DAY 1477-1487

 Sept 17 - 27

1) It has not sunk in yet that in literally a week, I will be continuing my medical studies in Penang. I have only just gotten used to life back in Malaysia, with my family by my side, and with our usual routines back home. All of this seems to have whizzed me by. My mom has been incredible in making me feel right at home, by making plenty of soups and desserts (agar-agar and kuih) that she perfected since the lockdown began. At the very least, I get to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival (i.e. the Mooncake festival) with my family before leaving for Penang. After that, it will be back to clinical practice until my (touchwood) graduation a year and a half later.

2) I had earlier anticipated that I would have much more free time back home, since I had around a month to spare after returning from my Masters in the UK. However, circumstances have kept me busy, and I instead found myself travelling around getting stuff done. I am being deliberately vague here as I rather not share news until it is official. Nevertheless, that has not stopped me from going out with some of my friends, and even meeting up for a game of badminton at the stadium.

3) I shall be even busier next week, with all the packing up to do, as well as the actual moving in to my new accommodation. Thankfully, we managed to find a nice apartment in Berjaya Court - a mere 1.5km from my medical school. I've visited the area when I went to Penang two weeks ago, and it promises to be very convenient and ideal for daily commute to the hospital. As it is, I will be busy anyway with mentally (and physically!) preparing myself for the next rotation (i.e. psychiatry) when I return to clinical medicine. Hopefully, the next postings will be just as fruitful and exciting as my previous ones were. 

4) This year has been a really crazy year, with the pandemic changing everyone's lives in some way. Here's hoping that the rest of the year will compensate for this, with good news and better outlook for people worldwide. And on that positive (if rather cheesy) note, I'll end my blog post here. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a great one. Cheers! 

A much anticipated meet-up with many of my childhood friends!

(l-r: Wei Yue, Nicholas, Chung Hou, Jonathan, Eve, Nathaniel, Cheang Kok Wah, Kho Tat Ping, David, and myself)

Lunch with my good friends at the Ipoh Sports Complex, right after a game of badminton :)

(l-r: Paul, Subesh, Myself, Joseph)

Trying a new restaurant called "Mama Noodle Cafe"

The restaurant specialises in a type of noodle called 老鼠粉 ("rat tail noodles"), so-called because the shape of the noodles is long and tapered much like a rat's tail. As you can see, there are many versions, from "dry" (without soup) or "wet" (with soup) to curry options,

A nice photo with my parents - behind us is the Kinta River, one of the main branches of the Perak River (itself the second longest river in Peninsular Malaysia after Pahang River).

My mom's sticky rice with mango (a traditional Thai dessert made with glutinous rice, mango, and coconut milk) 

My mom showing me how she makes her famous kuih seri muka (lit. pretty face cake) - a traditional two-layered dessert with steamed glutinous rice forming the bottom half and a green custard layer made with pandan juice (hence the green colour).

The completed kuih seri muka :)

Celebrating the successful cake making session with a photo!

Most of us became friends while in secondary school, while some of us go all the way back to primary school. It was really nice meeting up with everyone after such a long time! :)

Nick recommended the black pepper chicken chop rice - not bad indeed!

Today my mom bought back some snow skin mooncakes, so-called because of their snowy white "skin", made from frozen glutinous rice

Unlike traditional mooncakes, snow skin mooncakes are not baked but instead eaten cold. Here we have three different fillings for the mooncake

Another pastry with red bean filling that I have no idea how to translate haha soz...

For lunch, my dad and I tried this chilli pan mee (served with soup), at a restaurant in Bercham

The stall served some really nice pot stickers too (also known as pan-fried dumplings)

On this day, my mom decided that we had ate out enough times and that she wanted to prepare a nice home-cooked meal for us. And this is the end result!

My mom made noodles with minced pork and mushrooms, plus a healthy side of leafy greens, and a big bowl of fish-ball soup

A very wholesome meal with the whole family <3

Not everyone may be familiar with the actual name of this dish - 月光河 (lit: moonlit river). The noodles are supposed to resemble the shimmering river while the egg yolk represents the brightly lit full moon. Stirring in the runny egg yolk into the piping hot noodles gives the noodles a really smooth and slightly creamy texture :)

This weekend, we visited the Coco Cafe - located inside Aeon Mall Ipoh Klebang

This would be a traditional breakfast (which we have decided to get for tea XD)

Basically it's just kaya and butter toast, with two half-boiled eggs, and cups of hot teh tarik (milk tea) and coffee

As you can see, everyone is all smiles when the food arrives!

Smiley face created using two egg tarts and a kaya puff

This evening, my mum and I went for a reunion/gathering with my relatives at a famous Chinese restaurant called East Ocean Seafood Restaurant, located somewhere in Menglembu.

(the Chinese characters translate to "mountain peach wine")

My mom and I <3

The way food is served in Chinese-style restaurants is that communal dishes are brought out one by one from the kitchen. The starter is usually a cold dish, followed by various meats, veggies, and seafoods, followed by either a rice or noodle dish, and finally a dessert to finish off. This is the first dish, consisting of fried yam with minced meat 

Crispy roast duck served atop some lovely steamed buns

The crispy duck skin perfectly counters the silky smooth and tender duck meat

"Marinated herbal drunken prawns" - essentially prawns marinated in a herbal broth and cooked in wine before serving. The prawns were really fresh, and the broth itself was exploding with flavor from the strong herbs

Duck meat salad - I am not familiar with the exact ingredients in this, but all I know is it i) had duck meat; and ii) tasted delicious - so I just dug in!

Broccoli with enoki mushrooms

Congee with roast duck meat (the third entry to use duck meat in the dish)

For dessert, we had a thick version of sweet red bean soup - a delightful way to wrap up the evening

Wild boar curry with rice is incredible

Some of the smallest bananas I have seen haha (my pinky for comparison)

Nasi lemak - surely one of if not the most representative dish of my country :)

Tonight, mom made some milk tea for me <3

Lunch today was banana leaf rice with my dad

Four mooncakes :)

The Chinese characters on this mooncake read "伍仁" referring to the filling of five different types of nuts and seeds, held together with maltose syrup. The most commonly used nuts and seeds include walnuts, pumpkins, almonds, peanuts, and sesame seeds.

A rare "twin" banana

As you can see, the bananas are really joined together

Today my parents decided to give this new restaurant, called Hyderabad Recipe, a try

We had their chicken dum biryani, egg biryani, mutton biryani, and specialty chicken curry

I absolutely loved the fragrant biryani, paired with their unbelievably tender mutton!

We finally got round to trying the A&W outlet here in Ipoh. Usually it's packed to the brim with people...

Had to go for their famous root beer float as well as their coney dogs

DAY 1464-1476

Sept 4 - 16

1) A lot has happened in the span of just two weeks. In between all the good food that I've had with my family, I've also met up with some of my high school friends, and we've gone on to watch a movie together as well. It's hard to believe that only three weeks remain before I continue my medical school life in Penang - I do sometimes wish I could remain home in Ipoh :)

2) So let's recount the days in greater detail. I've been to the nearby market (in Kg. Simee) to get myself a new cloth mask, and to take some pictures of everyday market life back home. Later that evening, my mom made some lovely "gula melaka" (brown sugar) agar-agar, which she brought to a gathering with my relatives. It was the first time my mom had made this dessert for me, and I really appreciate her effort. The agar was very well balanced - the bottom half (brown sugar layer) was sweet, while the top (coconut milk layer) was slightly salty, which went really well when eaten together. Top marks <3

3) In addition to making agar, my mom also made glutinous rice with kaya, a savoury variation of sticky rice called "lor mai fan" (糯米饭), another type of agar called pandan jelly, and finally, a huge pandan layered cake! Suffice to say, I've had my mouth full with all the sweet treats that my mom has been meticulously preparing for me since my return. Furthermore, we're been out to try some new food options, including a visit to Seafood Recipe - known for their freshly prepared seafood. We ordered some fish head noodles as well as two large crabs, prepared in a sweet and sour sauce. I have a strong affinity for crabs, so it is no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, especially spending it with mommy dearest.

4) Of course, a trip home would not be complete without meeting up with long-time friends. Fortunately, quite a few of them were back in Ipoh, so we met up one fine day for breakfast together at a nearby restaurant. What was supposed to be a quick breakfast turned into a full day spent at my friend Paul's house, ending with dinner at the local mamak stall. It was really fun catching up with everybody and just chatting about days gone by. But of course, a single meeting is never really enough; we went for a movie together too. It took a while for us to decide, but we finally settled on the latest offering, "Tenet", at Golden Screen Cinemas, Ipoh Parade. The movie itself was rather complex with lots of time-travel and paradoxes involved, but it was fun and entertaining nevertheless.

5) I've actually just returned from a two-day trip to Penang. I went there prematurely (i.e. ahead of my medical studies) to attend a session in Basic Life Support (BLS), organised by the Penang Cardiovascular Resuscitation (CPR) Society. It was a one-day session where we taught how to respond and perform CPR on adults, infants, and also how to handle victims of choking, as well as how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). At the end of the session, we had to take a short MCQ paper to test our knowledge. In the end, six of us tied with the highest mark - 96%! Given that my friend, Charmaine, and myself were the only two medical students (vs. everyone else who were all doctors), I think we did a good job. We were all given our certificates afterwards, which we would need for future use.

6) In a nutshell, there are a lot of activities going on in my life right now. I look forward to talking about them in the future. Here's to more good food and more meet-ups before beginning the next chapter of my medical school life in Penang! Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a nice day. Cheers! 

P.S. A kazillion photos below if you're interested :)

Met up with some of my childhood friends over dinner :)

(From l-r: Myself, Nicholas, Eve, Jonathan, Paul)

Satay - chicken and pork skewers with some really chunky peanut sauce

(usually served with cucumber and onion slices - similar to how kebabs might be served, in alternating layers)

My dad thoroughly approves of this :)

Night view on the main road just beside the police station

Went to a new shop called the "Ice-Cream Lab"

Apparently their best-seller is their pistachio ice-cream

Soft, velvety and rich in flavour, I really enjoyed this as it was not overtly sweet like most ice-creams tend to be

Had dinner with my mom at Sushi Mentai - this here is a serving of "cha-soba" or green-tea infused soba noodles. You're supposed to pour the plate of condiments into the dipping bowl (containing soy sauce) and then dunk the cold soba noodles into it before enjoying. In addition, they serve cheap "kaiten-zushi" (or conveyor belt sushi) - where you pick the sushi that you want as it travels continuously along a conveyor belt.

I'm a sucker for good banana leaf rice - this is a famous Indian outlet called Sri Asoka Corner at the Ipoh Sports Complex. The main dish I've ordered is chicken masala, which is served with two vegetable sides, a heapful of rice, a papadum (crispy flatbread), and a fine selection of gravies (usually chicken, fish, and vegetable). 10/10 would recommend!

Even my grandpa was all thumbs up for our dinner at Pelita, our nearby mamak stall where we regularly visit. I usually have the masala thosai ("dosa" stuffed with potatoes and spices), while my dad and grandpa go for the more regular "roti canai".

At the Penang Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Society, located within Harbour Trade Centre

Saying goodbye to my dad before boarding the bus to Penang (although this was just a two-day trip, it served as good practice for the time when I really do say goodbye to my family to continue studying medicine)

Enjoying my bus ride - it was so empty that I could kick back and just recline all the way :)

Started my Sunday being really rusty with CPR skills, but left that day having internalised this entire book :)

Session started with a presentation by the Vice President of the Penang CPR Society and Chief Medical Officer of the Emergency Department of Gleneagles Hospital, Penang - Dr. Chin Yin Loon

Huge thanks to my group instructor - Ms Devi for her dedication and commitment to drilling into us all the steps required to respond to a medical emergency

Too bad I'm not a doctor yet - those were 6 very valuable CPD (Continuing Professional Development) points that I've squandered away XD

Sungai Nibong Express Bus Terminal

Meeting up with my long-time high school friends

(l-r: Myself, Eve, Jon, Paul, Nick)

Our dinner was at Nasi Kandar Nasmir Restaurant - located just behind Aeon (Kinta City)

It's still the five of us :P

For dinner, I had this huge pot of briyani rice with lamb!

The decorations are for the Mid-Autumn Festival, held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar with a full moon at night :)

Traditionally, mooncakes are eaten and paper lanterns are lit to celebrate this occasion

My friends and I decided to try "Boat Noodle". Their food is served in really small (i.e. tiny) bowls, which encourages the customer to order many dishes and then stack up their bowls. That's exactly what we did!

This may look like a huge spread of food, but the contents in each bowl are really little (and the price of each bowl is really cheap - just RM 2.20.

Their decor

We ordered two of each from the menu - basically different types of noodles with either chicken or beef in a thick broth. Very unique and flavorful in my opinion

The aftermath of our feast - 18 bowls wiped clean :)

On to our next agenda, the latest movie by Christopher Nolan - Tenet

(Very interesting and really cool effects, if a little complex and difficult to follow at times)

It's been so long since I've had popcorn and soda over a movie XD

My mom's famous pandan layered cake!

Today, mom brought me to this (relatively) new seafood restaurant, called "Seafood Recipe"

As you can see, they specialise in crabs - which are priced according to their size. We ordered two large crabs, which came to RM 88

Fish head noodle soup - the broth is thickened with milk, resulting in an incredibly creamy and savoury dish!

Of course, everything pales in comparison to the star of the night - the two crabs served in a sweet and sour sauce! Yummy ~~

A juicy crab claw

Secret Recipe - a very appropriate name for a cake shop

We visited Secret Recipe (not to be confused with "Seafood Recipe"), a local cake shop which specialises in cheesecakes. I tried their salted caramel cheesecake and was not disappointed 

Their "Chocolate Odyssey" - chocolate mud-cake base filled with chocolate praline cream, caramelised hazelnuts, and cocoa crumbles!

My mom bought a nice box of mooncakes (to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival)

We have here a mooncake with pandan-infused lotus paste and salted egg yolk (left), as well as a mooncake with plain red bean filling (right)

My parents took me to try Texas Chicken (a.k.a. Church's Chicken in the US) - which specialises in fried chicken

It was a nice experience :)

I used to get cendol (an iced sweet desert containing green rice flour jelly, coconut milk, and palm sugar syrup) so often from a street vendor in Ipoh Garden. This brought back really nice memories of my dad and I having this right after my Biology Paper 3 of SPM (our O-Levels equivalent)

That's wild boar curry with rice - incredibly flavourful and hearty, especially when accompanied by fragrant coconut milk rice and sambal (chilli paste)!

My mom's attempt at making pandan agar-agar (jelly) was a huge success!

She even found the time to arrange the pieces nicely

This evening, my family and I had dinner at The Chicken Rice Shop, located in Ipoh Parade

As you can see, we ordered a large array of dishes ( basically three set meals and one extra rice for my grandpa who doesn't eat much). The main dish here is the roast chicken in soy sauce, accompanied by steamed baby bok choy (Chinese cabbage), beancurd, and beansprouts.

My parents recommended me to try out this "Dai Gao Min" (大塊面), also known as "apam balik". These are essentially pancakes stuffed with your choice of filling - traditionally crushed peanuts are used.

As you can see, the amount of filling given (crushed peanuts) is borderline ridiculous! XD

My mom holding up a freshly-made batch of "lor mai fan" (steamed glutinous rice).

I genuinely found this to be indistinguishable from restaurant-grade lor mai fan - it was that good!

A close-up of the dish - the yellow strips are slices of egg which are used as garnish (along with spring onions).

At Simee Market to hunt for a cheap cloth mask for me

My mom has also perfected the art of sweet glutinous rice with "kaya"

Trying out the masala thosai ("dosa") at  Nasi Kandar Pelita - the local mamak stall near our house

Today my parents brought me to a secluded cafe just behind Tow Boh Keong Hall (where I used to take Taekwondo lessons as a kid). It turns out this is a really traditional shop with century-old decor, where (mostly) retired Ipohites come to chat over a cup of iced coffee

The red and white tape is part of our country's restricted movement control order, which allows only one entry and exit point (to reduce the chances of cross-contamination).

Two plates of chee cheong fun ("rice noodle rolls") with accompanying iced tea and coffee, make for a fine afternoon treat!

Some really cute birds were chirping away in their cages as we ate

I don't wish for the birds to remain trapped in their cages, but to my understanding, they are being bred for competition

It may not look like much but this hot and sour mustard green stew (called chai boey, 菜尾) might just be one of my favourite dishes of all time! The soup itself is bursting with intense flavour from the tamarind peels (asam gelugor/ asam keping) and is perfect next to a bed of fluffy white rice.