Ipoh 2023 - Ipoh Train Ride Back to Penang

All too soon our short holiday was over and it was time to go home. I think we managed to visit the weekend market before we left. And did our usual shopping at the New Town before making our way to the train station. Above Kumamon waiting for our train to pull in from Kuala Lumpur, and going back to Penang.

My husband, standing at platform 1 of the station waiting for our train. My bag is filled with biscuits, salt baked chicken, and white coffee. Those were my 3 must buy things whenever I visit Ipoh. 

 

We also bought a box of pastry to eat on our train ride home. Egg tarts of various flavour, and kaya puff which are also famous in Ipoh. Nothing to shout about, but they are a great snack on a train ride. I love eating on the train. 

Kumamon also wants a bite! How cute can he be!

You know you're arriving in Penang Mainland train station soon when you looked out and see something that looked like Penang Bridge. But don't worry, it's not. It's just the Sungai Perai's bridge. Once we reached our destination, it's another ferry ride back to the island, followed by a bus ride home. This time, maybe we can stop by to have some Bak Kut Teh before headed home.  See you soon Ipoh! 

Ipoh 2023 - Ipoh Nostalgic Shops and Tea Merchant

 

More exploration of Ipoh Old Town. I kept saying it's a small town, yet I can write so many post about it. What a contradiction. Here above is near Kong Heng area. I love old buildings like these, with trees overgrowing and becoming apart of the building.

Inside these buildings are actually modern cafes and shops, but outside they retained their old look. Kudos to that. It helps that there is an awesome kopitiam nearby that has one of the best Satay too.

With not much else to do, we just wander around shops, looking at the deco and things for same. Soaking in the old retro vibe. It's kinda nice. 

The old town played it's part as well and indulged it's visitors, milking them as much as possible. I think if I was a foreigner new to all these, I would be delighted. Fortunately I grew up in Penang, a town just as old, so everything just looked staged to me. I prefer authenticity, always. 

But that doesn't stops me from admiring the beautiful display. And how some olden tools and equipments have been updated in style and design to make it more appealing to the newer generations.  

I do love grand old house and it's decoration, but modern life just can't fit all those big pots in!

Old style cosmetic often reminded us of our grandmother, or that one aunty who is always applying these white powder before going out. Or those rose water like perfume....Nostalgic, that's what it was. They were selling you nostalgic feeling. You wanted to purchase a piece so that you too can go back into those simpler time. 

Old furniture that are hard to sit on. Interestingly both my homes don't have modern sofas. I only have wooden hard furnitures. Guess I am old soul :P 

I did managed to stumbled into a Tea Shop and was stuck there for a while trying to pull myself away from all the beautiful things inside of it. Drinking tea is a lifestyle, a state of mine, a statement, a meditation, everything! I drink tea almost daily. And I think I have a life time supply of tea at both my home!

Besides tea, I love the tools of making tea. I love tea cups and kettle, but could never make myself buy an expensive set. But drinking from a beautiful cup, or a simple one do elevate the experience. And every experience only last briefly, before the tea gets cold, before the tea gets too diluted, before you have to stand up and go to the toilet.....

I would love to have a shelves for my different tea cups. I currently collect English Tea Cups and have around 6 sets? For Chinese tea cup, I only have one special one made by my husband's cousin from Melbourne. The rest I just used a Daiso bought cup. 

I always wanted a Japanese iron tea pot, but could never make myself buy one. A good one cost around 100sgd, and some as cheap as 50sgd. But they can rust, so I have a fear of owning one since it will mean I have to maintain them..... Maybe when I am older and have too much time?

I would probably wander into this shop again when I next visit Ipoh if it is still there. It just feels so peaceful there, surrounded by all the things I love so much :)

Ipoh 2023 - Ipoh Book Xcess and Yasmin Ahmad Special Exhibition

After all the museum visit, it was time to wander around town again. Seriously, Ipoh Old Town is really really small, so we decided to spend some time at the bookstore. They have a nice Book Xcess bookstore housed in an old bank. The building itself was an attraction. 

Just so happened that there is a Yasmin Exhibition on-going at the bookstore. The poster says it is at KongHeng Museum, which is housed at the basement of Book Xcess. Why does a bookstore has a basement? Cause long time ago, banks have safe box services and vault to keep gold. And since this bookstore is housed inside an old bank, the basement has also been converted to a store, but without actually losing any of it's banking charm. You'll see. Read on.

In case you don't know who Yasmin Ahmad is, she is a famous movie and commercial producer. She has already passed away, but her movies are well loved by Malaysia for it's simplicity and authenticity of a Malaysian life. They can be rather slow, but quite beautifully shot, and very simple. Her commercials on the other hand, are usually tear jerkers, especially those holiday commercials which she is famous for. One of her most famous work is of Tan Hong Ming's love story, which is super sweet. I think I'm leave a video at the end for you.

To see her exhibition, (probably ended by the time you see this), just follow her poster down to the basement. 

And into the vault you go. See, told you this bookstore was charming.

The museum exhibition, small and simple. The bars from the old bank adds a nice touch to this place.

I've not seen all her movies, but I have seen Sepet, a love story between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy. It's one of those young and innocent love story between two different races. The girl is super sweet, and the boy is super Ah Beng. 

The whole exhibition is a tribute to Yasmin's life work.

I thought it was very nicely put.

It's nice to see someone took the time to put this up to share with all Malaysians. 

What the basement looked like. Remember, this used to be an old bank! I wonder if the newer generation have ever been inside a bank before. Do they still have safety boxes in banks? 

The office cabinets are still here. Now used to display booked instead.

And some of the books are displayed on saving boxes. I have been inside a bank's safety box room before. It was pretty cool, something old school you see in the movies. It takes two keys to open the safety box, one from you, and one from the bank. I can't remember if it still works that way. They even have a ladder inside so that they can bring the boxes that are high up down for you. And you have an area where you can conduct your private business in. Eventually I have to go back there one day.....

Leaving you here with a clip of Tan Hong Ming In Love. 

Ipoh 2023 - Ipoh Ho Yan Hor Herbal Drink Museum

Just next door to the Hakka Museum, is a herbal tea museum. Entrance here is also free, but since it's an old building, they also prefer that you booked in advance before you visit them. Prior to this, I have never heard of Ho Yan Hor herbal tea before, but my husband seems to have.....

You can learn a lot about the history of this brand in the museum, specifically at the second floor. The building is super old, so even the stairs are a bit fragile. They do control the crowd here, which was kinda nice. Ho Yan Hor was a business man who decided to start selling mobile herbal tea to the tin miners and worker around Ipoh on his bicycle. 

Above is the actual photo of him. His brand has taken off and can now be found in most pharmacies in Malaysia, and there are even canned drink version of it sold in supermarkets.

Here is an official information photo about the brand.

And since it's a Chinese herbal drink, it's based on Chinese medicine. The tea is supposed to be cooling, or at least, that's what my husband mainly drink it for. 

Here are some of the herbs used, I guess. I am interested in TCM, but I never do get around to learning it, sticking only to the usual herbs I like for making soup. I never medicate myself, I just make soup that I find soothing and energising for myself. 

The museum also shows equipment used to make traditional herbal tea or medicine. We have such peddling vendors in Penang last time, selling herbal tea along the road sides too. My dad would sometimes stop by for a drink. You could add more herb powder to make them more bitter, hence more cooling. I'm not a fan.

The kitchen area on the ground floor was a fully equip old style kitchen.

This is what a mobile herbal tea vendor looks like. We also have these table with tea existing in Singapore, usually in front of a chinese medical hall or herbal soup. They are also sold by the bottle, in cafe and kopitiam too.

For Ho Yan Hor, they basically sold 4 types of herbal tea. You get to try them after your tour before you step out of the museum. They will explained to you each one, and also offer a special bundle to you if you want to drink them. For some reason, I like the more bitter one, the one which my husband hates. I also like them served cold in a can. But I must say, they aren't cheap. So I don't drink them at all unless I happen to be in Ipoh, then maybe I'll go in and get a can to support them. My husband on the other hand, buys boxes of them whenever he comes to Malaysia, cause to him the food in Penang is too heaty for him, so he needs all these cooling drink to balance his internal body. -_________-

Sample cups of different herbal tea to try. I do not like ginseng drink unless it's in a soup :P

Some of the retro collection and tins from bygone days.

Fanboy selfie :P

Ipoh 2023 - Ipoh Han Chin Pet Soo Hakka Museum

 

The first museum we visited was a Hakka Museum, because my husband's dialect is Hakka. I thought it would be good for him to learn a bit about his dialect group, seeing how he can't even speak his own language, lol. This was a guided tour or the museum. It is free, but they encourage a small donation, and you have to reserved in advance to visit the place. So I did lah.

The tour started with everyone gathering at a Tok Panjang table, or at least that's what the Peranakan calls it. I forgot what it was called here. But I love the tiled floor and the wooden furniture. The table top was of grey marble. And the mirror hanging there, those are infinity mirrors. We have the same concept in a Peranakan house too.

The hakka came to Ipoh mainly as merchants and miners. So it was interesting to learn about the mining community from the guided tour. Before this tour, I've always thought that Ipoh was mainly a Cantonese town since everyone here seems to speak Cantonese. How wrong I was.

After a brief introduction, we were brought into the building itself. Every room, every hallway, a reflection of the past. Love the cowboy style door swing there. You can still find these in some restaurants or old hotels in Penang. They used to be more common. 

The tour guide talked about miners, and also opium smoker from the old days. 

An old retro walk way. I think the building was 3 storey tall, with very old staircase.

On the upper floor it show case old day's social activities, like gambling house. Chinese loves gambling. You usually see a lot of Mahjong in old Hong Kong movies. Interestingly you don't see that much of gambling in China.....  

Domino was also part of the game table. I always thought this game was so classy. I love the sound they make. I love the sound of Mahjong tiles too. Now that my usual Mahjong Kaki in Penang is no more (one passed away, the other is now bed ridden in an old folk's home), I wonder if I'll ever play Mahjong again.

The display of the game room was pretty nice, actually. Pretty realistic. You could almost feel the vibe of the place.

Second floor was also where you would see the semi round shaped partition of the building which it was very notable for in the front from the road side view. I guess this was advance architecture during those days. 

Here is a closed up look. Love the tiles. Love the windows letting in all the light. 

Hostess service was also very popular among the taukey in the old days. They can be Chinese, or even Japanese. 

Old living quarters. I guess you could always find a place to stay in a dialect association building, since in theory you were of the same clan and supposed to help each other out? I think that's nice, but I doubt that still exist today? I heard that if you ever need a place to stay, you can always go to a mosque to seek shelter. I wonder how true is that. Is it true for temples and churches too?

Frankly I think this room is too big for a common visitor. Maybe it's more for a wealthy guest?

The tour lasted around one hour, and soon we were back at the long table. Here there are more information about the Hakka's on the board around the wall.

And this was my favourite wall information, Hakka food! I do love some of the dishes, mainly the meat dishes. Recently I've also learned to love Lei Char, or Thunder Tea Rice. Luckily for me, there are more Hakkas in Singapore and Johor than in Penang, so I can still get good Hakka food at my home in Singapore :) 

A selfie with the floor tiles.