Halted Construction of Medical College

After the last post of this medical college in February 2011, the construction seems not progressing much. I did not observe much work done on the building in the past one year, which make it looked like a halted project. As this is a project of a well known government agency, insufficient funding would be highly possible due to over-expense. Spending money without proper control seems become our government's habit nowadays.
 

Before It Vanishes

A similar photo was taken on this block of shop house at Hume Street in February 2010. However, the situation is completely different now, especially after the disaster occurred on July 9, 2012. First three shop houses were caught in fire & damaged at different level. As there is already no occupant & considering safety of pedestrian, the entire block is quarantined. Under such circumstances, these shop houses are in high risk of being torn down. I am very reluctant to see this happen but situation is really not optimistic. Learning from my past experience, I know I shall capture images of it before it vanishes.
 

New Colors At River Bank

Kinta River bank is now very different at the section around Kinta Riverfront Hotel. As an effort of private properties developer, colorful artificial trees are installed at both sides of the river. Some shelters are still under construction along the river bank which should be stalls to house food and souvenir shop. Looking at the work progress, this project will certainly turn true very soon. However the sustainability is quite doubtful. Let's expect the best but prepare for the worst.
 

Peaceful Golden Sunset

A scene of golden sunset captured around Islamic Complex, Douglas Road. It marks the end of working hour for most people. This shall be a peaceful moment to leave all work burden behind, take a rest & ready to face new challenges in the next day.
 

Best Restored Ipoh Heritage Building

I am amazed by the finishing of SPH de Silva Building's current front portion because of the neat and beautiful workmanship. And I must compliment the intention to preserve the building's very original appearance by installing nicely made wooden windows. Although the work is not fully completed, but I just like to grant it the best restored heritage building in Ipoh and am really looking forward to seeing it back in business (I heard rumor that mentioning this building will be a boutigue hotel).
 



Successor of Super Kinta is Coming Soon

Many of us in Ipoh may have realized the abandoned floor of Central Market that previous housed the Super Kinta Departmental Store is recently under going intensive renovation. This is a program by the Federal Government in the name of transformation, but I am not optimistic about it because the commercial foundation of this building is no longer strong enough to guarantee sustainability of business. I am afraid this is just another project that drains the tax payers' money. I was hanging around inside Central Market this afternoon and I can see workers are busy installing new staircases accessing to the floor. However, I am a little sad when find out two of the old Super Kinta entrances have been sealed.
 

Vanishing from Hume Street

Perhaps many of Ipoh citizens do not aware of the demolition of an old shop house at Hume Street recently. This corner unit was left vacant for quite some time and finally bite the dust. The site is excavated until the foundation of adjacent building is exposed. It looks like being prepared for a new construction soon.
 

The Two Towers Revealed

The plan of Majestic Ipoh is revealed. Illustration of the two towers is displayed on a board at Chamberlain Road. Although I have not gone through any detail about the project, but I guess the Majestic Tower will be facing Chamberlain Road, while the Imperial Tower will be accessable from Osborne Street. I am looking forward to witnessing the completion of these 21-storey towers, which should make Ipoh skyline more attractive.

 

Mount Chabang

Citizens of Ipoh may have been familiar with the mountain ranges that surrounding the city. The hills & mountains are the great background of our day-to-day live. However, majority of us are not able to name the significant peaks on both Titiwangsa Range & Kledang Range. After a quick research, I find this unique peak seen from Central Market on the direction of Clare Street is Mount Chabang. And it was captured from another angle & posted in April 6, 2009.
 

Look Closer at Old Town

When people talks about Ipoh Old Town, it is always food, white coffee & colonial buildings. Well, I believe we shall spend a little extra time to look closer at Old Town. Scenery that is different from our impression may be seen. Beside seeing, feeling the city by looking into every detail & imagining live in the past can be an interesting experience.
 

The Majestic Ipoh

Since the sad case of nostalgic Majestic Theater demolition in June, people are talking about the new development and most are wondering the news about rising of a high-end hotel cum condominium is reliable. Finally, the guess has come to the end  when illustration of the project, The Majestic Ipoh is revealed right on the site and in the developer's Facebook page. The vanished could no longer return, so we hope the forthcoming one will be a veritable majestic icon of Ipoh which would truly regain her glorious era.

 

View From Aeon Station18

In a clear day, the city skyline as viewed from Aeon Station 18 3rd floor car park can see some high rise buildings of city center. I am picking this angle to capture the east side with Titiwangsa Range as background. As seen from left to right, I can name Damai Puri Condominium, Impiana Hotel, Prima Ipoh Condominium, Heritage Hotel & The Perak Turf Club, which is blocking partial of MH Hotel. The residential houses at foreground are of Pengkalan Barat / Pasir Puteh south.

 

The Living Heritage

How many more shops in Ipoh are still running with their traditional business? While more & more of this kind of business are vanishing, a scene like this may not sustain in the coming years. I was quite sad for missing the chance to capture some old shops in Old Town which were operating sunset business before its demolition. But I am grateful for able to snap a photo of this metal workshop, which offers customized hand made house hold metal stuffs. Anyway, I believe preservation of such a precious living heritage merely equivalent to mission impossible.

 

Ipoh Downtown Hotel

Before we get the answer of why hotel industry suddenly boosting in Ipoh, another hotel, namely Ipoh Downtown Hotel, is about to open at Brewster Road. It is standing on the site of 3 prewar shop houses which were torn down several years ago. The 7-storey building displays a pretty unique appearance that looked like a Chinese character or QR code.

 

I Remember It As Beauty Supermarket

Different generation of Ipoh citizen would give you different answer when being asked about this building. To me, this is the first supermarket I know, namely Beauty Supermarket. It was once the most popular spot of shopping in Ipoh back in 1970's-80's. But I can't remember in which year Beauty ceased operation & later turned into Popular Book Store, then Hai-O Store until today. The interior scene of the 4-storey Beauty Supermarket is still in my memory, but it will never come back to the real world.

End of The Journey

Coffee shop is probably the most common business in Ipoh. During the very early era of Ipoh town establishment, there were many coffee shops opened around Old Town & New Town. In present days, it has spread throughout almost every corner of the city not only serving affordable & tasty food to the people, but also providing an opportunity of running own business for the grass root level. However, since the city's population gradually migrating to the suburban areas, many downtown coffee shops also come to the end of their journey.

 

The Stray Cat

Staying homeless is not fun at all, even it's just a cat. This stray cat found a comfortable place for a nap this afternoon, the motorcycle basket with a jacket. Although this is just a temporary occupation, but this could be best moment of the day.

 

Empty Playground

Going out without an umbrella during recent days is definitely not a wise choice. There is almost consistently downpour or thunder storm in the afternoon. Sometimes it even drizzles till late night. The playground that usually full of children in the evening is empty in the rainy day.



Hotel Hotel

If you ask an Ipoh citizen of what is the fastest growing industry in this city, I believe the answer should not differ much from this word, hotel. Probably this is not the only angle in Ipoh city that I could capture multiple hotels at one shot. The phenomena of hotel mushrooming in this city still making people wondering how Ipoh that is not a tourism city and not an industrial or commercial hub can feed these hotels for their survival. Moreover, there are several new major hotel projects launched in the city.

 

Beautiful Transformation of Lau Ek Ching Street

Although the process took almost 3 years, but the final result is cheerful when I see the final vacant unit of this row of shop house in Lau Ek Ching Street under restoration. The new tenant is putting effort in highlighting the beautiful reliefs making it like a bronze sculpture. Although the renovation work is still underway and I have no idea what would it be, but I am sure the transformation of Lau Ek Ching Street is just a perfect example of restoring the entire block of heritage building which successfully boosting the commercial value of this particular area. This is such a beautiful transformation from how it looked like in July 2010 to become what it is today.

 

Stars in The Rainy Night

It is reasonable to have a blank and dark sky in a rainy night . However, I find myself in the night that full of star, although it is raining out there.... (",)