Tuesday, 5 Feb 08

We waited at the bus terminal for Jacky’s brother to fetch us. There were some men smoking at the terminal, “treating” us “breakfast” with choking cigarette smell. I learnt that our lungs go through detoxification from 3:00am to 5:00am, and these people could still smoke at this hour, it’s really bad.

Soon, Bro reached and we went home straight. There was no one at home except both of us and Bro. The rest of the family were still in Penang. The other brother’s family in Kuala Lumpur were not coming home for reunion as his wife was going to give birth soon.

We slept till noon time and went out for brunch at Xin Dong Qu (新东区) Kopitiam. There are a few stalls with good food: Hakka Mee stall, Curry Mee stall (the one with longer queue), Popiah stall, Wonton Mee stall, Hokkien Mee stall and “Chao Fun” stall.

Ipoh is famous for its food, particularly “Sar Hor Fun”( 沙河粉)– flat white rice noodle served in soup with shredded chicken meat and prawns; “Hor Hee”(河喜) served with fish cakes; “Nga Choi Kai” (芽菜鸡)- chicken with stout and juicy beansprouts; “Hakka Mee” (客家面)and “Hiong Piah” (香饼)– flaky and crisp biscuits filled of smooth, thick and sticky sugar syrup.
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Wednesday, 6 Feb 08

Supposed to wake up early for Dim Sum but slept till noon.

Most hawkers were closed for Chinese New Year eve and many people were doing their last minute shopping at Jusco shopping mall, the nearest mall to our home. I bought two tops from Padini at 50% discount, and gave one to Melissa as it was too small for me.

We had lunch at Kenny Roger restaurant and were quite disappointed with the food and poor service. The vegetable salad was very little – as little as one piece of small leaf being torn into halves! Kenny Roger restaurant in Malaysia should be cheaper than Singapore’s, but with smaller portion of side dishes.

Drove around Ipoh and passed by some cave temples. Surprisingly, we didn’t see any worshipers there. It could be due to Lunar New Year eve and the Chinese were preparing for reunion dinner. Read the full story

Visit the bizarre limestone cave in Ipoh that let imagination running wild - “Kek Lok Tong” (极乐洞; Cavern of Utmost Happiness).

When we saw this big cotton tree. Can you see the cottons hanging on the branches? Anyone knows what is the real name of this tree?

Three children joyfully sticking out of the car roof and waving at everyone on the road.

The entrance to the cave temple - “Kek Lok Tong”. It is a limestone cave with karstic formation around it. It has a cleaner, quieter and more cooling environment and I personally think it has the best scenic cave view among other caves in Ipoh.

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Got to wake up early to catch the morning movie. We had breakfast at Xin Dong Qu (新东区) kopitiam again.

My Hokkien mee – mind me, the soup for this dish is very thick! But a little too thick for me. Overall, it was quite good. I had tasted better Hokkien mee in Penang.
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We would always buy “Hiong Piah” (香饼) back to Singapore. As I mentioned earlier, “Hiong Piah” is a flaky and crisp biscuit filled of smooth, thick and sticky sugar syrup.

Our favourite “Hiong Piah” is from Yee Hup bakery and we would go to the outlet at No. 32 Lorong Gunong Rapat.

I love to eat the “Hiong Piah” soon after I bought them. The biscuits are still warm and very crispy. A bite at one will send the warm, thick, sticky sugar syrup running down the throat.

Despite that it was Monday afternoon, the first day of workweek after a long weekend, there were many customers in Yee Hup. We even need to take queue number to buy the “Hiong Piah”. Luckily, their service was swift. We bought four packets of ten “Hiong Piah” each and that cost RM4plus per packet.

I like the Old Town Cafe so much that I returned for their food again. It is just a few shops away from Yee Hup.

This time, we had Nasi Lemak, toast bread with half-boiled egg and Iced White Coffee. All the food was nice, except that the cafe didn’t serve dark soya sauce but light soya sauce only. I find it weird to add light soya sauce into half boiled egg.

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