I don’t necessarily want to live the life of a Graham Greene character but this news agency in the old town is reminiscent of a film version of one of his novels. It sells newspapers, magazines, drinks and snack food. I go in there to buy the parking tickets that we need for parking in most places around the city streets. These tickets are nifty in that they are like scratch cards – you scratch out the appropriate date and time and leave it on your dashboard. They cost RM1.50 (55 NZ cents) for an hour’s parking but many locals don’t bother. Then they incur a RM40 (NZ$15) fine, which they don’t pay. These fines build up till the next election when a general amnesty is declared as a way of garnering votes. And so the world goes round Ipoh-style!