After checking out on day 2, I decided to walk to a place call mural alley. It was across Gerbang Malam to the other side of town. When I reached there, I was expecting lots of mural, well maintained streets and well, living up to it's name Mural Street. What I found was just a space with some graffiti, and unkept area that I didn't dare ventured beyond the front of the road. Above was the main mural I saw, and opposite is the mural of the kids playing a long skipping rope....
When I went back in 2023, I don't recall seeing the top mural anymore. But the kids were still there. I also managed to find more murals near the river on coffee. Will post that on a separate series of my 4day3night trip to Ipoh 2023!
Walking back to town, it was still quite early, so I just ronda-ronda around. The above mural was near Book Excess. Back then, I didn't know much about the building that Book Excess was at. Apparently it used to be a bank, so there was a vault and storage boxes at the underground basement. Cool. Again, this was only discovered in my 2023 trip which I had more time to really explore Ipoh.
Wandering around town, I saw a few interesting cafe. Above was one of it that only shows a wooden pathway into the care somewhere! It was really pretty, almost Japanese-like. This place looks even cooler in the evening, and with a bit of rain. The reflection of the lights bouncing off the concrete was really mesmerising.
The above is the front of a shaved ice cafe. With it's wide window, you can look in to see the staff preparing the dessert for the customer. And somehow, a bicycle always adds on to the aesthetic of the place.
There was even a French Parisian cafe, I presume selling French Desserts? The cafe is at a corner of Kong Heng Square, and it looks lovely. But all these fancy cafe looks expensive, and I've walked passed them many times, but have never entered any of it. If I wanted a Parisian Cafe, I'll go try one in Paris! Not in Ipoh!
There were also some retro coloured looking deli that wasn't opened yet. Come to think of it, I didn't see it open in 2023 either. I think this shop might have already closed down....
As I've said, there are lots and lots of fancy cafe in Ipoh Town. But frankly, how many times can you drink a cup of coffee? Or eat dessert a day? The town has to be pretty boring, or the people visiting it rather dull, to spend all their time in cafes on their trip!
On my first day, I mentioned I walked pass Plan B. I forgot that there was an artisan square nearby called Kong Heng Square. So I back tracked where I went the previous day in search of this place which was supposed to display and sell arts and craft.
It was found among the old buildings and lots of old trees! Lots of people come here to take instragram photos, or even wedding photos. The place looks lovely everywhere you look!
If you explore inside, there are more quirky art deco, and small cafes inside. It was like a museum inside. It's free to enter. And there are stalls selling crafts inside too.
There are plenty of pretty corners for photo taking.
And giant old tree with ruin facade of buildings with run down wooden windows make a good shot!
I saw a retro barber shop in 2022. It was inside a glass room and looked so cool. Sadly, I didn't see it again when I went back in 2023. I thought it would have been nice to kept it there, for some vintage hair cutting memories.
Plan B cafe looks something like the above. Food was pricey, with typical cafe menu and some local offerings. Unless I was dripping money, I couldn't make myself dine here lol!
Satisfied with my exploration, and running out of sights to see, I went back to Gerbang Malam and bought some stuff. The above is my favourite biscuit shop in Ipoh that sells the Pork Floss Bean Paste biscuit. There are traditionally made, and I think by human hand. Cause I've bought these 3 times and ate them 4 times, and there was once it tasted dry. The rest of the time, it was delicious, with it's sweet salty taste. A box of 4 biscuit cost 10rm. There are some more expensive variety too, like with salted eggs and what not.
For lunch before leaving Ipoh, I ate bean sprout chicken rice from Ong Kee. It was surprisingly expensive! Almost 15rm if not mistaken! But the kamquat drink here was so refreshing. Not too thick, and served cold. Best kamquat I've ever drank. Through out my stay in Ipoh, I mainly conversed in my broken Cantonese until the locals gave up and spoke to me in mandarin, lol. But I am always impressed with myself when I could make myself understood to them. Always fun to be multi-lingual! Comes in helpful in my future solo trip!
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