Ipoh
Ipoh is a fascinating erstwhile Chinese Tin Mining city with colonial-era architecture and crumbling Chinese mansions and a well maintained old town. It has managed to retain its character as the old buildings have not been taken down and reminded me of walking through Kolkata (though of course with zero honking, well marked lanes, no pollution and 1/10th the population density).
Many of the street art murals are a creation of Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian artist based out of Penang and considered as the Banksy of Malaysia. His signature street installations combine real objects with painted figures.
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| Salted Egg Meat Floss Biscuit |
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| Bean Sprouts Chicken |
Food to try is the Bean Sprouts Chicken, Ipoh's most well known dish. It consists of poached or steamed chicken accompanied with a plate of blanched locally grown bean sprouts in a simple dressing of soy sauce and sesame oil. The crunchy and stout texture of Ipoh-grown bean sprouts is attributed to the mineral-rich properties of local water supplies. The dish is usually served with hor fun noodles in a chicken broth, or plain rice.
Ipoh was the place where I also got to know of the Perenakan culture (see culture section in my blog) and Kopitams. A kopitiam (The word kopi is an Indonesian and Malay term for coffee and tiam is the Hokkien/Hakka term for shop) is a type of coffee shop mostly found in parts of South east Asia traditionally operated by the Chinese communities of these countries. Traditional kopitiam menus typically feature simple offerings: a variety of foods based on egg, toast, kaya, plus coffee, tea, Horlicks and Milo while modern kopitiams typically feature multiple food stalls that offer a wider range of foods. White coffee is popular in Ipoh and originated there. It is a light roasted coffee brewed with sweetened condensed milk.
Taiping
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| Taiping Lake Gardens |
Taiping developed quickly in the 19th century when tin was discovered. The mines attracted large numbers of Chinese settlers. There were numerous feuds between two groups of Chinese immigrants, Hakka and Cantonese and their secret societies and finally in the early 1870s, the British intervened and assumed control of the town. To symbolize the peace between these two groups, the town was renamed Taiping which in Hakka means eternal peace.
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| Rain Trees |
Interestingly, this is what I found out about rain trees. The leaflets are light-sensitive and fold together on rainy or cloudy days allowing rain to fall through the canopy to the ground below. Thus, the grass is often much greener under a rain tree than the surrounding grass. Being light-sensitive, the leaflets also fold together from dusk to dawn.
Today, Taiping attracts middle class tourists, mainly from China. There are very few western tourists and there are no backpackers who skip it for George Town. Accommodations mainly cater for middle class families.
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| Museum |
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| Indian Grave in the War Cemetery |
It poured heavily in the afternoon and I took a cab to the hotel when the rain reduced. To my surprise there was absolutely no flooding in the city or traffic jams, two perennial problems back in Bengaluru where any rain of this volume would put natural life out of gear.
The next day after my morning walk, I visited the war cemetery which is maintained by the Commonwealth Grave Commission. In one side It had names of Indians and on the other, names of Britishers who lost their lives against the Japanese during WWII retreat of the British as the Japanese advanced. Most Indians are of course not aware that these graves exist. History is forgotten quickly as we go on the business of living.
