Category: Malaysia

Ipoh Road Trip – Part V – Food!

As I was saying, this trip was supposed to be a climbing trip but turned into an eating trip. Our first destination was one stretch of hawker stalls near Sam Tet School. Initially we wanted to try the famous Ipoh Taugeh (bean sprout) Chicken Rice at Onn Kei Restaurant but the place was full.


Restaurant Man U…nited..wtf..

We ordered so much until my stomach felt like exploding.


On our second day, we had lunch at Kam Kei, a restaurant serving seafood noodles. The noodles are..zomgg..excellent! Generous servings of prawns too! Both dry and soup version of the noodles are good but I would recommend that one try their dry version as it comes with bowl of noodles with unique mushroom sauce.


Ipoh White Coffee..yummy


I surrender!!!


Shop selling salted chicken


Salted Chicken/Duck!


Salt!


Sohai Bean!

Ipoh Road Trip – Part IV – Pomelo

We went to check out the Pomelo stall i.e. the Pomelo girls. I heard so much about the Pomelo girls. Due to stiff competition, stall owners hired pretty girls to woo customers to their stalls. I had to see them for myself.

Just as our car arrived at the stalls, the girls (including aunties) stood in front of their stalls. Now I understand why some shop owners hire pretty girls to woo customers. For first timers, the appearance of all these stalls is identical hence choosing a stall would depend on the Pomelo girls.


Attention!


xes the Pomelo man

Fortunately, our friends weren’t that shallow. We randomly chose one stall.

We were given free samples. Tasty.

We also went to patronize another stall mannered by an elderly lady. This lady is quite friendly and the Pomelo that she sells is quite tasty (I wanted to say “Her Pomelo is quite tasty” but this may be construed wrongly hehe). Even gave us discount for the stuff we bought. When asked “What else do you guys want?”. I screamed, “AUNTY I WANT YOUR POMELO JUICE!!!”.

Unfortunately, the lady’s stall doesn’t sell Pomelo juice.


Happy Aunty and Happy Customer


Ping promoting Stall No 41


Mikey and Ping <3

Ipoh Road Trip – Part III – Tambun Inn

We stayed at one hotel by the name Tambun Inn. From outside, the place looks run down and creepy. Oh, the inn is next to a Chinese cemetery!


checking in..

But inside, the place looks fine. It seems that their interior has been revamped. Our room was not comfortable though.

Other than a hotel, the place is also a night spot – a fengtau (shake head) joint to be precise.


“Sexy Goddess Show” LOL

This inn is reported to be haunted. My research on the internet reveals that lights turns on and off within the inn, as well as the odd sound of whispers.

I had one extraordinary encounter while sleeping. It was around 2 a.m. and my room lights were turned off. Suddenly, I heard a woman breathing loudly. It went on for some time.

Few moments later, I could hear a man breathing loudly. And thereafter, the woman’s voice again.

I then realised it was my neighbour having s*x in the middle of the night. The walls are so thin that I could hear them having hot s*x.

O_o

Related Links:
Shadowland’s haunted places in Malaysia
Ipoh Community Forum – Which part of Ipoh is most haunted?

Ipoh Road Trip – Part II – Rock Climbing @ Lost World of Tambun

In conjunction with the Hari Raya public Holidays, my climbing gang (Amos, Angeline, Carnes Bangxin, Fai, Mikey and Ping) and I made a trip down to Lost World of Tambun to check out their rock climbing facility. It’s around 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur.

We were fortunate to miss the balik kampung rush. The drive was pretty smooth.

Lost World of Tambum is actually an entertainment park, with water park and “dry” park with all sorts of rides. The entrance fee to Lost World of Tambum is RM22 (for adults).


The entrance

The climbing spot, which is located at the back of the entertainment park, is located within a valley of lime stones with lakes scattered here and there. We were also fortunate to be spared from the scotching sun as the place is shaded by the natural rocks.


Carness with our crash pad.

Continue reading Ipoh Road Trip – Part II – Rock Climbing @ Lost World of Tambun

Orang Asli Village @ Taman Negara, Pahang

‘Orang Asli’ (aboriginal people) are know to be the earliest inhabitants of Malaysia. They consist of many tribes and many are nomadic.


The village that we visited consist of few huts built next to the river bank. The huts are build using wood and leaves except for one hut that was actually a camping tent. O_o


The wooden huts are about 8 – 9 feet high and do not have any rooms or doors. One family may occupy one hut. I really wonder where they go when they feel like making babies.


Further, toilet is no where to be seen.

The orang asli in this village has a strong resemblance with the aborigines of Australia. Both of them have curly hair, dark skin and big noses. I wonder if they are from the same ancestor.

The village chief and his sons gave us a presentation on how to make a fire using wood and bamboo. They rubbed a thin bamboo stick over a hollow wooden rod. However, the first attempt by village chief’s son no 1 failed as the bamboo stick snapped.


No.1

Then followed by another failed attempt by village chief’s son no 2. Half an hour later, still no fire. O__O

Only after the village chief intervened, we had the fire started.

Then we got to play with the blow pipe. Our target was….a small teddy bear. O___o

It was no easy task though. I couldn’t shoot the bugger!

We were then given a tour at one hut.
We: What do these people do everyday?
Nat: The men goes out hunting for food and the women stays home to cook or take care of the children. If they’re lucky, the men will get some animals.


Nat then showed us a bag of wild yam that the woman had plucked. They were about to cook it for dinner.

Then on the side of the hut, I saw an empty can of sardines and a packet of Boh Tea. O___o so much for hunting..

Canopy Walk @ the Longest and Highest Canopy Bridge in the world!

Immediately after breakfast, we took a boat to the other side of the river for our 1st activity of the day. A canopy walk is a term to describe a man made suspended bridge in a forest.


Can you spot the bridge? 😛



The entrance to the bridge.

According to Nat, the Canopy Walk in Taman Negara is the highest and longest in the world. However, a substantial part of the bridge had to be closed for upgrading and renovation. Nevertheless, despite the short walk on the bridge, it made my balls shrunk. Damn high okay!

One has to keep a minimum distance of 5 metres from the person in front while walking on the bridge.


My balls shrunk

Whenever one walks on the bridges, the bridge will sway left, right, up and down. Images of the bridge breaking into half were on my mind throughout the session. Nevertheless, we were able to get a good view of Sungai Tembeling and its surroundings.

Jerantut, Pahang


Jerantut is a tranquil little town in the state of Pahang. It serves as a gateway to Taman Negara. It is an old town. Pre-war buildings (around 1940s) are scattered around Jerantut town.



One of my colleagues is from Jerantut and as such, I asked her to recommend me some of the local delicacies in Jerantut. One of her recommendation was ais kacang (a dessert consisting of shaved ice topped with, colourful syrups and condensed milk and with sweet corn, red beans and cincau (grass jelly) in the bottom).


During my 1 ½ hour transit at Jerantut, we visited the shop that serves the recommended ais kacang. It’s located at the taxi station, behind the post office, one of the wooden rows of shops. Very dodgy looking but has friendly people.



The stall


The Ais Kacang is served by an elderly lady. Very generous on the topping.

Inside the shop.


If I’m not mistaken, a bowl of Ais Kacang costs RM1.30. DAMN CHEAP. But my colleague said that it used to be cheaper. 50 cents per bowl!



However, the Ais kacang is nothing to shout about. Very normal ais kacang.



Next to the ais kacang shop lies a grocery shop. This grocery shop is pretty unique as it also has a ‘Tukang Jahit (tailor)’. The word Tukang Jahit is visibile on the old school Singer sewing machine.

Kuala Tahan, Taman Negara

Kuala Tahan is one of the gateways to Taman Negara. It lies on the riverbank of Sungai Tembeling. On the other side of Kuala Tahan, across Sungai Tembeling, is Taman Negara.

To get across to Taman Negara, one has to take a boat taxi. RM1 per trip, until 11PM everyday.

My boss said that 10 years ago, Kuala Tahan was just a base camp. Now it has developed into a tourist spot with basic amenities such as police station and school. Not forgetting the floating restaurants.


They even have floating souvenir shop!


And ice cream shop?

Taman Negara 23 November 2006 – 25 November 2006

Back from Taman Negara!


Taman Negara is one of the national parks in Peninsula Malaysia. It encompasses 3 states, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu. It is well know for its ecotourism.


I procured the services of NKS HOTEL & TRAVEL SDN. BHD (Tel : 03 – 20720336 / website: http://www.taman-negara-nks.com/) to organise my trip to Taman Negara. The cost was around RM425 which is inclusive of accommodation, transport, food and also activities. It was a steal!
My trip to Taman Negara lasted for 3 days 2 nights. The journey to Taman Negara took quite some time. First, we had to take a 3 hours bus ride to Jerantut, followed with a short ride to Kuala Tembeling and lastly a 3 HOURS boat ride to Kuala Tahan.




RM1 to move your bags down to the boat.


Our boat was a long boat made of wood with zinc roof. We had to sit in pairs, on a worn out cushion. We don’t have much space to move around. As such, sleeping was quite uncomfortable.




Nevertheless, the 3 hours boat trip was quite enjoyable in the beginning as we were able to enjoy the cool breeze and the view. However, halfway through, it rained suddenly. So heavy until we had rain water splashing at our face each second! By the time we reached Kuala Tahan, we were soaked!
Kuala Tahan is one of the gates to Taman Negara. It lies on the riverbank of Sungai Tembeling. On the other side of Kuala Tahan, divided by Sungai Tembeling, is Taman Negara.



Kuala Tahan on a rain day



Floating restaurants at Kuala Tahan


Although the price was a steal, it came with drawbacks.


Our meals were all scheduled at one of the floating restaurants along Sungai Tembeling. The service was crap. Food was crap. We had toast with lousy scrambled egg / pancake, chips which came with an ant infested ketchup bottle and fried rice with a bug. Then when I got home, I had diarrhoea.
Also, drinks were not provided. We had to pay for it. I was not told of this until I ate at the restaurant.


Further, our accommodation was far away from the jetty. We took us around 10 – 15 minutes to walk from our restaurant cum jetty to Tahan Guest House, our assigned hotel. Note that I said assigned hotel is because I did not choose the hotel. My travel agent did.


Tahan Guest House is not a pleasant place to stay. No hot water, toilet stinks, towel that doesn’t absorb water and also they do not provide free shampoo!

In our room, we had one notice informing guest of the rules and regulations of the guest house amongst others, “Please.. please respect Islam by not eating and drinking any alcoholic drinks or non halal items outside the room / dormitory and the compound area”. Ironically, on the other side of the river, Mutiara Taman Negara Resort is serving Pina Colada for RM23 per glass.