The first night we were in Ipoh for the Chinese New Year, I barely got any sleep. The fam and I were sharing a room and the Pops was performing a solo symphony (of snores). That, and I’m the type that can’t fall asleep easily when it’s not my own bed (no matter how comfy it is).

At 4AM, I finally gave up and tried to catch some shut eye on the couch in the living room. My aunt and uncle got up at 6AM so I had a good hour or so of sleep. Not a good start to the new year lmao.

The plus side? I got this incredible view of the sun rising from behind the limestone hills.

Since I was up early, the cous asked if I’d like to go for a jog at the nearby Bandar Seri Botani Ecopark. Sun was fully up by the time we got to the place, and despite being a public holiday, there were quite a lot of joggers around. Now that’s dedication to the fitness routine!

The park is managed by the property developer of the residences, but open to the public. I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and well maintained it was – clean jogging paths, beautiful trees, adequate shade and a lake. They even had a couple of lanterns decorating the trees for CNY.

Met some doggos. They didn’t have leashes on their collars, so the masters were probably jogging. The dogs were very friendly and a sweet black one even let me pet her.

GOOD GIRL SILKY COAT SOFT AND FLUFFY

The jogging path runs around a nice lake with a mirror-like effect. There are fishes that you can feed in it. Fishing, though, is not allowed.

As we passed by a bridge crossing the lake, I spotted this beautiful tree with pink blooms that looked almost like clusters of sakura. That + the lake view made it look like it was somewhere in Japan or Taiwan.

I waited years for the guy in the red to leave so I could get a clear shot but he wouldn’t so yeah.

The jogging path covers some 1.5 kilometres. There are also small outdoor gym facilities and playgrounds for the kids.