Partially Revealed

The restoration work at SPH de Silva Building still ongoing but I find it progresses at quite a slow pace. As seen on 24-February, the side on Belfield Street was covered up & it's now revealed, although the work has not fully finished. Instead of plain white, the building is now dressing in pale blue as theme color. I am grateful to see the restoration is done neatly thus far & I believe the building will probably a masterpiece when it's completed.

A Different Kinta River

Perhaps you can figure out the difference of Kinta River as seen today. Could we normally see the river bed of Kinta River? I believe most Ipoh citizens remember the muddy river that looked like milk tea but not the one we can see in this picture. I am wondering what has been done that make clearer water in Kinta River and whether this is a permenant condition or just appear in short term.

City Still in Haze

I do not really record it, but this is probably the second week in Ipoh with warm weather & no heavy rain. Dirt & particles accumulated in the atmosphere is worsening & skyline of the city looked bad. Mountains at background is completely missing from sight & buildings at distance also seen to be blur. People are so desparating for heavy rain to clean the air & return a healthier environment in Ipoh.

Evening at Upstream Hugh Low Street

It's dinner time and I was hanging around Hillview coffee shop or some people known it as "Little Genting". While the warm day ends, the sky turned into orange then brown & getting darker every minute. There are many vehicles moving from upstream Hugh Low Street. Perhaps many of them were heading to Rainbow City hawker street or restaurants at Yau Tet Shin Road.

Here You See Kinta Riverfront At Night

The green signage of Kinta Riverfront Hotel is lighted up. Now you can see it at night from several locations especially in New Town. Indeed I find this is a typical practice of Ipoh hotels to have the signage installed as block letters standing on top of the roof (such as Excelsior Hotel, Heritage Hotel, Tower Regency Hotel, Syuen Hotel, Ipoh City Hotel), instead of fixing on the building wall (like seen on Impiana Hotel). My wild guess is that these hotel buildings fully utilize the allowable height for usable space & there is no sufficient empty surface for fixing hotel name.

Goodbye Majestic Theater

Today is a sad day for many Ipoh people. The news of demolishing Majestic Theater rapidly spread in the city through internet social network. While I saw a photo of crumbling side wall of the old cinema building, I decided to visit the site after work. Upon reaching Chamberlain Road, I am so disappointed to see more part of the building has been damaged. The tower at left is like a skeleton with skin & flesh torn away. The theater roof has collapsed and the hall is exposed  under the sun. I never knew I could be so emotion when capturing these photos, I felt tears in my eyes. Looking at the broken wall & bricks, all of us whom concern about heritage in the city would have a broken heart too. Majestic Theater was the first cinema built after World War II and now it's the first being purposely demolished to give way for new development (two other old cinemas were gone due to fire). Although it is gone, the sweet memory that Majestic Theater brought to few generations will last forever in our mind.

Falling Leaves

Effect of dry & warm weather that lasts for weeks is now seen from the condition of falling leaves. This is the scene in Ipoh that looked like a street in autumn. When it's windy, the leaves are falling like snow flakes. Grass along the roadside starts turning color from green to yellow. The environment around us is slowly converting into a brown color world.

Missing Mountains

In these hazy days, everything at far is hiding behind the grey air. High rise buildings at farther, like the Kinta Riverfront Hotel, looked a little blur, while the Kledang Range is completely missing from sight. Although I do not yet to have any difficulty in breathing but it just make me feel very uncomfortable by seeing such a bad condition of the atmosphere.

Like Burning Flame

In this hot & humid evening, the scene of this burning sky simply adds on the feel of warmness. Nevertheless, this is beautiful, charming & irresistible. I am grateful to be at the right place & right time to witness this awesome artwork by great nature despite its existence for only few minutes.

Hazy Valley

It has been warm days for more than 2 weeks. Atmosphere of Kinta Valley is so hazy & polluted. From Kledang Hill, view on Ipoh city is so blur until the Titiwangsa Range at background faded from sight. Anyway, high rise buildings in city center & AEON Station 18 at Pengkalan (second photo) are still recognizable. Everyone is complaining the hot weather recently & the hope of downpour to wash away heat & haze must be the common wish of Ipoh citizen, but weather forecast seems not that optimistic where the current situation will probably prolonged to August.

Football is The Hottest Thing Now

The season of “craze about football” is coming again! Euro 2012 has just kicked off in 8-June at Warsaw and the whole world is putting their eyes on this championship that held for almost a month. European football leagues are always Malaysian’s favorite and this highlight event is certainly making all football fans an excited yet tiring month. Ipoh Parade Shopping Centre is also not leaving behind from the hottest thing in town and making football balloons as decoration in the mall. So now football is almost everywhere in our life, even when we shop.

Reborn of Kinta Swimming Club

Kinta Swimming Club at Silibin Road is one of the oldest swimming clubs in Ipoh. Established in 1936, the club has gone through over 75 years, although it had been closed down for almost 18 years since 1990’s. As I remember, father used to bring my sister here because it is just about a kilometer from home. This was a well known landmark in Silibin area during those years. However, after ceasing operation for almost 2 decades, many Ipoh citizens, has forgotten or even do not aware of the existence of this club. Although I have not ever visited Kinta Swimming Club, but I am happy that it is reborn now.

Scene of the Past

The alley beside Kong Heng coffee shop is planted with some trees. Exterior of the building remained untouched. A very unique hotel is established within this building above Kong Heng coffee shop, so called Sekeping Kong Heng. It is purposely to maintain this old building at its original condition in order to allow the guess to experience real old living environment of Ipoh. The scene on this alley looked like unchanged since early 20^th century.



Pigeons on the Bank

When the day is going to end, pigeons that normally hanging around the fountain at Ipoh Padang are not seen during evening. It seems they have moved high up there on the RHB Bank building right opposite to the fountain.

New Look of Birch Memorial Clock Tower

New look of the Birch Memorial Clock Tower at night is so charming. The renovation & refurbishment of the surrounding landscape is nearly completed. There is only decorative lighting yet to be installed & probably some trees to be planted. However, spotlight on the tower is done & when lighted on at night, it simply catches our eyes. I couldn’t hold myself to walk around the square few times & captured photos from different angle. And I find at a particular spot there are two towers appear in sight, one reflected by the glass wall of Public Bank building. How amaze is that, you will sure feel the beauty when you see it on site. There also I found a logo on ground at the staircase from Post Office Road (Jalan Dato’ Sagor) written “Ipoh Heritage Trail”. Apparently Birch Memorial Clock Tower is one of the highlighted landmark heritage buildings in the promotion of city’s historical trail.



Great, It's Raining!!

Everyone is wishing a downpour that could wash away the accumulated heat in the atmosphere. Well, our wish did come true partially this morning. While most people were rushing to work, rain fell at some areas in Ipoh. Although it's not downpour & only last for a short while, it did cool our heart down. Anyway, the morning rain had brought inconvenience to motorcyclist on their way to work.

Cloudless Morning

What else can I speak about Ipoh recently? Yes, it's hot, hot & hot!! This is 9:00am in the morning with bright sunlight hitting everything on Earth and starts letting us to feel the heat. The sky at above is completely empty without a spot of cloud which could shield us from the burning sun. And we all are able to predict this is going to be another torturing warm day.

Blue Sky Fallen onto The Shops

When the blue-white painted old shops at Hugh Low Street seen under the blue sky (with white clouds), I feel like the sky has fallen onto it. Some simple restoration works instead of reconstruction always able to enhance the charming old building. I really love to see this happen in Ipoh & looking forward to encountering more of this in which the owners resurrect their heritage properties in creative ways.

Best Thing To Do in the Warm Weekend

The subject of this post simply explains this photo appropriately. Weather in Ipoh for recent weeks is torturing; warm & humid while burning sunlight is baking everything on Earth int he afternoon. As seen in this photo, it's cloudless at the sky except some floating above the mountain range. Peoples are rushing into shopping centers to escape from the warm weather. And therefore you are seeing the car park of Kinta City Shopping Centre is full.

Hotel Signage Installation

After some time starting its business, Kinta Riverfront Hotel is currently installing the signage at its roof top. It seems the color chosen is green & it may be green neon lighted at night. Probably this is to prevent clashing of color with other major hotels in the city center (Excelsior Hotel: red / Syuen Hotel: blue / Tower Regency Hotel: white / Heritage Hotel: yellow). Nevertheless, this is a good move that will make Ipoh skyline at night more colorful.

Vacant Shops on Belfield Street

Belfield Street (Jalan Sultan Yusuff) is a busy street in Old Town, especially during day time. However, it's basically busy in motor vehicle traffic flow but not pedestrian. On one side of the street (east block), many old shops unable to survive & many are abandoned, whereas book stores cross the street are still popular for education reference books. This block of shop house is probably one of the earliest buildings in Ipoh & it's now at risk of being demolished if stay unoccupied. While SPH De Silva Building at opposite is undergoing restoration, I wish we are not forgetting these shop houses & hoping they will be granted new life soon.