Minor

Experiencing Culture 2

IPOH

For this semester's experiencing culture trip we were going to IPOH. The main point of this subject is to open our eyes and be aware of the different cultures and customs between people, so that as designers we can get more experience and understand the needs of other people.

The last place we visited for experiencing culture was Europe, so surely there is going to be a large culture gap between the two, and in here I'm gonna share my wonderful experience with you all. :)

We have been planning this trip since the beginning of the semester, finding information on Ipoh, what were the most interesting places to visit, and so on. This is so we can make use of the short 4 days we spend there. 

DAY 1

Finally the day that everyone had been waiting for, 7th February. We were set to leave at 830 from university campus. So everyone started gathering there around 7.

We, all ready and excited for Ipoh trip.

After stopping for breakfast in an RnR, it was a long bus ride to Ipoh. We were on the bus till around noon when we reached our 'on the way stop' in Gopeng before reach Ipoh. It was a heritage house, where we saw a lot of antiques and other items used during the late 1800's and early 1900's. From here we could see the architecture style during that time and experience how their life would have been.

A small Courtyard in front of the kitchen, to bring in cool air and let the warm air to escape, cooling the interiors of the house.

A small balcony on the first floor where they can enjoy the fresh air, this place also helps in to bring cool air into the house.

The house still has all of the original furniture in the rooms, such as the beds, cupboards, and tables used during that time. We spent around an hour here, experiencing the space before we left.

After another 2 hours on the bus we reached 'kraf tanjung bidara'. It was a family business where they make different kind of pottery by hand and sells them. The owner Mr. Shamshudin gave us a brief introduction of the place and the processes they use in making pottery.

After the introduction, he gave us the great opportunity to experience this process. he gave each one of us a ready made vase which had not being dried yet. So we smoothed it out by blades and wet sponges.

After smoothing it out we made decorations on the vase from unused clay. It was an enjoyable and exciting experience. In the end there was clay in between my nails, but it was worth it :D

Busy making the world's greatest pottery! :P

My end product. It wasn't that great, but so happy with getting to experience it all. 

All of our pottery in the sun to dry it up before we take it back.

Trying to create pottery from the pottery wheel. 

After all the pottery making we went back on our bus to Ipoh. After a long nap of one and half hour we finally reached our hotel, Ipoh Boutique.

This was the highlights of a very enjoyable and exciting first day of the Ipoh trip. :D.

DAY 2

The Day 2 of Ipoh began with the visit to the Morning Market. The market is named as Memory Lane, which i thought was the perfect name for this place. From one end to the other of this market gives you a rush of old memories. You can find anything from old coins to old TV sets. They also do sell used items among these antique items.There is quite a crowd buying stuff and looking around in the market. 

It was a quite fascinating way to begin a day! reminiscing the past :) After a walk through of the memory lane, we all headed to old town of Ipoh on bus.

When you step out of the bus to Ipoh old town, you get a whole other vibe than the Ipoh new town. Most of the building you see here are Heritage buildings. 

The other amazing part of Ipoh was spotting the murals. These Murals were done by with the collaboration with OldTown White Coffee and the Artist Ernest Zacharevic. These Murals shows the rich heritage of Ipoh and gives the old worn out building walls a new purpose.

 After the awesome day in Ipoh old town, we visited the kinta river at night. The best time to visit kinta river is at night, You see all the artificial lights creating a beautiful ambiance to the whole area. In here there is also a museum where you can go in for free, and get information about the ipoh's tin mining heritage.

DAY 3

Today was all about FUN!! One of the many reasons we go to a trip each semester is to gain information to our case studies, experience culture, learn new things, and FUN!!

We went to a theme park in Ipoh called The Lost World of Tambun. In here we enjoyed the Tube rides, Pool, the artificial sandy beach. It was a whole day of fun and tanning :P

The best part of this place is you can get both here, Fun and Information. We were able to see a tiger valley and other animals in the pettung zoo area, and also learn about the tin mining of ipoh with real life sculptures which felt like it might come to life.

DAY 4

Our last day in Ipoh. We checked out of our hotels early in the morning and left to see the rest of the Ipoh,

We went to see a beautiful hotel called the Sekeping Kong Heng. The Design was a great learning experience, to see exposure styles and green design styles within the building. 

Another interesting part of the hotel was the roof garden. In here we learned a lot on how to design and maintain a roof garden. This was very informative to us since we were doing a project about farming for our design this semester.

After A long drive we went to see the Kellie's castle. There is such a sad story behind this building. A man's Unfinished dream.

The castle has amazing designs and lots of secret passage ways, between rooms and hiding spots. In here you can imagine how grand their life was and how it would have looked like if the place was completed and inhabited.

Tin mining is how Ipoh became one of the major cities of Malaysia. And you sure can find a lot of places about tin mining here, and we went to one of those.
In here you can find how tin mining progressed from 1980's to present. from the equipment they used to their life style back then, all from sculptures they have created.

 After the visit to this tin mining museum we headed back home to end an informative and fun 4 days of Ipoh :)