Memories of Ipoh
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007Having to go through the hellish travel to Ipoh was so worth it. Going back to Ipoh for our vacatoin was a very memorable one for us. Stef took us around Ipoh and on the day she took us for lunch in Chemor, on the way home, she took a turn to the former Seagate plant was located in the Kinta Free Trade Zone. I can’t remember the name of the current occupant now, but it sure brought a lot of memories during our days in Seagate. I left Seagate in January of 1997 and the plant was only 1.5 years old. The trees that facilities planted in the parking lot are now full blown trees and gave shade to the cars parked on the lot.
Seeing the neighborhood I was living in for 26 years was enough to wonder what else is the city gonna do now. A lot more I’m sure. The main road where my parents’ home is used to be very quiet. There were cars but not as busy as what it is now. DB and I took an evening walk and it was not easy trying to get across the road: motorbikes or I should call them scooters and cars zoomed by left and right and it seems eternity we were standing there. We walked to Jalan Raja Kam, Jalan Selangor, Pahang, Penang, Johor, Kelantan, and Perak. The amount of huge mansions dotted along these streets were unbelievable. Did someone won a lottery or make it big in England and came home and built big bungalows?? DB was very surprised, too, to see these big bungalows.
The Methodist Church, too, had a lot of changes to it. Must have a good congregation in that church. Jalan Atkin had a few nice big ones. There is even some sort of apartments built at the cross roads of Atkin and Tambun Road. I didn’t take pictures of these areas coz I was in awe how much Ipoh has changed. It ain’t a town anymore as I kept referring it as a town. It’s a damn city now!
This round-about at the inter section of Tambun Road, Brewster Road, Gopeng Road, and Hugh Low, or better still across the Menteri Besar’s residence, seems to stay the same except for the wonderfully kept garden surrounding it. The last I saw there were hardly any surviving plants. Must be all the rain that kept them alive!
These shophouse that lined Hugh Low Street (Jalan Iskandar Shah, I think) are in bad shape. DB said they weren’t that bad of a shape back in 1996. I agree. There seems to be no one living in the upper part of these shops anymore. What a waste.
The above picture was taken at the mall next to my former school, Main Convent. These Kopitiams are all over the city. I suppose the good old coffee shops are going to be extinct soon.
Foh San Restaurant, we had our dim sum fix on 11/21/2007. That place is forever packed no matter how early you get there. It so happens we were there during the major school holidays. We managed to find a place to sit and boy did DB get a lot of stares!!! Guess not many folks seen gwai lohs in a dim sum restaurants????? I remember when I was still a kid, my dad would wake us up at 5:30 a.m. (there abouts) and asked if we want to go to Foh San for dim sum. He says if we go early, the food will be fresher where we will not be eating other folks left overs.
Eastern Decorator, a company still standing. This building is along Hugh Low Street. My mom and aunt used to shop in this place for carpets, curtains, and don’t know what else. Anything to do with home refurbishing, this shop will pratically has them all. If I remember right, this shop used to be on Yang Kalsom Road. It has been in this current location for many years now, even before I left Ipoh.
When I got to Ipoh, I felt like I’m a tourist, a visitor. The town/city looked so congested with cars and my most hateful vehicle – the damn scooters. The Tiger Lane and Tambun Road intersection is now decorated with overpasses/fly overs, and the same with the road heading to the Menteri Besar’s office to Kuala Kangsar Road. There is also another area I think is around Gopeng Road and Tiger Lane. Those overpasses really screwed me up! The signboards are the not best in Malaysia. They are plain crappy. Those who do not know their way around Ipoh, will end up like me roaming around till I see a familiar landmark.
We both aim to get back to Ipoh in another two years. Wonder what else will change.
