.....times of refreshing.....

Kg.Simee egg tarts

When I was in Ipoh, I did visited a few food courts and the GP foodcourts were one of my favourites. There are really lots of stalls around selling different type of local food and it's cleaner compare to other food courts. Most of the food courts were crowded during peak hours.

GP food court in First Garden

I had a coffee break at this foodcourt and it was less crowded then. The first thing I do is to try their white coffee. The coffee was good, though not as good as those of old town or 'Wah Nam'. (that's the best coffee I ever had in Ipoh)

Nice white coffee

Enjoyed a small bowl of prawn noodles there

 The prawn noodles was spicy but good. I actually wanted Asam Laksa but it seems the stall was closed. Then, I was at the famous 'Tung Ku Teng' , a foodcourt at Ipoh Garden central.

Crowded!

 It was really crowded around 8pm and getting a place was challenging. Anyway, managed to get 'strategic' location near the popular food like chee cheong fun, Chicken hor fun and fried kway teow. Again, I tried the kopi first but it was not as good.

White kopi for the night...

I packet some of the mentioned food and it was not as good as before, perhaps I guess it's due to CNY and the crowd. Maybe it's nicer during normal period.

Since it was almost two years since I was back in Ipoh, I had a great time catching up with friends and relatives in Ipoh. Reana and her kids visited me and family while her sister and hubby visited us on the next day. It was a good time for catching up.

Reana's kids

Then, I visited an old friend cum classmate nearby and fetched him and family to another old buddy's home around the Silibin area. I love driving around and enjoyed the sight-seeing, though it was quite a jam at certain areas of Ipoh.

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes , above and below.

This church was one of Ipoh's famous landmarks and it was established in 1905. It really has a great history as well as the designs were exquisite too!

Wesley Methodist school (formerly Methodist High School)

 I studied briefly in this school before moving on to my tertiary education.

Peak of Kledang Hill - you will never miss this hill once you are in Ipoh. I hiked to the top before and wish I could do it again.

Reached my friend's place at Taman Rishah, which was located at the foot of the Kledang hill range. Thus, I was able to capture a close shot of the peak. Once there, it's catching up time again. The ladies' topic was on the family while us guys have a good time updating each other on our ex-crushes and etc...hehehe...

The ladies and kids mingling around..

Used to be slim, fit and lots of hair... sigh....

Finally, I am back in Ipoh after two years. After reading blogs like Images of Ipoh and All about Ipoh on facebook to keep myself updates on my hometown, I thought it's a good idea to drive around and snap pictures. However, I forgot it was CNY where all the Ipoh 'lang' were home and the end  results was heavy traffic! Thus, I was not really able to stop my car at certain places to snap pictures leisurely. Anyway, because there are jams everywhere, I still manage to snap from my car.

It was a hot day in Ipoh...

'Lou Wong' and its rival, 'Ong Kee' beansprout chicken were so crowded!

Didn't know 'Lou Wong' also opened a shop selling biscuits and local made products

There were really lots of  shops selling local made products around the 'new town' and this attracted many visitors as well as Ipoh-born folks who settled down at another place like me.

That's 'little india' of Ipoh at the 'old town'

Back to the jam at one of the main street ...

My CNY was a bit different than previous years and it's another first. Due to my kid who needed to attend school last Friday, my wife and I decided to spent the reunion dinner at my in-law's place. This is my first time spending CNY away from my parents as well as at my in-law's place.

I started my journey only on New Year's eve around 1pm. It was not a good start as I was stuck in the jam for almost 3 hours from Skudai till Ayer Hitam, where usually it took me 1 hour. And after the jam, heavy rain started pouring for a while till after Yong Peng. Then, it was a smooth drive all the way as the highway started to lesser and lesser vehicles. Probably it was late and majority of the folks were back home. We reached Seremban around 6pm+.

It was quite rush as I didn't really take a bath for the reunion dinner and once we reached, and rested for a short while, we are on our way to the restaurant. The food was so-so only and quite humble. Anyway, it was a great night.

Yee Sang...of course the first dish in the menu and a must to have....

after mixing all the ingredients...

and toss.... huat ah...

The appetiser

'Shark fins'  ....

Mushrooms and vegetables

The first three dishes....all came out together. Probably, the restaurant wanted to rush a bit...hehehe

Steam fish

Fried prawns

Glutinous rice with gingko nuts

Longan dessert

I was quite tired after the dinner but then, I stayed up quite late, as my in-laws usually does that during every CNY. I will be back Ipoh soon for a short while before going home to JB to wrap up my CNY celebrations.

Family portrait on CNY's eve...

Happy Chinese New Year, folks!

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

May the year of the snake brings you good health, prosperity, opportunities, joyfulness and an abundance year! This is always a good time for reunion and catching-up with friends and relatives from all over the places as most of the folks will be back in their kampung. I guess the all-year quiet, smaller places would turn into happening places as folks were back home from the bustling cities! How wonderful!

Decor at City Square, JB.

Have a good time with your friends and loved ones! :)

Wow.... CNY is just one week away!  I will be looking forward to this year's CNY as I will be back in Malaysia again, and especially Ipoh, where I never went back for almost two years! However, I will only be back late, probably on the first or second day of CNY due to kids' tuition. Do drive safely if you are travelling and I always believe it's better be late and safe. Speeding may bring you and your loved ones back earlier but then, you are risking yourselves and their lives. Have a good rest before driving and occasionally stop for short breaks. Plan your trip well!

Back in Singapore, I always loved those franchise food stalls here like Aston grills, Botak Jones, Hot pepper lunch, Komalas and etc...which operates in food malls or food courts. This helps to keep the cost down I believe, besides bringing the franchise food chains nearer to the heartlands. I especially love the sirloin steak from Aston Grill, which has a stall at a food court in Bedok central.

Sirloin steak with mushroom sauce

The sirloin steak was juicy and it comes with two side dishes. This cost around $S12+.

Back in JB, I just had nasi lemak with mutton rendang, at one of the Tea Garden outlets in JB. I always like the rendang there, having tried their chicken rendang some time ago.

Nasi lemak with mutton rendang....

OK, I need to go for a jog now... :P