~Food Haven(Ipoh)~

For those who didn't know already,I've just came back from a trip to Ipoh..One thing for sure..it is truly a food haven!VERY SUPER NICE!!!!the first thing that hits me when I reached the bus station of Ipoh was that,true to what I've heard,Ipoh is really surrounded by hills and mountains terrain..seriously,every where you turn,it's surrounded by the soothing scenery of green..Chin Leong was a sport by picking us up in his car and drove us straight to our first sigh seeing of the day..namely.San Poh Cave.I've been there for a short visit beginning of the year,when it was Chinese New Year,where it was already less pack..However this time around,except for the pity sight of the very few vendors and temple caretakers,we are the only visitor of that hour presumebly..Just step out of the car and we were gushed by the "kangkung" seller,asking us to buy the vegetables to feed the tortises,say what,pity them and just do some charity by helping them buy the bunch of RM1 vegetables..blah blah blah..Only Chin Leong was kind hearted enough to actually buy that thing..And my the were like,pretty aggresive,non stop asking us to buy their drinks etc..whoa..And we don't even look like wealthy or those tourist with plenty to spare...in fact,we looked more like err..kids just looking around.How to put this ler...Komatana..

Never mind that..We did managed to see the giant turtles and tortises,took some pics and enjoyed the cave breeze while listening to Chin Leong explaining about the caves,its origin plus his life in Ipoh etc..long story there..never mind..I managed to take a beautiful picture of a yellow waterlily,and was pretty physched about it..Yeah,call me nuts,but I've seen pink but not yellow ones..so took this oportunity to capture this fully blossomed beautiful yellow lily..hmm,maybe post it up later,when I upload my photos.. After strolling around the God-knows how many acres huge temple,bowing and praying along the way(Cuz its also a place where a lot of statues of GODS were found),we decided it was enough of sun-bathing and went on to the next cave called Kek Lok cave..

Unlike San Poh cave,where it was mainly built along the hills and mountains,using only little of the caves,Kek Lok Cave is also a Buddhism related temple-cave with cave drawings and statues of Gods here and there..but this time the waterfall has dried up,much to my dismay..I was looking forward to see it again,near the huge Kuan Yin statue,but now,the mossy path were the waterfall used to be was now the territory of the much gleeful monkeys..In fact,it looked as if it was infested with them..No hard time looking for monkeys here..Must be the water catchement up the hill has dried up..Took some pretty scenery pictures here,and also some of the beautiful lime stones(i think its call staglamite is it?)Finally,after voicing out our hunger,Chin Leong took us to our first meal of Ipoh...Wan Ton Mee..it was pretty far from the cave and our stomachs were,by then,rumbling in hunger..The noodles were great and I can understand why it was so famous,it was simply too delicious!Both of us tried the white coffee too and the aroma was great,the texture of the coffee smooth and creamy..the foam and ice just add pleasure to our throats and thirst..After that satisfying lunch,we head back for some rest and met his brothers of age 11 and 7..We still need some adjustment to speak in Cantonese with them..I found myself stuttering Cantonese here!!!Why?God knows,maybe,biasa speak Mandarin with May Ching and Chin Leong so it seems weird to speak in Cantonese with his family..

After some rest (actually more of like trying my hands on PS),we went to visit some parks.The first one was ..oops,forgot the name..but it has beautiful scenery and breath taking view as well..took more pictures of the wooden platform etc..then we went to another park called D R Veenisagam i think..where more people are found jogging around etc..the difference between 2 parks is that one is for people taking a slow strool etc whereas the other is for the more serious people who intend to get some exercise done..Along the way,May Ching was having a hard time convincing her parents to let her go Cameron Highlands the next day,where acoording to Chin Leong only takes approximately 1 hours..sigh,too bad May Ching lost the "debate of persuation"=p.That day itself we went to have dinner for the REALLY famous and symbol of Ipohs' food namely the Tauge Chicken Rice..We were consider lucky cuz the shop usually doesn't open on Tuesdays but because the next day is Independance Day,we got "kou fu" and tasted the splendid meal..

The Tauge or bean sprouts were crunchy and juicy and we even ordered an extra plate of that..We had the chicken of course,tried the meatball and May Ching and I tried it with Hor Fun instead of white rice.Everything was soo nice,it's really hard to describe in words,no wonder Clement and the gang spoke so highly of these dishes..I would even give it a ten myself..So of course I was fully bloated after that meal but nevertheless,really satisfied..The night was still young so after catching our daily dose of Love Story In Harvard and some time out for our stomachs to digest dinner,we were out again..Can you belive it,barely 2 hours later,we went out for more food..This time we went to some hawker stall and tried the "chap kor xuet"..it was something like the loh-loh we can find in KL only this was,whoa..they really gave us a lot of fruits and for only Rm3.30,we feasted on variety of fruits,local ones like mango,papaya,watermelon,rambutan,jack fruit...and overseas ones like,kiwi,longan...the list goes one..it was a mouthful and topped with an ice cream,it was smashing,simply smashing..May Ching and I managed one while Chin Leong had his melt into liquid cream before drinking it up after finishing the fruits..gross..this time around it was my treat cuz felt bad having Chin Leong paid for everything..how noble of him..He doesn't let us pay for any snack or meal,so it was practically like..A game of who draws out the money faster thing already..hehe..After the late night supper,we had some online chatting and Anime watching before finally doze off..(cham lo,sleep in full stomach,sure fat ler!!=P)ok,too long already..to be continue in the next entry..(actually,my sis want to online now..so i got to say..matane...)