Ipoh Railway Station, Perak

The Ipoh Railway Station is a lovely colonial-style structure built in 1917. (N4°35.851' E101°04.413') It's a Mughal style architecture of India, and it's also affectionately known as the Taj Mahal of Ipoh. It is indeed one of the more impressive landmarks in Ipoh. Today the Ipoh Railway Station houses the Majestic Hotel - previously known as the Station Hotel Ipoh. A beautifully landscaped floral garden surrounds this charming building. Source from AsiaExplorer.

Ipoh Railway Station.

The construction of the present railway station and hotel began in 1914 but was interrupted due to a shortage of materials and high costs of labour during World War I. And it was designed by AB Hubback.
The station has three platforms, commodious offices for railway staff, and a restaurant and bar. The hotel at first had 17 bedrooms opening out to the deep upper verandah; this was upgraded to 21 rooms by 1936. Source from Perak Info.

The species of 'Epau' tree (antiaris toxicaria), where the name of 'Ipoh' comes from, can be found in front of the railway station. Source from Malaysia Budget Hotel.

I love this colonial structure very much. We had a walk around the station after the MFM Gathering which was held at Dome Cafe of the Hotel...

The entrance before the ticket counter and waiting area.

The ticket counter.

You can check the Time Table and the Fees here.

The Platform

Too bad there was no train at that moment.




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Our Ipoh Trip (Aug 2009)
* New Caspian Budget Hotel at Ipoh, Perak (D1)
* Lou Wong Bean Sprout Chicken Rice at Ipoh, Perak. (D1)
* Tuck Kee Noodle Restuarant at Ipoh, Perak (D1)
* Chang Keong Dim Sum at Ipoh (D2)
* Perak Cave at Ipoh, Perak. (D2)
* The Lost World Of Tambun, Perak (D2)
* Tat Seng Salted Chicken at Ipoh, Perak (D2)
* Yee Fatt Dry Curry Noodle in Ipoh, Perak (D3)
* Yong Tau Foo under 'The Tree' in Ipoh, Perak. (D3)

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Funicular Train Station at Penang Hill, Ayer Itam - Penang

Me and Lau went for the tickets booking on 12.30pm.
This Tourist Spot had been changed a lot! My last visit was 25 years ago....

The Penang Hill Funicular Train Station

The History of the Railway Station :-
* Construction of the railway took place between 1906 to 1923, at a cost of 1.5 million Straits dollars. The railway was opened to the public on October 21, 1923. The 2,007 m (1 mile 435 yard) journey takes about half an hour and the train may stop at intermediate stations upon request.

On the left, there is the Entrance of the Railway and also the ticket counter.

The Ticket Counter building. (Left after the main gate)

There are many Souvenirs shop on the right....

Souvenirs Shop on the right.

The queue was really Long when we were there...it's took us about 30 minutes to get our 5.00pm tickets. The timing was just right during that time, because others tickets was sold! We got our Last 4 tickets and the following ticket was 5.30pm onwards.

Ticket for the Funicular Train to Penang Hill :-
MYR4.00 for adults
MYR2.00 for children (Below 12 years old)

The train operating hours was from 7.00am to 11.15pm. Extend due to Festive Season, normally the last train is 10.00pm.

We have our rest at the coffee shop beside 1926 Heritage Hotel....and also fill up our stomach.
We started to to drive from the Hotel on 3.30pm. Because of the heavy traffic jam, we don't wanna miss the train. (The total journey from the Hotel to the Penang Hill Station is 7.4km)

The timing was just right when we reached. Everyone were anxiously waiting for the train...

The railway of the train.

After about 15 minutes waiting, the train finally arrived....(The interval was 15 minutes...)


And it's packed with peoples....looks like sardin!

The Control Cabin of the Train.

We choose the last cabin which you can enjoy the view from behind...

Do you think it's 'Creative' enough to hang the 2 table fans like this way?!!

Scenic view along the way....there's a staircase beside the railway, I don't think it's not for hiker....maybe it's maintenance.


The cable which is pulling the train and release on the other train...
The local called 'Cable Car' instead of Funicular Train...

The Famous Red Swiss made Funicular Train can carry up to 80 passengers per trip, and manufactured by Habegger Engineering Work on the year of 1977. (Empty weight : 7.5 tons)

It passed by many small station along the way....that are for those residents who stayed around the hill.

Claremont Station

We need to change to the other train in the middle of the journey. Every passengers were rushing to the other train during that time, while I took out my camera....they all already inside the other train...
Before it reach the peak, it went through one tunnel which is constructed many years ago. There's not enough time for me to capture the year that embossed on the wall.
The total journey took almost 30 minutes.

To be continue....

Penang Trip - Chinese New Year 2009 :-
* Dengkil R & R (RSA) Area - Selangor
* Sing Tat Garden Hawker Center, Butterworth
* Blossom Seafood Steamboat at Auto City, Butterworth
* The Nine Emperor Gods Temple (九皇大帝) at Jalan Raja Uda, Butterworth
* Long House Seafood Restaurant, Batu Kawan - Butterworth
* Auto City of Juru - Butterworth
* 1926 Heritage Hotel at Burmah Road, Penang
* Top of Penang Hill (Flagstaff Hill), Penang
* David Brown's Restaurant, Penang Hill - Penang
* Bellevue Hotel at Penang Hill, Penang
* Famous Tau Sar Pneah of Penang
* My CNY Penang Trip

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Kluang Railway Station Coffee, Johor

We enjoyed the ride, the train journey took exactly 70 minutes from Kempas to Kluang.
Once the train reached Kluang, the situation surprised me! The station (N2°02.000' E103°19.055') was full of passengers, and I saw we are the only group get down from the train, others were got up to the train and travel to North. (The train only stop for One minute)

You won't be surprise that there are many backpackers on the train...

After one minute, the line was clear!

And the station is back to peace and quite...

Kenny was the first one to 'jump' into the ticket counter to buy the return tickets. But due to unforeseen circumstances, it was unexpected fully booked! Without any choices, we decided to buy Express Bus ticket back to Johor Bahru.

Despite any status of the return ticket, we still need to fill up our stomach at this Famous Kluang Rail Cafe (since 1938). This is one of our purpose to Kluang. It's situated exactly in the Railway Station, and this 'small' cafe was so crowded on the Sunday morning.

The queue at the entrance...

After 15 minutes queue, we managed to get a table. What we did was 'fill' up the table as we can! Haha!


The reason was...we wanna taste everything which sell by the shop! :)
The packs on the table are Nasi Lemak and Mee-Siam. I will advise you to take those mee-siam which is in the plastic container, it was really good! And don't forget to order the Toasted Bread, it's serve with the homemade 'Kaya' and butter...Nice! (Pictures below...)

Mee-Siam in the plastic container.

Toasted Bread. It's grilled on 'charcoal', different taste from those oven toasted. Must try!

Importantly, don't forget to order a cup of the well-known hand roasted coffee. The aroma of the coffee was amazing! You will like it especially if you are a coffee lover.

Beside that, the half boiled eggs is also part of the breakfast.

We were really enjoy our breakfast at this Kluang Railway Cafe. Especially the 2 kids, they having their breakfast without any noise! :)

Some are busy taking photos....and some are busy with their bread...

The face expression from the little girl tell you how good the toasted bread was! She is my little princess...

The cafe is existed since 1938, before the Independence of Malaya. Until now, the third generation of the Lim's family is running the business. The setting is still the same since the cafe started...today, it goes with the name - "Kluang Rail coffee".
The franchise business of this cafe are everywhere within Malaysia today. But many customers still come back here for the original taste of the Coffee & Toasted Bread.

Business Hour :-
Friday to Wednesday
7.00am - 12.00pm
2.30pm - 6.00pm
Close on Thursday

The history of the cafe is witness by the patrons everyday...

The boss is busy brewing the coffee...

I will not say the foods and drinks serve by this cafe is heavenly fantastic, but it's special!
Experience your breakfast at this rustic ambience coffee shop, and don't forget to walk around this simple and classic train station...

Once our stomach full, we continue our journey...

Kluang Day Trip 4th JAN 2009 :-
* Kempas Railway Station (KTM), Johor Bahru
* Kluang Fire Department, Johor.
* Kluang Bus Terminal, Johor
* Sam Kee BBQ Place, Kluang - Johor

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Kempas Railway Station (KTM), Johor Bahru

Kempas Railway Station (N1°32.183' E103°43.238')
My family and Kenny's family having a day trip by train to Kluang on 4th JAN 2009.
The ticket was MYR13.00 for adult and MYR11.00 for children, train schedule - 8.43am. (From Kempas Railway Station to Kluang Railway Station)

We reached the station on 8.15am, still enough time for us to had our breakfast at the canteen beside the station....hmm, the curry-puff was really nice!

The parking area full of Taxi. I believe that will be safe for daily parking, because all the Taxi driver will monitor your car while they having their break at the canteen.

This staircase will lead to the Kempas Railway Station.

I took my chance to snap some photos around the station...

To the left...

To the right...

The schedule time table for KTM...

After a while, this bell ring! That's mean the train arrive, delay by only 2 minutes only!! That's really impressed us. Because our previous experience was one hour delay!

I never expect that I bought the tickets at the Last cabin of the train. (Yes, seat number provided). Air-condition was cold enough with the seat are comfort! The train was only stop for ONE minute and continue the journey to the north...


The reason of this blur photo above is because of the train moving, not my hand! :) Yeah, I should use the fast shutter setting...

We relax ourself in the train and excited to see the Kluang Railway Station...

Kluang Day Trip 4th JAN 2009 :-
* Kluang Railway Station Coffee, Johor
* Kluang Fire Department, Johor.
* Kluang Bus Terminal, Johor
* Sam Kee BBQ Place, Kluang - Johor

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Danga City Mall, Johor Bahru

This shopping mall had bring back live again! It was named Best World Shopping Mall those day, then it took over by Danga Bay Management and re-renovate the mall call - Danga City Mall today.

The mall was open on December 2008. The new management totally changed the face of the mall, I was surprised when I step in....

And it's also the First Shopping Mall at Johor Bahru provided security within the parking lot. I was surprised again to see this Security Post at the parking area! I believe this will prevent the car theft taking advantage, unlike others Big Shopping Malls at Johor Bahru which always facing many car stolen cases during their Sale periods.

On the 5th of January 2009, they provided the Train and Shuttle Bus services.
The KTM Train ticket counter located at the 2nd Floor of the Mall.

Just beside an optical shop

The Train Schedule :-

From Singapore ->Danga Mall->Kempas Baru (Fare : SGD3.00)
-------5.35am------>6.21am------->6.45am (Train no. 26)
-------7.40am------>8.34am------->8.50am (Train no. 2)
-------2.00pm------>2.54pm------->3.10pm (Train no. 6)
-------6.00pm------>7.05pm------->7.29pm (Train no. 14)
-------7.10pm------->8.18pm------->8.30pm (Train no. 28)
-------10.00pm----->11.30pm------>11.35pm (Train no. 10)

From Danga Mall->Woodlands->Singapore (T. Pagar) (Fare : MYR3.00)
-------5.10am------->6.55am------->8.15am (Train no. 11)
-------8.50am------->9.15am------->10.10am (Train no. 15)
-------9.37am------->9.52am------->11.00am (Train no. 29)
-------2.19pm------->2.34pm------->4.11pm (Train no. 5)
-------8.08pm------->8.28pm------->9.35pm (Train no. 1)

The Free Shuttle Bus Schedule :-
(Pickup at the Main Entrance of the Mall)

From Tmn Universiti ->Danga City Mall
9.00am
11.30am
2.30pm
5.10pm
7.30pm

From Danga City Mall ->Danga Festive Mall - Danga Bay
4.10pm
5.40pm
7.10pm
8.40pm
10.10pm

From Danga Festive Mall - Danga Bay -> Danga City Mall
10.30am
1.00pm
4.00pm
6.30pm
9.30pm

The walkway from the Mall to the platform

Related post :-
* Danga Bay, Johor Bahru
* Budget Hotel at Danga Bay, Johor Bahru

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