Ipoh - Malaysia

Ipoh, State of Perak, Malaysia

This town pops up to me after all flight tickets are booked. I recently saw the review of it on the Walking Backpack page and it looked very interesting so I also must follow the page ^^

The highlight of this city......

....Come to search for street art like George Town but Ipoh only have 7 originals

....Come to wander along the Ipoh Heritage Trail which ages over 100 years in more than 30 neo-classical style places

....Come to eat, eat, and eat because Ipoh is most well known for food in Malaysia. Some even said that it's compatible to Hong Kong. The must not miss dish includes Khao Man Kai (Rice with Chicken), Cold Tofu, Old Town White Coffee (the famous coffee of Malaysia) which has its first branch in Ipoh.

How to get there?.....From Penang to Ipoh

- Take the 15 minutes free ferry from Penang to Butterworth

- Take the two and a half hours KTM train from Butterworth to Ipoh

In addition, you can also take the KTM from Padang Besar or Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh as well.

Since this city hasn't have much review or guide books information, once we reach downtown, we should firstly go to Tourist Information Centre to ask for map, consultation, and recommendation. It's highly important to visit here first ^^

Inside of Ipoh Tourist Information Centre has brochures, maps and the staff is there to recommend and answer our questions.

Travel Destinations......"Street Art" is our main target of visiting Ipoh. We'd like to see all 7 original street art (many more are there but not original) on the wall in the Old Town area of the city....All of the street art represents culture, society, landscape, etc.

Here are the chronological order of the street art according to the Art of Old Town map:

1. Old Uncle with Coffee Cup

2. Paper Plane

3. Kopi 'O'

4. Hummingbird

5. Evolution

6. Trishaw

7. Girl

This area has the sign telling the details of each street art....it's quite easy, you can also search for them all ^^

Travel Destinations..."Ipoh Heritage Trail"

It refers to the over 30 stops of aged more than 100 year-old neo-classical style buildings scattering around Ipoh .

First of all, we need to take this kind of map from the Ipoh Tourist Information Centre.

We have almost a day and we find only 16 stops because the weather is super hot and there's no bicycle rental shops and some places are quite far from one another. Probably, it is also because we might walk pass but didn't see it - -"

At the Old Town area, we can follow the footprints at the walkway.

These photos are chronologically placed like in the Ipoh Heritage Trail map:

1. Railway Station

At night time....

The fountain is dancing with beautiful lights.

2. War Memorial

3. Ipoh Town Hall

Another angle of Ipoh Town Hall

4. The Court House

5. Royal Ipoh Club

6. Church of St. John the Divine

Let's take a break a bit.....it's super hot.

7. St. Michael Institution

8. India Muslim Mosque

9. F.M.S. Bar & Restaurant

12. Chung Thye Phin Building

13. Straits Trading Building (OCBC)

15. Mercantile Bank

18. Birch Memorial

20. Mikasa Photo Shop

24. Panglima Lane (Concubine Lane)

Then we find the Malaysian ice balls to cool us off at Concubine Lane.

Each ice ball is 3 MYR and we can also add up the color.

It's a bit difficult to eat as it's quite big without spoon but sticks ^^"

28. Dato' Panglima Kinta 's Mosque

In addition to 7 originals street art and Ipoh Heritage Trail, Ipoh also offers many beautiful places for us to walk and take photos.

The Mosque (I can't remember the name) ><

There're plenty of new street art.

Beautiful Umbrellas in a Narrow Alley in the Old Town

The charm of many old buildings are there in the city.....but it's quite scary at night - -"

This is cute little lamps decorated at the Old Town.

This probably is a restaurant. Inside is decorated with shady trees and with this thing stretching far out ^^"

Food...

1. Old Town White Coffee

This is a must not miss for Ipoh!! It is the Old Town White Coffee ☕️

Actually we can find in throughout Malaysia but just that Ipoh is its origin city :D

It's fairly easy to find this shop. Just walk across the street from Ipoh Railway Station and we will find the Ipoh Town Hall, then, turn left towards Jalan Dato Maharajalela and walk straight a bit before turning left again. If you see the street art of the Old Uncle with Coffee Cup, you have come to the right place. The Old Town White Coffee offers food, beverages, snacks and free WiFi.

It is also just opposite to the Tourist Information Centre of Ipoh.......It should be our first stop in this town. We can stop by for a cup of coffee and take the photo with the uncle who is one of the seven original street art in Ipoh. After that, you can ask for the map from the Tourist Information Centre and start your trip in this town.

There're two zones and this zone is an air-conditioning zone.

This is a fan zone with steam.

We try the Iced Old Town White Coffee and Iced Fresh Lemon Tea. The coffee here is made from white coffee. The roasting process makes this coffee smell very good and this is the unique of this shop.

I really like this dish. It's a small dish of Mini Minced Chicken Rice. It tastes delicious and only available at certain times.

Coming to Malaysia, we must have Laksa. Then, we also try Curry Mee. We can't finish them as they are a lot.

Follow by Peanut Butter Toast

2. Milkcow

Under this melting fat hot weather, nothing can be better than a cool ice cream. 🍦

Actually we planed to go to the cafe at the corner where the trees are over the place on the opposite side. It is recommended by the Trip Advisor but it's already closed. T_T

So we end up here, at the Milkcow. It's the shop recommended by our friends saying that the seller is handsome. - -"

It is famous for having super soft ice cream made from organic cow, organic honey, and organic toppings!!!!

It's delicious in its organic style, not so sweet. The place is cool with air condition but with no WiFi. ><

For menu, map and opening time, please click below at the shop's page >>> https://web.facebook.com/MilkcowIPH/

3. Restoran Tauge Ayam Ong Kee

Khao Man Kai (Rice and Chicken) at Ong Kee is another mission of us. It is a must try dish for those who visit Ipoh, Malaysia. 😄

It is located in the new town area. It is a red banner restaurant situated at the corner where the Jalan Dato Tahwil Azar Road is intersected with Jalan Yau Tet Shin Raod. It is the biggest one in this area and opens from 10 a.m. - 01.00 a.m.

Actually, there're a lot of them in this area and I'm not sure which one is the best. We choose this one because we see it sits the most customers.....just like that ^^"

Oh, don't forget to order Fried Bean Sprouts too, its very delicious. 👍🏻

And do not frighten when you call for a bill as she's very loud!!!! 😓 I thought she yelled at us ><

This area is a night bazaar market, full of snacks and clothes.

Accommodation...

I recommend the hostel. We booked at Eloft hostel but read the map wrong. We thought that we stayed in the Old Town area so we walked here and there for about an hour (we couldn't find it searching in the map). Finally, we asked people nearby to know that it's in new town zone and we have to go across the river. T_T

We have to walk across this bridge.

We are so torn arriving at the hostel. There's small cafe at the ground floor of the hostel so we order an orange juice to cool us off.

And this is how the hostel looks. There're only 12 beds with only one public restroom and bathroom!! That day it was only 3 people so we didn't have problem using the bathroom. It's clean and in good location as it's close to night bazaar within just walking distance.

Tips...

There's really long queue buying the KTM ticket at Ipoh (we waited for about an hour). If you have a plan to catch other train, you should come early to get the ticket.

Some times it's also full. So I highly recommend to buy the ticket in advance. There's a board in front of where we asked for the cue card which lays out the details of each station, timetables and prices. And if any bus is full, the staff will write on this board as well.

In addition, there're several other tourist attractions out of Ipoh like Gua Tempurung Cave which I rate it as the unseen of this trip....but it's temporarily closed.T_T

We can also go to the Kellie's Castle and Lost World Amusement Park by bus.

Expenses Summary....Penang-Ipoh

- The KTM Train from Butterworth to Ipoh is 21 MYR (187 THB).

- Food and snack is 47 MYR (420 THB).

- The Eloft hostel is 34 MYR (304 THB).

- The KTM Train from Ipoh back to Penang, Butterworth is 33 MYR (297 THB).

***This is subject to the exchange rate in March 2016 where 1 MYR is about 9 THB.

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