"?

Ipoh has been granted city status for 24 years. The city council is called "Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh" and its abbreviation, MBI is very familiar among Ipoh citizens nowadays. But in those years between 1962 to 1988, when it was operating as a municipal council, people known it as "Majlis Perbandaran Ipoh" (MPI). Since the city status obtained almost a quarter century ago, we can hardly find documents or items with MPI at present day. But this sewage system cover caught my eyes while I was walking on the road nearby Silibin. For those infrastructures that existed since the municipal council time, it's marked with "MPI". Well, the elder generation would certainly remember this.

Final Work Towards The Grand Opening

Changes are now often seen at the exterior of AEON Ipoh Station 18 Shopping Centre. By counting down to the day of grand opening, there are only 2 more weeks to go & final installation works must be carried out aggressively. There are some photos taken inside the mall revealed that show some tenants are almost ready for operation. Today I find workers are busy installing logo of tenant & branding at the building's rear side. Soon there will be more to emerge & the public certainly could not hold themselves any longer to explore this Ipoh's largest shopping mall on the day of opening.

Walking Along The Cargo

Ipoh Cargo Terminal (ICT), which also known as "Inland Port" of Ipoh, was established in 1989 as a remedy to the city's disadvantage in commodity logistic. It helps the Perak traders, especially those located in Kinta Valley, by providing equivalent services & facilities of a seaport. It is located at St. John Road, one of the most used link roads between Silibin to city center. I have been passing by ICT for numerous times but today is my first visit to the site. The terminal seems messier & disorganized than I imagine. The warehouses are also simple & crude. Nevertheless, I believe its contribution was conspicuous to the city's economic development for past 2 decades.

Fancy Balloons

Unlike the old days, today's balloon no longer exists in simple oval shape but has evolved & integrated with various cartoon characters. It is much more fancy & attractive nowadays. Of course, it also costs several times higher than in the past.

Smooth Traffic on A Sunny Sunday

When it was continuously raining for days, we were hoping for sunny day. But when it's sunny, it becomes too hot to hang around under the sun. As usual, people rush to the shopping malls in this sunny Sunday afternoon. Traffic at Bercham Road is so smooth at this moment. The sky is so clear but we never know what will it be in the evening, especially during this rainy season.

New Face of FMS

After some time of slow progress on FMS Bar & Restaurant restoration, today we see an obvious change on the building. The exterior is switching from blue to yellow. It makes the hundred-year old building so outstanding, just like a reborn star. The re-opening is so expected by the community of Ipoh and I believe it will be some time this year.

A Gloomy Day

It's raining early in the morning. The rainy weather continued since yesterday & become cloudy in the afternoon. When looking at the sky, it seems today we will not escape from the wet day again. I believe many would feel down in this gloomy day & for those living along the river, they must be worrying about flash flood, which occurred yesterday at several areas in the city.

Still Rainy Day

There have been few consecutive days with heavy raining at Ipoh. Several areas even suffer flash flood after downpour. Sometimes not only once but two rounds of heavy rain in a day. This is the scene after a downpour at about 2 hours ago. It seems there will be another round of rain anytime.

Expecting AEON Station 18

After a year of day and night work, the largest shopping mall in Ipoh, AEON Station 18 Shopping Centre will officially open on 29-March-2012. The mall located will certainly become a hottest destination of shopping, leisure, food & entertainment. And it will relief the extensive congestion of Kinta City Shopping Centre by attracting crowd from southern Ipoh, such as Pengkalan, Pasir Puteh, Menglembu, Batu Gajah & etc. It looked charm & outstanding when lighted up at night. A lot people just can't wait to pay a visit to this newest shopping centre. Let's expect the grand opening on 29-March.

Today's View on The Haven

Looking at the progress of The Haven Lakeside Residences, two of the three blocks are now visible from distance. One of it has reached the top & work of installing water reservoir. As compare to April last year, it seems the 26-storey building is done within a year & now it should be the tallest structure in Ipoh, although it's at the outskirt of city. The location of condominium is surrounded by lime stone hills. It can only be seen from certain directions but not from the city center. Therefore, we have no chance to compare its height to other Ipoh high rise buildings.

"Giant" Bercham Is About To Open

The basic structure of this Giant Hypermarket at Bercham had been done almost one year ago but the progress halted. Until recent months, works to complete the rest of the infrastructures resumed & finally its opening date is set on 8-March-2012. The delay might be related to the enhancement of traffic system because the hypermarket & its surrounding commercial shops is designed to have only one exit, which is connected to the most congested point of Bercham. Therefore, a connecting road is built recently to link the North-South Expressway. People of Ipoh is about to welcome the 2nd Giant after its first branch opened in Sunway City more than 5 years ago.

Balloon Cloud

When I finished my breakfast & walked to my car at Leong Sin Nam Street, this little lump of cloud simply caught my eyes. It existed so isolated & looked like a white balloon floating in the sky; or it can also be a giant "fish ball" in the sky. Well, you may have other opinions.....

Let's See What I Can Do

For people passing by Ipoh Garden East through North-South Expressway, some may find these items on top of a small factory right beside the expressway. Apart from all kind of advertising channels, some businessman came out with idea to simply display their product to the public. I think it could be more effective if the company name & contact information can be written on the wall.

Morning In Greentown

The car park of Greentown Mall is nearly empty in the morning. Greentown has not started the busy day now & the surroundings seem peaceful. At this part of Greentown, as captured in this photo, the partly unoccupied EPF (Employees Provident Fund) Building & the medical college with halted construction, together with the neighbouring Greentown Square & Federal Government Building which are also less occupied, are having low density of worker. I find the development of Greentown seems loss focus & messed up after several non-synchronized projects took place.