Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Road Trip Story - Day Two


Few words: Quote of the day ‘if he reply please advice, he got no balls’ by my superintendent.


Let’s carry on with my road trip story and to be frank, my memory is fading away now. I guess that’s the consequence of procrastinating – the longer you delay the fader the memory goes. But luckily I did take photo along the trip and these photos are all that I have to keep me on track. But indeed photo does tell a thousand words; just as long as it is not an overexposed one.

Our next destination was to Sitiawan most famous temple, the Tua Pek Kong Temple. The last thing I remember was we planned to set off early. Rising myself on the bed the next day, I look at my watch; somehow my alarm turned to snoozing mode and by the time it rang again, it was two hour later. DAFUQ! Regardless of that, we still rushed our way there to avoid the sun. Yet, by the time we reached there, the sun was directly ninety degree on top of us. FML! Despite the skin-piercing hot weather, the sweaty feeling under armpit and loads of overexposed shots, the view there is really something to brag of. I’m not comparing to serious contemporary art but in term of temple art, it was amazing enough. The massive statues there were all imported from China nonetheless. Ah, no wonder - enough manpower for sure.

I was told by a lady there that people all around M’sia come here to pray for numbers, lottery numbers to be exact; even Singaporean come all the way just for the numbers. With that being said, we too try our luck with the numbers and buying it for a week consecutively, albeit without success. Why am I doing this? I’ve no idea. I guess luck is not on my side that week, anyhow do tell me if this numbers appears in any lottery first prize; 2466.

After one and half day tour in Sitiawan, it was time to proceed to Teluk Intan. We purposely took a detour via Changkat Jong just for the M. Gulam Rasul famous spiced fried chicken (ayam goreng berempah). By using Changkat Jong route, it is almost impossible to miss this greenish factory sized restaurant just beside the main road.

They started their business with a stall in the 60’s and soon it grows to this friggin big restaurant. Their fame is no joke; their dish appears numerous times in newspaper and it has been the locals’ talk for decades. As I was approaching the counter, they have one big compartment just for their spiced fried chicken. I purposely picked two drumsticks, you know, just to double the taste; after all that is the sole reason I took this detour. They looked well on plate but of course we need to get those into our mouth before I can judge them – on my first bite, the meat won’t chunk off – on my second, it won’t chuck off either. The meat texture was so stiff that my mouth gets tired chewing. The taste and aroma is completely okay just that I was unable to chew anymore. I even spat some half-chewed chunk because my jaws eventually gave up chewing.

Once again feeling betrayed by the bloggers, we continued our journey to Teluk Intan. Upon reaching this still developing town, the mighty leaning tower snatches all the attention. But one thing for sure, don’t expect clean background when you shooting the leaning tower. It was located in the middle of a busy town – just opposite a marketplace and the empty spaces surrounding it were used for car park. Still, the tower remains the lone trademark of Teluk Intan.

Later that day, just right after we checked in our hotel, we headed for Teluk Intan’s CCF – a dish whose reputation dwarfs all other foods in Teluk Intan. CCF is simply an acronym for Chee Cheong Fun or direct translated as pig intestines noodle but not to worry; it is purely organ free foods. In fact, CCF is just a flat layer of skin-like noodle made of flour. Teluk Intan’s CCF is quite unusual from the normal CCF we had which were either served in hot chili sauce, mixed with sesame oil and soy sauce or simply with herbal mushroom stew. Teluk Intan’s CCF is sauce-less and wrapped with dried shrimp and cabbage. Again, not my liking and to be frank, any CCF in Ipoh tasted much better. But anyhow, I had bought three packets. Why am I doing this again? I’ve no idea.

Abandoned the plan to finish all three packets, we decided to venture further for more foods. Just as we were roaming around the small town, we stumbled across the famous Teluk Intan fragrant biscuit or more known as hiong piah by the local. I wasn’t quite sure which one tastes better in Teluk Intan – the Tiger Head Brand or Butterfly Brand; the former is a rival to the latter for many years. Undeterred, I walked into the Butterfly Brand shop and asked which one is more famous. Looking at the shop owner in question, I get the idea I shouldn’t ask it at the first place. Silently, I paid and ran out of the shop.

Living in the city of rumored to be the best hiong piah, Ipoh; the butterfly brand won’t stand a chance. But on the contrary, the butterfly brand does bring a diverse taste – in fact to my personal liking, it is actually better than Ipoh one. I can’t be too sure about this, maybe because I am too used to Ipoh one. But somehow the biscuit is buttery crispier and the maltese is less sticky. In my opinion, the buttery flavor is the final winning blow.

We then arrived at Lana Tea House, a fine dining restaurant in Teluk Intan. Budget and fine dining is never a good match but Lana Tea House makes this possible. When I first opened their menu, I thought I was in some mamak stall. Not that I am complaining but once I learned the price on the menu, I did wonder. Can earn meh? Overall, the dinner was okay, the ambient is superb; fully decorated with 80’s limited edition antique. Great place for friend and family, they not only serve western food but also a wide variety of foods – from Malay, Chinese to Japanese cuisine. It is a good place for stingy, thrifty or tight budget guy who want to treat their girl a dinner. Come to think about it, my friend, Section should go.

The life in Teluk Intan is pretty much unexpected. Before I come to Teluk Intan, I thought the only thing I can do at night is FB to the next morning. But it turned out; Teluk Intan folks really know how to enjoy themselves. As it gets darker at night, the real entertainment is just about to begin. They have this massive Sky Bar with trendy techno songs, high-tech disco lighting and cool DJ. As the eardrum-battering deep bass, thump-thump-thumping of hip-hop music blares from a beat-up boom box stereo, I could have a heart attack if I stayed long enough. There is also a K-box just beside the Sky Bar and the best of all; they are all situated in the same building where my hotel is. But since we weren’t in the mood for booze that night, we opted for K-box instead. We sang our throat out for only below MYR 20 per person; that’s a steal which you can only dream of in Ipoh. Suddenly, Teluk Intan is being hailed as the best cheap high tech entertainment town.

At around 2am, I barely have any voice left. I dragged myself back to the hotel and drop dead to the bed. And that’s how I celebrated my 2012 new year.

Happy New Year Mellymonkeys!!! To be continued...


5 comments:

Charlie said...

love your 1st 2 pic ^_^

J2Kfm said...

What a refreshing read. Was searching around for a good Perak road trip itinerary and found yours.
Cheers. Now you made me miss the travelling days in Perak so much.

NatashaTing said...

Wait, I caught a glimpse of my hometown. haha!

Cheerios,
Natasha

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