The Big One is On

The biggest LED advertising screen in Ipoh is on! Not just within the city, it could be also the largest in the country. This giant screen is standing at the car park of New She Lai Ton Restaurant & Shuttle 8 Disco facing traffic flow from Gopeng Road & Brewster Road. It seems the industry of electronic billboard advertising in Ipoh is probably entering another era now where competition become tougher & creative idea will be a determining factor.

New Casuarina Hotel Under Construction

Many Ipoh citizen still recognize Impiana Hotel at Gopeng Road as Casuarina Hotel. This is still not a problem at the moment but it will probably create confusion in future when the new Casuarina Hotel at Meru Raya completed. As one of the hottest properties growing area, Meru Raya is seen with construction everywhere, including commercial units, such as Taipan, i-Avenue & the new express bus ternimal Ipoh Sentral.

Hazy City Day - 24th Anniversary

Since 1988, Ipoh has owned the status of city for 24 years. Over the years we really see a lot of changes & development in Ipoh, although it is relative at slower pace compare to other major cities in Malaysia. Anyway, this is still a nice, convenient & comfortable place to stay. During recent days weather in the city become warm & humid. Layer of clouds hung above the valley but hardly rain. Therefore atmosphere in the city is getting hazy & I believe it will be worsen if the weather condition stays on.



Nice Looking New Bus Terminal

After years of wishing, Ipoh citizen will soon welcome a brand new express bus terminal to commence operation in coming June. I still remember during those years while I was studying & working at outstation (1990's), Medan Kidd express bus station was one of my most visited places in Ipoh. The so called "station" was in fact a bus parking space between 2 blocks of shop. Every visitor of that station was hoping so much to have a better terminal. Later the state government moved the express bus terminal to Medan Gopeng which is, at least, a building on its own as a bus station. However the space is too limited & heavy traffic along Gopeng Road makes it inconvenient to enter the premise. No improvement took place until 2008, where the long time mentioned Meru Raya terminal has finally laid its foundation & resulting today's nice looking landmark terminal building. We all wish it will be well managed & properly maintained.

Return to Greentown Mall

Greentown Mall was established more than a decade ago, during the nation economic boosting period of mid 1990's. It was the time Ipoh had very few shopping centre. A building like this was quite a large scale structure although it's only 2-storey in height. Nevertheless, Greentown Mall faced its difficult time after the economy crisis & became less attractive. Hardly hear that people will visit this mall nowadays except the used mobile phone counters. Anyway, it does survive until today, which probably supported by its anchor tenant, UO Supermarket.

Remnant of Big Tree

There are some big trees standing along S.P. Seenivasagam Road beside Ipoh Padang presenting a nice green view. Over the years, one of these trees had decayed & the city council had brought it down few years ago. There is no tree re-planting carried out & remnant of the chopped down tree still stands beside the road.

White Cotton in the Sky

It's the end of a warm day. Bright sunlight is still shining in the evening. A lump of cloud in the east reflecting the sunlight while some thin layers of chiffon-like cloud merging with it. I was just half a minute delay in capturing the scene, missing the moment where these thin layers were so obviously separated that it looked like 3 blades cutting through the cotton.

New Colors of Hugh Low Street

When some efforts put on the old shop houses, there could be unexpected surprises. This row of shop house at Hugh Low Street are re-painted in different conspicuous colors & making it outstanding. I think this is a good move by the owners to appreciate their heritage buildings by restoring instead of reconstructing. I am sure many of us wish to see more of this kind of heritage building preservation to be done rather than demolish-and-build.

Seemsoon Hotel Opened

After almost 2 years of construction & preparation, Seemsoon Hotel finally commence operation. This is another mid level hotel that will compete with Ritz Garden Hotel, Ipoh City Hotel & so on. The blog "From Emily To You" is sharing more details about Seemsoon Hotel & the owner's background. The following is the basic information.

Address: 2, Regat Dato’ Mahmud, 31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Tel: +605-2556888
Fax: +605-2433222
Email: seemsoonhotel@yahoo.com



Korbu Peak in Veil

The scene on Titiwangsa Range when driving to work this morning. Layers of mountain from near to far forming a beautiful picture & Korbu Peak looks like covered in veil. I am so grateful to be able to live in such a nice place.

Bus in Brewster Road

Although driving is very common to Ipoh citizen, public transport is still an important choice for someone to get to their destination, especially those with lower income & aged. The city public transport has made improvement recently by replacing many old buses with new one & some are specially featured to ease the aged & diasble passengers. However, there is still room for further improvement in the city's public transport including the service area coverage, punctuality & extended operation time.

Dried Kinta River

This is an uncommon scene of Kinta River. The barrier or rubber dam nearby Wisma Taiko is raised to limit the water flow & causing river bed exposed at downstream. Anyway, I don't see people carrying any work down there which need to temporary dry out the river. I guess someone may be clearing rubbish in the river further downstream. The barrier released about half an hour later & the river is back to normal.

Colorful Signage

The commercial park at Ipoh Garden East is rapidly growing in recent years. Colorful signage is increasing along Tasek Road, including the newly renovated McDonald's & Sky Lounce of MH Hotel. Another mid-range shopping arcade, Festival Mall is almost set for opening soon. And it is said to have one more hotel to be constructed in this area. When looking cross the expressway, 2 huge neon lighted Giant Hypermarket logos capture driver's attention. Ipoh Garden East will become more colorful in near future.

Golden Sunset at Bercham

As dark clouds had dominated the sky in the east this evening, a golden sunset still seen at the west. Eventually rain did not fall in the city and the weather remain warm after a hot day.

Scene on Brewster Road Is Changing

The view on Brewster Road from the session close to Sam Tet School is changing drastically. With the construction of two 7-storey hotel, although they are not very tall buildings, many objects at upstream of the road are blocked. I believe these hotels will be opened to public latest by mid of next year. Brewster Road will certainly have a fresh look by then.