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Bright strobbing lights, flashy sights, well polished surfaces and clean brick tiled floors. Car accessories, pharmacies, mobile phone stalls and hair saloons add to the variety. Welcome to a fair in Auto City, alive with crowds of people, periodic parades, diners, apparel sales and music.
It is not just all cars, for it is a suburb, offering all the amenities of a small township. There are replica murals of a Thai restaurant (above) and another manifestation of Americanism (below) is an example of what draws the crowd out of their residential areas to congregate. When I was last there, the rains came down and whipped up by the winds, unleashed the water on all the cars exhibited there. Audi, BMW, Subaru, you name it.
Auto City lies at a locational nexus, not far from the Peninsular Malaysian mainland side of the Penang Bridge, within a half hour drive from the regional hubs of Butterworth, Seberang Perai and Bukit Mertajam, having easy access to the North-South Expressway to Alor Setar, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, and all within Penang State. I was introduced to a yogurt and nuts mix concept store called Tutti Fruitti, apparently popular in this nation, for which there is a similar business at Macquarie Centre in Sydney's northwest. A giant LED screen offers free movies to the public each evening. Interesting restaurants include The Boston (claiming to provide "Hongkie
food" ); Haagen Dazs and Swensen ice cream; the Winter Warmers tea cafe; Old Town White Coffee shop; Xian Ding Fei Taiwanese fare; and Sushi Sakae.
The cooler and less humid surroundings after sunset entice people from neighbouring areas to drop by and stroll by whatever is offered. I was captivated by the huge car stereo combos placed in the boot of certain car makes, and under the moonlight, these glow and throb with colour and sound. (picture above). The fair went on till midnight in a definite holiday atmosphere.
Basketball, lion dance troupes, restaurants, banks, retail outlets, souvenirs, T-shirts, pottery, plants, fabric, coffee, karaoke and more. The evening when I was most recently there turned out to be a carnival, of automobiles, motor bikes, models, hair stylists, playing bands, family gatherings, teenagers having a night out and with a deep sense of community feel.
