perak – TV Smith's Blog

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

Anson Bay – When Doves Cry

Anson Bay – When Doves Cry.

Many Malaysians normally don’t go out of the way to avoid pigeons and enjoy seeing the birds flying helter-skelter because of some thrill they get by doing so. It makes such people feel powerful, I guess, to see animals dispersing because of them. Knowing how awful it is to be interrupted while eating, I always avoid pecking birds and take a detour which is not hard.

I set my camera to a very fast shutter speed to freeze the anticipated dispersal and waited. My awesome co driver, navigator and camera assistant then, Zyneste acted as human spotter. She told me she saw a human approaching. As expected, he crashed the bird feeding party headlong and sent all the hungry birds into flight. Got the shot and we went to look for the famous Ah Chai fruit rojak after that.

Sony A7R, ISO 1600, f16, 1/3200 sec.

With so much to do in TA, you may want to spend a night in this west coast town, Book the hotels directly from here by cilcking on the links.

Lavender Hotel Teluk Intan,
Angsoka Hotel Teluk Intan,
Yew Boutique Hotel Teluk Intan,
Grand Court Hotel Teluk Intan,
Merge Summit Hotel, Teluk Intan
Sri Bandar Hotel Teluk Intan.
Stephanie Hotel Teluk Intan,
Chin Yee Hotel Teluk Intan,

Here is another list with over 10 hotels in Teluk Intan to choose from. Number of hotels available may depend on your booking dates.

#telukintan #ta #anson #perak #smalltown #pigeons #bif #streetphotpgraphy

Tanjung Malim

When I was photographing Tanjung Malim and surrounding areas, I was looking for a nice hotel to stay. I ended up at the Slim River Rest House because I liked the green surroundings.At one glance, Rumah Rehat Slim River looks like a charming hippie commune from the flower power days. Only thing missing is a VW Kombi with psychedelic colours.

Unlike other government rest houses from colonial days, this one is relatively recent. The reception clerk told me it was built in the 1960s.

The motel-style chalets are on stilts, clustered on a big lawn with nice countryside surroundings as a backdrop.

Unfortunately, it is run by the district council and like many government owned rest houses, the government servants in charge see no need to be competitive by making affiliations with online booking merchants.

Can’t really blame them when the more sophisticated Sekeping Serendah and Summit Signature Hotel Silm River aren’t signed with Agoda or Booking dot com either.

Sad that many fine and historic rest houses with awesome food eventually closed down. There is a rest house in Tanjung Malim town itself but it was abandoned and left in shambles. I wrote about it some time ago.

So where can you stay in the Tanjung Malim area?

Hotel Sahara Inn -Tanjung Malim,
Adelia Hill Farm Kalumpang,
One Home Hotel Batang Kali,
Bukit Beruntung Business Hotel,
The Leverage Business Hotel Rawang,
Slim Village Leisure Farm (Pet Friendly) Kampung Penderas,
Felda Residence Trolak,

Summit Signature Hotel Slim River (Tel: 605 452 8993)
Sekeping Serendah (Tel: 012 324 6552)
Slim River Rest House (Tel: 05 52 0023)
Fernz Hotel (Tel: 05-458 1120)
Sri Malim Hotel (Tel: 05-459 9333)

See also our page on Hotels in Kampar, Bidor and Tapah.

A Curious Case

Many years ago I thought of visiting a good friend in his hometown of Taiping during Chinese New Year. That was when many people are back in their respective hometowns and locals always make competent and knowledgeable guides to an unfamiliar small town. I called the friend and he said there was virtually no walking space in his mother’s house, with all his siblings returning.

It is a time honored tradition or custom to go back during a festival. He said he will throw a mattress on the floor for me. I told him to book a hotel for me. He called me later to say he cannot find a vacant hotel in town and offered to give me his room. He was staying in a hotel? As I was to find out. many other returning locals were taking up all the hotel rooms in town.

Seemed their pampered urban kids can’t sleep without air conditioning or bath without hot water showers. They like the Cartoon Channel and other kiddie shows on satellite or cable channels too but not all hotels provide it.. My friend explained that it was also to shield his infant child from the rampant sounds of bomb like firecrackers and fireworks in his village.

Meanwhile, poor grandma cannot understand why her grandchildren are unable to sleep under mosquito nets and a fan.

I was not surprised as I know of another friend who will put his two young daughters in the car with engine and air condition running whenever there was an extended power breakdown at night. He checks into hotels too when there is water disruptions.

It is a new phenomenon that impacted many Malay and Indian families too, as I was to find out. Don’t laugh at the proliferation of budget hotels everywhere because you think they are meant for ‘day use’ customers. They play a vital role albeit thrice yearly during festival exodus by urbanites.

If you are planning to book a room for the upcoming Hari Raya holidays, you may want to book now. Do a search for your hometown’s name at MyCen Hotels http://www.mycen.my/ and find a hotel you like. Let me know of your experience. Thank you.

Pic of a sheltered park bench at Taiping Lake Gardens from a MyCen Hotels post about Hotels In Taiping, Kuala Sepetang and Kamunting.

#cny #hometown #smalltown #exodus #festival #hotels #taiping #park #rain

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.