2Day/1Night Drive/Stay to Perak.

Now that our children are grown up and lead their own life.

My wife and I, like to go for short car-drive trips on weekends or public holidays.

This is our  2days/1night drive/stay to Perak.

We started the drive after work on Saturday afternoon (quite heavy traffic) with a bye-bye city gesture.

 After an hour's drive, we stopped by Sungkai  (a small town, famous for it's hot spring resort at Sg Klah) @ Restoran Choy Kee for some refreshments and a plate of Hokkien style fried sliced Haruan fish (snakehead fish) rice vermicelli noodles with crunchy Choy Sam.

Fried sliced Haruan fish with rice vermicelli-Rm7/

 With a contented stomach after the meal, we continued our drive on the old trunk road to Teluk Intan via a left turn at a traffic light junction just before Bidor town.

A quite scenic road with mining ponds, kampung houses, fruits orchard and a Chinese new village with an English name-Kampung Coldstream, swiflets houses, oil palm plantation.........etc 

About half an hour later, the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan was in full sight.

We dropped by Maylex House (our niece accessories shop) with a hand painted Hello Kitty logo besides her shop,( located beside a Shell station), to buy a pair of dark sun glass and then to pick up Yoke, my SIL.

Yoke's house is quite a landmark, a huge beige colored double storey wooden house located next to the famous Liew Kee's Chee Cheong Fun stall@Jalan Hill.

After loading Yoke's small luggage bag in the car, my wife complains about the hot weather- a good excuse for some ice cool ABC and fruits rojak at a stall located next to Anson Hotel.

Fruit Rojak-assorted fruits like cucumber, unripe mango, ambarella,yam bean, guava, pineapple all in bite sizes-topped with blanched kangkong, beansprout, grounded peanut, ungent black shrimp paste, crispy and crackling dough fritters and prawn crackers-good appetizer !-Rm4/

The best thirst quencher on a hot afternoon-ABC-grass jelly, red sago pearl, pandan flavored noodle, red kidney beans, corn, milk, gula Melaka and finely shaved ice-heavenly!-Rm3/

Our next stop on the old trunk road was Chui Chap-Langkap-Tapah Road-Tapah and with Sil Yoke in the car-the journey was filled with jokes and laughter - with her latest updates of close relative's happenings !

From here, the landscape on both sides of the roadare  brown flat harvested muddy padi fields with flocks of white storks feeding on small fishes all over the fields.

At Langkap, we stopped at Kedai Makanan dan Minum Tong Fong to buy some pork pao and their famous red bean paste pao rolls for supper.

Along Tapah Road is a modern steel structured KTM rail station, two rows of old shop houses and a huge Prisons Cmplex.

When we reached Tapah town, at the road bridge we could see that the water level of the Tapah River was low - meaning ? ??  we could take a dip in the cool running water and do some digging and sieving  for river lala (clams) and siput (balaitong).

 After a fruitful, cool and wet time, we went to another of my SIL,Tai Yee's house, , where I took a rest and a full 20  minutes massage on an  electric powered massage chair, while my wife played Gin Rummy with them.

We ended the day with a dinner at Restoran Tonny located about 100m from the Tapah Polis station with two of my favorite dishes i.e.1: stir fried wild frogs with onion and ginger and 2: Kong Poh sliced Padi field's eel with lots of  dried red Bombay chillies, onion and spring onion.

 After dinner, we adjourned to another relative house to meet up for more chit chat and Gin Rummy.

Food court @Kampar.

Next morning, we woke up early to drive up north to Kampar (20 minutes drive).

Where we went to Kedai Makanan and Minuman Kawan Baru for our breakfast as it is nearby the market and food court, where the ladies intend to buy pastries and lor mai fun (cooked glutinous rice with toasted peanut, BBQ pork and curry sauce) just outside the food court.

The first thing that caught our eyes was rows of roast duck and it was so early in the morning.

We ordered a half portion duck (Rm18/) that came with  red chillies sauce and sweet bean paste sauce-verdict not bad, crisp skin, meaty and not gamey at all.

The soup noodle and Char Kway Teow were average at Rm3.50/bowl/plate (no complains ! ) and the flat white rice noodle was smooth and different from what we get in KL.

Roast Duck-meaty and succulent-red chillies sauce/sweet preserved bean sauce-Rm18/

Char Kway Teow-sambal on the side and half a calamansi (for it's juice)

Fish paste noodle.

Kai See Hor Fun with smooth white flat rice noodle.

Next we drive up to Bandar Baru Kampar to visit another relative where we spent a few hours before we left for home.

We stopped by Restoran Choy Kee@Sungkai for a late lunch before heading back to the city.

Fried rice vermicelli-dry style with shrimp, onion, fish cake and choy sam.

Stir fried Paku choy with sambal belacan.

Steamed Patin King with soy sauce/peanut oil-topped with julienne carrot, spring onion and cilantro-sweet tasting, smooth and meaty texture-Rm60/

Restoran Tonny @ Tapah.

Another quick, simple and delicious meal at Restoran Tonny.

Located opposite of a BP station before the Polis station in Tapah, Perak.


It's a small close knit family restaurant with limited seating.

The elder siblings Mun Mun aka Lady Gaga was quick to take our orders while the others help in the kitchen and multi-task..  


All the dishes came piping hot with lots of "wok hei."


Parking is OK.

Stir fried de-boned, sliced padi field eel with onion/spring onion/dried red chillies-meaty with a springy texture and a robust flavor.

Home made fish paste stuffed Tofu and assorted greens drenched with a tau cheong sauce-just like mum's cooking.

Steamed Tapah fish-belly section-the garnishing over powered the taste of the fish-quite oily too !

Yam (powdery) with thickly sliced three layers pork belly-well braised and steamed-5 stars.

Stir fried Paku choy with sambal belacan-tender, leafy and a bit salty.

Total bill:Rm110/

Location: a row of two storey shop houses along the Bidor-Tapah town road before the Polis station.

 

Restoran Tonny.

The search for more wild frogs for dinner continues at Restoran Tonny and we were in luck !

The abundance of wild frogs this CNY was because of the hot and humid weather and partly because the Orang Asli has no durians to pick.

Restoran Tonny is located in a double storey shophouse along the Bidor-Tapah road just about one km before the Tapah Police station.

Parking is ample.

Chef Tonny with a net full of fresh wild frogs for us-only to cook upon order.

Steamed wild frogs with finely chopped ginger/spring onion/soy sauce and Chinese wine-fresh, sweet and tender.

Steamed Trapia fish (Farmed Tilapia fish)-with soy sauce/sesame oil and garnished with ginger and cilantro-fresh, meaty with high Omega-3 ?

Braised water Terrapin with sliced ginger/spring onion-meat was firm and i love those gelatinous parts-have curative properties.

Homemade Tofu, Chillies and Brinjal stuffed with springy fishpaste-tossed in a fabulous Tau cheong (preserved Soybean paste) gravy.

Stir fried Padi field Eel (koong poh style) with lots of sliced big onion/ dried red chillies/spring onion-the sliced eel meat was springy and tender.

Paku choy (wild fern) with Sambal Chillies-i like these vegetables because it's pesticides free.

Some glasses of good old Chinese tea to wash down all the oil.

Total bill:Rm125/
Location:from Bidor-Tapah -double storey shophouse
right hand side-1 km before Tapah Police Station.
Tapah, Perak.

Restoran Hao Yi Lou

The CNY festival continued with a three tables dinner at Restoran Hao Yi Lou, Tapah, Perak.

My brother in law, Kam was the paying host for this dinner gathering among our relatives.

Restoran Hao Yi Lao is located just 2 km left from the Tapah toll plaza exit and is one of the best and newest restaurant in Tapah.

It is owned and run by a young, friendly and formidable couple- Chef Leong and his wife Sim.

As it was the first day of the CNY, the restaurant was packed to the rim and business was brisk.

Parking is a breeze.

Me, talking to Chef Leong (hands on hip ) about tonight's dinner dishes.

Waiting at our table.

The hand written menu in Chinese.

Started with the usual Loh Sang-a Salmon Yee Sang-wish for a better business year.

Sang Cheong-stir fried with ginger/spring onion/soy sauce combination-very crunchy and good exercise for the jaws.

Steamed wild frogs with chopped ginger/spring onion/Chinese wine/ sesame oil was everyone's favorite-the flesh was smooth and sweet tasting-plenty of it because of the dry weather.

Clams with Curry powder-spicy, fresh and meaty.

Koong Poh Padi field's Eel-stir fried with onion/dried red chillies/spring onion and a dash of Chinese wine-the coarsely sliced eel meat was springy and meaty.

Tung Poh pork belly- well marinated and braised until the meat absorbed all the spices flavors-garnished with cilantro-the gravy was perfect with rice.

Steamed river prawns with egg whites and Chinese wine-garnished with finely sliced ginger and cilantro-fresh, juicy and succulent-the star of the night!

Buttered Tilapia-the meat was filleted and cut into bite sizes before it was wok buttered fried with egg and curry leaves-very crispy-a good snack with beer.

Ended the meal with a quick stir fried Kangkong (Water Convolvulus)) with Sambal chillies -a local favorite.

Total bill: Rm700/
Location: 1 & 2, Persiaran Tapah Indah 1/3,
Taman Tapah Indah 3,
Tapah, Perak.
Tel:05-401-8148/012-463-5590/016-532-8678.

KEDAI KOPI BAN KEE-CHICKEN RICE AND THE ART OF FILLETING AND COOKING EEL.

Kedai Kopi Ban Kee is a spacious coffee shop with a Wan Ton Mee stall (in the morning) and a Tai Chow (till night).
It is located near the traffic light junction off Jalan Timur and Jalan Pahang in Tapah town, Perak.
The Tai Chow is run by a husband and wife team with the help of a server.

Their specialty are local Chinese cuisine with wild Frog, Eel and Haruan (Snakehead fish) as their bestsellers.

I had my lunch of a plate of chicken rice and a rare opportunity to watch the stall owner-Lor Chor filleted an Eel (Belut) and cooked it, too!

Front view of the shop.

BBQ chicken, Char Siew and roast Pork-all in a row.

Chicken rice-breast area-with a glossy skin, tender and meaty with chopped Cucumber and tasty sauce-Rm3/

Eel (Belut)-Padi field's variety-chop off the head and scald it with hot water for a few seconds then clean off the sticky scum from it's body.

Fillet it with a sharp knife.

Slice it with a slant and into bite size.

The stall owner Lor Chor stir fried the sliced Eel with tender loving care.

Stir fry eel with garlic, soy sauce and Shao Hsing Chinese wine-fresh, tender and springy-perfect with rice.