one-day gallivanting in ipoh and shopping

took a day off work last thursday to go gallivanting in ipoh. it was a planned trip for this month since there were a few errands to run and what better time to take leave when things were slowest at the office and every second felt like a minute.

the day in ipoh started with coffee at burps and giggles in ipoh old town. this place is really interesting and one marvels at how much it has been transformed into a chic and cool place to hang out to have coffee and wine. i am not talking about ipoh white coffee here. we are talking about lattes and cappucinos and espressos....but i will reserve my coffee review for another place. the coffee here was just so-so. i think the bean was over-roasted as my latte was slightly bitter.

there are a few cafes to choose from when one is here on jalan sultan yusof. there are many reviews on blogs so you can read up on them before deciding which to go. i plan to go to everyone of them here in this block of building if possible. but let us start with one first.

the entrance of burps and giggles....yes, that is the name of the cafe. this cafe takes up three shop lots if i count them correctly and one can go explore the interior of these three shops via the back lane.

this is one exit into the backlane from the shop that i entered.

the middle shop if i am not mistaken.

this is the back lane.

the counter of the shop i entered via the main door.

interesting work of art on the wall and welcoming cushions.

lots of antique stuff lying around the three shops if you take time to go and check them out.

my latte.

my pistachio croissant.....i regretted choosing this as it was quite sweet to my liking. i would choose buttered croissant next time or chocolate one.  they serve burgers from 11 a.m. onwards. besides pastry, they also have spaghetti dishes.

i like this place because of its ambience. i wish they have cooked breakfast like what they have in melbourne. it would have been cosier that way with that cup of warm latte. well, i hope someone will tell the boss and they will consider a bigger kitchen.

be early if you plan to visit at weekends. i heard there are queues. sekeping kong heng is also here on this block and i bet it would provide you a good place to spend the night in this area of the city. definitely worth checking out. i will be back.

after coffee, it was to another part of the old town- to a building that i had last visited during my secondary school day when i had to go looking for a pair of running spikes for my athletics activity- yik fong complex.

the exterior of the building has not changed much.....

and i bet the interior too remains quiet similar to those years.

i was looking for a tailor to make a shirt for the office. but luck was not on my side, the tailor chose to close his shop on that day. haiz......not really a wasted trip though. that gives me an excuse to go again and then to have more coffee on the next trip. haha.

since i was already in the area, i did a little walkabout hoping to find some plastic containers to put shoes. walking around this area brought one back to the past.

where would one find such a shop selling these weighing machines???

well, my search for that plastic container was not successful but i had a great time 'window shopping'.

lunch was back to the old town area near burps and giggles. see, i really love ipoh old town.
was so eager to try thean cun's kai si hor fun (chicken hor fun) but the stall chose to close on that day. haiz.....that was really frustrating. so i went to kong heng's instead.

my kai si hor fun and a plate of beansprouts. yummy!!! they were really good. the broth for the hor fun was really sweet and the hor fun was smooth and slids into the mouth easily. gosh, i am salivating typig this.

went next door to get chicken curry puffs, egg tarts and kaya puffs to bring home. good good good.

oh, when you are around the area, don't forget to check out the street art by lithuanian artist- ernest zacharevic, the one who drew all the famous street art pieces in penang. this one shows a packet of kopi o hanging on the door. well, zoom in if you can't see that packet of kopi o.

oh, what were the errands i had to run in ipoh? well, firstly, i went to close my bank account at alliance bank and got the rm500 i won in the star contest last year out. yippe.....finally, the money was mine....only for a while..haha...because....

the second errand on the list was to go buy sunglasses- ray ban aviator in particular........
and in the end, i got two pairs....so that rm500 was definitely not enough.

gosh, i just couldn't resist it.
i tried on a few pairs at the shop, and then i shortlisted two. took photos of me wearing the two pairs of sunnies, and everyone said i looked better in the first. but it was not the one i had in mind before i came. i was planning to get a pair of aviator initially.

so this is the pair of club master which everyone said i looked good wearing.

and this is the pair of mercury polarised aviator which is uber cool. hehe.....
the shop really gave  a good price, hence i got two. what the heck, two pairs of sunnies for different occassions and different weather.
the club master will be for less sunnier days while the aviator is really suitable for hot sunny day while driving. the lenses are really 'cooling'. i am one happy ray ban owner.

errands done....it was then to the final destinaton of the day- aeon station 18 for a movie- captain america.

it was not a bad movie and my only complaint was the numerous bullets and ammunitions used. gosh...it was bullet non-stop and one wonders how the movie can get pg-13 rating. there was no gory violence whatsoever, but the bullets....haiz...yeah, it was the bullets that i could think of. lol.

found the dvd to the journey in speedy. yippe...got it for mom and i think this movie is worth keeping. support malaysian product.

it was a week of shopping only. i also supported malaysian batik.

the two pieces of batik cloth i got from a boutique in tm itself. these are exclusive hand-painted batik on crepe (silk wool) which i will make into baju kurung. again, they are for the office of course. i love the yellow piece because of its modern geometric drawings. well, i will take a photo and show you the final result when they are done. yes, i have already sent them to the tailor. can't wait to see the end result myself.

and the shopping ain't over yet for this week. gosh....this is a big big purchase. a car!!!! to change my 2005 vios.

the finalists are honda city i-vtech or toyota vios-g. love the modern technology used in the city....but in the end, it is reliability i am looking for, so the vios wins. all reviews say vios has softer suspension which will be more suitable for my kind of driving and i believe the vios will not give me much trouble. well, my current vios which is already almost 9 years old has never given me much problem. the g variant comes with leather seats yo. that would be kinda luxurious eh? i read that vios provides better seat comfort from reviews.....so that is another plus point since nowadays i spend everyday driving. can't wait to test drive the car this coming saturday. and i also want to test drive honda city just to test the differences. dad prefers vios too and he is my adviser when it comes to getting a car.

just watch this space to know my final decision come next weekend. i will be enjoying my working week as the schedules are kind of pack....and i like to be busy.  so yeah to a busy week.