Day 1: Penang --> Taiping --> Kuala Kangsar --> Ipoh

23 Dec 07 - My trip to Kenyir Lake with my sis and Phaik was replaced with Penang-KL food and leisure trip. We intended to drive from Butterworth to Kuala Lumpur and stopped for 2 nights on our way to enjoy our Malaysians great foods and visit some ‘only’ tourist spots.

We started our journey from the Juru McDonald at 8.30pm…To our surprise we bumped into Ching Wern, Wen Ping and Zi Pheng. They were heading off to Ipoh and Kampar as well, for food trip…hmm…really a lot of food enthusiasts.

We took the PLUS North South highway and exit at the Taiping (U). We arrived in Taiping town after almost an one and half. But in the town, we were somehow lost for the guide book seemed to be too rough in mapping. A horizontal street turned into vertical and when it says next, it was at the other corner of the street across.

We walked round the Casual Market for numerous times looking for the stalls recommended by the Star Guide to Malaysian Street Food…no stall number given…only photos with blur background and description of the food. However we still managed to complete the jigsaw puzzle. We tried the do re mi drink (stall 70), mamak popiah and the teo chew char kuey teow (stall 78). Well this breakfast was cheap …do re mi drink good…the barli and the 'yin yong' or coffee and tea really blends well…the thickness and sweetness of barli drink actually enhanced the coffee taste and leaving the sweet aroma behind.

do re mi...looks ordinary but taste real good!

seen mamak popiah?

Then we headed to the Taiping Lake Garden searching for the Perak museum which according to my research online, the road sign to the museum is obvious but actually it was rather too small to be notice and confusing.

The Perak museum is the 1st museum established in Malaysia. The collections were rather poor taken care off but the old building that home this collection was still in good shape.

impressive architure

As time was permitting, we visited the Taiping Zoo. The number of animals they have there was impressive…richer than Singapore’s but honestly, I preferred the Singaporea Zoo for it was well maintained…the grass was trimmed and the dried leaves were collected and with…proper pathway...walking under the hot sun was getting me tanned.

in front of Zoo Taiping

Malaysians are fat. So is our Orang Utan

Then we drove to Kuala Kangsar, the royal city. We visited the Royal Museum…but we were not in the luck to visit this old palace...it was under renovation…thank god for those kind folks who adviced us to head to the Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery.

Royal museum under renovation

we stopped by at Masjid Ubaidah...

The Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery is open to public and free at the moment…the collection was astonishing. The medals, trophies and gifts were sparkling…and for those who wish to visit the gallery, spare more time for this…the Gallery have 3 major building…not to miss his majesty’s car collection… This is truly the best museum in Perak…and the best that I have visited so far…

the main buiding of Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery


even the gate and fence look grand!

Then we headed to Ipoh. There we had our food hunt. 1st the Oon Kee Chicken and Spouts Restaurant. This was my 2nd visit to this restaurant. I prefered this over the famous Lou Wong for its' cleaniness.

The food....I found the chicken ok…but the spouts were sweet. Perak…really rich of mineral.

After the night market, we head to the Tong Shui Kai…both the stall recommended by the Star guide, were closed so we tried the stall no. 27. The green bean soup was good. The fruit punch was not as good as what I have in Swatow Lane Penang…sweetest just fine but the shed ice was rather rough…better if it was finer making it smoother but this was still fine for me…what troubled me was how the drinks and punch prepared…I saw them dipping their hands in the container filled with lychee and syrup. I understand that we at times in preparing food, we will just need to use our bare hand, but the way it was done looked really UGLY and BAD.

green bean ...good!

the fruit punch..look good taste ok


stall 27...good business

Back to our accommodation, we have a room in the 2 star Sri Malaysia Ipoh…overall this hotel sucked… online review giving it a 4 out of 5 for cleaniness but I though I may consider giving them 2…the bed sheet was stained and stains on the staircase remained over the night…wonder if they even wiped it of later…

Malaysian hospitality…poor…the receptionist was not helpful and the waiters at the café were unfriendly and slow!

But the room was indeed spacious enough. I think I can even have a somersout there but somehow the space utilization was rather bad…no TV stand..TV sat on the dressing table blocking half of the mirror…

see the space btw the bed and the coffee table...enough for a somersout...

Accessibility…outskirt…only possible if you have your own transport.

Facilities…no gym and what more a swimming pool.

Overall...This is a non valued for money hotel…

To conclude the day.... this was really an enjoyable day of outing...driving around and venturing into new places...have more than what we expected!

Camping and camping...those were the days

Even with such a short holiday, I spared 2 days out for guiding camp. This was a rather stress free camp. I have no test to take nor any testing to do. I remembered my camp last year. It was really a very hectic camp. Running a 5 days camp with only few of my best buddies was hecticful enough moreover, Stella, Vern and me were taking our JPC, QM and camp com test respectively and with a whole bunch of 1st time campers. We have been put understress, testing us on all aspect, physically, mentally, knowledge, management and organizing skills.

am glad that I was able to smile then...with my camp staff....missing from picture...our QM and AQM, Vern Han and Xien Yee

I am thankful to be in guiding and to have this great link to make so many new friends and meet all my sisters in guiding! 

My sisters...Queen's Guides

Georgetown : FriedSago, MeeSua, SweetPotatoSoup

Again based on recommendation from the "Penang Ipoh, The Popular Food Guide @ Malaysia" by Wang Hong.

I was in Cecil Market yesterday. It is more known as the 'Chit Tiau Lo Ban San'
which literally means the market of the 7th Street. This market is situated near KOMTAR. Just ask the locals, they will be able to guide you there. This market operates daily after noon till evening.

There are 2 segment of this market. One selling wet stuff while another selling ready made food...more like a food court.

There is a stall selling the famous and only place where you can taste Fried Sago in Penang. This stall is operated by 2 sisters. Their stall is situated at the food court and next to the temple.

The fried sago is gummy and spicy enough. It is great to be taken hot only and I do not recommend this for take away though you can see many love to take away. This is a great dish if you are a fan of gummy food.

They also sell other type of dessert such as the sweet potato with sago soup, red bean soup, bubur cha cha, green bean soup, black glutanous rice, gandum and etc. I strongly recommend you try the sweet potato with sago soup and the bubur cha cha. The sweet potato is very sweet and cooked right to dissolve in your mouth while the sago soup still remains clear and transparent.

with the coconut milk, the sweet potato with sago soup is an excellent sweet soup

Mee Sua Soup seems to be the choice of many but I find it bad as the smell of the flour used to make the mee sua is too strong and the mee sua is all soak and soggy. Perhaps people just love it as it is filling and cheap. This stall also see other economic fried bee hoon and etc. All types of dessert and fried dishes are sold at RM1 each. This is extremely cheap!

There are many other delicious food in the market...try the Duck Meat Kuey Teow Soup and the chendol there....

We need water but not this much

I may have to cancel of my coming holiday trip to Tasik Kenyir, Terengganu as the weather worsen. But my uneasy is not due to this. I am worried for my fellow countrymen and friends on the West and South. We have been hit by monsoon. The downpour started weeks ago and the weather forecast is not very positive of it getting better any sooner than mid Jan.

Now the death toll already hits 12 and about 20,000 people homeless. How many more will we loss to this heavy rain?...GOD...Please spare us from this disasterous water flow!

Hope that the rain will stopped for at least for a couple of days...let the water retreat first...now it is way too much for us to take...and for our neighbouring Thailand, perhaps please build a stronger dam.

And for all parents....please do take care of your children!

really heavy rain

parking lot...

our hero in Johor

school in Pekan, Pahang hit by flood

Malaysians' voices

The recent survey gave mix responds. This is conducted by the Merdeka Center.

So what is your  respond towards such a survey and what is your reaction towards this finding?

Personally, I am all against violance but I am all in for democracy. Malaysia is maturing....into a democratic...people shall be heard and shall be granted all rights

For more info please visit http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/12/17/nation/19785939&sec=nation

Butterworth: YoYoDrink, CharHorFun, Pasembur

I was in the Medan Selera Lengkok Tenggiri, in Seberang Jaya yesterday to taste my favourite drink. This is a comman place for me. I have introduced this to many of my friends and so far everyone gave a thumb-up.

This place is also recommeded by Wang Hong in the "Penang Ipoh, The Popular Food Guide @ Malaysia"....good choice

My favourite drink is the YoYo Drink. There are 3 flavours: Groundnut, Corn and RedBean. Even with the price hike of 10 cents, I still find it reasonable. It only cost me RM1.30 now.

My favourite is the groundnut. The groundnut and the milk and ice just blend so well together and with the crunchy ones on top, it is just perfect! While the corn is just right for those that wants to drink the YoYo but wants it with less fat...
and the RedBean is just smooth and bean smell is just irresistable!

And my favourite food there is needless to say. It's the Pasembur. If I am not mistaken, this stall only operates 3days a week...Saturday, Sunday and Monday only. This stall is manned by an old retiree couple. The Jawa Mee is good as well. It is RM2.80 per plate.

The pasembur is really tasty and worth the price. It is a full plate. Don't ever think that you can just take it like a side order. It is one full plate.

The Char Hor Fun is tasty as well...though not as good as a decade ago but still above the average. It is RM3.30 each.

We tried the Kuey Teow Theng as well but it taste not good. The kuey teow is ok but the soup base is bad...but somehow my mum said it was alright... :-) choosy me....oh yes...it is cheap. RM2.20 per bowl.

If you are there, please try the Char Kuey Kak and the Wantan Mee. They are good as well.

The food in this place is truly good and very very cheap! It is only 5 mins drive from the Sunway Carnival Mall. So if you are looking for cheap and good food after being broke after shopping, then head for Medan Selera Lengkok Tenggiri.

To get there from the North South Highway (heading North), turn into Seberang Jaya turning right before the mosque. Then at the roundabout, take 3 o'clock. Go straight passing a traffic light. Then turn right after the Shell Petrol Station. Go straight until the T junction. 
Take the left turning. The Medan Selera Lengkok Tenggiri is on your left. This food court operates daily from 2pm to late night.

YES!!! MovieTime

yes...after another long winding semester...now in holiday, it is movie time again. I remembered the last holiday when I was doing my internship in Intel Penang, I have Friday as my movie day. Shortly in 10 weeks, I watched 7 movies namely...Shrek The Third, Pirates of Caribbien: At World's End, Ocean's Thirteen, Surf Up, Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard and Transformer.

Then in the mid of class, I managed to catch them : Harry Porter and The Order of the Phoenix, Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, Resident Evil 4

Then now in holiday...yesterday I watched both Enchanted and The Warlord. 4 hours in cinema was just nice to kill some time.

So this is all that I have this year...Out of this all, the movie that I prefered most is the Transformer...Live Free od Die Hard is good as well...

Georgetown: TangYuen, VenisonNoodle,CharHorFun

As mentioned earlier that I will review on food in Penang recommended by the "Penang Ipoh, The Popular Food Guide @ Malaysia" by Wang Hong.

First I head for Lorong Selamat. On my way there, I passed by Komtar. There we stopped by the Jalan Magazine to taste the Hoe Hock Tien Tang Yuan. This little stall situated right opposite of the Shangri La Hotel.

Hoe Hock Tien Tang Yuen stall

There are 2 types of Tang Yuen. One is the normal ginger soup and the other is the brown sugar based soup. While the tang yuen, there are 2 types as well. They are the normal, small sized tang yuen and the other is the larger version with either peanut filling or black sesame filling. Each bowl of the Tang Yuen sour cost RM3. This is recommended for all Tang Yuen lover and those who exceptionally superb for ginger lover!

Normal ginger soup based tang yuen

brown sugar soup tang yuen

Personally, I liked the the smaller tang yuen for its texture. Very gummy...the larger is ok only. I think that the filling is rather little. It will surely be better if the owner can be kind with the filling. However if you are to compare this with the frozen readymade Tang Yuen that is available in the major supermarket, then I think this is better for its sweetness is just right.

Then we continued to the Lorong Selamat. This place has been very popular of its Char Kuey Teow but I tried something else. I was in the Yi Garden Cafe.

Penang Special Venison Noodle stall at the Yi Garden Cafe

The Venison Noodle recommended by the editor was superb. The noodle texture was very good. The tenderness was just right. Neither too hard nor soggy. With the rich soup based and the venison or what we called the meat of deer...it is irresistible! The meat was delicious.

yummy venison noodle...another serving please

We tried another recommended dish there. It was the Char Hor Fun or what we calles as the Yin Yong in some part of Malaysia...but sadly this dish was not as good as expected....


To get there from Komtar, turn into Jalan Macalister road. The greyish UMNO building is on your right. Along the way, there are many restaurants. Go straight till you see Yi Garden Cafe on your right. The restaurant is situated at the junction of Jalan Macalister into Lorong Selamat.

Going hiking ended up on top of the hill

Last Sunday, we actually set off for hiking in Kuala Kubu Bharu and visiting the Kuala Kubu Dam along the way....but we ended up at Fraser Hill, 1524m above sea level.

We started our journey at 8am. After picking up Ah Seong and a quick breakfast in Kepong, We headed north, passing Rawang and Ulu Yam.

We arrived at the Kuala Kubu Dam at about 11am. It took us a little longer compared to those 
online suggestion...perhaps the limitation here is my SLK...well what can i expect from my SLK
...already 12 yrs old and only 660cc.

Kuala Kubu Dam is like no any other that I have seen. The dam in Penang and the Kuala Kubu Dam are total different. First of all, the size...Kuala Kubu Dam is magnificient. With the high rise fall and the breeze, this place is superb...
why not open up few chalet there...can possibily be a tourist attraction there.

After the shots, we continued our journey. We headed east along the route to the aborigin kampung  where the starting point of the hike to the waterfall is. After 10min drive, we parked our cars by the road site...like many other but to discover that these people were there for picnic along the riverbank only rather than going for a hike.

We headed back to our cars and speed of further down the road until we finally realized that we were way to far from our starting point but nearer to the Fraser Hill. The signs by the road showed that we were only 10+km away from Fraser Hill. As it was drizzling, we all agreed that it would not be possible for us to hike into the jungle as it was really dangerous. So instead of turning back and ended up with nothing, we headed up the hill.

it's cold...and wet

Thank god for my SLK was not giving me much problem uphill except that the stupid air cond just gone 'kong'.  Luckily the breeze was rather cooling.

my SLK...old but strong!!!

We arrived at Fraser Hill at about 1pm. It was still drizzling.

playing under the rain

There was nothing much in Fraser Hill except those hotels and resorts. The architecture style of the building there were rather the same as what I could recall of Cameron Highland. If I was to compare these places, then I would prefer the activities available in Cameron Highland but if I am looking for a peaceful place to hide out, the Fraser Hill would definitely be my choice. The traffic was super low, away from all types of pollution.

After a rather unpleasant meal and some hypered photography slots, we headed back.

On our way back, we took a turn into the Ulu Yam. There we had our best meal of the day....

famous Loh Mee of Ulu Yam....yummy

home-made fish cake...very tender inside, crispy outside...thumbs up!!!

the prawn was huge...just go look at the smallest soup bowl provided in restaurant then you ll know...favourite dish...Sang Har Mee

Recommended for all travellers to Fraser Hill, Kuala Kubu and even Genting Highland via Batang Kali.

And not to miss out their Sarawak Pineapple juice...very natural and sweet...no additional sugar added...

It costed us about Rm15 each...trust me it is valued for it!

To get there from Rawang, just follow the old trunk road until you reach Ulu Yam. 
There is a traffic light with a turning on your left.
Just take the turning, it is the same way as you are going to Genting via Batang Kali. There is a bus station of your left right after the turning. Go straight until you reach the Shell Petrol Station on your right. Turn right after the Petrol Station. The restaurant is situated on the 2nd row of the shop lots from the Petrol Station. It is on the corner lot.

Bravo for another great outing with CCC gang!