Intriguing Ipoh: Railway Station & Town Hall
It has been quite a long time since I last wrote about Ipoh. So it’s about time…
This is about 2 distinctive structures located in heart of the city – the Ipoh Railway Station and the Ipoh Town Hall.
The Ipoh Railway Station is certainly one impressive building in Ipoh.
It was built with a unique architecture called Mughal style, from India. That’s why it’s sometimes known as the Taj Mahal of Ipoh.
There aren’t much people using the train service here these days, unlike other railway stations – probably due to the abundant availability of bus services.
Even I myself prefer to take a bus down to KL instead.
Nevertheless, the train service is up and running – just in case there are no more buses. =)
Next up, another impressive building in Ipoh, which is located just opposite the railway station, is the Ipoh Town Hall.
It was completed in 1916 and was initially used as the Post and Telegraph Office. The architecture of the structure was designed by a famous British architect. It features Greek and Roman elements.
Then in 1948, it was used as Ipoh’s District Police Headquarters.
Finally in 1962, the building was used as a public auditorium – till now.
The hall is mainly used for functions, performances and events. Back in 2001, my high school band organized a concert here.
Anyway, the Ipoh Town Hall undergoes numerous maintenance, renovations and upgrading every now and then.
However, there is something extra interesting about the Town Hall – the renovation at the back is always not complete.
The metal grids used by renovation workers are still intact since a very long time ago, till this very day. The reconstruction never seem to progress, because mishaps always happen when they try to complete the renovation.
Well, most probably some spirits still linger around, preventing the workers from “invading” their residence.
Since then, the back part of the Town Hall is in a bad state. Therefore, only the front part is being used.
Maybe you can call it “Beautiful face, ugly ass”! =P
Anyway, in between the railway station and the town hall, there is a beautifully landscaped garden.
Pathways are available – allowing people to take a stroll and enjoy the view there. Oh yeah, it can be a sweaty experience if you’re there during day time.
And in the middle of the garden, there’s a tree called Ipoh Tree. It’s quite obvious in the following picture.
Well, no need for further explanations, as you can definitely guess how Ipoh got its name from.
Okay, that’s all for now. Hope you enjoyed this mini virtual tour around 2 remarkable landmarks in Ipoh.
Stay tuned for more Ipoh entries!
P/S: It was definitely a sweaty experience for me when I was there snapping these pictures! The sun damn hot lah!=P
105 Comments for “Intriguing Ipoh: Railway Station & Town Hall”
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If I’m not mistaken, that’s the only remaining Ipoh tree in all of Ipoh. Which would explain why it’s so nicely preserved and cared for!
hanseong on 25 November, 2009 at 12:09 AMGreat, I’ve been there before the scenery are speechless..
huhu…
Wish can go visit Ipoh again..
Zala Wajik on 25 November, 2009 at 12:10 AMIpoh. Definately a place called home ya? Haha
SL WONG on 25 November, 2009 at 12:16 AMlooks cool.beautiful.
Clive on 25 November, 2009 at 12:22 AMPotong railway…
Ps. I potong my comment due to price hike in INTI
Louis on 25 November, 2009 at 12:27 AMwahhh
LIZ; on 25 November, 2009 at 12:37 AMit’s been a very looooong time since my last visit to ipoh
can’t remember anything about it anymore haha
ow…great to be a virtual tourist to Ipoh with such good tour guide. Been to Ipoh many times but dont know much about it’s historical buildings. Only know to go there eat and eat and eat :p
Kathy on 25 November, 2009 at 12:48 AMnice picture..hee…
atokk on 25 November, 2009 at 1:38 AMi like the last picture, and sure looked like a very sunny day! haha next time be sure to put on sun screen!
dhar on 25 November, 2009 at 3:42 AMHi Ken, wow! Your pics really brought back memories to me.
I used to stay at Ipoh Station Hotel very often back in 70′s, early 80′s.
Have couple of interesting stories too.
I know Ipoh quite well as back early 70′s lived at Canning Gardens for a year, then got transferred to Penang, then Singapore.
Used to poach for haruan fish at the Taman….and Taiping lakes too.
Uncle Lee on 25 November, 2009 at 4:31 AMBring my GF, at night, sit by lake and throw a line in…I sure got some real monsters too, but threw them back as I don’t eat freshwater fish, just for fun.
You’re a very good photographer, Ken. Outstanding! Lee.
Hey! I didn’t see all those when I was in Ipoh! Looks like I will have to go again… I love these old colonial buildings! Remind me of…ME! LOL!!!
suituapui on 25 November, 2009 at 6:59 AMI’ve been to Ipoh once ;_;
massy on 25 November, 2009 at 7:27 AMLooking forward for your next Ipoh entries. I LIKE IT!!!
Adrian Foo on 25 November, 2009 at 9:12 AMI have only passed by Ipoh…but never stay at Ipoh for more than a few hours. :p Thanks for sharing bro. perhaps I should take a train to Ipoh one day.
tekkaus on 25 November, 2009 at 9:12 AMDid not realize the town hall is haunted. I was there in September
Borneo Falcon on 25 November, 2009 at 9:40 AMNice to know more of Ipoh. Xiexie
Bananaz on 25 November, 2009 at 9:40 AMIpoh is a beautiful town..so proud as a Perakian.=P
candlelyn on 25 November, 2009 at 9:51 AMnot bad wor…must certainly visit ipoh when i am back..u know i have never stepped foot in ipoh before leh..now u supply me with where to visit and claire’s makan places…must visit ipoh hahaha…btw the buildings all looked very clean haahhah
manglish on 25 November, 2009 at 9:59 AMfood… try to food bro… hahaha… there is alot of old structures in Ipoh. and alot of fantastic food…
junsern on 25 November, 2009 at 10:00 AMis that a new DSLR camera i see you holding?? are u a photo junkie these days?
Yeah, just got it recently. And no, I’m not addicted to photography yet. =P
mishalllllllll on 25 November, 2009 at 10:09 AMWow, i went to Ipoh so many times but i didn’t realize about these places. Haha. Cool cool.
celine on 25 November, 2009 at 10:09 AMIpoh, as always looked lovely!
Miss Ipoh White Coffee~
=[
Lord Zara on 25 November, 2009 at 10:30 AMWaaaaa…nvr got a chance to use train…hope can get a chance…..
regards,
sofia on 25 November, 2009 at 10:44 AMhttp://triplesmiley.blogspot.com
Have you tried the KTM Kommuter service between KL and Ipoh?
Nope. Oh wait, maybe when I was a little kid. =)
Khengsiong on 25 November, 2009 at 10:56 AMNice buildings! loving the architecture. =)
Nabil on 25 November, 2009 at 10:58 AMwah. u and Borneo falcon made ipoh come alive..and intriguing, yes.. that is the word! i never take pictures before in railway station, perhaps i will take one.. the last one looks very very nice la.. the design.. oooopss.. of course the “actor” as well la..
claire on 25 November, 2009 at 11:24 AMFirst thing when I saw it, it came to my ming “Church!” haha!
Lovely building indeed. I love the last picture :). The arches are beautiful. Oh look the photographer is there too!
ladyviral on 25 November, 2009 at 12:02 PMthere seems to be quite a lot of ipoh kids who had graduated from inti these past few years.
JG on 25 November, 2009 at 12:12 PMhaha, ugly ass!
sjane on 25 November, 2009 at 1:01 PMglad to see posting on my hometown ipoh for updates, which it;s been a long time I’ve been away. :)
Christopher on 25 November, 2009 at 1:29 PMheritage cityyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ;)
cikepal on 25 November, 2009 at 3:12 PMfuu never know the ipoh railway station can be quite nice also.
Ashleyteng on 25 November, 2009 at 3:47 PMthanks for sharing
Dah lama tak pi ipoh, maybe hampir 3 to 4 tahun kot….
sharinginfoz on 25 November, 2009 at 6:49 PMWow..the train..looks old-school.. :D
WillyC on 25 November, 2009 at 7:58 PMsuch a beautiful place
Melz on 25 November, 2009 at 8:34 PMNice pictures. Btw, not too long ago The Star newspaper mentioned about a tunnel linking the train station & town hall (or smth like that). Did you get to see it??
Okay that’s something new to me. Nope I didn’t see it. Don’t think such tunnel will be opened to the public. =)
Waileng on 25 November, 2009 at 9:25 PMI LOVE IPOH…
waiyen on 25 November, 2009 at 9:31 PMHey, nice picture you took! From the way you introduce the building, u should go work as tour guide.
Jeffrey on 25 November, 2009 at 9:44 PMyes indeed the sun is very hot nowadays, anyway i prefer driving up or even take a bus to Ipoh than taking the train… same as if i travel from sg to KL… still prefer bus ride :) and yeah say no to flight :(
henry^munkey on 25 November, 2009 at 9:58 PMipoh is nice huh?
fyzal on 25 November, 2009 at 10:05 PMIpoh has loads of awesome food and snacks! =)
gypsy-on-the-move on 25 November, 2009 at 10:28 PMnice photos over there:)
http://jeffkyc.blogspot.com/
jeff on 25 November, 2009 at 10:49 PMhey you’re wrong! MANY ppl use the KTM service, for it arrives on time, safer, and cheaper than taking bus! RM10 for the economy fare, and RM18 for the slightly better seats.
I choose the train for it stops at Kl Sentral, usually taking about 2.5 hours or so.
J2Kfm on 25 November, 2009 at 10:53 PMheys, u took out yr chatbox?
samantha on 25 November, 2009 at 11:22 PMer… Ipoh a lot nice places to visit ar….
i never went to those place before ….
CHVoon on 25 November, 2009 at 11:34 PMNever went to these places before but how come I’ve seen the buildings before? Either I was there in my past life or I read from someone else’s blog. LOL!
foongpc on 25 November, 2009 at 11:39 PMOoh! I like the story about the hauntings of spirits. Cool!
foongpc on 25 November, 2009 at 11:42 PMwow, Ipoh seems like a nice place to visit… I feel ashamed not having visited Ipoh yet!
IHSAN on 26 November, 2009 at 12:12 AMGreat photos.. Might drop by Ipoh 1 of these days.. ^_^
cathj on 26 November, 2009 at 1:27 AMAhahah. Thanks for the info Ken. From this post, I get to know that Ipoh actually got the historical feel compared to Kuching.
Mikha'el Kueh on 26 November, 2009 at 4:11 AMnot bad! Didnt know we have our own Taj Mahal in Malaysia until u blogged about it! :) Nice pics btw!
wen pink on 26 November, 2009 at 5:20 AMUsed to school at Ipoh, and god knows how I miss that town.
Its funny that I never went into that building.
Btw bro, hope you can write about Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, it has been renovated for government purpose, it is where Kementerian Perpaduan, Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia (KPKKW) is currently situated.
My friend, an Utusan Journalist went there last year and the interior was extremely changed.
:angeldream:
angeldream on 26 November, 2009 at 2:44 PMBeautiful face, ugly ass >_< hahaha
you know,I think I've been to Ipoh before. that's where there is a temple in this big cave isn't it? not really sure. i visited malaysia yearsssssss ago, so i can't remember all the details.
Manju on 26 November, 2009 at 3:06 PMMiss Ipoh arrrrrr…every time I go back Ipoh I’m sure drive out with friends makan and go everywhere :)
daifei on 26 November, 2009 at 4:02 PMSince staying in 1st Gdn, last time going school sure past by Town Hall & Railway Station.
I’ve never been to the historic buildings you mentioned… must remember to drop by should i visit ipoh next time :-)
BoeyJoey on 26 November, 2009 at 5:51 PMWoah ~~ It’s been a LONG LONG LONG time since i went back to Ipoh =( Miss that place … So many changes to it … =P
Christine Happysoul on 26 November, 2009 at 9:19 PMSure miss my hometown … And the food !!
kenwooi AKA ken potter, why u wrote about ipoh? what so good about ipoh? but some say that “ipoh mali” amoy are gorgeous.. is that true?
Farenova on 26 November, 2009 at 10:39 PMhaha…interesting. I have been in tronoh for so many years already, but din know about the history of the train station .hahaha….thanks for sharing.
Gabriel on 26 November, 2009 at 10:57 PMhaha beautiful face ugly ass ha.
maybe u the one who should do something bout it.
what u waiting for?
YobSumo on 26 November, 2009 at 11:39 PMTrain rides are cheaper but our KTM intercity trains are SO SLOW!!!! It takes more than 24 hours to reach Alor Setar from KL….IMAGINE THAT :)
WOW! The town hall is still under construction?? I saw the same scaffolding few months back.
Nice post! Definitely looking for more from ken wooi – especially Ipoh Food.
Cheers!
mylo on 27 November, 2009 at 11:33 AMmylo
it’s my favourite building in ipoh too!
btw, i prefer the train to the bus, although the journey takes slightly longer…
p/s…here is where i got my first saman as well..
Sharini on 27 November, 2009 at 11:50 AMnice buildings. in Penang also got lotsa beautiful building like that one.
blog abt Ipoh more! ive never really jalan2 Ipoh,only went there to eat at the famous nasi kandar. hehe
juLia d buBbles on 27 November, 2009 at 12:45 PMi love Ipoh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thoger on 27 November, 2009 at 4:05 PMwah
sweat.?…no call me one?
next time bring umbrella lor
nicdanic on 27 November, 2009 at 7:29 PMNice pictures!
Shereen on 27 November, 2009 at 7:32 PMAaaa.. Ipoh! I miss Ipoh from my UTP days! and like Shereen said, nice pics!
braincellkilla on 27 November, 2009 at 7:35 PMNice post and the pics are great. Its been a while I visited Ipoh eventhough my kampung is in Taiping. The last time I was there I played tennis for Selangor MSS at the MBI Tennis courts.
Bo on 27 November, 2009 at 7:51 PMhey, nice photos! u always make me proud with Malaysia heh :)
Lizz on 27 November, 2009 at 9:00 PMnice! =)
Siew5 on 27 November, 2009 at 9:35 PMNice stuff Ken. From the looks and comments here, you’re on your way to overtaking Kenny Sia! Keep it going.
Regards,
jrhogan on 27 November, 2009 at 10:16 PMDavid
Malaysia Asia
wow…i just realised i know nothing about ipoh except some ipoh leng lui..ahem ahem….get what i mean??muhahaha..wtf
pEiz on 27 November, 2009 at 11:49 PMnice buildings =)
coerlly on 28 November, 2009 at 12:14 AMbeautiful :)
make moeny on 28 November, 2009 at 12:16 AMPaiseh ya…I never been to Ipoh for a trip lo :p But nice knowing more info from you ;)
uLi on 28 November, 2009 at 4:25 PMIpoh looks lovely. I love your shots :)
Abby on 28 November, 2009 at 7:50 PMLast Sunday, I just pop by Ipoh, my very first time visiting this beautiful places, the fond thing I will remember is the Taugeh chicken rice and also the nice line up trees with shades, along the way to the ipoh city….
min on 28 November, 2009 at 10:20 PMRailway, one fine day, must visit, looking at the beautiful shots you had made.
Oh you had a chatbox, didn’t you? you took it off?? :(
Manju on 28 November, 2009 at 10:47 PManyway, crows are uglier than even pigeons >_<
if pigeons are the rats of the sky, then crows are the cockroaches eww
reminded of of penang!!!!
shyneze on 28 November, 2009 at 11:12 PMWow, so kesian u have to brave the heat for this entry. A round of applause everyone!
*cheers*
Donna on 29 November, 2009 at 12:56 AMthanks for the info especially the name of Bandar Ipoh comes from a tree.. i hit ur digi and SKII ads
farenova on 29 November, 2009 at 2:00 PMwhere’s the food p0rn?? i want the food p0rn!!
nga choi gai fan!!
xD
nice pictures btw! :D
Grey Ang on 29 November, 2009 at 2:24 PMpernah stay di matrik gopeng for a year. but never have the chance to go to kelly castle ka, railway station ka. huhu asik2 jusco ja. :P
lilacfla on 29 November, 2009 at 2:41 PMnice place..my second home after Taiping..
wenn on 29 November, 2009 at 10:00 PMI personally think that Ipoh is a nice place for retirement. The pace is relatively slower than KL. Just love it!
Edwin T on 29 November, 2009 at 11:52 PMchun ler…i love architecture building…nice ler…
via on 30 November, 2009 at 12:35 AMsmile on ur mister potato nn ads…hehehe…
via on 30 November, 2009 at 12:35 AMhmmm…I nv been to Ipoh ler…someday must go visit visit
weng lian on 30 November, 2009 at 2:27 AMnever been to ipoh yet..
Mr J on 30 November, 2009 at 4:55 PMwahhhh… so sacrifice go jemur and took pic ar?
donna on 30 November, 2009 at 7:20 PMnot bad,so many photos
Ying Zi on 30 November, 2009 at 9:48 PMIpoh MAli!!!!Ipoh MAli!!!
Mr Kamikaze on 1 December, 2009 at 6:31 PMHELLO KEN!
MRNIGEL on 1 December, 2009 at 10:45 PMhahaah nice post, also to tell u i updated =P
This is informative. Thanks, Ken.
Happysurfer on 1 December, 2009 at 11:46 PMi thought ipoh look like smallville town, nah, now it’s got better, almost like pennsylvania. WTF hohoho.
naz on 2 December, 2009 at 4:14 AMhey , actually this is my 1st visit to your blog ,
i found your link bout ur last post , banana . :)
n im so glad that u r writing post bout IPOH .
im an ipoh babe , n im so glad that someone actually see the beautiful side of ipoh ,
n yeah , all people loves IPOH ,
ngee ;p
jelly on 2 December, 2009 at 10:52 AMvisited . hehe
ikanstim on 2 December, 2009 at 10:26 PMgo to kellie’s castle lah kenwooi
Haha
ikanstim on 2 December, 2009 at 10:50 PMsorryyy
ey ey, recommend me some of the waterfalls in perak. for about max 1 hour drive from ipoh. too lazt to drive more than 1 hour. haha
Never been to Ipoh yet. Really keen to be there…
nazra on 3 December, 2009 at 2:42 PMI really enjoyed the virtual tour but it’s great you can bring us around in person.
yoon see on 4 December, 2009 at 8:23 PMRemeber free tour guide yeah Ken!
I think one day I’ll just go backpacking through M’sia and Thaliand. From what I’ve seen so far, more cultural and heritage sites then Singapore. Most heritage sites here are air-conditioned. Well except fot my church. 150 years old and no air-con?? Damn unfair that the National Museum is air-conditioned.
Jan on 29 January, 2010 at 11:37 PMhey man it’s been a long time since i visited…nice shots of ipoh!
samuel202 on 29 January, 2010 at 11:39 PMI remember Station Hotel well,slept there before,haunted!
thomas on 29 January, 2010 at 11:58 PMyoyo..go tis plce le..
from Nikel Khor
nikel on 30 January, 2010 at 12:11 PMI have stayed and worked in K.L. and now returned to Ipoh for my retirement years. Live is simpler and food cost cheaper in Ipoh and with quality not so much commercialised. The traffic jams are only when it rains but not very long. There is no water rationing, We have abundance of water. For fun we go to the Lost World in Tambun. Cameron Highlands is not that far away from Ipoh. From Cameron Highlands we can travel to the East Coast.
Kak Yong on 21 June, 2010 at 9:46 PMIpoh is the best.
Hi,
I would like to book the ipoh town hall for an event but i couldnt find the contact num. do u have it?
Ann on 19 July, 2010 at 11:50 AM