Earth Hour 2012

Today is 31st March. The world is invoked to participate the Earth Hour 2012 by switching off lights for 60 minutes at 8:30pm as a symbolic move to support reduction of Earth resources consumption. Although it's only an hour but if hundreds of millions of people in the world could contribute their very little effort, the effect would be huge. Similarly, if damage to the nature like this is considered negligible, millions of such activity would be significantly impacting Earth's climate. So please do not be stingy in spending a little effort everyday to save our planet because every move counts.

Cool Reminder On The Road

Malaysian always like to put some stickers on the car to "entertain" other drivers with pictures, words or even advertisement. Sometimes people are getting bored with serious reminders to emphasis safe driving & simple straight forward sentence like this, "You Kiss, You Pay", would be cool.

Opening of AEON Ipoh Station 18

Since last post about largest shopping mall AEON Ipoh Station 18 on 06-March, people have been waiting for this day, the grand opening day on 29-March. The wait is finally over. Ipoh citizens are flooding the mall with full curiosity about this largest shopping center. Without writing much, I believe photos are the best way to bring you a simple virtual tour into the mall.

The decorations are so attractive & cute. I feel like coming into a dream world which surrounded by lovely toys & cartoons. This is going to be a great place for the Ipoh citizens :-)

A Big Round Sunset

I have quite a large collection of sunset scene but never have one able to captured a full round sunset. Finally I caught the right moment this evening while driving along Simee Road. Nevertheless I almost slipped through this golden opportunity because I chose a wrong path to reach this higher ground for a best view. It was less than 1 minute for me to get this complete round sunset. Therefore I may not have the best camera setting for this snapshot but, at least I got my first full "egg yolk" in my sunset collection.

Seemsoon Hotel Is Coming Soon

On 01-April-2011, a post is shared about completion of basic structure for a budget hotel at upstream Pasir Puteh Road. One year later, the hotel still not open which make me wonder what has caused the delay while it seemed completed almost 12 months ago. Recently there are some metal structures added to the building. Some steel beams are attached to the side of the hotel & a huge shade is under construction at the roof top. And finally I find a banner in front of the hotel advertising the staff recruitment. I also get to know it is called Seemsoon Hotel. However, there is still no information about the official opening date.

Poor Living Condition

There was a post about Sungai Pari Towers published in January last year. The photo was taken from far & we could see the condition of the flats was quite poor. Today I am walking closer to the tower & find the situation is worse than I imagined. Despite the units that are still occupied, many have been abandoned & left in very bad condition. Some units have lost the entire window frame & door while some even overgrown with weeds. In the compound of Sungai Pari Towers I found a signboard stated the maintenance had been carried out between Oct-2007 & Jan-2008. This flats are properties of the local authorities, why the maintenance isn't a continuous activity to ensure the living condition of its residents being well taken care of? And I also wonder any officer or councilor had paid a visit to this poor neighbourhood & work out something to overcome the current situation? I notice Ipoh City Council is very happy of its continuous increase of income over the years but I see negligible improvement in the city's infrastructure.

Snapshot From Tun Razak Library

This afternoon I come to a place where I used to hang around during my schooling time, especially when close to examination. Yes, I believe many has the same experience to study in Tun Razak Public Library. Again, this is one of the places that I have not been visiting for more than 10 years. Today I make my first return after these years & it still appears like in my memory; it even smell the same :) Immediate after entering the library, I am doing my favorite action like in the past; going up to the top floor (level 6) and enjoy the view on Ipoh city from a high spot. In those years when I was still a student, I did not afford to have camera for a snapshot on this favorite view of mine. At this moment I cannot hold myself to continuously capturing photos to compensate the faded image in mind. Of course, the skyline has changed a little with the existence of some new high rise buildings. And today a breakthrough is made for the blog by posting its first video clip. I hope everyone here could enjoy the beautiful image of Ipoh in motion.

Tune Hotels, Ipoh

Ipoh is going to welcome the opening of another well-known hotel in town on this 30th of March. Tune Hotels, the chain budget hotel which branched to several countries in South East Asia & United Kingdom, has been a symbol of bustling & a landmark of a particular city. It is in the same family with the famous budget airline AirAsia & mobile phone service provider Tune Talk. This 9-storey building, The Host, cum some units of 3-storey commercial shop lots were developed since 2 years ago. However, the landing of Tune Hotels into this building at Ipoh was only unveiled few months ago. There are now 3 major budget hotels in this area of Kampung Jawa and the competition seems getting tougher for all.

Tune Hotels, Ipoh

Address: No.2, The Host, Veerasamy Road, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

Website: http://www.tunehotels.com/

Peaceful Sunset

Posting of a spectacular sun rise scene yesterday representing a great start of a day. Today's sharing is a photo of a peaceful sunset in the evening, which symbolizes the completion of one-day hard work. This is a breathtaking moment where half of the sky appears in golden color.

The Moment of Sun Rising

The weather seems gradually change. Downpour that was storming the city in past 2 weeks has ceased. Sometimes it still rain in the afternoon but it has been much declined. People living at low-lying areas need not worry about flash flood as long as the weather does not go wild again. The sky is getting clearer in the morning. Bright light shining from the rising sun creates a spectacular scenery in the east. A great day is about to begin.

Sunset At Theater Street

One of the liveliest spots in Ipoh at night is the block between Yau Tet Shin Street, Theater Street & Osborne Street. Famous restaurants & local product shops start serving increased number of customer after sunset. Hawkers of night market also busy setting up their canopy & stuff along Osborne Street. As most of the operating restaurants & shops are located at Yau Tet Shin Street, Theater Street is currently served as car park. However, with the new building completed at the previous Capitol Cinema site (the 4-storey block at far end), the scene of bustling Theater Street may return in near future.

First Visit To Giant of Bercham

The Giant Hypermarket of Bercham started operation since 8-March. When I was hanging around here 2 weeks ago, the preparation work was at its final stage. On the first few days of opening, the surrounding was seriously congested especially during weekend. Nevertheless, the heat is over after 2 weeks & there is no congestion in the hypermarket tonight. I spend some time walking around and find this Giant is quite cozy with the good brightness & proper arrangement. Perhaps this is a weekday night, it is relax to get in and out of the building while the traffic flow in car park is smooth. However, the surrounding roads are quite narrow & traffic system is not well designed. There must be many frustrated drivers during peak hours.

Chinese Muslim Mosque

If you think this is a plan of building Chinese temple, then you are wrong. I was wrong, too. While I drove through Tasek Jaya yesterday, I saw a board mentioning this government project to build a mosque over here. But when I pass by the site again this afternoon, a banner caught my attention. I was thinking isn't it a mosque to be built here. Why I see an artist illustration of a Chinese temple? I approached nearer to confirm & realized it's true for my both findings; a mosque to be built here & it is design in traditional Chinese architecture. This is a Chinese Muslim mosque. It is quite commonly seen in China but certainly very rare in Malaysia. I am sure even if this is not the first in the country, it must be one of the pioneers. Perhaps this mosque will be an attractive spot for tourist after completion.

The Big Tree of Belfield Street

As published in 12-February about the preservation of a giant rain tree at Belfield Street, I can now realize its benefit. A natural shade is provided where I see people tend to park their car under its shadow. I even feel more comfort & cooler when walking around the tree. Hopeful it will be well maintained to avoid being chopped down one day due to rotting.

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.