Old Cinemas in Taiping

     Not so very long ago, cinema was the place to go for an affordable entertainment.  School children, young couples, families and lonely souls, all found it a place to escape from the harsh realities of life for an hour or two.  Tickets for a show were affordable -ranging from 65 cents to two Malaysian dollars in the early sixties and seventies.  Gradually, the prices went up from RM4 to RM 6 in the nineties.  It became no longer cheap anymore for many.  Then came digital technology and home entertainment units.  That spelled the end of many cinemas.    The cinemas in Taiping too faced the same destiny, all the old cinemas stopped screening movies, for it was no longer profitable to do so.  Some of the old cinema buildings have been renovated and have assumed  new functions.  Others were not so lucky, they were demolished and left no trace at all.  Here are some old cinema buildings that have survived demolition, but for how long, I don't know.  

CAPITOL CINEMA

 

 

The Capitol cinema is located at Jalan Chung Thye Phin, a short distance from the New Market.  It used to show Chinese movies and has a spacious car park.  After it had stopped screening movies, this place was converted into another form of entertainment centre.  It becomes the Capitol Club - a fun pub and karaoke centre.  

CATHAY CINEMA 

 The Cathay cinema is located at Jalan Ngah Ibrahim,  next to Soon Lee Restarurant.   In fact, the compound of the Cathay cinema is now converted into a car park for the patrons of Soon Lee Restaurant.  As for the building itself, it is left to rot.  In the past, this cinema used to show mostly English movies and a few Malay, Hindi and Chinese movies too. Those who used to go to this cinema could still remember the famous cathay 'lok-lok' stall by the roadside just beside the cinema.  I think the stall is still there by it has lost many of its patrons.   The Cathay group has now moved into modern cineplex business in shopping malls and so all its old cinemas are no longer in operation.       

LIDO CINEMA

The Lido cinema is located at Jalan Sultan Abdullah.  It was also very popular because of its location.  It is easily accessible and has a large parking area.  Patrons to the cinema used to frequent the famous Lido laksa stall located within the cinema building.  It was definitely  'good' laksa prepared by the Chinese owner.  After it stopped showing movies, the building was rented out as a place for warehouse sales.  That business failed. It was also rented to a video games operator, and that too failed.  Then, it is now rented out to a restaurant / hawker centre at the back and a karaoke centre operates within the premises.  

MANDARIN CINEMA     

The Mandarin Cinema is located at Jalan Stesen, just behind the HSBC Bank.   It used to show Chinese, English and Indian movies.  This was also the place in Taiping to have a delicious bowl of ice-kacang. The stall was located within the car-park area and was always full of customers.  I think it was in the early eighties when the cinema caught fire and most of the interior of the building was destroyed.  The cinema was left abandoned like that since then and no one has moved in to rent that place and neither is there any sign of renovation.  We are all left to wonder what the future of this place would be like.  Let's wait and see. 

Brastagi to Lake Toba

The journey continued through the beautiful countryside from Brastagi to Lake Toba. It took about four hours by bus and we moved from Batak Simalungun territory to Batak Toba region.  The people there grew beautiful flowers, fruit trees and vegetable on the fertile volcanic soil.  The dark volcanic soil can be seen all over the area.  

This is the district governor's office and it is built according to the traditional Batak architectural style. 

Nearby, there is this big mosque, as there is a large number of Muslims in this area. 

Not to far away, is this Hurai Batak Protestant church, which is also built according to traditional Batak style.

As the bus stopped at a Pertamina Petrol Station to for a gas refill, the view of the active volcano, 

Mt. Sinabung, at the background, is just magnificent.

A van-bus filled with passengers too pulled up for gas.  This is the only petrol station between Brastagi and Lake Toba, so most vehicles traveling along this road stop for a refill.   

All around, is agricultural land, and with the rich volcanic soil, almost anything grows well here.  

This is the family cemetery.  Each farming family will allocate a small area for burial of family members.  Of course, the great grand ancestor who first worked on the land is given a grand memorial / grave such as this one.  The whole countryside here is dotted with family graves, from farm to farm. 

The favourite food of the Batak here - Babi Panggang Karo.  In every village, there will be stalls with the sign BPK - selling roast pigs. 

Finally, after four hours the bus arrived at Parapat, a town at the edge of Lake Toba.  This is the famous Sipiso-piso waterfalls, located at the fringe of Lake Toba. 

A school near Parapat.

 

This is Permatang Purba, the village of the royal palaces of the King of Batak Simalungun.

This is one of the reconstructed royal houses at the village.

Tourists going from house to house to inspect the royal palaces. 

This is the largest palace, and it is said that this was the house of the 24 wives of the King!

Lake Toba is finally visible, and its vastness is simply mind-blogging!  It is said to be about a few times the size of Singapore island! 

Lake Toba seen from another place

Lake Toba, seen with its islands in the centre.   

The weather was just nice that day for getting a good picture of the lake.

From Medan to Brastagi

It was an interesting journey on a bus from Medan to Brastagi which went through some scenic countryside and hilly Batak country.  It gave me a chance to look at the simple life of the people in that area.  There are quite a number of large, high rise, modern buildings in Medan but it was the simple, rustic and unchanged lifestyle of the people there that caught my attention.  While much of Medan city itself has undergone changes, there are still a lot by the wayside that has remained the same since the last half century or so.

The Polonia airport at Medan is the main entry point to North Sumatera

Medan, like most Southeas Asian cities, is riddled with traffic jams. Public vehicles like this van-taxi is one of the most popular means of transportation around town.  However, we have been told that it is best for foreign visitors to try getting only on the yellow ones or the blue ones because their charges are more reasonable.     

Another mode of public transport is this motorised trishaw.  They are seen almost everywhere in town.  Some are modified to look more attractive while others make do with just a cover from a discarded advertisement poster. 

Foreign visitors again has been advised not to use this popular local mode of transport because they can charge totally unexpected rates.  Always bargain - if you can speak their language - before getting on one.  In Medan, a 70 -100cc Japanese motorcycle is attached to the carriage but in  the nearby town of Siantar, the ancient Triumph, Harley Davidson and  Norton motorbikes are used.

Right in the middle of Medan is this monument of Justice.  It is located within the compound of the Rahmat International Wildlife Museum.   

The signboard of Rahmat International Wildlife Museum where visitors can view stuffed animals.

Also located within the compound of the Rahmat Museum, is the office of the Indonesian Red Cross Society. 

A closer look at the motorised trishaw.

Amidst the busy traffic, a bread vendor is plying his trade. 

At another part of town, artists too make a living by selling giant custom-made wedding cards which are very popular.  These are displayed at weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and even funerals.

At junctions where there are traffic lights, there will be young boys and girls selling all sorts of things from newspapers, flowers and even providing entertainment - like this boy and his friends, they will sing songs for a few rupiahs.

They are performing when the traffic lights turned red and motorists are entertained by them, then a few kind souls will toss a few rupiahs to these young singers. 

In smaller towns outside Medan, the trishaws rules the roads.  Here in this town, there are special parking bays for such trishaws. 

Along with the trishaws are mobile stalls selling food.  food is one of the popular ways to earn a living here.

Somewhere in the countryside, is this interesting stall selling tuak or local palm wine.  The fresh one is quite nice to drink - sweet and does not have the strong smell like our local toddy.  

A few blocks away is this place selling BPK or babi panggang karo - Karo roast pigs.  No, I did not try any of this, following the advice of my guide.   

As we traveled across Batak country, we noticed there are so many churches built across the countryside.  Every village has its huge church of the HKBP or Huria Kristen Batak Protesten.    

Apart from HKBP churches, there are also some isolated buddhist temple too.  At Lumbini, there is this beautiful golden buddhist pagoda.

Finally, we arrived at Brastagi.  It is a hill resort type of town.  The main attraction in the town is the fruit market.  

This is the location of the fruit market, which also sells flowers and clothing.

The fruit market at Brastagi