Ipoh – Penang – Ipoh trip (10.10.09 – 12.10.09) Part 3

This will be the final part of my trip to Penang.
couldn’t believed that it took me almost a month to post this crap…

as usual, the final part would be the most boring part as there will be less pictures coz at the end of the trip, we were already exhausted. not to mentioned there were quite a number of disappointments too. read on…

By the time you read part 3, you would have noticed we had missed out two important food that i should’ve tried.

yes, i had missed out Hokkien mee (or prawn mee) and Loh Bak.

not that i missed it intentionally, but due to lots of reasons (ie, not knowing which is the best place, closed shop, too full, etc etc), we did not have the chance to had the best Hokkien mee/Loh Bak.

but we did tried the lousiest Hokien mee in Gurney though… haha!

something that is not related to the food here…

 

do you know what’s this?

for the uninitiated, there used to be electric tram services in the island. 

but i guess it has been discontinued long ago.

left for Ipoh after having our breakfast after that. and so, it’s time to say good bye…

 

to Komtar. although i don’t really missed it 

 

to the iconic Penang Bridge…

 

i loved this photo the most. cropped some of the ugly sides and made in Black & White.

there are to missions to be done once we are in Ipoh.

the 1st one – to have dinner at our favourite Chicken Rice shop, Lou Wong.

we failed miserably…

we never failed at going the shop whenever we were at Ipoh. but that day, we were lost!!! 

i couldn’t believed that we had been going round and round for almost and hour.

only to find the shop was closed on that day…

ended eating at the shop beside it. tasted ok, but not as smooth and portion a bit small. really felt disappointed.

and oh, i should’ve posted this on the 1st part. do you know how do i get the directions places of good food in Penang although we’ve never drive there before?

two things : Google Map & PSP.

by incorporating these two, i’ve managed to created an Al-Cheapo version of PSP. or more like a map. and the result? voila!!!

 

it served us quite well except where there’s a few occasion where the map were not updated. causing a great trouble for us and making us go round and round…

i guess it’s time to get a REAL GPS then. haha!

ok. back to the 2nd mission in Ipoh – Go to Kellie’s Castle.

which we failed miserably too…

the time wasted earlier had sapped most of our energy. so we decided to give it a miss.

BUT, we will definitely go there again next time!!! mark my words.

and off to home we go. but not without posting this:

yes… it rained for 3 consecutive days. have to drive real slow…

~fin~

Read More

Ipoh – Penang – Ipoh trip (10.10.09 – 12.10.09) Part 2

After procrastinating for quite some time, i think it’s time for me to continue with the 2nd part of the trip. haha!

morning view from my budget hotel.

feeling hungry in the morning, we proceed to eat char koay teow for breakfast.

again, it’s down to making decisions again. it’s either the one in Lorong Selamat or the one in Jalan Macalister.

In the end we chose the famous sister’s char koay teow in Jalan Macalister.

the reason? because we heard that the one in Lorong Selamat is arrogant. food won’t taste good if the service is lousy.

i will try that one next time i’m in Penang again though.

anyway, after going round and round the place, we found the place. and for what?

this:

the whitish thingy on top of it are crab meat. Penangites love to put it on top of CKT. i think it’s just a lame excuse for them to charge us more. haha!

GF having the first mouth of the legendary CKT.

and how does it fair?

i would say that if you have got used to KL’s CKT, you will find it a bit bland. but it still taste good to me, with right amount of spiciness.

and oh, it is less oily too~~~ unlike the ones in KL.

so, if you are intrested, please remember to look at this banner.
with such a big banner, it will be hard to miss. haha!

of course with such a measly sized CKT, how can we feel full at all?

next stop, Curry Mee at Lorong 100 Tahun.

but wait!!! before that, we have to stop over at Ghee Hiang. i’m not really a big fan of it. but since GF wanted to buy it for family and friends, i just tag along and take some pictures. just in case anyone here is interested.

for something that has been selling biscuits (and sauces) since 1856 AND still survived,
it should be good, right? haha!

ok, back to curry mee in Lorong 100 Tahun. we wasted no time in getting back on the track.

this guy makes great Curry Mee but not very good at taking orders…

this bowl of treasure makes me salivate…

with generous amount of prawns, cuttlefish, tofupok and cockles, i know this is one hell of a curry mee. i decided to omit pig blood on that day coz i don’t feel like eating it on that day though.

and do you know the biggest difference between the ones here and in other places (other than the taste and price)?

this…

this is the deciding factor. you decide how much you want to put it. even the whole bowl (crazy!!!) coz the bowl of belacan is yours anyway, even if you only order 1 bowl. nice~~~

this is how it looks like once the belacan is mixed. looks oily but trust me, it is one of the best curry mee i have tasted. this stall will be my all time ‘must-eat’ place when i’m in Penang in the future.

later in the afternoon, i craved for nasi kandar.

i’m sure most people will mention Nasi Kandar Line Clear when we talk about Nasi Kandar.

but i think i will never go there again. after what i experienced two years ago. i’m not going to go into details what happened then, but let’s just say that it is not very hygienic. nothing nasty happened to me actually, it’s just the physiological after effects that makes me wants to avoid this stall.

so, with Line Clear Off my list, i’m lost to where to get a nice nasi kandar. in a haste, i just go to (of all places) the shop next to Line Clear and take-away a simple masak hitam chicken with mixed gravy to fill in my stomach.

doesn’t look so appetising? get used to it, k? this is nasi kandar. it’s supposed to be messy anyway. don’t let the look turn you off though.

but unfortunately the list of good food ends here…

later at the day, we went to New World Park to have a light dinner.

to sum up my experience there, i can only say that it is just a fancy food court with pricey lousy food with the main intention to con unsuspecting tourist, and hell the parking fees are not cheap too!!!

the same can be said for the following place too:

 apologize for the crappy photos…

yup. it’s Gurney. the food had gone from bad to worse over the years. period.

all of these failed badly…

i think we went to Gurney is just for the sake of going to Gurney. i haz a sad~~~

later at night, it’s supper time!!!

where else to end our glutton trip for the day other than the oh-so-popular Sup Hameed?

GF getting the soup from the staff.

the soups are not cheap either. and the charge extra 30sen if you take away.

too bad, our expectations were too high. the soup were too watery, the taste are a bit bland (not enough herbs, maybe?) and the portion are too small. but then again, who cares about the portion when the food sucks?

and with it, we end the night with grumbles after having a great breakfast and lunch earlier in the day.

to be continued. Part 3 will come soon!!!

Read More

Ipoh – Penang – Ipoh trip (10.10.09 – 12.10.09) Part 1

It’s the annual local trip for me and my GF at this time of the year. since last year we had been to Melaka and Cameron Highland, we decided to go to Penang or a purely glutton trip.

but of course, how can you skip Ipoh in a glutton trip? because of this, we stop by at Ipoh town to have dim sum breakfast.

let’s see, there are 3 main dim sum restaurant in Ipoh old town. the nominees are (Drumrolls)…

 

1. the most popular and newly located Foh San. 

 

2. the 2nd most popular Yoke Fook Moon.

3. and of course, Ming Court which is very popular among Ipoh people.

our choice of the day was Yoke Fook Moon coz it was our 2nd choice anyway haha! besides, i don’t have the patience to wait at the crowded Foh San to have a few plates of Dim sum

 

look how many people is waiting for their turn!!!

compared to Yoke Fook Moon. i think most of the business went to Foh San now.

did not order much though. just a few normal items:

 

1. my favourite pork ribs. it’s a bit oily but at least they put a few yam slices at the bottom to absorb excess oil. yummy!!

 

2. Wo Tip. not really a dim sum dish. but it is still tasty even though it is not that crispy (coz it has been fried for quite some time). and instead of serving the ginger separately, they stuff it inside the wo tip.

 

3. char siu pau. the pau is definitely sweeter and with more filling!!!

. 

4. siew mai. this in my opinion tastes the same as what we usually had. but GF said it tastes good.

 

5. and the last one is definitely har gao. they are bloody generous with the prawns there. each har gao contains 3 prawns. and the prawn’s texture are crunchy and fresh too!

what’s the damage?

RM20.90. tad too expensive. but with the generous portions and fresh ingredients, i don’t really mind.

after stuffing my tummy with dim sum, what next? let me give you a hint:

 

Sin Yuan Loong or their rival Sin Yuan Foong? or…

 

Nam Heong?

we are too full to eat anything anyway, so i just went in to tapau white coffee from Sin Yuan Foong.

but there’s only one thing, everytime i drink coffee, i will get dizzy. but who cares right? it tastes great.

their coffee tastes great but the same cannot be said to their plastic bags.

 

the two corners of the bag got punctured by the straw when i was drinking it.
causing a mess in the car. damn it.

and with a messy car, we continue our journey to Penang.

and… just before we reach to the jetty, it…

 

rained heavy. visibility was down to less than 7m. but miraculously, once we are in the jetty, it stopped.

view from the ferry.

and of course, we stayed a a budget hotel. looks old and with bare necessities.

but at least it has a balcony

and a great view too!!!

but enough about the hotel. lets just go straight to the food.

the 1st food that we crave for it asam laksa. where to?

the one which is located in Air Itam of course. and we spent the next 20 minutes going there
(plus RM2 for the parking)

remember to look for this sign and you know you are in the right stall

the photos of the pot may gross some people off. but don’t let it deceive you!

the half eaten asam laksa. this is one of the tastiest asam laksa that i have eaten so far!!! just that the noodles are not springy compared to the one in KL. but still, i will rate it 10 out of 10!

 

in a nutshell, it is worth the 20minute journey!

next thing, it is time to go back to Penang Road and have the famous Cendol there.

 

nothing like a icy cendol to cool down the temperature before continuing our journey to Prangin Mall.

i noticed this in Komtar. do you noticed anything odd?

 

plagiarism at its best. haha!

for dinner, we went to a stretch of road just below Sunway Hotel.

 

it’s just a small stretch of road but the food there was good. better than those in Gurney Drive (more on that later).

 

food from top clockwise: seafood char koay teow, rojak, oo chien and satay (chicken and pork).

it’s our first time eating there, but i must say the food is good! although some of it are a bit pricey. but hey, if it taste good, i don’t really mind,

bought something back to hotel too.

 

it’s just an ordinary apom that you can get in pasar malam (just that it is fatter). but what i like is the presentation of it. they actually serve it on a banana leaf.

and oh. it rained on a saturday night… damn.

but fortunately, the weather is kind enough to stop not long after that. coz i wanted to take a stroll at the Upper Penang Road nearby.

coincidentally, it is the 10th anniversary of the Road. there were some shows and Lim Guan Eng was there. but i didn’t saw him though. below are some chicks dancing…

 

and yeah, that was where i stayed and that was my butler coming to me.

yeah right… i wished…

end of part 1. phew. what a tiring day…

Read More