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!

One of our favourite Ipoh outings is to the old town, where the buildings date back to the beginnings of the 19th century mining town and the footpaths are uneven stretches of beautiful tiles. Some of the buildings have been sympathetically restored, with the facades reflecting their history but the interiors suiting their modern uses as cafes, galleries or specialist stores. One can stand at one corner and look along the arches that span the length of the block. We usually have a coffee at one of the cafes where we are now regarded as locals and greeted accordingly. Then we wander the alleyways and always find some feature that we’d not noticed before or meet someone new. Last Saturday I met a friendly florist who had recently opened her charming shop, styled after a similar store in New York. She’s just returned to Ipoh after spending time in the Big Apple.

Last Sunday we awoke to a cooler morning – we have had a lot of rain recently (usually as part of spectacular afternoon storms accompanied by thunder and lightning) so the temperatures have been more bearable. This is relative though – it still gets up to 31-33 degrees most days, but not up to 37-40 degrees as it did during the recent dry spell. We decided to try the walk up Bukit Kledang. Bukit means hill in Malay and this particular hill is the highest at 800m of all the many hills around Ipoh. You can drive all the way to the top if you like and we can do so when you visit so that you can enjoy the view. We parked the car near a waterfall and then walked up the rest of the way. There are walkways that take you away from the road and many covered rest areas where you can take a breather on benches in the shade. The higher you get, the cooler it is and the denser the vegetation. We heard birdsong but did not actually see many birds. We also heard some reverberating calls presumably made by monkeys, although again we didn’t see them. We didn’t go all the way to the top where there is a broadcasting tower. Instead we found a beautiful spot to sit and gaze through the tall trees into the greenery beyond, having rounded the hill so the city of Ipoh was no longer visible. We made quick work of the walk down, the temperature having risen substantially. It was good to get home and stand under a cool shower!