...my one day jalan~jalan cari makan in ipoh (part 1)...

T’was a raining Raya morning. The sky was still pitch-dark. It’s the best time to be sleeping in bed, but no, have to beat the rooster to wake up at 3.30am to get ready to be picked up by Peter and Carole on a food expedition to Ipoh. We departed penang at about 4.45am. After a lot of chatting, laughing and yawning, we finally arrived Ipoh about two hours later.

First destination, to locate the dim sum restaurant, other than the famous Foh San in town. That was when we were "introduced" to Lorong Po Garden behind the petrol kiosk where we stopped to ask for direction. It looks like a dead end and since it was dark, we did not take the chance. See for yourself. It has been haunting us throughoutour whole trip to Ipoh. No matter where we went, it was there.

The restaurant is known as Yoke Fook Moon. Looking forward with anticipation and growling tummies, we went in and started ordering. Since Ipoh is famous for dim sum (although the bean sprout (taugeh) chicken ranks top), I realised that the taste of the dim sum is a little different from what we have in Penang. I think that the taste is more of Ipohnites. Heard of bird's nest custard tart? Have not? Pay RM3.50 for a piece of tart size of a fifty cents coin with a few tiny strips of birds nest!!! This is really for the birds!!! If you spent RM35 for ten pieces, you can buy two swallows and hear them chirping and I think the can make a bigger nest!!!

We dropped by Foh Sun to buy some Leng Long Pau as recommended by the tour manager Carole. The place is a pack and busy as usual, but I still think it is the most over-rated dim sum restaurant. Maybe the best in Ipoh, but Penang has better dim sum. I guess a KL guy will tell you they have better dim sum than in Ipoh or even Penang. It's an acquired local taste.

From there, our wonderful guide cum driver Peter,decided to take us to some of the "tongs" (temples). Ipoh is well known for it's lime stone caves. Temples are built in these majestic caves. But before that, guess what we came across...Lorong Po Garden!!! It's there again, slapped right in the middle of the town!!!

The first tong we reached was the Gua Kek Look Tong. This amazing God created structure is simply magnificent!!! The facade of the cave is a temple. As you enter, you are greeted by the chirpings of the birds. Then there are staircases and railings leading to almost every nook and crevices in the cave. Of course there are huge bronze looking effigies on the altars. But what really took my breath away was the huge beautiful garden lies behind the cave. It is a sight to behind. It makes you feel like you have entered another dimension, or Shangrila rather. It's like stepping into a magical kingdom of greens.

From there, Peter drove us to two other "tongs". These temples have their own beauty, but after visiting the former, nothing compares, but there is one that is worth mentioning. The facade and pillars are a little 70s with bright, loud colours. Inside, the place is full of effigies of all sizes (looks more like an ang kong keng). Here, it gives you the creeps. It's a little dim and when we were there, there were only one or two caretakers. You will have to walk a long passage way to the back of the temple. Behind this temple, there is a long long neverending flight of stairs. As curious as I can get, I decided to climb up. At the other end of the steps was another cave like entrace. It was darker than before. I can only see another passage way that leads to somewhere, but it was closed. I simply love mystery!!! I would love to know where that leads to.

The next one (next to it) is a typical real ang kong keng with the smell joss sticks burning. It has many colourful mythical figurines - flying horses, elephants, mermaids, the eight deities crossing the sea, the three-legged frog that bites on a coin, the god of prosperity, etc. (like those we see in Batu Maung Footprint Temple). There is also a place where you walk down a few steps to wash with holy water.

The was another cave temple that we wanted to visit. Just a walking distance from this two but there was a funeral rite going on, so NO NO to Carole!!! Hehehe!!!

Next, what is Ipoh without buying pomeloes. Peter wanted to take us to somewhere else, not the stalls along the main road where the "pomelo" girls stand right in front of the stalls attracting male customers (which sounded more like a red-light district in pomelo land!!!). To get there, we have to get back to town, which means....taaadaaa....

This is more of a fruit stall or rather a small shopfront. It sells, not only pomeloes but dragon fruits, mangoes, papayas, bananas, watermelons, pinapples, potatoes, cikus, star fruits, biscuits, snacks, rojak sauces, tidbits, drinks, etc.

Many people enjoy drinking loh han kor...a kind of dried fruit that most would boil in water and add sugar before drinking it. It is suppose to have some medicinal values, but I drink it because I like the taste. Here is the loh han kor fruit on a tree. What we get from supermarkets or Chinese medicine shops are dried.
(...to be continued...)