The Ipoh-Taiping Eataway

Thanks for your thoughts, kind words and support. We're back. Regular programme resumes.

I was supposed to have posted these up last week. Two Saturdays back, our little Cell Group decided to have a getaway. Instead of the usual retreat, I suggested a pig-out fest (yes, it was my fault) up North. We'd eat our way to Ipoh, then Taiping and on the way home, through Kampar!


First stop was Ipoh. We had a Dim Sum breakfast. Our guide, Mai Ling then brought us sightseeing at the famous limestone caves - I forget the name of the place. The first shot is an old guy sleeping in the cave. The next one is a temple inside the cave. Jesse gets chummy with Mai Ling's little girl, Shuin Yin (I probably didn't get the spelling right!).


For lunch Mai Ling takes us to Pasir Pinji to a hawker center under a big tree. Here we had Yong Tau Foo, reputed to be the finest in Ipoh. Bee Bee and her daughter Shannon stuff their faces with the... erm... stuff. Next, we ended up somewhere else in Pasir Pinji at the kitchen of Ipoh's infamous Chee Cheong Fun for an up close and personal encounter with its creator - this one gets a blog entry all on its own!


We eat ourselves silly that day. After Chee Cheong Fun, we went to Nam Heong for Ipoh's famous white coffee. There was nothing "white" about it it but it was really good Hainanese style coffee all the same. Shamini and Elsie show their appreciation. On the way out of Ipoh, we stopped for some takeaway Salt Baked Chicken at Aun Kheng Lim restaurant. Excellent stuff!


In Taiping, I took the gang to Port Weld for seafood. We had steamed Mantis Prawns which taste better than they look. Despite being stuffed to the point of blowing up, we adjourned for the best Char Kuey Teow on the planet. :)

After Char Kuey Teow, we contemplated on visiting the Night Safari. But since most of us were pooped from the hectic pace of all that traveling and eating in the day, we decided against it. Since my Taiping house is not conducive for putting up our group, we checked into the Panorama Hotel - which is a reasonably nice place to stay.

Morning was as crazy. Shamini and Elsie wanted to go jogging at the Lake Gardens while the rest of us just wanted to crash till noon! Thankfully, my wonderful Mom took over as host and brought the ladies out. They came back with Shumai as an entree to our breakfast of Taiping's popular Shredded Chicken Noodles at Kakak Restaurant.


After a heavy breakfast, we proceeded to the Taiping Zoo. We took the train since we were too lazy to walk. Besides, we had to make sure we got back to Panorama by 12:30 to check out. When we finally checked out, the gang adjourned to my house where we discussed our next destination. Having eaten almost all of Ipoh and Taiping, we decided to give Kampar a miss. Instead we took our lunch at Taiping's Casual Market where we had Heh Chien, Mee Rebus, Ais Kacang, Nyonya Kuih.


These are random shots of my house in Taiping. Our floor is some strange red concrete. Jesse loves it. Our backyard is overgrown with Mom's Bougainvillea. And finally, a shot of the matriarch of our family - my Granny! It was a crazy weekend and we probably ate more in those two days than we usually eat in a week. Strangely enough, I didn't put on a single extra kilogram. Hmmm... More on that another day!

Jo, Paul, Jennifer, John, Lavender, Jessica, Aubrey, Leitin and Zachary - we missed you! And you missed the pig-out of the year. Maybe next year. :)