Ipoh has always been one of my favorite cities to visit because it is steeped in heritage….

Our short little visit to Ipoh brought us to some of the 27 heritage spots in Ipoh….

Ipoh Railway Station…
-Did you know the Ipoh railway station was initially meant to be a hospital and used before the 20th century as such before being turned into a station

Birch Memorial
– The four-sided Birch Memorial Clock Tower stands in front of Ipoh State Mosque. The white-washed structure’s four statues surround the centrepiece. These represent the four pillars of British administration: ‘patience, and also relates to a story of violence, revenge and a Malay uprising…

Concubine Lane
– Concubine Lane was built by mining tycoon Yao Tet Shin for his three wives. Each lane was fittingly named Wife Lane, Concubine Lane and First Concubine Lane. While another version of the local tale is that it was also the place where rich men hid their mistresses.

Today, Concubine Lane is the most famous lane, having been transformed into a popular hangout with a variety of pop- up stalls selling ice balls, flower shaped cotton candy, Rainbow coloured cheese toast, knick knacks and more.

Psst… And platform 9 3/4 just opened in one of the shops there to make Concubine Lane even more popular to fan of Harry Potter and fantasy!!!

Part of Perak Mosque Trail… Perak happens to have a heritage of beautiful mosques, thus Tourism Malaysia Perak has decided to also promote these mosques to non-Muslims and tourists via the Perak Mosque Trail, 4 of these mosques are in Ipoh but we only had just about time to see 3 of these breathtaking heritage mosques…

If you are a non-Muslim or a free hair Muslim, fret not they have robes for you to borrow for visiting the inside of the mosques….

Masjid India Muslim (1908)
Built in the Mughal style for the local Indian population, this mosque has an attractive, lacey, green-and-white design by a wealthy Indian Muslim named Shaik Adam, following a dispute with Muslims in the Malay community….

Address – Jalan Seenivasagam, 30450 Ipoh

Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II (1968)
Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque is the state mosque of Perak, Malaysia. It is situated in Ipoh, Perak’s capital city, just next or is it right opposite the Birch Memorial…

Address- Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, 31650 Ipoh

Masjid Dato’ Panglima Kinta (built in 1898)
Masjid Panglima Kinta is an old mosque at the east bank of the Kinta River… It was built by Dato’ Panglima Kinta Muhammad Yusuff in memory of his wife who passed away that year… Work on the mosque began in 1898. It was one of the most beautiful and largest mosques in Ipoh when it was completed. The mosque has two minarets and a central dome.

A well-known resident of the mosque was the Egyptian Quran teacher Shaik Tholji who was instrumental in popularizing Quran recitals in Perak.

Dato’ Panglima Kinta  and his family are buried in the mausoleum located at the side/behind the mosque.

Address – 31, Jalan Masjid, Kampung Kuchai, 30300 Ipoh

Beside these 3 mosques, there are also the Masjid Kampong Paloh (1912), Masjid Pakistani (1930),  Masjid Baru Muhammadiah Masjid Cina (last year) and Masjid Ubudiah (1917) if you want to discover more of Peraks beautiful mosques….

Ipoh Mural Art
– Old Uncle With Coffee Cup or Art Of OldTown-created by Ernest Zacharevic, the Lithuanian artist & OLDTOWN White Coffee as a celebration of the heritage and history shared between Ipoh, Old Town and OLDTOWN White Coffee

Address – Jalan Dato Maharajalela

Kopi – O  mural can be reached if you continued to walk along the road near to the Ipoh Field… Look up on the old building at the parking area and you will see five bags of Kopi-O painted with different levels of drinks in it on the side of the building.

Kopi “O”, despite being black coffee, is one of the murals to celebrate Ipoh as the birth of the famous white coffee.

Sadly however I heard the building which this mural is on will be torn down soon so it’s now on limited time only…

Address -, Jalan Tun Sambathan

Evolution is a Chinese-style painted mural shows Ipoh’s evolution from a tin-mining town back in the colonial days…

Address-  Jalan Bijeh Timah

(these 3 wall murals are just among the 7 wall murals painted by Ernest Zacharevic, the same artist who painted those popular wall murals in Penang…)

This is Kedai Sin Ma, a mural by Singaporean artist Yip Yew Chong… We saw this before we spotted the Evolution mural

We ended our interesting and fulfilling day visiting some of Ipoh’s Heritage sites at the Labu Sayong Signature restaurant..

This restaurant which is housed in the traditional Perakian traditional house known as “Rumah Kutai” is the perfect place to unwind and get lost in time…

It is a premium restaurant which offers a truly immersive “Perak experience” for all visitors through its authenthic ambience and authentic Perak cuisine without breaking the bank or burning a hole in your pocket…

We indulged our palates in the LABU SAYONG Signature set…. Which was just seriously so good it is fit for royalty or even celestial beings (bunian, fairies, or mystical princesses).. It was a four course meal and it was just superb…

For appetisers, we had Tenggiri Kepai Pandan Udang Kertas
Traditional baked mackerel fish mousse with crispy prawn & seafood black sauce..

For soup, a super impressive Rusuk Kambing “Tongkat Ali” Kelapa Muda appeared… It is an aromatic lamb soup with onion, lemongrass & “Tongkat Ali” root served in a coconut…

For our mains, it was the Nasi Lemuni /Ikan Purba Kala Sayong
Deep-fried 700gm deboned seabass stuffed with 27 local ingredients accompanied 7 bird eye chilli ginger sauce, vegetables & Lemuni  Rice… Seriously orgasmic and better then sex (ooops but just saying…)

We ended this amazing lunch with dessert in the form of Putri Gunung Ledang dan Pisang Goreng Rangkai… Basically, small rice flour dumplings stuffed with date sesame served with coconut gravy in a bowl made from ice with flowers frozen inside, and deep-fried crispy banana on the side…

Never had I been so satiated with such beautiful and delicious food, which have been so painstakingly well plated and presented and also equally tempting… And you will be surprise that this whole set only cost less then RM70!!!!

Labu Sayong Signature offers more than 50 different dish selection to customers and 70 percent of them are traditional ‘authentic’ food of the State of Perak and is ready to customise your dining experience anytime…. Seriously 10 stars!!!!!

Address – 5, Jln Meru Bestari A14, 31200 Ipoh

Website – http://www.labusayong.com.my

This little heritage trip was organised by Tourism Malaysia Perak and Tourism Malaysia as part of the Family Fun and Heritage trip to Ipoh, Taiping and Penang… My humble thanks for allowing me the honour of participating in this wonderful trip…