Tag Archives: Ipoh

The Little Escapade, Part 2

1 Nov

The plans for the ‘Little Escapade’ was a little different from our previous trips to Ipoh. We stayed at Z Hotel this time, a new boutique hotel with an impressive cafe offering a wide range of artisan coffee, tea and cakes. But these drinks and desserts were not on our mind, local food was.

We walked quite a fair bit going on a food trail during this trip. I think Ipoh can rival Penang as a food paradise. We had two dinners at two different locations which were very good. Simple and cheap, we were definitely sated.

 

Day 1, dinner #1

  

Day 1, dinner #2

 The ‘hor fun’ in Ipoh is really, really good. It’s a known fact that it’s the water source at this place that makes the ‘hor fun’ and beansprouts taste different. Besides these two, we find that we also like the local coffee and snacks.

We made many foodie stops, trying a little of everything so that we get to eat as many varieties as possible. And with everything within walking range from the hotel, we did not have to feel guilty with the input.

 

The long breakfast queue for dim sum

  

Day 2, breakfast #1

  

Day 2, dessert after breakfast #1

  

Day 2, breakfast #2

 The peanut snack is one amazing snack. We found ourselves queuing up twice to buy it. On Saturday we were in line for half an hour only to abandon the attempt because it would derail our golf plans. So the next day, we went again and ended up queuing for an hour and a half! A friend asked was it that good and worth the wait? Yes I would say. The taste is definitely unique.

  
On Sunday, we had two breakfasts so lunch was not even on our mind. Working off the breakfast, we walked and discovered Concubine Lane, an interesting lane that has quirky shops as well as street vendors selling trinkets and snacks. With such wonderful discoveries, Ipoh is fast becoming the choice option for a getaway for us.

 

The little boy with his ice ball

 
By mid-afternoon, it was time to leave and head home before the traffic built up. And with a car full of food and snack purchases, I think this ‘Little Escapade’ was a deserving one. I sure look forward to our next destressing trip!

Tags: , , , ,

The Little Escapade

31 Oct

Last week work in the office was very trying. I was kept so busy, the iPad was ignored as in managing my virtual games. Instead I had to manage my design projects with my team on the challenges we faced. Initially I thought I would set up my canvas over the weekend and exert some creative energy into painting but when a friend suggested an impromptu overnight getaway with them, we readily jumped at it without hesitation.

The destination? Ipoh.

For all my life, I have never frequented Ipoh as much as the last two years. All this due to friends, food and golf. This trip was termed the ‘Little Escapade’ simply us to getaway from the work stress. With Saturday being a public holiday, the thought of a possible traffic crawl did not even deter us to make the trip.

We had a really gastronomic time and a wet golf outing over the weekend. The weather did not stop us and we ended up playing in the rain, and being totally soaked. The wrist felt good, there was no nagging pain and the condition was not that hot with the clouds and rain.

There were many firsts as far as golf was concerned. My raincoat was totally utilized throughout the game. And for once, my umbrella was used to shield me from the rain instead of the sun. Despite such measures, everything was soaked – the golf bag, the shoes and socks, the cap, myself, right down to the sports bra and undies. But I didn’t care nor felt any discomfort. In fact, I was having the time of my life!

We were also very naughty, sneaking in three cans of imported beer. But we drank only the 12% ones for we felt if we did the 16%, everything would go downhill. So we decided to tell the flight behind to bypass us to save ourselves some embarrassment. However, when the rainy condition persisted and no siren sounded to abandon game, not many flights stayed on to continue like us. We basically had the place to ourselves. It was a really fun outing.

We completed 16 and a half holes before calling it quits. Not so much from the rain but rather due to darkness. We could hardly see our balls flights. We really had a blast and after a nice hot shower, a good dinner capped off the day.

 

Day 1 lunch before tee off

  

The beer choices

  

After the rain…

  

 

Tags: , ,

Trains, Planes and Automobiles

9 Aug

Last Friday, taking the KTM ETS train back alone from Ipoh was my first time using the improved service. It was on time, smooth, clean and comfortable. Although it was cold in the coach, I didn’t mind and do recommend at least trying this once.

My other time taking the train was dinosaur years ago with Dad. I recall it was when the train service first started, I thought it would be quite a fun experience to take the train down to Singapore instead of driving to visit Grandma. It was the longest journey ever to Singapore! Seven hours and certainly not fun. That was my first and last time until now.

When I was in the US, I usually travelled by road or air. Never the rail, never took the AmTrak service. The only other fun experience taking the train was when hubby and I were in Italy. Hopped on the train from Rome to Venice. It was comfortable, smooth and the sceneries were very pleasant.

Back to my experience this time, would I do it again? Certainly if logistics work out well, why not?

Tags: , , ,

The First Time

5 Aug

Ever since I got my iPad Mini, we have been inseparable. Every where I go, it comes with me – to the office, for my trips and all. But yesterday was the first time, I made the decision to leave it at home when I made an impromptu overnight golf trip with friends.

We drove up to Ipoh for a round of golf followed by a surprise birthday dinner for our good friend. Indeed she was surprised. The golf course was hot but bearable, the food good and the company as always, boisterous and lively.

The group will play their second game today while I take the train back, to see another good friend,  who has come back from overseas for dinner. It feels good that we go to such lengths to maintain the friendships that we have.

It looks like I can survive a day without crushing any candies, zapping any monsters or harvesting any fruits. And it will another first for me, taking the local and much improved train service home alone.

A leisure breakfast awaits before they send me off to the train station! 

Tags: , ,

A Little Bit of Everything

21 Dec

Saturday was a little bit of everything. We had a leisurely breakfast, then we walked along the beach enjoying the breeze and watching the busy activities. As we strolled along, we discovered a pod-like jelly creature, which we initially thought was a jellyfish pod carrying eggs. How ignorant we were.

Accordingly to the local chap who came up to us and educated us on this creature, it is not a jellyfish but something else, and it’s not poisonous but edible! One should just gut its innards out and then throw it into a Kerabu salad. Hmm… Interesting but I don’t think I will be adventurous enough to try this. Furthermore it’s a little too slimy for my liking.

After the stroll, we went back to our room and packed, getting ready to check out. As much as we enjoy Penang, it’s time to say goodbye. But not before making a stop at Kuantan Road to buy some ‘Beh Teh Saw’ biscuits and then to Sunshine Farlim Mall for another biscuit purchase. 

We decided to have an Assam Laksa, Chee Cheong Fun and Chendol lunch before we left the island. After all, these have yet to be checked off the ‘to eat’ list.

By two, we left the island and headed further North to visit hubby’s parents. We had a good dinner with his parents that evening since it’s hubby’s birthday and it’s been awhile since he last celebrated this occasion with his parents.

By Sunday, we had to make our way back home, detouring to Ipoh again – this time to buy a Salted Baked Chicken for dinner. The drive was rather tiring because traffic was quite heavy along certain stretches and it rained every now and then. Traffic on the highway will get worse as Christmas draws closer with loads of holiday makers on the road.

It has been a whirlwind week with M1 back; we’ve literally covered from South to North of the Peninsular. This week, we are staying put in town to finish my Christmas shopping and to fulfill M1’s checklist of ‘food to eat’, ‘people to see’ and ‘things to buy’ before she returns to university.

Yes, it’s a short time we have with her but better to have something than nothing at all.

  

Incoming para-sail!

   

Check those innards out!

  

All line up please

 

 

Everything was so good!

 
 

Brinjal, Tofu, Steam Fish, Chicken & Veg

 

Tags: , ,

Impromptu Escapade

21 Sep

It was an impromptu decision. Feeling very accomplished after the Endurance Golf Challenge and another round of golf after that Wednesday, we decided to go to Ipoh (again) for more golf and food for the weekend. The usual group made up the numbers with the inclusion of a new recruit.

We were to meet for lunch on Friday before teeing off at 1.30pm. Lunch was good and cheap; after the satisfying meal, we made it to Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort for our first game. The resort was not crowded at all, neither was the golf course. We literally had the place to ourselves.

The haze followed us and we had dull grey skies. But did it bother us? Well, it was very humid but the company was great. Although the fairways were good, the greens were a bit inconsistent. Nonetheless, we had a good time. After the game, which we finished very early, we showered at the Club and headed towards Tanjung Tualang for seafood.

We’ve heard many stories about the famed fresh water prawns, which we ordered. Boy, were they juicy! And helluva expensive too but you only live once, so best to just enjoy it! All in all, Friday was a good start.

Then on Saturday, we all had noodles for breakfast before our second game at Kinta Golf Club. This time, it was more challenging because the course was not very well kept and we had to contend with a lot of overgrow grass. We even had to be careful for there were monitor lizards, huge ones and little ones, everywhere! As if that wasn’t enough, we encountered a brown snake under the tree where my tee off landed. I lost that ball and had a stroke added for that hole. Darn snake!

Our games ended at an odd time and we ended up having a late lunch before heading back to the house to shower and rest. Time passed by quickly and before we realized, it was dinnertime! Hey, didn’t we just ate?

So out for dinner we went. Dinner stop #1 was at Cowan Street Chicken Rice and Beansprouts which were really good. We sat down, waited for ten minutes before our order was taken; then waited another ten minutes, the food arrived. Within twenty minutes, we were done eating. Talk about fast food, this is fast food! Then we walked over to another restaurant for Dinner stop #2!!!

Yes, we had two dinners. At the second stop, we opted for seafood. By then, I could feel my waistline increasing. Oh dear, my weighing scale is gonna scream at me.

Come Sunday, all the good fun came to an end. We woke up late, had a dim sum breakfast, followed by coffee at another restaurant before making our way home. The impromptu escapade was a good decision and I hope we will do another one soon.

 

At Clearwater Sanctuary

 
 

Oodles of noodles!

 
 

Ready for battle at Kinta Golf Club

 
 

A hearty dim sum spread

 

Tags: , , , ,

We Ate and Ate and Ate

27 Jul

It was an interesting weekend. We took Friday off and drove north to Ipoh to meet our golf buddies for golf. A pleasant drive, we arrived early and it was the beginning of not just a golf outing but also a gastronomic adventure.

We started off with lunch at a food court, having a simple soto ayam and a salted fish fried rice before meeting at the golf Club to tee off. Kelab Golf Kinta was interesting to say the least. 

Unsure of where the greens were many a time, we were also challenged as to where the fairways were on certain holes. At some point, we were even unsure where the red tee boxes were located! Thank goodness for it allowing buggies on course for most of the time, this saved us a lot of grieve.

We never completed our round of 18 holes for the rain came down and we had to abandon our game. But nobody complained.

Went back to our friend’s home to shower and we headed out for dinner, which was very good and cheap. Paired with the 18-year old Old Parr whiskey, it was a good dinner.

Despite a late night, everyone agreed to wake up early the next day for a dim sum breakfast. My goodness, the crowd was crazy at the restaurant, Ming Court! We had to literally stand next to a table to rush the family finishing their meal. I would have choked on a morsel of ‘har kau’ if subjected to this! Here begins the foodie trail.

After dim sum, the seven of us piled into the MPV and off to another side of town for coffee and toast. Then we took a drive to another location to have dessert: tau foo fah. A stroll here and there, we tried to burn some calories. After all this, we decided to head to Meru Valley Golf Resort to chill. With 4 buckets of beer (that’s 16 bottles of beer) whilst we chilled, all those burnt calories were piled back on. I know… I cringed.

We decided enough beer and we should do lunch! It’s like we all had bottomless pits on that day. Lunch at Lou Wong was simple and satisfying. I belief we were contented by then and decided it was time to make our way back to the city. 

It was a good outing and we look forward to another occasion like this.

Upon reaching home late because along the way, it rained so heavily, we had to go slow. A quick shower and off for dinner with Mom and M2!

Yes, we ate again.

We had Spanish tapas. At the end of the day, burp and double burp is all I can say to sum up this whole gastronomic day.

Lunch at Lou Wong

 

Tapas and paella for dinner

 

Tags: , , , ,

On the Way

30 Jan

We left home at three, taking our time to load up and be on the road. There was no hurry but only to beat the rain with the threatening clouds overhung in the horizon. An hour into the journey, the rain came down and hard, I had to slow down to almost a 40km/h speed.

But it cleared once we got close to Ipoh. I was dreaming of what shall we eat tonight whilst my passengers snoozed away. It’s okay, the drive is not tiring.

I look forward to dinner soon!

Tags: , ,

Newer Entries →