Tag: ipoh

Super Kinta Lives

Super Kinta Lives.

Dear Ipohans, Emily Lowe, Vasanthi Mailany, Sylvia Looi, Alexandra Wong. Adriene Leong, Penny Teh and many I forgotten at the moment. Feel free to join the conversation in my Facebook if you are from Ipoh.

The new Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) in Ipoh is selling tickets above RM 100 a pop per head including children, even with opening promotions. Seems to me, a fairly big chunk for a family of 5. What you think? But then what do I know about theme parks and the costs of nurturing kids?

Amazing, a few years ago even Ipohans themselves said it was a sunset city with no future. The dead star of Kinta Valley resurrected itself with many new projects. Who would have thought? Now there is talk of the airport moving away to make way for skyscrapers in the city.

Go here if you need a hotel cheaper than an entrance ticket to a theme park.

http://www.mycen.my/ipoh-hotel-deals-finder/

Super Kinta logo to stir memories of old Ipoh, from FB psge The good memory with “Super Kinta Departmental Stores.”

#ipoh #perak #state #capital #maps #themepark #revival #kinta

The Real McCoy vs The Imitation

The Real McCoy vs The Imitation.

The plate of curry rice below is real as it was eaten and captured by Ipoh resident Vasan. A sign at the original shop in Ipoh claims it has no other branches; implying all others are fake or wannabes. And there are many in Klang Valley. Famous Line Clear Nasi Kandar from Penang suffer from piracy too.

I had the counterfeit Nasi Vanggey (top pic) in Taman Permata, opposite Taman Melawati. I thought it was the real thing as they had giant wallpapers of pictures depicting the old Ipoh shop and even a write up on its history which was designed to deceive. There was another fake one in Wangsa Maju nearby. Oddly, they hate one another with the bitterness of bitter gourds.

Thank you sweet Vasanthi Mailany for going out to help establish some clarity. I must admit I did like the food from the fake one which was quite tasty, especially the coconut chutney. But I cannot go on supporting it as it is immoral. That’s the thing many Malaysians food traders don’s realise; if you can cook, build your own brand instead of ripping off others or riding on the success and hard work of others. Plus, it is cheating customers.

Not sure where to go to get the real thing? Travel to Ipoh yourself. Find a good Ipoh hotel deal here:

http://www.mycen.my/ipoh-hotel-deals-finder/

#nasikandar #nasiganja #rice #ipoh #yongsuan #nasivanggey #curry #ipoh #perak

The Melting Pot

The Melting Pot.

Yong Suan Chinese coffee shop in Ipoh is a true melting pot with okra and customers from various cultures thrown together. Ipoh resident, Vasanthi Mailany, shot this pic at my request. It is at the famous coffee shop in Ipoh with the Indian Muslim nasi kandar (rice) tenant, also known as Nasi Vanggey, or welcome or “come in” in Tamil, it seems. The curry rice and assorted dishes were reportedly so good and addictive, it gained the notorious name of “Nasi Ganja” .

I tried one in KL and and at a couple more counterfeit shops claiming to be original branches in KL. Whenever, I confront the boss to ask if it is a genuine branch, authorised offshoot or legit spinoff, I get a nervous and suspicious answer.

Friend Jugjet Singh Randhawa saw my post and warned me he remembered seeing a sign at the Ipoh shop displaying a warning stating they have NO other branches, implying all others using the same name are fake. With Vasan’s new iPhone 7 pic, I can finally confirm from the horse’s mouth that there are no branches at anywhere else.

While I like some of the imitator’s pirated food, I cannot condone the plagiarism or blatant misuse of a brand name and riding or profiting from someone else’s popularity and hard-earned success. It is also cheating customers outright.

Many people travel to Ipoh on food trips and you can find many good hotel deals at my Ipoh Hotel Deals Finder Page:

http://www.mycen.my/ipoh-hotel-deals-finder/

Find a good hotel, sleep well and get up early for breakfast in Ipoh too.

Thank you Vasanthi Mailany for capturing a beautiful image of mullti ethnicity that is truly Malaysia. First time I am seeing the shop named as “Perniagaan Nasi Kandar Ayam Merah” and the kopitiam’s signboard spelling it as “Yong Suan Coffee Shop ” and not Yong Shuan Kopitiam as seen many times.

Makes sense because “Kopitiam” is a Hokkien word and Ipoh is predominantly Cantonese. As my friend Jahabar Sadiq, an expert on Nasi Kandar, said: “The senseless copying is getting out of hand and must stop”. Will show a comparison pic of real and fake Nasi Ganja soon.

#yongsuan #nasiganja #nasikandar #ipoh #food #ayammerah #mycenhotels #coffeeshop

Kai Si Hor Fun In Notting Hill

The dish Is flat rice noodles with shredded chicken, chives, bean sprouts and chopped scallions, drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce. I had the dry mix version and it also comes in soup.

Hor Fun looks like kuey teow but only the Chinese can tell the difference. Hor Fun noodles are more slithery and smoother in texture.

The dish originated from and is famous in Ipoh but I had this in a kopitiam in the vicinity of Notting Hill, a pretentious enclave in Bukit Rahman Putra, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

#food #kaisi #horfun #chinesefood #noodles #chicken #kopitiam #nottinghill #rahmanputra

Memories Of Ipoh

Even residents in Ipoh used to say it was a “sunset” city with little growth and a good place to live in retirement. So much has changed in the last ten years, with the city leapfrogging over night.

I can still remember the lonely D.R. Seenivasagam Park and the Ipoh Stadium, which was a popular make out place. Popular hotels such as the Excelsior was with audible loud thumping disco music from downstairs, much like the Hotel Anika in Kluang.

I remember the laid back Casuarina Hotel. It is now gone and reborn as the Impiana. The most recent hotel I stayed in was perhaps Tune Hotel Ipoh. It is is now renamed as Pi Hotel. Good to also see old favorites like YMCA and Tambun Inn are still around. Sadly, the vintage Majestic Hotel at the beautiful colonial railway station is gone.

What were fallen, are now replaced by many new and fancy hotels. Many of the newer hotels are exciting and luxury additions such as The Haven, Banjaran Hot Springs, Lost World of Tambun Hotel and the M Boutique Hotel.

I am guessing Ipoh’s unanticipated revival could be because of social media. The classic food outlets, chicken rice and nasi ganja became fodder for social media content hungry day-trippers from KL. There is now also a wave of new hipster cafes in Ipoh.

I remember going with Patrick Teoh when he wanted to visit the other famous Ipohan, Lat. We ended up for a drink at Malaysia’s oldest pub or bar, from 1906. The F.M.S, is now closed without ceremony. Glad we did. Oh yes, we then went on to tackle the iconic pomelo girls, they were another famous Ipoh icon.

Also remembered a trip guided by another Ipohan Adriene Leong in which we visited the very beautiful Masjid Panglima Kinta and had a real old town coffee in Ipoh old town. Can’t find the old pics. Sigh.

On another trip, I visited the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad at her film set in her adopted hometown Ipoh. Also went to see the Majestic Station Hotel where the cast and crew stayed.

The one and only modern mall at one time in Ipoh, for a long time, was Ipoh Parade. It is now joined by many new AEON malls.

Who can forget old Super Kinta Mall and the market? Remember the reverse T shaped logo? I think the complex may have been modeled after the original People’s Park in Singapore. Now I think it resembled the disorderly Russian Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Who else here is “Ipoh Mali”?

Find an Ipoh hotel here. if you are visiting. Newer hotels included:

http://www.mycen.my/hotels-in-ipoh/

Info compiled with assistance of Ipohan Emily Lowe. Thank you.