Travel – Page 20 – w w w . x e .s . c x

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

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

Singapore 21.6.2007 – 24.6.2007 – Part III – Donut Factory

There seems to be a craze over doughnuts in Singapore lately. We saw one outlet in Raffles City Shopping Centre. People were willing to join the long queue just to purchase these doughnuts! The shop is located at a tight area as such the queue had to be broken into 2!
I was told that some people actually queued 3 hours for the doughnuts.

The queue.
The donuts are pretty unique. Other than the normal glazed doughnuts, they have flavours such as spicy cheese, wasabi cheese, cheese tartar and kaya with white chocolate!
Address:
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-61.
Tel: (65) 6337 6268.
Open 12.30pm – 10pm daily.
Other blogs that have blogged about this:
I.Z. Reloaded
Singapore Foodie Lover
theory.isthereason
On another note:

Spider Pig Spider Pig. LOL!
I cant wait!

Singapore 21.6.2007 – 24.6.2007 – Part II

As I was saying on my previous post, I spent RM140 on stamps related products. Introducing, my new babies to my post box collection 😀

Singapore is booming like mad. Shopping centres and foreigners were everywhere too. In a country of only 4 million people, I wonder if the said amount is enough to support all the businesses of the shopping centres in Singapore.

The Singapore economy is booming so fast until she had to procure resources from other countries. Lawyers are not spared. I heard that foreign lawyers are encouraged to enter Singapore to practice. I was told by one head hunter that I met in Singapore that lawyers on their first year are offered SG$4000 per month (In Malaysia, they only get RM2000 – RM3500!). Other than legal practice, lawyers are also recruited to serve in house to corporations. I was told by the same source that she had one lawyer on his 6th year being offered SG12,000 per month.

I once read from a book which described Singapore as an ‘air con’ city. It’s true. Everywhere I go, they have air con! Although it makes us comfortable, I felt that it’s pretty bad for the environment.

Eating
Throughout the entire 4 days, we took every opportunity to try the food there. Initially I thought that Singaporean food is about the same with Malaysia. Boy, I was wrong. There are so many things to eat! We had around 4 – 5 meals a day! With the boom going on in Singapore, all sorts of foreign F&B franchises started their businesses here.

Top of the M

On our first night in Singapore, we met up with Voon Him with his girlfriend Cherry for dinner at Top of the M. Top of the M is a revolving restaurant, located on top of Meridian Hotel. We were able to grab a 360 degrees view of Singapore. He said since he is unable to bring me around Singapore, he would show me Singapore through the revolving restaurant.

Voon Him treated us dinner and wine. Many thanks to him.
Just as we were about to order dessert, we had musicians singing and playing music for us. 😀

AMK House of TeoChew Noodles

Located at Florence Close (Around 2 minutes from Kovan MRT Station), serves excellent noodles mixed with at least 3 types of sauces. Their noodles make me drool whenever I think of them. :D~~~
Serves in dry and soup, I would personally recommend the dry version. Opens 24 hours a day, queue gets crazy at night.

Ajisen Ramen
This is personally recommended by fellow blogger, Sarahian. I’m not a big fan of ramen but the price is worth it. Get the Ramen Set (Ramen + Drink + Side dish) $12-18. Enough to make my stomach feel like exploding.

Ajisen Ramen is a franchised based restaurant. There is one in Takashimaya. For the list of all their restaurants in Singapore, visit http://www.ajisen.com.sg/contact.htm .

To be continued..

Singapore 21.6.2007 – 24.6.2007 – Part I

My trip to Singapore was excellent. It was a shopping + eating trip. I didn’t buy much clothing, only a pair of shoes but I spent RM140 on stamps related product. Heh.

On our first 2 nights, we stayed at one place by the name One Florence Close. It’s actually a one storey house converted into a hostel. Rooms are pretty small and the basic amenities such as kitchen and toilets are shared.

Despite these drawbacks, One Florence Close is extremely cosy. The owners took pains to decorate the place.

Living Room

In addition, there are 2 adorable Persian cats, Romeo and Pepper. Romeo is a white Persian cat, very playful but scratches if provoked. Pepper on the other hand is an opposite of Romeo. Pepper keeps a low profile and hangs out in the toilet, under the toilet bowl.

Romeo – caught in the act of licking himself

Pepper – Blinking (AHAHAHAHHA)

Romeo & Pepper’s plaything

Romeo

Just a stone throw from One Florence Close lays one Chinese coffee shop famed for its Nasi Lemak by the name Ponggol Nasi Lemak and also TeoChew Noodles. I didn’t have the opportunity to try the famous Nasi Lemak but the Teo Chew Noodles was…zoomgg… EXCELLENT!
On our first day in One Florence Close, the owner, Cynthia brought us around the house. Then she showed us one of the shower rooms. Suddenly, the 3 of us froze. We stared at one blue apparel hanging in the room.

So there we were, staring at a piece of blue apparel for a good 3 seconds.

*snap*

Guess what is it? 😛

One Florence Close
Tel: +65 90272702 / +65 62899005

Coconut Milkshake @ Rai Leh, Thailand

Many of my friends are heading to Rai Leh, Krabi again during this Chinese New Year. Other than climbing, Rai Leh reminds me of one particular drink, namely the Coconut Milkshake. This drink is pretty common in Rai Leh, almost every shop has it on their menu. It’s a mixture of milk and coconut blended with ice, very milky and very cooling!

Coconut Milkshake

During the first few days in Rai Leh, I had Coconut Milkshake almost everyday. Other than Coconut Milkshake, they have banana milkshake, mango milkshake etc.

However, during the first few days, I had diarrhea. I wonder if it’s due to the milkshakes I had. Nevertheless, this drink is recommended to everyone who is visiting Rai Leh!

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.