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

I just can't keep my mind off from blogging on tourism places, thanks to a month of blogging about my travelogue. Anyway, since it's Chinese New Year, here are some pixs I took while I strolled around the popular Bugis area in SG, which is fast becoming the second chinatown here.

A god of fortune ushering the folks there!

Lots of stalls setup for the festival!

More stores here near the 'Foo Lou Sau' Building. At the background is Suntec City.

Oh, I had a bowl of Miso Tonkatsu Ramen later after doing some shopping at nearby Sim Lim Square. I really miss the ramen ... it's been a while since I had it !*slurp* ....

To most of us, the CNY seems over although the festival has just reaches its mid-point of the 15 day celebration. Yes, I am back for work after a short holiday in Ipoh. This year's CNY was kinda quiet as my brothers were not back, thus, we had a simple reunion dinner at home. It was nice to have a steamboat on an unusual rainy CNY eve's evening.

Nothing fancy ... just some abalone, sotong, prawns, tofu, fish ball, squids, liver...etc.

I was out most of the time and I was also surprised that Ipoh was not that jam compared to previous years. I guess it's most likely due to the short school holidays and most folks rather don't want to travel. Coming home was a breeze but going back to JB was terrible. I was stuck in a 6 hours plus jam starting from Seremban.

Well, I took some pixs around Ipoh. Let the pictures do the 'blogging'.

Below and above, shopping at Yee Hup Confectionary in Gunung Rapat for delicacies.

Having lunch at the famous Old Town Kopitiam

The char kway teow ... sadly, the standard diminished , probably due to the bulk orders from the crowded patrons.

The Kopi ice still good.

Freshly baked egg tarts. The filling was thick and hot!Nice !!

Fried Carrot cake ...the food that I love since I was a kid but sadly this one really cannot make it. I didn't finish it.

Shopping next door for exotic produce and notice these ... snakes gall bladders.

Dried star fishes...

I drove around looking for wall mural paintings but only found some ...

 

Above and below, the busy stretch of streets which was turned into a pasar malam.  A street of taugeh chicken eateries starting from Lou Wong.

Got some cute delicacies

oh... I love this one... the 'tok tok' malt candies. It's been awhile since I had it.

Have a good week and drive safely if you are planning a journey.

I guess most of the folks have started their CNY holidays and started travelling on the roads. Me too, I was already on leave and will set to travel this week. CNY this year will be slightly quiet as two of my brothers can't make it for home due to work commitments. Thus, it's only my family and my sister's family with my parents but then, I am sure I will enjoyed the trip as I still have friends back home. It's also almost one year since I went back home, thus I will have a lot of places to go as well as makan. hahaha...

Btw, to those who travel, do note the following for a safe journey -

- Ensure your car has been serviced and in tip top condition
- Have good etiquette on the roads and follow the law. Yes, follow the law which means drive within the speed limit, signal, courtesy to others users, no tailgating, no take over from the left, no driving on the emergency lane, don't speak on the mobile while driving ...etc. For the family sake, reach home safely.
- Rest well
- Feel good and have a good meal before driving
- Play some CNY songs to lift up the mood
- Rest if you must at R&R
- Pray before you start your journey for a safe and smooth driving
- Defensive driving
- Stay alert
- Have a kopi :)

hahaha..that's all I can think of... just drive safely. Since my kids still need to go to school on Monday, my weekend is as per normal except that I don't have to wake up early for work on Monday. And, same makan habit too! I was at Tea Garden on a Sunday after fetching my kid from school and decided to have something appetising.

My favourite char kway teow

And Kopi ice ... this was great for a hot day! Hope the pix don't looks weird.

Happy Holidays folk and drive safely !

Looking down from third level

Another shot ...

The main makeshift stage ... I guess there will be some performances there, in weeks to come.

My yummy lunch!

Have a good week!

Here wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year and may the year of the wooden horse brings you lots of wealth, good health, happiness, success, good luck and positive vibes! 


Have a great time visiting friends and relatives to foster good relationship and enjoy the good food !!! Do drive carefully and keep yourself and family safe on the road. :)

Well, in JB, I believe only two malls usually have nice decors during festive seasons. There's Sutera Mall, which boasted the best decors in JB all along and City Square Mall. The latter's decor are quite unique though not as extravagant as Sutera Mall. Their concept always seems simple but nice and unique. I usually walk past by City Square whenever I arrived in JB from Singapore and I will usually go around for a while, since it's a great mall to shop.

A golden majestic  horse welcomes folks to the mall

Look down from second floor

Folks from both JB and Singapore shopping for CNY goodies there.

I will be travelling back to Ipoh this year to celebrate CNY, after missing out the reunion dinner in Ipoh for two years. I had my reunion dinner with my in-laws last year while my parents came over to Singapore in the previous year. Hope you guys have a good time and travel safely.

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 ...