Ipoh, Malaysia - Old Town

Faded Beauty
There's a small river that runs north-south, dividing the old town from the older town, but after I crossed it I didn't notice much of a difference.  Most of the town is composed of beautiful, if ancient and poorly maintained, shop houses.  The Brits left behind many larger, grander buildings in their colonial style also.  After the tin industry crashed, things clearly went downhill.  However, I must admit to being immediately captivated.  Some may see an old wreck, ready for bulldozing.  I see an elderly, elegant lady wearing pearls and a slightly frayed dress, a knockout in her day.

It's a gritty yet artsy and funky place.  There are alleyways filled with murals, and real hole in the wall eateries.  Not new places that are trying to look old, but ones that probably haven't changed in seventy-five years.

It's very walk-able, especially since the shop houses have covered walkways to shield you from both sun and rain.  Behind the wall of greenery on the left was a small door that led to a cafe and home stay.  It looked like it didn't want to be found.

The cafe's interior was hand painted with trees and birds.  I stayed for a coffee and chatted with the barista, who pointed me to another door that opens to a narrow alley that leads to the check in desk of their home stay.

It was washed in watercolors and planted with crawling vines that crisscrossed strings laid between the buildings.  It was open to the elements, their were birds chirping overhead.

Other parts of town look totally forgotten.  The shops are shuttered and there is nobody living above them, from what I can tell.

Even the shutters looked ancient, though many were painted in arresting colors that I wasn't expecting.

There are many narrow streets like this, grass growing up through the broken cement, buildings leaning in on each other but there are also signs of rejuvenation.

I visited a bakery whose owner had spent his career in Europe and was now back to share what he'd learned with his hometown.  I asked about his ingredients and he was happy to detail each and every one, clearly proud of their pedigree.  The result was fantastic.

I also checked out some of the newer cafes run by a younger generation.  They were decorated in a personal style, no interior designer consulted.  They were all the more charming as a result.

One had a cereal bar, stacked with American cereal brands.  I perused them and noticed they were missing a classic - Cap'n Crunch.  I considered letting them know but kept my mouth shut.

At another I sat for iced lemon tea and cheese cake.  I looked around at the clientele to see if they were locals or visitors but couldn't tell.  However, the Chinese in the crowd were speaking Cantonese which points to their being local.  

If you are a tourist here, you are most likely coming for the local cuisine or stopping off before going up into the mountains.  The food is similar to that you'd find in Singapore - a melange of Malay, Chinese and Indian - but has small twists that make it slightly different.  Some say the water, which bathes in local limestone, is the reason.  I noticed my oatmeal boils up differently here - much creamier - so maybe there is something to that.  At lunch yesterday I rode my bike into town for what they call "curry mee" - slices of pork and noodles in a creamy curry sauce.  It came with peppermint on top, which I've never seen in Singapore.  Delicious and cheap, probably one third the Singaporean price.

Speaking of Singapore, it probably looked a lot like this many years back.  Then they started tearing it all down and replacing it with shiny sky scrapers and malls.  Many of my favorite Singapore neighborhoods are the ones they left alone.  In Ipoh, they never knocked any of it down.

There are a few clunkers now and again, ones that appear to have been re-clad in the 1970's, which have in turn, aged badly.

In the US, you'd associate this look with danger and menace.  Not so here, none of that.  This is just a place down on its luck.  I could imagine a hip crowd coming in, sprucing it all up.  Art galleries, architecture firms, restaurants, etc.  However, the thought of that makes me sad.  I like it just the way it is.