Happy Year of the Tiger

 To our Chinese readers

Keep Safe, Be Happy and May Prosperity be with you all throughout the year

Kinta Chronicles

Chinese New Year Decoration At Pasir Pinji Riverfront Park

The DAP people from Ipoh Timor have literally been painting Ipoh Timor red this Chinese New Year be it Canning, Pinji or Bercham. They have been busy in spite of the natural calamities in between.

 

DAP's YB Wong Kah Woh and YB Howard Lee

I went to have a photo shoot at Pasir Pinji. The name of the place is Taman Pinggir Sungai Pasir Pinji or Pasir Pinji Riverfront Park. It was a good effort and creativity did create an impact.

Red lanterns and sugar cane ..interesting contrast  

Cherry blossoms ....

..and creativity 

The colour red gave it that festive look with flower blossoms in the square.

Beyond the blossoms is a stage and from there looking east you could view Ipoh airport and the hills beyond. Very nice.

The lovely view 

Then I noticed a vegetable garden and a little further what looked like multi-purpose hall. 

I remembered that Pasir Pinji was once a ‘New Village’...a  1954 Briggs Plan to cut off food and other supplies to the communists from their sources which was among the rural population.

This was during the emergency. Roughly 500,000 people throughout the country were forcibly transferred from their land and moved to newly-constructed settlements known as "New villages".

In Ipoh Timor the constituencies of Pasir Pinji, Simee (part of Canning) and Bercham were “New Villages’

I recall YB Howard Lee held several programs earlier hiliting the cultures and foodstuffs that this ‘village’ was famous for.

Sundown ..now wait for the lights to turn on...

....finally 

What a flashback.

JAG

Canning Market@CNY...Excellent Community Iniative

Canning Garden’s market before Chinese New Year is always gaily spruced up for the upcoming occasion. 

On the ground or in the air Lanterns everywhere

Its be happening for several years now thanks to YB Jenny Choy’s DAP office.

photo hijacked from YB Jenny FB page

I recall that earlier the stall holders used to decorate the tree and surroundings themselves. 

It was nice even then but it became, well, better and more colorful since. A good initiative got a boost of community spirit.

Earlier the stall holders decorated the surrounding themselves

Spring ..bougainvilleas and lanterns

KC

Alfresco Dining at Fei Bo Ipoh Garden East

 Fei Bo, Ipoh Garden East is the place to go for alfresco dining. The place is clean and tidy, their dinner menu has improved plus it is suitable for the whole family.

Simple and nice …. that's Ipoh living.

JAG

Nice Indian Restaurant - Rajes Restaurant (its in Heritage Ipoh)

Discovered a new Friday restaurant yesterday, well a young man introduced me, to this Indian restaurant. Trust the young people to smell out interesting food joints.

Rajes Restaurant in the old part of Ipoh, 38 Conally Road (or Jln Tun Perak) is a two shop lot joint. I shop lot displays your menu and the other is for dining.

Had my usual Friday meal which is a fish, omellette and some vegies. Prices are reasonable. 

Good variety and nice ambience should you be thinking of your next meal.

JAG

Ipoh’s 1st New Year Street Party on 1 January 2000

1 Jan 2000. Y2K's New Year Street Party attracted a huge party crowd. Photo credit.Simon Goh

Ipoh’s 1^st Street Party of the Century on 1 January 2000 was a huge blast that was memorable because of the huge crowd that congregated was unprecedented.

The event began on new year’s eve 31.12.1999, the last day of the century and was held at a double story corner pub called Y2K in Ipoh Garden East.

It had catered for 700 pax, blocked the parallel road of the adjoining shops but ultimately their effort attracted an estimated 3000 customers.

Y2K in year 2000 was a corner pub

Whilst business establishments and their IT programmers were getting ready for problems that could arise (but didn't) from the 'Y2K millennium bug' Desmond Lun (sorry don’t have photos) the manager of Y2K was busy applying for the necessary permits so he could pull off the Street Party of the Century.

I used to frequent Y2K then. Lun said he received approval from the relevant authorities to have a street party as well as block the road adjacent to Y2K. Additionally he recruited RELA to control traffic.

He received 800 pre-reservations before the event. He estimated that 200 tables with 4pax each placed upstairs, downstairs and stretching 7 shop lots of the block should accommodate all.

The DJ console was stationed outside Y2K’s door and the street was decorated with colored balloons strategically located.

The planning worked. The crowd of new year revelers kept coming and attracting others from the nearby establishments. By 11pm there were almost 1500 and more kept coming. Unofficial estimates placed the crowd to 3000 by the end of the night.

Phenomenal wasn’t it

KC