An Interview with a Japanese Family Living in Ipoh

In general, we get up close with Nela and Mitsuo Nakano, at their lovely home in Ipoh. The Nakano has lived in Malaysia since 2005, first in Cameron Highlands, and then later when their daughter Satsuki was born, moved to Ipoh.

Nakano family regales us with their life stories and fills us in on their life in Ipoh, one filled with much enjoyment, recreation,and activities for the family. 

Ipoh City (Photo souce: Sin Chew Daily)

Tell us a little about your background and what brought you to Malaysia?

Nela (wife): I grew up in San Fernando La Union in the Philippines and moved to Manila to attend high school, graduating in dentistryat De Ocampo Memorial College also in Manila. I worked for a year in a dental clinic in Manilla. While there, I met my husband, whom I married in the Philippines after two years of dating.

Mitsuo (husband): I was born in Japan. After marrying Nela, we started coming to Cameron Highlands in 2005 to escape the winter and summer months in Japan. We feel in love with the place and then decided to take up the Malaysia My Second Home visa programme (MM2H) in 2007 so we could move here permanently.

Tenby International School (Photo souce: The Star Online)

When did you move to Ipoh? What do you like about living here?

Nela: We would not have moved to Ipoh if not our daughter Satsuki. We had been married six years when surprisingly and very unexpectedly, an angel came into our lives in 2009. We moved to Ipoh three years ago for Satsuki's schooling. We rented an apartment in town and enrolled her in Tenby Kindergarten near the Polo Ground. We moved to Meru when the school relocated to its new campus. We like it here as the environment is peaceful and my daughter and her friends can play safely.

Mitsuo: I love playing golf and Meru Valley is the nice place as I get to play golf almost every day. Whenever I don’t play golf, I will go to the gym or go for walks with Nela. I have also been coaching Satsuki in her golf at the driving range. Living in Ipoh is wonderful as you can get everything here and you don’t need to go anywhere else.

Meru Valley Resort (Photo souce: Winnie Tan.K.W)

What are some other activities or hobbies that you enjoy doing your free time?

Nela: I really enjoy cooking and baking and I use only organic supplies, which I can purchase easily in Ipoh. As for family activities, we get involved with a lot of Satsuki’s activities and artwork.

Tell us about your daughter growing experience?

Nela: Apart from normal education in Teny International School, Satsuki is very passionate about drawing, painting and crating things, and a lot of her free time is spent drawing and coming up with all kinds of art work. Outside of art, swimming and golfing, Satsuki takes jazz dancing lessons and also enjoys school where she gets to learn Malay and Mandarin. At home she speaks English and Tagalog with me, and Japanese with her father. So, she is a very international child.

Japanese restaurant in Ipoh (Photo souce: Shinjuku)

Where in Ipoh are your favorite places to:

Shop: Aeon, Tesco, Mydin and the local markets.

Eat: Ten Good Japanese restaurant in Greentown Ipoh.

What advice do you have for newly arrived foreigners coming to live in Ipoh for the first time?

Nela: Well I would say, the first thing you should do is to find a house to stay in  Ipoh, where there is an abundance of greenery and fresh air.

Mitsuo: Ipoh is famous for its local food and you will surely love all the food found here. There are also many places to go with the family for some outdoor adventure, so take your time to get to know the place and the local people.

Meru Hills Bangalows (Photo souce: Para Group)

(News Source: Ipoh Valley of Dreams [Issue: Oct-Dec2015])

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