Food trip to Ipoh & KL. (Part 1: Ipoh)

Ok… this is not for the faint hearted. I know this bunch of people are serious foodies, but seriously, our food guide, Dr Wong, in my opinion, the is ultimate Food God who really knows where are all the good stuff.

Warning: super long post.

A total of 12 of us, packed into 3 cars and 2 bikes headed to Ipoh and KL for the ultimate 5-days-4 nights of mega-pig-out sessions.

The very 1st pit-stop was at Tungkak, which is famous for its beef noodles. The version of Tungkak’s beef noodle comes in the form of a super tasty clear broth, with beef and noodles. It was pretty good, but this dish didn’t rock my world. Personally, I will not drive all the way to Tungkak just have a bowl of Beef noodles.

After that, we basically “cheong” for the next 3.5rs to Gopeng (outskirts of Ipoh) to Tanjong Tu-alang to eat some monster prawns. And Geez…. These prawns were indeed the gorzilla types. Each prawn was longer than my hand??!! In fact, the gem lies in the prawn roe, they were so sweet and fragrant that they could easily be mistaken for crab roe!!

This Zhi Char place at Tanjong Tu-alang was indeed fantastic. It was super ulu though…. So ulu that even the GPS didn’t have its address. But, of course, our Food God can always find his way to good food.

After that, another 1 hour’s drive and we hit Ipoh. 1st dinner was at Public Restaurant, aka “Man Zhong”. Due to a special request from our good friend, Porky A, Dr. Wong ordered 2 roasted suckling pigs. TWO??!! Who in the right mind will eat TWO suckling pigs in one sitting??!! Well… this bunch of crazy people actually did. Dr. Wong also ordered a sterilized-rooster steamed in chicken broth, and the chicken was basically a cousin of Gorzilla. It was the size of 3 chickens combined??!! Seriously… Everyone almost fainted when we saw the size of the chicken.

HOW CAN ANYTHING GROW SO BIG??!! Apparently, sterilized cocks can.

The gorzilla chicken was too tough for my delicate palate, and basically I think this chicken had died in vain as most of us didn’t/couldn’t appreciate it.

Next day’s breakfast was a military exercise. All of us gathered at 6.45 am and “cheong” to this kopitiam, located at the Old Town of Ipoh. I’ve forgotten the name of this Kopitiam, but it is directly opposite of the famous “Nan Xiang” kopitiam.

According to Dr Wong, we had to arrive early because this place would get really crowded after 7 am, and he was right. Shortly after we were seated, there was this tour bus that dumped tens of local tourists and the kopitiam got really busy.

Breakfast Part1: Curry Chee Cheong Fan (really good!), with super “gao” (Ie: thick) Old Town Kopi-O, M’sia style French toast, more kaya toast. And some even ate Hakka Yong Tau Foo.
After that, we hopped over to Nan Xiang Kopitiam and continued with Breakfast Part 2:
Penang style Char Kway Tiao, more Old Town Kopi-O, peanut pancakes (super crispy and fragrant).

By then, I was kinda bursting already.

Then we went for breakfast part 3: Another kopitiam to buy more Chinese pastry and Dr. Wong ordered a plate of roasted pork belly.

Argh…. How can these people eat like that??!!

Just when I thought I’m going to skip lunch, Dr. Wong bought 5 salted chickens, supposed to be really famous in Ipoh.

And fuah, IT WAS THE BEST SALTED CHICKEN THAT I’VE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE. The meat was soft and yet firm (typical of kampong chickens, different from the “factory” chickens that we eat in Spore), it was nicely flavored with Chinese herb and, of course, salt. The chicken was done is a semi-steam/baked style, so the texture of the chicken is similar to our Hainanese chicken rice, but trust me, the flavor was like 100 times better.

It was so incredible… I think I ate almost 1 whole chicken by myself.

And just when I thought I REALLY couldn’t eat anymore for dinner, Dr. Wong brought us to Teck Kee Restaurant, one of the very best in Ipoh. And fuah, it was the best restaurant for the whole trip!

Every dish served was fantastic but the star dish is the monster sea cucumber braised with scallops, chicken and chestnuts (aka Gao Luck). The flavor was robust and sweet-in-the-savory way. The texture of the sea cucumber was chewy and “Q”… really really delicious lah. By the way, the sea cucumber was about 14 inches long??!!

And the best part, each of us only need to pay 30+ sing. Best!!!

Ok, and after that sumptuous dinner, we still manage to find some room to squeeze in Supper: Ipoh Horfan with chicken, porkballs and sprouts. There’s something about the water in Ipoh that the horfan was super silky and the sprouts were super fat and juicy!!

Ok, after that. I simply cannot eat anymore. In fact, I began to feel a bit ill…. We headed back to the hotel and I had to take a indigestion pill to keep my system going.

And that was just Day 2 in Ipoh.

Children vs dogs/cats

I've heard from a few couples of how when a baby comes along, suddenly pets (usually cats and dogs) are seen as threats to the new baby.

“Car fur will cause allergies to the baby”
“What if doggy bites the baby?”
“No time to look after doggie AND the baby”

Soon, it’s a matter of time, these pets are either being given away or being abandoned.

Sigh. And to think that these owners used to call themselves “Daddy and Mummy” of their pets. Some even claim that having a pet if like a “prelude” to having a baby. Yeah right… and you give away your “first born” when the real deal comes along?

I recognize all these issues and to this date, I keep asking myself whether Im ready to have a dog or even a cat, esp when my new place is ready. Or should I just have a baby 1st? Just take my baby as a pet loh?

I’m taking violin lessons!

Yup, now that my exam is over and I can finally have my life back! Yippe!

For the past few months, weekends were spent cooping at home, forcing myself to mug. Now that I’m free, gotta make FULL USE of the precious weekends by learning something new.

Last year, I decided to be a volunteer and it was one of my best decisions ever. I’m still volunteering every Saturday but had to stop for a few weeks to mug. Can finally hang out with the horses and children again, brings a smile to my face just to imagine that.

This year, I’ve decided to learn to play the violin! Yup… I must be the oldest student ever. Ha. I’ll be meeting my violin teacher this sat and looking really forward to buy my very own violin and practice it at home!

I’ve always wanted to play the violin, there’s something heart wrenching about the violin. The quality of the sound is sad and yet so beautiful. Anyone who has watched The Red Violin will know what I’m talking about.

Alrite, cheers to an up and coming musician! :p

Frustrated

I’ve been busy pretending to study for my CFA exam lately. Why pretending? Because I’m simply too frustrated to fully absorb whatever I studied… basically what went into my brains didn’t register for more than 5 mins…

Recently, Hubby and I have been busy looking at apartments. We have been looking for an apartment since 1.5 years ago… previously we thought that property prices have to drop further due to the “greatest” recession since 1930s. So, we waited…. We camped with the in-laws while waiting patiently to buy our very 1st dream apartment at a decent price. In fact, we were so sure that we’ll pick up a good deal that we actually “rejected” a few rather good buys….

Sigh. We were so wrong.

This “greatest” recession ever is fake. Recession. My ASS.

Seems to me that most Singaporeans are still very rich, new property launches were being grabbed like hot cakes. Even resale private apartments’ asking prices have surged immediately by 20%??!!

Singapore is getting to be a REALLY expensive city to live in. Even government public housing flats at so-called “prime” areas like Redhill, Tiong Bahru, Bishan and Toa Payoh are going at min $500 psf.

Suddenly, the thought of immigrating to Australia seems really appealing. For S$1 mil, I can most probably buy a 3000 sqf HOUSE with a nice garden. In Singapore, $1mil cannot even buy you a decent 3 bedroom condo of 1300 sqf.

I’m a “prudent” investor. I didn’t chase after the property during the crazy days of 2007 and yet, I still cannot afford a place now -> even during a recession??!!??!!

What the hell?

Pro-gay vs gay-friendly

Is there a difference? I think there is. I’m gay-friendly but I’m not pro-gay. If you are my friend, I will still love you as my friend regardless of your sexual orientation. I will not discriminate you nor pass any ill-intentioned judgments against you.

However, I’m not pro-gay either because I still believe in the union of 1 man and 1 woman. If one day, my future child were to tell me that he/she is homosexual, I think I will be upset (for at least a while) and be in a state of denial, but finally, I believe that I will still love my child and accept him/her as he/she is. I will most probably question why did that happen and whether my up-bringing cause his/her sexual orientation to be atypical.

However, in any case, I will not be ashamed of my child, just like I’m not ashamed to have gay friends, gay colleagues, gay neighbors… … etc.

The saga of Aware, has brought up issues that have been going on, from “under-current” to main stream. And I’m glad that it has happened because I hope people will, for once, THINK about their values, beliefs and what they stand up for.

Personally, I am behind the Old Guards of Aware because I believe in being “inclusive”. Inclusive means “inclusive – all types of women, in all shapes, sizes, colors.”

Conclusion: I’m not a beach person…

D and I took a short trip to Langkawi to attend a friend’s wedding during the Easter holidays and we have agreed on the following conclusions:

1) Both of us aren’t big fans of beach resorts. I always break out in heat rash when ever it gets really hot and humid. As for D, he needs his wines and beers CHILL…. And these babies don’t stay chill for very long when it’s 33 degrees. No cold beer and you’ll get a grumpy D.

2) I simply cannot stand screaming kids in the pool. I’m not the kind to soak in the pool and do nothing. When I go to the pool, my focus is to swim and exercise. Thus, I get really irritated when kids dash around the pool, or swim zig-zag around me while I’m panting away doing my lap swims. And I thought I’m quite maternal.

3) Sentosa is actually quite a nice beach getaway too if you can block out those oil tankers.

I can take the cold winter in Japan… but the heat simply drives me mad. Nonetheless, it was a really beautiful wedding.

Just that D and I were wishing that the theme of the wedding to be "bikini babes and beach hunks - Zouk Out Style!".

Spruce at Tanglin Road

For those who have read the most recent Sunday Times will know that Spruce, the restaurant was being featured. Reviews were rather positive and the owners of Spruce used to be from the Wine Garage. We used to frequent Wine Garage all the time until it revised the prices UPWARDS by about 50-100%, then we stopped dinning at Wine G.

After a quick check that the restaurant wasn’t expensive, plus if you order a bottle of wine from the restaurant, the corkage will be free on your 1st home-brought bottle. In any case, corkage is $30, which is okay…

Spruce is at Tanglin road, directly opposite to the Brunei Embassy actually. A little ulu but nowadays, ulu restaurants are more popular. Many people, who used to go to Dempsey, are all avoiding the area like mad. We all kinda miss the ulu-ness of Dempsey.

O well.

OK, back to Spruce. The whole restaurant is very understated yet done very stylishly. That gives a good vibe that the restaurant is more into its food than some showy décor. A lot of greenery surround the little restaurant, thus it’s really nice if you can get a seat outdoors, esp if the weather isn’t hot and humid.

Food is good, given for the price. I must say it’s actually damn good value. We had the Onion Crepes and grilled calamari with rockets for our starters. The onion crepes were really good; the sweetness of the onions went really well with the buttery cheese sauce. The calamari was tender and flavorful, nicely done. Both starters were about $15-18.

I ordered the Braised Duck pasta (shown above) in tomato sauce. The dish didn’t look very appetizing at 1st, but do not be fooled, the flavor was robust and the “gaminess” of the duck went really well with the slightly sourness of the tomatoes. Mmmmmm. Yum. That cost $18.

Hubby and K ordered the Spruce burger (shown above). A little disappointed as Hubby and I agreed that Botak Jones’s burgers was at a better value given Botak’s price point. And my personal favorite burger joint is still Relish. Spruce’s Burger is at $18.

A had the steak with fries. I didn’t get to try that but from A’s looks, he seems pleased with his piece of red meat. I cant remember how much was the steak though.

As for dessert, we ordered 4 types of cheeses to share. The truffle cheese was clearly a winner. But then again, truffle with anything is always a winner.

My personally favorite was the cheese with “ashes” infused in it. Very interesting combination. The ashes really brought out the mild saltiness of the cheese and its “cheesy” flavor. Ha. I liked that.

All in all, each of us spent $60 each, inclusive of 2 bottles of wines! A while was ordered from the restaurant and we brought our own red.

I’ll love to retun!