Day 1 – Breakfast at Lim Ji Nyonya Laksa
It was a long wait for our first meal in Ipoh. I had an hour to spare and decided to sketch some of the customers. A quick sketch of the next table became a sketch of the rest of the shop and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. This is one of my favourites from the trip. I think because of the negative space from the plastic chairs, and the lady looking off the frame. It’s rare that I get to draw people from the front, especially people who are not being distracted by their phones.
Day 2 – Qin Xin Ling Cultural Village
This was an interesting tourist attraction. It was a little cove at the foot of some of Ipoh’s beautiful limestone cliffs. There are natural photo spots and the cove was decorated to look like old-time Malaysia. After walking around and taking some pictures, we sat down in a sheltered cart while I watched some ducks/geese swimming around. There were little post boxes all around the “village” that sold duck food for RM 1.
At first, I thought these bikes were really silly and I didn’t feel like we needed to ride them. But as we were killing time before lunch, I got more and more curious. Since everyone was riding the bikes, I decided now would be the perfect time. It was fun! While it was a little challenging to steer, it was super breezy once we got the momentum going. Another plus is that the bikes were all free to ride. Something like this would cost a pretty penny to ride at home.
Day 2 – Samma Chicken Rice
For lunch, we stopped at our absolute must-eat of the trip. The staff took our order in advance while we were still waiting outside. After we ordered, we sat down and waited for a seat. There wasn’t much for me to draw outside but I decided to go out of my comfort zone and draw some vehicles. There was a Grab delivery rider waiting for an order near his bike and lots of cars parked along the shops.
As I was drawing this, a fidgety kid who was causing their parent some exasperation decided to sit down next to me. The kid was being very obvious when looking at me draw. I don’t enjoy being perceived but I figured I would allow it, since it helped to give the parent some respite. The kid would look at the drawing, then look up. Look at the drawing, then look up. The kid then used their fingers to make a frame and started looking through them like a little artist. It was quite funny.
Day 3 – Kin Loong Coffee @ Tasik Cermin
This was my case of “golden hands” on this trip (i.e. magical drawing skills). We went to Tasik Cermin and enjoyed the one cave and photo op at the quarry but there wasn’t anything else we really wanted to do. As it turns out, there was a famous coffee brand that had an outlet at Tasik Cermin. At the gift store, we stocked up on some coffee and tea to bring home. At my insistence, we also ended up getting a mid-day snack at the outlet. 🥰
Day 4 – Fujiwara Dofa Shop
On our last day, we decided to stop by this Instagram-famous shop which has the smoothest beancurd! It had a wonderful jiggle to it too. Apart from beancurd and other soy products, the shop also sold some regular food. Mr Bao ordered the Nasi Lemak which was quite good. It looked like a family business, since the older boss was helping the younger staff film a TikTok dance. 😂
Day 4 – Queuing for Kaya puffs
We were on our way to get our breakfast when we passed by an old school shop with a long queue out the door. Mr Bao realised that it was one of the famous traditional pastry shops in Ipoh. We decided to go back and queue for some of their famous kaya puffs. We had one while it was still warm and fresh. The kaya itself was ok, but the pastry was delectable.
Thanks for reading
💜jy