我的人生舞台: Kim

Monday, August 29, 2011

Ipoh Mali 28 August

WE WANT TO MAKE A TRIP TO IPOH TO SAMPLE some food and also because there is nothing much happening this Sunday. Darren and I set off at 6am from Serdang and we arrive Kee Mun's shortly after 9.00am.

There are reasonable traffic going up North and I keep to the speed limit of 110 kph. I exit Simpang Pulai after consulting our Ipoh Mali pal because I want to avoid exiting the wrong side of the highway ....

I ask KM to let me have this picture taken of my primary school for memory sake. Of course it looks and feels a lot smaller than I remember it to be.

Brekkie is at 文东记 (CHEAH BROS) my usual noodle and 料 joint. We are taken around 八角亭 to look at some old shop buildings that Darren is interested in. After which we adjourn to Old Town for a cup of coffee.

Of course we drive past familiar places such as Sam Tet, Ave Maria, old town pasar, Kinta River, Jalan Bendahara, Pasir Putih, Padang, St Michael's, Royal Ipoh Club, Tun Razak Library, Greentown, Chateau Garden, Tiger Lane (to admire nice homes there), the Haven and Lost World at Tambun.

Lunch is of course again my favourite Nasi Ganja (Nasi Kandar) opposite the former "Tanjung Rambutan Bus Station". Yum.

Then we agree to have foot massage at Huang Ting Reflexology (Jalan Foo Yet Kai) before having a cup of coffee at 新长江 and a plate of rojak which is nice. This is afternoon snacks for us.

We rest a bit at KM's house and have dinner near Simpang Pulai before setting off for KL at around 7.15pm. It is raining dogs and cats almost fro the word go. Darren "Be Careful" Low is nervous and keeps giving me his worried "be careful's". Ha ha ha. I HATE TO SEE how his face changes color if he goes flying with me or his son!

The downpour stops around Rawang and we are happy to be back and reward ourselves with the "salted chicken" 盐鸡from Ipoh. Nice day.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Chiang Mai & Bangkok

My buddy Kee Mun + his family and us went to Chiang Mai and Bangkok in March for a holiday. We met at KL's LCCT and left as a group. This was the first time we holidayed together and initially it took a bit of getting used to each other. We stayed at the Centara Duangtawan hotel in the heart of the city and near to the night markets.

Kee Mun and I immersed in Thai traditional massage and foot massage during our stay whilst Jun wanted to try the fish massage. I didn't see her asking for more after that experience .....

We also went to the Long Neck Village and elephant sanctuary, did a bit of rafting (very benign) amongst other visits to the orchid farm, Thai temple, morning market, antique market, craft markets and the night market stores.

Bullock cart ride .... bumpy ride

The Long Neck Village is very commercialized. The tribes people are still foreigners in Thailand. Confined to the hills. No way of finding other employments.

Finding food was easy, all it took was us to do a bit of homework looking for the right restaurants and cafes. And there were so many of them. We enjoyed particularly Keoy Teow Phat (Thai fried rice noodles) and mango rice pudding. There was a cafe right next door to our hotel selling ice cream and mango delights. We also went to a seafood restaurant two nights out of three we were there. The seafoods were sourced and flown in from Haatyai. We had the most beautiful steamed fish (Thai style of course), crabs, tiger prawns, oysters, a kind of lala or clams, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits. All for not more than A$50 a meal.

One Official Photographer for the tour and one not so official photographer .....

Mini Pumpkins

Met Kee Mun's Thai friend, Khun Wat, and visited his home. He also took us to two of the Harley Davidson outlets run by his friends. He was a good man and an artist. He draws painting of deities, monks and religious scenes for Buddha temples. He is obviously a Harley enthusiast. Got a lovely son and wife.