Day Three (Up to the Highlands): Ipoh - Cameron Highlands - Kuala Lumpur Trip 2013

The third day started peacefully with a relaxing walk past the historically important Kinta River to our breakfast destination; which, in my dad's words, was thankfully not another dim sum restaurant! 

Eu Tong Sen - a street many in Singapore would identify as a main ingress to Chinatown was the name of a Penang-born magnate who had many businesses in Ipoh! On a side note, he was the same man who expanded Eu Yan Sang into a chain of traditional Chinese medicine stores in this region. You may read his wikipedia page here. 

Remember i was sharing the enormous amount of bird poos found outside the shophouses in Ipoh? Some shop owners solved the problem by planting steel wires on high platforms where the birds would likely roost for the night. 

Breakfast at Sin Yoon Loong, said to be the innovator for the popular white coffee! You may read my review here although i have to warn you i wasn't satisfied with the caffeinated beverage!

So much so that I had to source for another place to satisfy my caffeine addiction. I could have gone back to Nam Heong but i figured it would be great to check out the less famous shops. 

That brought me to Lim Kopi - in the Hokkien dialect, this means "drink coffee". In the future, if i ever wanted to setup a food business, i would name it as aptly, somewhere along the line of "Jiak Png", "Jiak Cai" or "Jiak Ba". 

The white coffee was so much better in Lim Kopi (please disregard the soggy Chinese crullers) with a thicker, smoother consistency and a much richer fragrance! 

Do keep in mind that the prices were much higher compared to the two other traditional coffee-shops we went to although the premium can be justified by the nicer decor. I would have loved to try their special fried rice (one was said to be very very eggy on the menu) but was too full!!!

Renovation work to spruce up the dilapidated shophouses; Ipoh was said to be the next one (the first two were Penang and Malacca) that might be awarded the UNESCO heritage status which means it would be an opportune time to purchase some of these properties! 

It was only 8.30 am and this shop was already selling roast delights?!?! Anyway, it was listed on the food trail map for popiah and satay. 

Another colonial building. Singapore has had such buildings. Unfortunately, development takes precedence over history given the limited land we had, and many of them were torn down in the past few decades. 

Memory Lane - a flea market would take over the road every Sunday! It's a pity i didn't plan for a weekend stay in Ipoh and hence, am unable to share more on what to expect. By the way, memory lane is very near to French Hotel.

10 am - the private car with a chauffeur arrived to bring us up to the highlands!

Drove past this cliff that was part of the larger limestone cluster that housed the numerous cave temples we visited on day two. I must have passed by this landmark no less than three times the day before! 

Guanyin Cave Temple! Navigation in Ipoh wasn't very difficult in my memory and i am seriously contemplating driving up to Ipoh (from Singapore) the next time. I want to visit the Lost World theme park!! 

Wah, an old school theme park! *like*

There are quite a number of ways to Cameron Highlands and the one from Singapore has many sharp turns and abrupt corners; often resulting in a terrible motion sickness coupled with a few bags of puke!

This new route from Ipoh was said to be safer with wider roads and it was the first time i didn't experience a single bout of motion sickness! Furthermore, not once did i feel that i am about to say goodbye to this world. 

Aboriginal huts along the road - we didn't stop but if you do, you could get supplies of wild honey (mom was so regretting not getting any) and even tongkat ali (a herb valued for its aphrodisiac value! 

I thought we would be reaching in no time at all when i saw farms with plastic canvases! Truth was, we were only halfway through. 

Kampong Raja, the town nearest to Ipoh was still three kilometers! Brinchang, the place where we would rest our feet, was over twenty kilometers away!

I got the feeling that Kampong Raja was a major wholesale centre with many plantations and farms sighted along the scenic way. 

Unlike the other route from Singapore, it appeared to have limited places of attraction for visitors to stop by. 

The imposing words "Lavender Garden" were hard to miss! From the outside, this flower plantation at Tringkap (another town before Brinchang) looked interesting even though we didn't stop over. :(

Kea Valley - the moment i reached this place, i know it would not be long before we reached Brinchang! For those who are unaware, Kea Valley houses the ever-popular-with-Singaporeans resort; Equatorial hotel.

After close to a hundred and ten minutes of travelling on the road, we finally arrived in the super cooling Brinchang! The one-way private transport in an air-conditioned sedan was arranged with Jammy from My Ipoh Holiday. You may email her at myipohholiday@gmail.com for the rate! 

Checking in to Rosa Passadena! Kindly check out this link for my review of this hotel. 

As we still have about two hours before the start of Agro Delight Tour, it's time to roam around the area and see if there has been any change since my last visit two years ago!

Honestly, nothing much has changed.

Even Kavy Hotel was still operating its business, albeit with a larger ground presence after taking over the space of what used to be Strawberry Moment Dessert Cafe. For my less than stellar review of Kavy Boutique Hotel, please click here. 

Wanted to bring my parents to Oldies and Goodies restaurant for lunch but it had already closed down! Hence, lunch was fulfilled in a coffee shop further down the road; the chicken rice i had was pretty good with the exception of the rather bland rice. 

Time checked; 1 pm. We still have ample time to trek up to the nearby Big Red Strawberry Farm!

Small hillside cabbage plantation spotted along the way! Hm..... there wasn't any clear demarcation and i wonder if the huge, leafy cabbages were free for anyone to pluck. 

Before reaching the said entrance of Big Red Strawberry Farm, there were quite a number of shops selling food and accessories like the cheery windmills in the above picture. 

I bought a strawberry Popsicle that wasn't as good as i remember it to be. Perhaps because i had the commercialized brand this time. The brand-less one was way better!

Freshly steamed sweet potatoes could be better if they were sweeter! 

Many visitors were crowding around this adorable little girl who was selling sticks of strawberries coated in chocolate (fondue style)! I had the suspicion it was the girl who was the main attraction. 

Big Red Strawberry Farm - many tours would actually make a stopover at this attraction so i would recommend that you make a separate visit after the tour where you can make your purchases less hurriedly. 

For example, you can freely pick the type of cacti (out of the thousands on display) you want for your office cubicle or a pot of flora for your house in a more relaxed manner. 

In addition, the tour guide would also be dispensing education information that are actually quite interesting but would likely be disregarded if your mind is perpetually pre-occupied on what to buy. Of course, my recommendation is only applicable if you stay in Brinchang! 

A retail shop in the Big Red Strawberry Farm has what was arguably the biggest range of strawberry related products and accessories in Cameron Highlands; marshmallows with strawberry fillings, shower gel with strawberry fragrances etc! 

Time to walk back to our hotel where we were supposed to be picked up for the highlight of this trip; the Agro Delight Tour that was arranged online with Titiwangsa Tours! 

You may check out the following links for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the Tour. 

After putting our barang barang in the hotel after the tour, we took to the street again! Walking would help to digest the food we had over the Halal steamboat dinner at Hotel Titiwangsa. 

Despite the full stomach, it was so hard to resist the temptation of drinking hot soup and munching warm chocolate coated strawberries in such cool weather! 

Nevertheless, i succeeded in not getting anything! Not even the delicious aroma of food sold in the night market can break my determination! For an update on the pasar malam, please click here. 

End of Day Three! 

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For Day One, click HERE. 

For Day Two, click HERE. 

For an overview of my trip, 

Click HERE.

Day Two (Includes Kaya Puffs and Pomelo): Ipoh - Cameron Highlands - Kuala Lumpur Trip 2013

I woke up at 5.30am because both parents were already up and gunning to get out of the hotel for breakfast! The sleep was great although i 'nua' a while longer before dragging myself out of bed for a necessary bath.

Out of French Hotel by 6.30am and was greeted by a dead quiet road scene. Amazingly, it was the same scene the morning before but the feeling this time, after having had sufficient sleep and a refreshing rain shower, was vastly different.

Dim sum for breakfast two days in a row is seriously no joke; albeit this time, we patronised the imposing Foh San that was modernly designed with a nicer ambience! For my review, click here.

Mom goofing around with the power lines that stretched from building to building. This is a scene not commonly seen in Singapore as most of the power lines are located underground. 

Feline waiting for something; food, i presume. 

Very old school, non air-conditioned bus sighted on the street! The cute bus was quite petite with only one entrance that also served as the exit. Can see from my parents' face that this brought back some nostalgia of Singapore's public transportation a few decades ago. 

TOUR

Took a dump in the hotel and it was time to meet up with Daniel, our tour ambassador arranged with Jammy from MyIpohHoliday, at 8.30am at the lobby of French Hotel. 

The eight-hour itinerary was customised by us with initial inputs and recommendations from Jammy, who is an Ipoh native! Our criteria was simple; an air-conditioned car (petrol included) that can seat three of us with a driver cum ambassador who can speak Mandarin. 

Daniel turned out to be a real gem as he shared with us attractions in Ipoh that we can visit next time and his childhood memory of places like the cave temples and Kellie's Castle. Planning for a trip to Ipoh, you can send an email to Jammy at myipohholiday@gmail.com; she also advises on other tour-related queries like accommodation! You may also visit the facebook page here. 

Our itinerary brought us to a quite a number of places, first of which was the eerily beautiful Kellie's Castle! For more details (and photographs of course), click here. 

Kellie's Castle was actually out of Ipoh city and took us roughly 30 to 40 minutes each way. 

However, the ride wasn't boring as we chatted a bit with Daniel and there were plenty of sights including abandoned houses and even an entire street devoid of any human resident! 

Visited four cave temples in one go! Starting with Kek Lok Tong Cave Temple [極樂洞] - Cavern of Ultimate Bliss (the latter was my cannot-make it translation). As with Kellie's Castle, a post has been dedicated to the temple and you check out this link for the details. 

Following which was Sam Poh Tong Temple [三寶佛洞] - Cavern of Triple Gems,

Nan Tian Tong Temple [南天洞] - Cavern of the Southern Heaven,

And lastly, Ling Sen Tong Temple [灵仙岩] - Cavern of the Immortals.

Lunch was at Sun Yeong Wai [新扬威烤鸭饭店], restaurant famous for their roasted duck! I was elated to find char siew that was just a notch lower than Kay Lee! The only regret i had was not asking for takeaway for another session of indulgence back in the hotel. 

Two doors away was Yee Hup, a brand synonymous with Heong Peng (香饼) which was a type of pastry biscuit that Ipoh was famous for. I didn't get any as the shop didn't provide any sampling! :(

What i did manage to purchase were a few boxes of coconut biscuits! Sampling was provided and i must say it appeared dry yet tasted surprisingly delicious and crunchy with a trailing coconut fragrance.

After the fulfilling lunch, it was time to walk a bit to digest the food - visitation to yet again another cave temple known as Kwan Yin Tong Temple [觀音洞] - Cavern of Guanyin Bodhisattva. 

Truthfully, visiting five temples in merely five hours was a very tiring affair! Time to further indulge in my favourite activities; food hunting! 

The Ipoh man, Daniel that is, brought us to his favourite food haunts which were all within walking distance from our hotel. One which was the smooth soya beancurd from Funny Mountain. 

Another one that came strongly recommended was Sin Eng Heong, renowned for their kaya puffs! Coincidentally, it was opened by the relative of my secondary school senior. 

In my three days, two nights in Ipoh, this was the first time i saw people queuing for food! Daniel mentioned that the weekend queue would be all the way out, past a few shophouses. 

Trays and trays of fresh kaya puffs came and went for twenty minutes before it was our turn! Each piece cost RM 0.80 and we requested for only five since this would be a pain to bring back to Singapore.

Food map for Sin Eng Heong as above with red border. 

Pomelo was another Ipoh's specialty even though Daniel didn't appear to be too fascinated with it. Nonetheless, the parents wanted to try and we chose a fruit stall located right opposite Sin Eng Heong. 

Two types were available; the more expensive red meat and the cheaper white meat. Since the difference in pricing wasn't much, we went with the red one (tied with red string). 

Our only condition was for the stall owner to help us remove the skin! The way she manoeuvred the knife and the speed she removed the skin were simply a jaw-dropping show! 

Back at the hotel where we can finally take another bath and rest our tired feet, it was also time to attack the food we bought; the kaya puffs and the pomelo! 

Let's start with the puffs - they were marvelous and featured the yellow type of custard kaya that i personally preferred over the green one. The skin was thin, extremely flaky with a light crispiness that tasted very satisfying in conjunction with the incredibly generous kaya filling!

The pomelo was another story altogether; not as sweet as we expected with an unwanted tardiness that made us wondered why we bothered buying it in the first place.

Rested for 90 minutes before stepping out once again for dinner! Amusing wall painting finally spotted even though such street art was not as prevalent as Malacca or Penang. 

Clay wrapped beggar chicken with herbs! Salted baked chicken seemed to be another must try in Ipoh as i can see quite a number of shops selling them. It's a pity that i am travelling to other parts of Malaysia and it would not be convenient for me to haul them from one place to another.

Mom perked up at this shop selling traditional Chinese biscuits and pastries! I am so glad she didn't buy tonnes of stuff - imagine the weight i have to endure back to Singapore! One torturing memory was a trip to Kuala Lumpur with her; thanks to her, i had to hand carry thirteen paper bags filled local goodies! 

Lou Wang beansprout chicken which was overrated in my opinion. Check out my review here. A Facebook friend has corrected that the original beansprout chicken is supposed to be the one at Cowan Street. Maybe i would check it out the next time i visit. 

Another reputable one serving the same dish, Ong Kee, was located diagonally from Lou Wang. If i am with the Gang of Four, chances are high that we would visit it straightaway after Lou Wang! 

It was barely 8pm and i didn't want to sleep so early! Hence, it was chill out time at the Jose & Deli Eatery which resided on the second level of French Hotel. 

While our time away in the cafe under a canopy of soothing music as the parents read the Chinese dailies and i thumbed at my mobile for facebook updates and blogging. Not to mention there was also dessert involved! Blissful indeed!

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For Day One, click HERE.

For a summary of my trip, click HERE.