Rex Goes Empty Again

After some years, the building of previous Rex Cinema is going empty again. The furniture shop had occupied for few years and is now moved to somewhere else in town, leaving this old cinema building an unknown fate. This is right in the heart of Ipoh city. Will it be demolished for making new building, or it will be remained & turned into some other purpose?

Long Way to Great City Skyline

Ipoh is always left behind in pursuing a metropolitan skyline. There is a dream of many Ipoh folks to catch up with other Malaysian cities to build tall & big buildings. However, is it better to just have more and more high rise buildings? To me, the best skyline shall consists of skyscrapers with well-designed, built in quality, strategically located, and stays in harmony with the older part of downtown. As at this moment, there is no good planning to bring Ipoh towards achieving great skyline, but I have seen proposals by the city council to "kill" the heritage buildings by having modern high rise buildings surrounding the heritage landmarks.
 

Mount Korbu in A Sunny Day

Limestone hills & mountains cascading and form a beautiful scene, with Mount Korbu appears as the highest peak in the photo. Nonetheless, Mount Korbu is truly the highest peak of Titiwangsa Range, the back bone of Peninsular Malaysia.

 

I Am Back!

It's been too busy in the pass 6 months that I have to abandon my beloved blog. However, situation changed and I am now available again to share the images of my hometown Ipoh. Let's start with some skyline photos without much writing. I hope this is a good restart and I do not wish to leave this blog untouched anymore. If you are still with me, I would be very grateful with & appreciated your support.

 

Another Defeat in Heritage Preservation

I couldn't believe this would happen so fast. Before I could post some other photos within the week, the damage on these shophouses has begin. As I have just mentioned in my last post on 30 November, there are not many block of pre-war shophouse in Ipoh downtown could remain entirely untouched. However, the current owner just do not appreciate the architecture of pre-war buildings, or having no interest to restore the old buildings and choose to tear them down. This is exactly the same "tragedy" which had happened to the shophouses which stood at Chung On Siew Street, current Ibis Style Hotel location, and the block of shops at Hume Street. If the wealthy corporates or business men continue to put aside the value of heritage building and destroying this evident that witnessed the city's growth, it will be meaningless when we tell our future generations & visitors about the history of Ipoh. Many would think that heritage preservation is just to maintain some of the well-known buildings. This is simply an excuse which equivalent to letting a tree remain while the entire forest is being wiped off.

Anderson Road Shophouses

Knock down pre-war shophouse & reconstruction has been commonly practiced in Ipoh. We can hardly find an entire row of shophouse which is completely remained untouched. Just like this row along Anderson Road. However, some dismantling work is seen at these shophouses and it is carried out almost in all of this block. I am suspecting something aggressive is planned. Could it be a nice preservation project to restore all these shophouses for new business, or it may be reaching its final destination soon?

New Face of Hume Street

Without realizing that time passes so fast, demolition of the pre-war building at Hume Street has been occurring 2 years ago. The new shophouses at the same location are almost completed that appear as new face of eastern Hume Street. Although this is a completely reconstructed building, it's architecture which replicating colonial-era shophouse is well integrated to the neighbourhood. The choice of grey-scale color for the exterior also helps to preserve the appearance of New Town like a heritage district.

Driving Into The Darkness

I could remember the raining reason has been probably started since September. It rained almost everyday since then and occasionally thunder storm strikes which flooded some lower grounds. When it happens, partly or whole atmosphere would turn into a scary darkness and bombarded by continuous lightning before the downpour.

The Express Is Almost Reaching Its Destination

Remember the promise by Cititel Express to open by end of 2014? As there is only one more month to end the year, its current condition from exterior doesn't seem optimistic for delivering its promise. Anyway, the interior works could be progressing simultaneously and it may still make it just on time to open their door for welcoming the new year of 2015.

Gear Up at D'Festivo

The condominium of D'Festivo Residences at Ipoh Garden East will be another obvious landmark after MH Hotel at the North-South Expressway exit. The 22-storey building that located right beside the expressway has just begun constructing its tower block not too long ago but the progress seems promising. Despite the raining season, night work would have extended its building capacity and certainly helps in speeding the grow.

Our Next Expecting Mall

Yesterday was the official opening of Aeon Mall Taiping, which is the 4th Aeon Shopping Centre in Perak state. The next to be expected shall be this one, Aeon Mall Klebang. Being the 5th Aeon Mall in the state, it is also the only shopping mall under construction in Ipoh. Therefore it is spotlighted by the community of Ipoh, especially the northern region. Anyway, the potential problem to be worried of shall be the traffic system. As the adjacent free industrial zone is well known to be a traffic black spot. The local authorities shall proactively taking necessary actions to prevent traffic congestion at this area when the mall commence business.
 

Sun Rise in a Refreshing Morning

How many would realize there is a beautiful scene in the morning while everyone are rushing to work? If we choose to leave home a little earlier and be more relax on the way to work, we may be able to find nice sun set scene like this. However, I am not someone who is practicing the above mentioned behaviour. After taking this shot, I was one of member joining the rushing queue to work. Lol..... :)

Skyline Viewed from Ibis Style Hotel

A peaceful night scene viewed from the roof top bar of Ibis Style Hotel. Ipoh skyline at night isn't impressive at all. However, I believe it will improve in coming few years.

Haze in the City

Mid-year is always a dry season in west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A few weeks without rain would instantly bring haze to cover the atmosphere of Kinta Valley. In this view from Ipoh Parade car park, the mountain range is fading from sight and buildings at distance are seen to be blur. This has become very common in the recent decade, most probably due to increasing activities of open burning and tremendous growth of motor vehicles.