[Ipoh] City of Millionaires

Population size: 700,000

Distance from Singapore: 556km

As so Ipoh is called - a quaint town that seemed deserted as I drove into Malaysia's fourth largest city. "Where are the people?" There were cars, but barely anyone was on the streets.

Seemingly, I found most of them in the shopping mall. Ipoh Station 18 is one of the more happening malls with good restaurants and a healthy sized crowd. Even though it was a Sunday, the crowd size was still manageable. 

There's a straight flight from Singapore to Ipoh but I chose to land at Kuala Lumpur (KL) because I wanted some element of a road trip. Moreover, the big rental companies such as Hertz and Avis were only located in KL.

It was a 2.5 hours drive to Ipoh and the N-S road was well-metalled.

The demographics see a larger group of Chinese whose ancestors had toiled in this state to extract tin as early as the 1820s.

I stayed there for a night in preparation of my drive up to Cameron Highlands. 

Three things that is interesting in Ipoh:-

1. An Interesting Stay

I checked out Trip Advisor for a unique hotel and the name - M Boutique Hotel came up. Situated about 10 minutes drive to the major eateries, the hotel was indeed unique. The hotel had taken on a 1930s theme starting from its reception counter - old jerry cans, wall-to-wall medical boxes, to interestingly decorated rooms. Even the access card was placed in cute cover with the wifi password being written on a movie stub. Just below, the hotel sees a classily designed Old Town White Coffee Restaurant where we had our hotel's complimentary breakfast. 

2. White Kopi Time

The pioneer of white coffee - Kopi Kedai Sin Yoon Loong started serving their first glass of coffe some time in 1937. Now, the coffee shop still sells its brand of coffee. Though they serve food, most of their clientele were there just for their coffee. A must not miss! 

3. Every kind of chicken

You've heard of paper wrapped chicken (纸包鸡), but when in Ipoh, you have to try either the salted chicken or their dried herbal chicken. A number of shops selling these famous-styled chicken can be found along Jalan Yau Tet Shin. 

We wanted something healthier so we gave the herbal chicken a go. We also topped it up with wanton mee and char siew mee. If you ordered wanton mee, you will only get that, wanton and mee. The herbal chicken was a tad bit dry but was indeed tasty.