Ipoh

After breakfast, we decides to go to Tambun to buy some Pamelos and Tambun biscuits to bring home. We ended up spending another few hours there as I met with an ex-colleague there. He brought us for lunch and to visit a few famous cave temples. We left Ipoh city at about 2.30pm.
Ipoh city is clean, developed and no traffic jam. The food is cheap and I heard the houses are cheap too. They have more shopping malls compared to KB. They have Tesco, Tesco Extra (a new Tesco outlet), Jusco, Giant and Ipoh Parade.
On our way back, I decide to stop at the Banding Lake again to snap a few more photos before the sunset. We arrived home at 9 pm.

Ipoh, Perak

Above: View from 7th floor of Ipoh City Hotel.

The first thing to do when we arriving Ipoh is to look for food. After traveling for more than 7 hours, what else to do beside looking for a good delicious lunch. I heard Ipoh offers lots of good and cheap food. That's why   we shouldn't miss this opportunity. Most of the shops are closed at the old town since it is a Sunday. So, we went rounding with our car and finally found a hawker center with lots of people. We end up having lunch twice before searching for a hotel. We took sometime looking for Ipoh City Hotel.

This is the hotel reception of Ipoh City Hotel. It cost us RM93.50 nett per night for a twin bed room.
The hotel lounge provide free wifi service. Even though I found that the rate is a bit expensive for a simple hotel, lets do some comparison with the room at Casuarina Ipoh Hotel, a 5 star rating hotel.
This is our room at Ipoh City Hotel. Looks clean, simple and spacious and located in the middle of Ipoh Old town.

On the second night, I shifted to Casuarina Ipoh Hotel as it was arranged by my company. The hotel is located slightly further out from the city, which is not convenient at all for those without a car. This 5 star hotel looks very impressive from outside. As you enter inside, the reception and the lounge looks very old and rundown. The corporate rate is at about RM165.00 nett per night for a twin sharing. They claim that they have refurbished and renovated the rooms, but from inside, they do still look very old and rundown.. Not worth the money as compared to Ipoh City Hotel. See below at the hotel room.

At night, we visited the nearest shopping mall which is the Ipoh Parade.

On the next day, we visited the Sam Po Kong Temple and the famous Ipoh caves, before shifting to Casuarina Hotel to join my colleagues for lunch and adjourn for a meeting at the same hotel.
At the famous Sam Po Kong Temple.

Photo: Inside the temple.

In the evening after our group dinner, we went clubbing until 2 am.

Ipoh and the East - West Highway

The scenery from the peak of Banjaran Titiwangsa.

I was required to attend the company's Mid Year Review meeting In Ipoh recently. I have not drive to Ipoh for so many years already. This time I decide to use the same old route which is the East West Highway as I believe they offer interesting scenery as compare to the new KB-Gua Musang-Simpang Pulai-Ipoh route. I think the distance is almost the same, except that the road from KB to Gua Musang is too long and boring.

Whereas, the East West is across the Titiwangsa mountains and the journey takes about 7 hours with tea break and rest. But the scene is beautiful and relaxing and if you are lucky, you may get to see wild elephants. My first stop was at the peak of Banjaran Titiwangsa. Above is the bridge linking the mainland to Banding island.

The view of Banding Lake. A very popular spot for fishing enthusiastic.

Boats for hire at Banding Island for fishing and lake tour.
A cheap floating chalet. They also sells fresh water fish such as Kelah, caught by the aborigines or the Orang Asli. After Gerik, we stopped at Lenggong, a small town just before Kuala Kangsar to get refresh. The photo is the Jambatan DiRaja Lenggong taken just next to the R&R (Rest and Relax or Rehat dan Relax).

We finally reached Ipoh after about Seven and a half hours of driving This photo is taken from the Seventh floor of Ipoh City Hotel.

Beach Of Passionate Love

Went to the beach today. Nothing much to do, as the boys were still on holidays. And myself is off from work for the weekend. Took a drive up to the beach. The sea is still rough and high tide and the wind is strong. I think the monsoon season is still on, and will only be over untill February.

Wish List For 2008

I know it's a bit late to wish everyone Happy New Year. For the past few years I did my countdown at the Buddhist Temple at Pengkalan Kubur listening to the monk chanting and to welcome the New Year.
1st day of January 2008. Over the years we went to the same Temple at Pengkalan Kubur to offer food to monks called "Saibak".  And I think we'll continue doing the same for the coming years. And here's my travel wish List for 2008.
I wish to travel to:
A. Somewhere Near: 1. Yogjarkarta 2. Siem Riep

B. Somewhere Far: 1. Beijing to Tibet by Train 2. Nepal

Flood in Kota Bharu

The moment I step into the arrival hall of LCCT Airport, from our Hanoi trip I received the message telling us that KB town has flooded. We can't do much because we are still on transit for another night flight from LCCT to KB. Anyway, the next day I decide to explore a little bit and snap some photos to see how bad the situation is. Looking at it, I think it is not as bad as the previous years.