A Daytrip to Ipoh

Today me, Mum and my aunts went on a day trip up north to Ipoh. Got up at 6.45am this morning while it was still dark outside -_- Hate getting up before dawn. The main purpose of this trip was to meet up with my uncles and of course to eat lar =D

We managed to find our way to Ipoh easy enough by the highway, but due to some road works, we missed the turning to the correct exit from the North-South highway and kinda lost our way. Though Ipoh is not that big, it was still a little complicated to find our way around. Since we are kinda lost in a not too foreign town (we had been to Ipoh many times but still...), we decided to head right into Ipoh city and get some food first. We were actually targeting the Ipoh Taugeh(bean sprout) Chicken which we somehow managed to locate with what little sense of directions between the four of us. Unfortunately, the taugeh restaurants only open in the afternoon so we had breakfast in a nearby hawker restaurant instead.

Prawn chee cheong fun

Popiah which took some effort to eat as each piece is too big to fit into my mouth.

Char kuey teow with fat taugeh =D

Hakka noodles also served with fat taugeh.

These fried bean curd came with the Hakka noodles.

After we were done with breakfast, we met up with Uncle Mike and off we went to visit some construction sites. First stop was a small budget hotel that's being renovated, next was another Uncle Ling's bungalow which is being built in some faraway area in Ipoh and finally, we headed to Sri Iskandar to see Uncle Mike's new house which is facing a lake. The lake is said to be good for fishing. I'm not much of a fisherwoman as Eric says I talked too much. Fishes don't like it when people talk and laugh loudly while they feed on worms. Actually, I just don't have the patience to wait for the fish to bite lar. I don't mind fishing (maybe terrorize) prawns though =D

My wonderful cold mocha drink from Black Canyon while we sat down for a drink in one of the shopping complex out of the hot hot sun.

The weather was freaking hot when we were in Ipoh. Visiting so many construction sites adds to my discomfort. Mum was taking it all in her stride as she's on familiar territory. Construction sites are like her playground.

We then headed to Uncle Ling's petrol station to wait for him. At least we could get out of the heat for a little while. Can't stop myself from getting ice-cream there to cool down =D Before we know it, it's dinner time. All of us, me, Mum, 2 aunts, 2 uncles and a cousin headed to the taugeh place for dinner. I swear that if they didn't have the taugeh chicken, Mum and my aunts won't be able to sleep when we get home to Subang =P But then again, no trip to Ipoh would be complete without a meal of the famed taugeh chicken.

This is where we had dinner.The same restaurnt have a branch right across the street.

The restaurant we went to was kinda old and small. Plastered on the wall were photos of celebrities who had eaten there before. I guess it's a celebrity hotspot in Ipoh =D

When having a meal of the taugeh chicken, it's best to have it with kuey teow. Ipoh's kuey teow is different from those you can get in KL as it's thinner and tastier.

Yummy meatballs...since they're quite big, eating too many will fill you up real quick. So have only one or two so there is still space for the taugeh and chicken.

See...before I could snap a pic, the chopsticks were already digging into it! Ipoh has it own special taugeh. It's shorter, fatter and also tastier. We call it the Ipoh taugeh =P

What's with this family and innards...lol...well, this time it's an assortment of intestine, liver, gizzard and God knows what. As usual, I only eat the intestine lar.

Behold the famous chicken. It's called "pak cham kai" literally meaning white chopped chicken. I actually don't fancy eating this chicken. Much prefer roasted chicken any day. As not to be rude, I have a few small pieces of breast meat. To those who loves "pak cham kai", Ipoh is said to be home to the most juicy, smooth and tender. Same is also said about Ipoh gals =P Needless to say, everyone enjoyed their meal of such a simple dishes.

After dinner, time for a a little shopping. It's a famous bakery.

While they were busy buying biscuits and patries, I was busy taking pic of these cute biscuits on display.

Erm...these looks cute and freaky at the same time.

Piggies that looks a little blur.

I think these chickens are the cutest of all the creations =D Okay...I'm biased. Can't help it that I'm born in the year of the Rooster!

Our family loves food and I think it's great. It got me a little emo during dinner as so many family members are eating together eventhough everyone leads such different lives now. After dinner, we started our journey back to KL while my uncles went home to their families and my cousin back to whatever he was doing earlier. It rained throughout the journey home so we took our time. Eventhough we might not see each other as frequent as we like, but at least we are making an effort. That counts for something doesn't it?