AhPek Biker - Old Dog Rides Again: September 2014

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Perak : Parit Buntar Fishing Villages Day 3 Pt.2

Ipoh, Perak : 7th September 2014

Medium Group Ride : Around Ipoh Old Town.

Distance: 6.02 km.
Time : 4:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Time Taken : 3hrs. 10 mins. (including stops for desserts, dinner & photo opps of street murals, etc.)

This is page 6 of a 6-page blog, on our quick spin around Ipoh, before taking the train back to Kuala Lumpur. Click Here To Go To Title Page.
< Go to 3-1 Taiping | Go to Other Days | Bikes On KTM Trains >

Route Recommendations :
1. It's a pleasure to cycle on the tracks along the Kinta riverside. The place is shady and often cranes can be seen wading at the banks or roosting on the nearby large trees.
2. Over the past two years, street graffiti art has sprouted up at around Ipoh. Most are found at the Ipoh Art Street, the alley behind Jalan Masjid.
3. If one have time follow the Ipoh Heritage Walk to view historic sites, refurbished colonials offices, etc.
4. Food at Tong Sui Kai (Dessert Street at Jalan Sultan Ekram) is just passable but the ice-kacang and fruit salad is a not-to-be-missed.
5. Dinner at Sun Yoon Wah Cafe was quite good and one should not miss the ice-cold, freezing flake beer.

This blog comes in a few parts. This Day 3 Pt.2 blog, is on our quick spin around Ipoh, before taking the train back to Kuala Lumpur. To see other parts:

- click here for Day 1: Train Journey Kuala Lumpur to Parit Buntar.

- click here for Day 2 Pt.1: Parit Buntar to Kuala Kurau.
- click here for Day 2 Pt.2: Kuala Kurau to Kuala Sangga.
- click here for Day 2 Pt.3: Kuala Sangga to Kuala Sepetang.
- click here for Day 3 Pt.1: Kuala Sepetang to Taiping

PRELUDE

The previous day we had rode around the fishing villages of northern Perak and then staying one night at Kuala Sepetang. This morning we cycled from Kuala Sepetang to Taiping from where we boarded a chartered for a two-hours dreive to Ipoh.

Arrriving in Ipoh, after a two hour's nap on the bus, we are raring to go again!

THE RIDE

View Ipoh City Ride Sept 2014 (6.02 km) in a larger map

Ride route : Around Ipoh Old Town.

This is a quick spin around Ipoh old quarters with visits to the Ipoh Art Street, a pleasurable ride along the Kinta River and stopping for a couple of eats.

3:50 pm - The bus had dropped us of at Jalan Dato Maharajalela next to the old Ipoh City Hall building and nearby to the Ipoh Railway Station. This is within the city centre; and it's always good to do rides in city centres. Cycling avoids the frustrations of being caught in clogged traffics. Yet the cycling pace is brisk enough to allow viewing of a fair part of a city's nooks and corners, and to observe the culture of the city up close.

We were quick to unfold our bicycles as after a good nap on the bus, we were rejuvenated and raring to go again!

As we rode off, we noticed this large mural of a old man enjoying a cup of Ipoh White Coffee. Yes, Ipoh like many other towns in Perak is sprucing itself up and reclaiming it's heritage. Perak used to be a state rich in tin, but the tin mines are depleted and gone are the good ol' rich tin-miner days. Reclaiming it's history has lifted the city from a low point and at the same time has pulled the state away from a shrinking economy with a boost in the tourism industry.

Ipoh White Coffee is a local concoction of which this city is famous for, it is a good coffee by which the locals swear is much better than those from the Western coffee bars.

Ipoh is well know for some of it's delicious food; but the odd thing about the city is that between 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm it is hard to find places to eat as by then day eateries have closed after lunch and those dinner one have yet to open.

But not to worry, there are still a couple of places opened; and with this we headed for Tong Sui Kai (Desserts Street) at Jalan Sultan Ekram.

The food here is not that fantastic, but we were not here for the food but for drinks and desserts - like this ice fruit salad full on shaved ice, ice-cream, mangos, jack-fruit, dragon fruit, watermelon, honey-melon, sea coconut, ground nuts, sago and even Selasih seeds (Basil seeds). My, that's quite a colourful lot packed in to a bowl, but to be honest it WAS a large bowl!

Chris our foodie jester buddy was eager to sink his teeth (or in this case his toungue) into the this jumbo pot-pourri. It was a very diversified and sumptuous dessert and yet very reasonably priced at RM4-50.

Just around the corner, Anne got here favourite from Ipoh - fluffy Kaya (egg jam) puffs from Sin Eng Heong.

We are now at the Jalan Masjid side and back alleys where there are nice murals painted onto the back walls of the houses here.
My cycling buddies were quick to interact with the well done up drawings here.

So did Goofy, my loyal bicycle.

Emulating the popularity of the Penang Street Art, the murals here are fairly new. just more than two years old. What amazes me is the pace of which the street art scene here have grown. New pieces, like the yet to be completed one showing traditional wedding scenes above, are being added.
The artwork has become rather popular and this area is getting to be known as Ipoh's Art Street. (... see more of Ipoh's Street Art).

Nearby is the Masjid Panglima Kinta, a small but distinguishable mosque with its blue dome.

Oh dear.... dark clouds, looks like it's going to rain. Let's hope it hold until we are done cycling here.

This area here is so convenient, just round another bend and we are at the Kinta River. There are nice paved tracks along the banks of the river, shaded by giant Rain Trees that makes this area a pleasure to cycle along. There's even a bridge to connect both banks of the river.
At one of the larger rain trees, we stopped to take a group photo with some of us climbing onto a large branch of the tree (see top-most photo). We are cyclists and not monkeys, so it was not an easy task for some of us older ones to do a Tarzan act of climbing that tree.

Crossing over to the old town part of Ipoh city centre, were rode slowly around to admire the older buildings here cycling even into the narrower streets.

A look at some of the old shop-houses...

... and some of the more elaborate buildings.

6:45 pm - It's dinner time at Sun Yoon Wah Restaurant. Here they served quite good dishes like this Kao Yoke (Spiced Pork Belly)...

... and Snow Tiger Beer. It's beer that has been partly frozen and serve in a chilled mug. Poured out, it's part beer and part flaky iced beer - a refreshing drink after some good cycling.

At a side wall of this shop is a large mural by Ernest Zacharevic, one that depicts tin mining history.

The rain finally came and we experienced an unique situation. Instead of us running for cover to the sheds, the sheds came to us in the from of workers carrying the canopy over our tables!

8:00 pm - At the Ipoh Railway Station, is where a final twist made our adventure all the more memorable. Due to a goods train derailment somewhere in Rawang, there will be an expected delay in reaching Kuala Lumpur. Our ETS train did leave on time at 9:00 pm still we were a cheerful lot while riding on the train, why let some bad news spoil the close to our trip.
The train made a long stop at Tanjong Malim for the tracks to be repaired, and by the time our friends arrived home, it was three in the morning!

This is how my trip here ended with a taxi ride.
One of my friends had a following day's plane to catch and did not want to risk the train delay causing her to miss the flight.
So I shared a taxi with her to ride all the way back to Petaling Jaya.

Many thank to KT and my other friends for a fun-filled enjoyable ride; one with memorable experience of scenic views, good food, meeting new and old friends at the places we rode in.

This is page 6 of a 6-page blog, on our quick spin around Ipoh, before taking the train back to Kuala Lumpur. Click Here To Go To Title Page.
< Go to 3-1 Taiping | Go to Other Days | Bikes On KTM Trains >

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