Sunday, November 6, 2011

weekends with my buddies =D

Finally after all the talking and planning AND PROCRASTINATION, my besties decided to pay me a visit.   After 4 years of studying together and 2 years of working, a trip to Ipoh finally fell into place. Arriving on a late Saturday afternoon, I took them to Strawberry Moments Cafe to "alas perut". Why Strawberry Moments? Well, because one need to drive up to Camerons as this is their 3rd branch (The first two are in Camerons)

Errr.... wat was this? Capucinno or Tiramisu Cake. Tastewise, its just so so, but the display and presentation is indeed a feast to the eyes.

Their famous Strawberry Strudel. Strawberries and fresh cream sandwiched between puff pastry. A light dessert. You can easily finish the portion on your own.

Pancake with Strawberry Ice Cream and Fresh Strawberries. Ok, now this is abit HEAVY.

Told ya, it was INDEED HEAVY!!!.... 

Strawberries Moments is currently having a tea time promotion. Sets are available from RM7.90 onwards, comes with a meal/dessert/cake and a drink and a small serving of fresh strawberries. 

Surprisingly, Strawberry Moments is still surviving in De Garden. Though being special, nicely decorated with well presented and attractive looking desserts, I would see a near empty cafe every time I pass by. I Love Yoo, Tutti Fruitti, and Airport has already throw in the towels. Guess the few other to follow suit would be Boston and Burger King? Sigh... what is happening to Ipoh? There is really no market here besides hawkers and fast food? Good luck to Haagan Dasz for their opening in November in De Garden.

After a quick rest in my humble abode, we decided to make a twist by having Dim Sum for dinner! Yoke Fook Moon is the only option that I know which serves Dim Sum at night. Not gonna elaborate further on this though. Neither will I touch on the Snow Beer we had for second round after our dim sum.

Next, we took them to Too Boo Keong temple as they had some Nine Gods Festival celebration. They had some Chinese opera going on. The street was filled up with stalls selling the "tortoise bun".....

......... and Angry Birds merchandise =p

Just before calling it a night, I brought them to experience the "night life" in Ipoh. Well, I always wanted to prove to KL peeps that Ipoh people do "club". Though, relatively speaking, if KL clubs are like hypermarkets, Ipoh "clubs" are just minimarkets or sundry shops. Seriously, Ipoh people should call it PUB-bing instead of clubbing

Yaya, they had some Hellriders show off superbikes parade. With some hot chicks as well.

The next morning, we kick started the morning by opening our own "club". Played DDR in my PS2.

Next, we headed for a simple breakfast nearby in k10 Claypot Chicken Rice in Bandar Medan Bestari. But we had "liew fun" la... While waiting, Sin Mei disclosed her pressie for us, a souvenir from Hong Kong - Egg Custard mooncakes. =D

I just couldn't describe it much further. Neither did I get a clear shot of it. But it was indeed crumbly and tasty =)

Next, we headed to Sam Poh Tong and Kek Lok Toong to enjoy the sight of limestone. I personally prefer Kek Look Toong because the air is not filled with smoke from joss sticks. There is a lake in the middle of the "valley" which was once filled with lotus plants, but was poorly maintained in recent times. There is limited "cave climbing" involved compared to Perak Tong which you can see a breath taking view of Ipoh city at its "peak"

Dropped by one of my friend's grandma pomelo stall. The "tourist" bought some souvenirs home.... FYI, pomelo is something Ipoh is famous for, and Tambun is the place where most of the pomelos are grown. Perhaps same reason with the beansprout, lets give credit to the unpolluted natural water from the limestone caves. rAwrrRrs....

Next, I would never fail to bring my tourist to my personal favourite dessert stall, Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fah. I just love their fragrant sugary syrup infused with pandan leaves. They are very famous with numerous coverage from food reviews and write ups by floggers. Certain celebrities have expressed their fondness over this warm and velvety dessert.

The price has gone up to a whopping 90 cents for a small bowl but the portion still is small. You can slurp it down your throat in just 3 or 4 spoonfuls. However, the long bee line shows that business is brisk indeed, especially on weekends and public holidays. Do not take your chances by coming in the late afternoon as you might be disappointed when this sought after commodity is sold out. Yup, cars even make a long queue ala drive through. You can see cars with number plates "W" and "P"s making big purchases in bottles and plastic containers.

It was just a nearby street where we get our flaky Kaya Puffs from Sun Eng Heong Confectionery. Kaya puffs are sold out within minutes. The long queue is moving even slower than a traffic light jam. You might even grip your fist when you see a customer in front ordering 10 boxes of 10 pieces each causing the queue to crawl. The MORE THAN 20 minutes wait was worth it as we sinked our teeth in the the flaky pastry and the warm kaya filling inside. Best eaten fresh, it was indeed total comfort food.

A late lunch at Lou Wong wraps up the Ipoh trip as our visitors geared up to head back to KL. Next post, MY VISIT to KL - "backlash"/reunions with my ji muis =D

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