DAY 1000-1004

May 29 - Jun 2

1) We celebrate the 1000th day of my blog in style, with many events and meet-ups transpiring in this short week. Most recent was my maternal grandmother's 80th birthday celebration at Menglembu East Ocean Seafood Restaurant. My uncle reserved many tables for all our relatives to come for the event; and it was a grand event indeed, with a 7-course meal, followed by cake! My cousin Wilson also came down from the UK to attend the event, and I was really glad to catch up with him after such a long time :)

2) At the start of the week, Uncle Tuck and his family came over to visit us overnight, before leaving the next day for Penang. It was very nice catching up with them after so many months, over dinner at Gourmet Square Food Court. The next noteworthy event was my watching two movies in as many nights - which is peculiar of me as I haven't watched a movie (at the cinemas) in more than a year!

3) I watched Disney's musical fantasy "Aladdin" with my mom on the first night, and "Godzilla - King of the Monsters" with my good friend Isyraf whom I've not seen for the better part of three years! Aladdin remained faithful to the Disney animated movie as I remembered it, and Godzilla was full of special effects as an action movie haha. Both were really fun in my opinion, but more importantly it was really good to meet up with my old schoolmate and badminton buddy :)

4) Another two "Good Eats" in Ipoh to recommend - one is called "de Cuisine Cafe", whose specialty (in my opinion at least) includes their famous American Mudpie. It is a real shame that they were all sold out when I went with my family for lunch there... But their set meals are awesome as well - chicken or lamb chops with a large selection of sauces - served with garlic potatoes and a side of salads, and complete with dessert - for only RM15.90 (€3.00!)

5) The last place to recommend would be a really unassuming stall in a cornerside coffeeshop in Greentown that sells really authentic Western-style food. I especially love their garlic butter spaghetti with herbs, as well as their cheese omelettes - loaded with freshly melted cheese and topped off with more parmesan! It's certainly a breakfast to remember, but alas I can't remember the name XD

6) In one week (six days as I type this), I will be leaving home to resume my studies in Penang. It honestly feels too fast - like only yesterday when I left for home. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and back to the old grind I must return haha. We start off our semester with Forensics and Legal Medicine, our module exams for the same, and then I'm in Paediatrics rotation for the next eight weeks. Can't wait to see how that turns out haha. Anyway that's it for this edition of my blog, do enjoy the pics below, and thanks as always for tuning. Have a great week ahead, cheers! :)

Celebrating my maternal grandmother's 80th birthday at a famous Chinese restaurant in Ipoh 

(East Ocean Seafood Restaurant)

Having dinner at Gourmet Square Food Court with Uncle Tuck, Auntie Belle, and Sophie :))

Simple and so satisfying meal of rice with fried egg and Chinese sausage (lap cheong)

(reminds me of my childhood haha)

  

Various snacks and good eats - there's rojak, sate (skewered meat) and lobak (five-spice pork rolls)

Today's dinner was with mom, at Kenny Roger's Roasters

Dinner mom before watching a movie ^^

First of two movies in two days haha

(Disney's musical "Aladdin")

Post movie treat at Secret Recipe :)

Today my dad brought me to a very special place for food - called "De Cuisine Cafe"

The grilled chicken chop with mushroom sauce was phenomenal, as was the richly spiced garlic potatoes :)

  

With grandpa and my dad :)

For an extra RM1 (that's 20 cents) you get a small but cute dessert :)

The second of the two movies in two days haha

(Godzilla - King of the Monsters --> out today!)

With my buddy Isyraf (whom I've known since donkey years ago) and his brother

Looking surprisingly chill for someone soon to be swallowed by that monster...

With my cousin the one and only Dr. Wilson Cheah 

(who was back on holiday in time for my grandmother's birthday celebration)

With all my cousins on my mom's side

(l-r: Pei Ying, Joe, Wen Bin, Pei En, Pei Ci, Jameson, Yvonna, Nickson, Wilson)

That's the menu for tonight's dinner at Menglembu East Ocean Restaurant

(tip for would-be bloggers is to take a pic of the menu so you can remember the name of the dishes later on hah)

My mom all dressed up for the event :)

Cupcakes made by my auntie :)

Thumbs up of approval by mum for the cupcake ^^

With my mom and Auntie Moon Cheah :)

The main starter - consisting of lobster meat salad, honey glazed chicken, scallops, char siew pastries etc...

That's a real lobster whose meat was scooped out for the salad - really fresh!

Steamed chicken with fresh ginger

Braised sea cucumber in savoury gravy (with loads of scallops and broccoli haha)

My mom's love for flowers has never been more evident that in this photo <3

Steamed estuary tiger grouper with scallion soy sauce

Huge sautéed prawns with premium soy sauce

If it wasn't already clear, the prawns were HUMONGOUS!

Longevity noodles to finish just before dessert ^^

"Brown sugar pastries" turned out to be trilayer - gelatin on the outermost layer, mochi in the middle layer, and sweet red bean paste on the innermost layer; a unique and decadent combination of flavours :)

To finish off, sweet walnut soup that was silky smooth and not too sweet

 Having breakfast with my family this lazy Sunday morning

(introducing the famous cheese omelette with ham, bacon, and sausages - at Greentown Ipoh)

Believe me, this is REALLY delicious

UTC (Urban Transformation Centre) Perak - where the public come to pay bills and enlist both private and public services -

 extremely convenient as everything e.g. electric, phone or water bills are all under one roof :)

DAY 990-999

May 19 - 28

1) With our exams finally over (for now) and the holidays starting, one of my main objectives was to spend as much quality time as I can with my family. Therefore, my mum came over right after exams for a short visit, and also to help me with carrying some stuff back home. We went food-hunting around Penang, and after three days, returned to Ipoh. It has been a good six months since I last saw home, so I was really glad to be back :)

2) After a couple of days resting at home and generally idling about doing nothing, my mum and I went on a road trip to Kuala Krau with my cousin, Joe, and her family. It was a really fun outing, as Kuala Krau is known for its seafood. Located right next to the Pahang River, it reminded me very much of a typical "fishing village", with fishermen drying their fish in boats, and some of them preserved the fish with salt to make salted fish. We were very fortunate to take many photos, as on the way back it started pouring. Luckily the rain didn't last long and we made it back home safely.

3) I've also made a trip to Beacon Point - a cafe which holds many sweet childhood memories of mine. I used to come here with my family over the weekends after (window-) shopping at Jusco at night, and we'd usually order their famous chocolate brownies with ice-cream. I was surprised to find out that the management has since changed, and while they still serve the same dessert, it no longer has that extra TLC that I was used to haha. Anyway, it was still a very nice experience reliving my childhood memories with my dear family :)

4) A relatively new tradition for us is to spend Sunday afternoon having toast and hot coffee/tea at Coco Cafe - a cafe with a branch in Aeon Klebang. We usually walk around Aeon, have lunch, dilly-dally a bit then sit down to have afternoon tea. So the past weekend, we made it a point to do just that, and ended up taking a nice family picture (the first picture below the text). It is really nice to put my work in Penang aside and focus on spending time with my family...

5) A brand new restaurant selling self-service "lok-lok" has opened up recently. The concept is simple, you help yourself to as many skewers of meat or vegetables that you want, place them in a large hotpot to cook, then dip them into the many sauces and condiments that are available, and enjoy! The prices are based on number of sticks eaten - different coloured sticks have different prices. By providing an air-conditioned environment (as opposed to the usual open-air food truck style), it really makes the experience more comfortable and relaxing! :)

6) Our latest trip was to a small town called Lenggong - where they specialise in "fishballs", which they make out of herring (ikan parang). These fishballs are known to have a bouncy but not overly firm texture, and are really small in size, compared to the regular type. In addition to trying out their fishballs, we ordered some fish, beancurd (tofu), and fried bitter gourd. Apparently, the owner of the restaurant is a rather frail old man, whose knife skills are remarkable!

7) The town itself is unique - with its many excavation sites providing traces of Malaysia's prehistory, including the now-famous Perak Man - the oldest human skeleton found in Peninsular Malaysia, dating back at least 11, 000 years ago!

8) That has been a review of what I've been up to for the past week or so. I'm slowly recuperating at home and replenishing my feel-good meter, before returning to continue with my studies in about two weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to start next semester afresh and eager, as we move from one rotation to the next. But for now, it's happy holidays and here's to cherishing the happy moments here. Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a great week ahead, cheers! :D

Happily reunited with my parents and grandpa - at Coco Cafe @ Aeon Klebang :)

Enjoying a round of "masala dosa" at Pelita (my first day back home ^^)

Chronology of events begins here: with a visit by my mum to Penang

- here we are at Yoshinoya, Gurney Plaza - enjoying a nice bowl of udon :)

Curry beef udon <3

The night view of Gurney Paragon :)

Large chicken rice set

Chocolate banana milkshake at Hoshino Coffee @ Gurney Plaza - what a way to top off the night ^^

The double soufflé pancake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream was made-to-order and 

absolutely worth the 20-minute long wait :))

At the entrance of Hoshino Coffee :)

The following day, I took my mum for buffet lunch at Top View Restaurant & Lounge

Featuring a nearly 360 degree panoramic view of the city skyline of Penang Island - absolutely breathtaking :)

With the Penang Bridge (and Jerejak Island) in the horizon ^

Buffet lunch with mum for Mother's Day <3 <3 <3

Top View Restaurant & Lounge

More panoramic views coming your way hehe

Tuna & egg mayo; sardine & curry chicken sandwiches, as prepared by the friendly staff

The dessert spread :)

At night, we visited Queensbay Mall, which already had decorations for the holy month of Ramadhan

It took us a lot of effort to secure a table at the Food Court, and when we did, I ordered this - 

tang yuan (a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice balls served in sweet syrup)

Home sweet home <3

Monitor lizard spotted at an undisclosed location haha

Last week, my mom and myself went to Kuala Krau with my cousin and her family :)

 Kuala Krau is a federal constituency located in Pahang, 

just an hour's drive South East of Perak (where I'm from)

A beautiful temple in the middle of nowhere - @ Kuala Krau :)

Ornate paintings adorned the walls of the temple 

These people are drying fish in the Sun to make salted fish :)

Having lunch at one of the famous restaurants in Kuala Krau

Very fresh prawns

Freshwater crabs on a bed of steamed egg custard :)

Their signature drink is apparently a mix of Milo and Coffee powder :)

(A nice refreshing kick on a HOT afternoon)

The sign reads "I Love Kuala Kurau"

Picture by the pier :)

Drying shrimp (if I'm not mistaken haha) by the boat

The sign reads "Kurau Homestay" - not that we'd be staying the night haha

A simple life for simple and contented people

My mum's special ABC soup - a welcome reprieve from the weekly Maggi noodle soup that I have in Penang XD

This is my first jog back home in Ipoh, Perak

(pardon the messy hair - I got a haircut the very next day)

A new restaurant/cafe opened up - called North Star, it serves a fusion of Western and Asian cuisine - like this Hainanese style pork chop (which is out-of-this-world amazing!)

Chicken pie at Beacon Point, Ipoh

One of my fondest childhood memories is eating chocolate brownies with ice-cream with my family at Beacon Point! 

We've tried to relive those memories, with the only exception being the management has changed, resulting in a strangely similar but still unfamiliar experience :)

Case in point, those days... the chocolate brownies were squares served on a frosty cold saucer, with a generous helping of whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and condensed milk drizzled over it

(this version has the same lovely cake and vanilla ice-cream, sans the toppings haha)

On to breakfast at a restaurant we fondly call "Chubi" - which has some really nice fishball/ meatball soup. It goes really well with a hot plate of dry curry noodles :)

Buttered toast and hot coffee/tea with my family :)

Trying out a new place that serves "lok lok" - skewers of meat/vegetables that you cook for yourself in a large hotpot :)

Waiting for the skewers to cook in the rich chicken broth hotpot

Just yesterday (Monday), my maternal grandmother, aunt, mum, and myself went to Lenggong - a small town with a rich history. Here we are enjoying a bowl of clear soup noodles for breakfast

The entire menu for lunch is in Chinese - and I was really glad to be able to read most of them :)

(These are all the dishes on offer from this simple corner restaurant that caters mostly to the neighbourhood)

One of the regional specialties in Lenggong is the saitou fishballs, made from a certain type of fish called "wolf herring" or "ikan parang" or "saitou" - hats off for being trilingual XD

 I hesitate to name the other dishes, but mainly the dish on the left is a type of fish belly if I'm not mistaken, and the dish on top is fried tofu in two ways - one with a mayo dip, and the other Thai-style (with chilli, onions, and cucumber)

I cannot remember the name of the fish, but this was undeniably the star of the show - a whole fish cooked in a simple soy sauce - delicious till the last <3

Back to Gourmet Square (which I've waxed lyrical about since coming back to Ipoh the first time around)

A new Indian curry stall has opened, replacing the Japanese food stall. They serve various curry sets, including this: rendang curry on a faux banana leaf plate. Served with a heapful of rice and gravy, cucumber raita, and a half-boiled egg, this was really wholesome and delicious :)