Retracing Leslie's Footsteps in Ipoh & Kuala Lumpur
A group of Singapore fans had been meeting periodically for 'Leslie activities' over the past couple of years and it was during one of these meetings that the idea of retracing Leslie's footsteps in West Malaysia was mooted. We thought it would be a good idea to visit the places where Leslie stayed and performed, and at the same time meet up with some Leslie fans in Malaysia.
Months went by and nothing more was said of the trip so I thought it was not going to materialize. Early this year, I received news that the trip was scheduled for mid-February and that there were seven or eight fans who were interested in making the trip.
I would not have been able to make the trip in mid-Feb as I had other commitments but eventually the trip was changed to 24 Feb. From a group of eight, the number was whittled down to five as some had to pull out because of work commitments.
We had intended to go up only to Kuala Lumpur initially but fortuitously, Air Asia had a special promotion for flights between Ipoh and Senai Airport in Johor Bahru at the ridiculous price of only RM9.90 (about USD2.60).
The offer was too good to resist so after discussion, we decided that we would go to Senai to catch the flight to Ipoh, and then take a coach down from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur before returning to Singapore. We were at a fan's house then and decided to book the flights through the Internet right away, figuring that even if the trip did not take place for some reason, we would lose only SGD17 each (including taxes).
Over the following week we booked accommodation at Casuarina Hotel in Ipoh and Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. We were told that Leslie had stayed in these two hotels were performing in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.
On 24 Feb 2006 we rendezvoused at an MRT station not too far from the Causeway and took an MPV which we had booked earlier, to Senai Airport in Johor Bahru.
We left the MRT station at 10.30am and were at Senai within an hour as the traffic was, thankfully, clear, and there were no delays. We had some time to kill as our flight was at 1 something and so we had a meal at the airport cafeteria.
The Air Asia plane we boarded was claustrophobically small but thankfully, it was a short ride of only about 40 minutes. The airport was very small and looked somewhat like it belonged to a bygone era. We took two taxis to the Casuarina Hotel, which was located not far from the airport.
The hotel looked unimposing and I thought it rather drab, but I guess Ipoh is not quite a tourist destination and there are not many starred hotels there, unlike in Kuala Lumpur, and the Casuarina was probably the best in the 1980s, when Leslie performed in Ipoh.
After checking in, we decided to look for Café Legend, which we had read about through the internet. The Café was supposedly opened by a fan of Anita Mui, and we had heard that they play mainly Anita's and Leslie's songs. We expected that posters and photos of Anita and Leslie would probably form part of the décor.
We had been informed that the Café was near the Jusco Jaya but on arriving at Jusco Jaya, could not see any signs of a Café Legend in the vicinity of the complex, though it would not have been easy to spot the Café as the complex is rather sprawling.
We tried to contact an Ipoh fan whose telephone number we had been given but she did not pick up our call. We also asked the staff working in various outlets in the complex about the whereabouts of Café Legend but got mainly blank stares.
We finally hit on the idea of asking the staff at the Information Counter but I was not optimistic as the staff were Malay and unlikely to know about Anita and Leslie. We were directed to an exit of the complex where there were shops and it did not take long to locate the Café Legend. Unfortunately, the Café was closed, although the signboard remained.
We asked around to find out whether it was closed for that day or was it permanently closed. Much to our disappointment, we learnt that the café was permanently closed.
We then decided that we would go to our next port of call, the Perak Stadium, where Leslie had performed his Final Encounter concert in 1989. On arrival at the sporting facility, we found that there was more than one stadium. One was an open air stadium while the other was an indoor stadium and we wondered which was the one he had performed in.
We decided to visit both and to take pictures, and then find out later where exactly he performed. The outdoor stadium could probably seat a few thousand people while the indoor stadium looked like it was more suitable for a concert. We found out later that it was the outdoor stadium he had performed in. Because it was for only one night and because he was already a superstar then, it would have been no problem for them to attract sufficient numbers to fill up the Stadium.
I have an ex-colleague who was a schoolgirl in Alor Star then and she told me she shelled out not a small sum of money for herself and her brother to watch Leslie perform in Penang.
It was dusk by the time we were done with the stadium and because taxis are scarce in Ipoh, we walked to look for a hawker centre where there were supposed to be all kinds of food stalls selling local food.
We had some trouble locating the place and stopped to ask a lady who was chatting with another lady outside one of the shop houses we passed. She was exceedingly kind and offered the five of us (!) a ride to Woolly Centre, where we sampled local delights such as bee hoon fried with salted fish, rojak, cuttlefish and kangkong.
One of the dishes Ipoh is famous for is bean sprouts and poached chicken and we heard that Leslie had this when he was in Ipoh. It was packed for him and he ate it in the privacy of his room.
There are two shops which are famous for this dish in Ipoh. After dinner we walked back to Jusco Jaya and from there took two taxis to the town centre to look for the famed shops, which happen to be diagonally each other. Since we had only just eaten and were not hungry, we walked along one of the streets where there was a night market where we browsed a bit and shopped a bit. There was an attractively laid out shop which was stocked with an amazing variety of foodstuffs from all over Malaysia and we spent time here too, buying some specialties to take back home with us.
We had by then worked up an appetite for a second round of dinner and decided to have our bean sprouts and chicken at Old Wong's, which seemed to be better patronized. I had some reservations about eating poached chicken before there were some cases of bird flu in the state of Selangor, which is a neighbouring state of Perak, where Ipoh is located. Eventually I decided to take the risk and ate whatever was ordered – hor fun, poached chicken, bean sprouts and soup.
It was back to the hotel for much needed shut-eye after the supper but I ended up sleeping late because a Kuala Lumpur fan I had been in touch with to ask about the places Leslie visited called me and very generously shared a lot of information, even though she herself had had a very long day at the office and only went home close to midnight.
We got up early the next morning as we wanted to look around the hotel and had to catch a coach to Kuala Lumpur. We went to the back of the hotel where the pool was located and took many pictures there. We could not find the gym despite following the signs – it's probably no longer in existence. We went to the function rooms and tried to guess where he might have held his press conference and decided to try our luck by asking the front desk if they could be so good to have a look at one of the suites.
The staff was very accommodating and we were shown a suite, though of course we had no idea at all if this might have been the one Leslie occupied. No matter, we clicked away and even posed for photos lying on the bed. The view was quite breathtaking because of the mountains in the distance, which looked like they might have come out of a Chinese brush painting.
We went to the bus terminus to book a coach to take us to Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately the 10 am coach seats were all sold out and we had to settle for the 10.30 coach but as luck would have it, the coach from the company we had chosen had a breakdown and we were diverted to an 11.00 am coach from another company.
The road journey from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur was quite scenic, with views of tree-covered mountains and oil palm plantations. The roads in and around the Kuala Lumpur were choked with traffic and it took a long time before we got anywhere near the bus terminus. A few hundred metres from the station, passengers started to get down and walk as that would have been much faster than remaining the coach, which was by then crawling along.
Fortunately there was a direct train (on the STAR line) from the bus terminus to Legend Hotel and we no longer had to worry about traffic jams. We checked into Legend Hotel at 2 something and soon it was time to go next door to The Mall to meet some Leslie fans who had arranged to meet us at Starbucks.
We spent about an hour chatting with the fans, who kindly gave each of us a plastic card with pics of Leslie on both sides. After the meeting with the Malaysian fans we took taxis to the Merdeka Stadium where Leslie performed his Passion Concert for on 8 Sep 2000. Two of the fans in the group had watched him perform that concert but when we entered the stadium, there was a difference of opinion between them on whether the stage was to the right or to the left, when one entered from the main entrance.
We were warned by the guard at the entrance that photography was prohibited but surreptitiously took a few shots anyway as we did not see the harm in that. The stadium looked rather run down. There is a newer stadium in Bukit Jalil where Miriam Yeung (?) was performing around the time we were in Kuala Lumpur. The Merdeka Stadium was relegated to being a training ground for footballers.
After Merdeka Stadium we walked to Petaling Street (the Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur) where we visited some CD shops to look for Leslie's stuff. From there we walked to Masjid Jamek station where we took a train to Bandaraya, near Sogo in Jalan TAR. We visited the Pertama Complex where Leslie and Anita used to perform in the Pertama Night Club in the 1980s. The nightclub has long closed. We took some shots of the interior of the complex and did not spend much time there as it was quite smoky.
I realized that I had visited this complex many times on previous visits to Kuala Lumpur as I liked to shop at The Reject Shop in the basement. I had of course not known about the association of this complex with Leslie.
We spent some time browsing in Sogo before meeting up with P, a Malaysian fan who had invited us to dinner. We had dinner at a charming restaurant near the Petronas Twin Towers. The décor was reminiscent of a cottage in the English countryside.
We spent hours over dinner, which was delicious and as usual, the conversation centred on Leslie. Through some of the things P related, I felt I knew Leslie a little better.
There was a pianist entertaining guests with soothing music and I remember one of the tunes she played was 'Even Now', a track which Leslie performed in his debut album, Daydreamin’. Was there a message from Leslie in the choice of that tune by the pianist? I would like to think so.
It was again quite late by the time we finished dinner and got back to the hotel. The next day, after breakfast, we went to look at the ballrooms and function rooms and tried to guess where Leslie might have held his press conference. We also tried to guess where he might have had his post-concert celebration dinner. I heard that normally the star leaves shortly after the start of the event but in Leslie's case, he was the last to leave, chatting till the past 3 am with Florence Chan.
We tried to locate the suite he stayed in during his Passion Concert but did not manage to do so as the fan who had gone to see the suite could no longer remember where it was.
We also went to the car park entrance where fans had seen him get into his car and again took pictures there. I had seen Leslie in shades and bermudas posing for photographers at the poolside which appeared to be on the rooftop in the prelude of the DVD featuring his Final Encounter concert. We wondered whether the pool was at the Legend or the Pan Pacific Hotel and decided to go to both.
Another stop we made was at the Putra World Trade Centre, beside the Pan Pacific Hotel which is itself opposite the Legend. We heard that Leslie performed in the auditorium called Merdeka Hall, which is located on Level 4 of the complex and again took pictures of the interior as well as at the doors we thought he might have gone past.
Our next destination was the Petronas Twin Towers. We were disappointed at not being able to get tickets to the viewing gallery as the tickets were being given out for the 4 pm viewing and our coach was scheduled to leave at 3.30pm. Some of the fans bought some Leslie stuff from Tower Records and one of them had to say goodbye to the rest of us as she had something to do that evening which necessitated her taking a flight back to Singapore.
The rest of us took a taxi to Ampang Village where we had a delicious lunch of the famed Ampang yong tau foo. There were more than ten restaurants but our taxi driver took us to Foong Foong, which we were told, is the oldest one. The restaurant was packed and we had to wait for quite a while for a table to be available.
A very pleasant couple asked to share our table and we of course agreed. At the end of the meal, the couple very kindly gave us a ride back to Legend Hotel. Time for some last minute shopping at the Mall before checking out and taking the coach back to Singapore.
GALLERY OF PICTURES
report and pictures by Starnight from Singapore, May 2006