Fah Thai Magazine Nov-Dec2019

FLAVOURS
The British left behind a legacy of
white-stucco colonial architecture
– the pomp of big banks and the
city hall, the elegance of the
planters’ and miners’ clubs. Top
prize goes to the train station,
a veritable palace in fabulous
Edwardian baroque style, which
now presides over a vast new plaza.
The Old Town’s fashionable
reputation was born a few years
ago when two shophouses were
knocked together to create the
quirky café-restaurant Burps &
Giggles, scattered with antiques
and bold murals. It’s now run by
the founder’s niece, Amanda Teoh,
a lively young woman in granny
glasses who explains: “When my
aunt had the idea for this café, she
remembered how her mother used
to drink a lot of milk. She would
burp and then break into giggles.”
Burps & Giggles spawned a
Clockwise from Top
Concubine Lane
in Old Town Ipoh
offers you a view
of the past with its
vintage buildings
and street vendors.
The former Hakka
Miners’ Club is now
a museum recording
the life of Hakka
people in the city.
A heritage walk
down Old Town
Ipoh.
rash of retro cafés, most of them
crammed in a narrow alley called
Concubine Lane. Lined with little
two-storey townhouses, this alley
used to be where tin tycoons kept
their mistresses, and bordellos
welcomed colonial officials at
night. Opium smoke spiced the air.
Now, the 100-metre passage has
been turned into a heritage row
for tourists.
Yet, cheek-by-jowl with this
tourist honeypot, Ipoh’s old ways
still thrive.
Just round the corner is a
typical kedai kopitiam, an openfronted
noodle restaurant called
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