Swinging By

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:34:00 +0000

I was browsing through my thumb drives and I found some folders of places that we’ve been to. Now that international travel is no longer a safe option with the covid-19 pandemic that still has many countries in its deadly grasp, going through these photos brings back distant memories.

One of the places we went to on our own, meaning we didn’t take an organised tour, was Siem Reap.

It is the home of Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world and a Unesco World Heritage site. It is a huge ancient temple with intricate carvings.

Siem Reap has many temples and Angkor Wat is the grandest.

There’s another temple which has mostly been taken over by the huge trees. I believe it is called the Ta Prohm.

The grandeur of these temples leaves you in awe and you can feel the mysticism in the air.

Another place we visited was the river along which are homes to many people. Many others live on boats that bob gently on the waves of the Tonle Sap, a huge lake. We visited one house which had a crocodile pit with quite a few crocodiles!!

This is a church floating on the lake.

Look at the crocodiles!!

We couldn’t leave Siem Reap without going to a restaurant which entertained its customers with the lovely dance, Apsara.

It's a lovely place to visit but the weather is very, very hot!

The Railway Museum, Ravenglass

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 14:14:00 +0000

The Ravenglass Railway Museum is located at the station and displays historic
locomotives and carriages as well as smaller artefacts and interactive displays.

Miniature locomotives

An old locomotive

Hello, I'm Katie!!

Interesting, isn't it?

Trunks used in the olden days when travelling

Me, VIP passenger!!

So many controls!!

My grandson found it especially interesting!

Thin Controller!! Not the Fat Controller of Thomas the Tank Engine!!

After spending sometime in the museum, it was time to make our way back to catch
the steam engine that would take our train back to Dale for Boot. It was really
a lovely day.

Profusion of daffodils along the rail track

The train journey took us back through the same scenarios which we passed earlier
in the morning.

Pretty countryside

A bridge to go under

On arrival at Dalegarth for Boot, we didn’t return via the hills. We were smarter
and took the motorway back to Windermere. Besides, it was getting dark and the
motorway was a safer bet to get back faster.

The Roman Bath House, Ravenglass

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 13:19:00 +0000

We left the Ravenglass station and walked through a footpath leading to a narrow
country road that would take us to the ruins of the Roman Bath House. There were
hardly any people walking out there. An occasional delivery truck passed by, bumping
along the old road.

Soon we came to an open field with ruins of old walls. A signpost indicated that
this was the spot on which the Roman Bath House of the Roman Fort of Ravenglass
once stood.

There were reminders to be careful as the walls were very old and could crumble.

Ruins of the Bath House

Plan of the Roman Bath House

More ruins

After spending some time among the ruins we walked back to Ravenglass and went
to the beach, passing some very nice houses.

There was nothing much there except for a couple of boats left high and dry as
the sea had receded.

Just a muddy beach

Boats left high and dry

Then we had a picnic lunch outside the station before heading for the Ravenglass
Railway Museum.

My grandchildren enjoying their picnic lunch

Dalegarth for Boot to Ravenglass, Lake District

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 12:20:00 +0000

This is a most picturesque rail journey of 40 minutes between the two stations of
Dalegarth for Boot and Ravenglass, using the RavenGlass and Eskdale Railway. It’s
actually a miniature train also locally known as La’al Ratty or Little Railway.

Ravenglass La'al Ratty

Dalegarth for Boot is situated at the foot of the Scafell mountain Range while
Ravenglass is a coastal village located in two World Heritage sites, the Lake District
National Park and Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site.

Dalegarth for Boot Station

Ravenglass Station

There are diesel and steam engines that pull 3 types of carriages, the closed, half-open
and open carriages. We sat in the open carriage so that we could have a good view of
the landscape we pass through.

Diesel engine which took us from Dalgarth for Boot

Steam engine ready to take us from Ravenglass back to Dalegarth

Open carriages

Half-open carriages

Our train from Dalegarth for Boot was pulled by a diesel engine and on the way we passed

through fields with sheep grazing,

banks of golden daffodils,

pretty houses

Mudflats as we approach Ravenglass

and the muddy beach as it was low tide.

The train finally stopped at Ravenglass and at the end of the line there was a turntable for the engine to be shunted to another line.

The Turntable

We left the train station and headed off to see the ruins of the Roman Baths a short distance away. I will talk more about them in my next post.

Enroute to Dalegarth for Boot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 08:08:00 +0000

We went through narrow country roads, up and down the fells, through narrow passes
bordered by steep bleak mountains before we finally arrived at Dalegarth for Boot.

Look at the narrow winding roads below us

Bleak and rocky

The roads were so narrow that it was not possible for two cars to pass one another .
One car had to reverse to a broader part of the road so that other could pass and
continue on its way. Fortunately, there were not many cars on the road that day.

However, there were sheep grazing in some areas.

See the sheep?

At other times the bend was almost like a hairpin. Praise the Lord that my daughter
was able to manoeuvre the car expertly and drive us safely to our destination.

The almost bare mountainous fells

When we emerged from the car for a photo-stop, the wind was strong and biting!!

Wrynose Pass

Stream flowing down

It was quite a relief when we arrived at the station Dalegarth for Boot.

Finally, the Station, Dalegarth for Boot

The station building

The welcoming entrance

Ullswater, Lake District, UK

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Apr 2019 06:32:00 +0000

This is the second largest lake in the Lake District and just as beautiful
as any other.

Serene Ullswater

The Mountains bordering Ullswater

It stretches for about 9 miles from the village of Pooley Bridge
at one end to Glenridding Village at the southern end. It has a depth of
approximately 63 metres and a picturesque backdrop of mountains, including
Helvellyn, the third highest in the UK.

Jetty at Pooley Bridge on Ullswater

Pooley Bridge Village

A boat moored at the jetty

Outdoor dining beside the river at Pooley Bridge

The restaurant at Pooley Bridge

The daffodils which William Wordsworth immortalised in his poem were those
he came across in Ullswater.

Golden Daffodils

Castlerigg Stone Circle, Keswick, Lake District

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 15:03:00 +0000

The Castlerigg Stone Circle is a pre-historic monument over 5000 years old and is protected by the National Trust.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

The road to the Stones is very narrow but we could park our car by the roadside.

The Stones are readily accessible . It was very cold up there with the wind blowing. We could wander among them, even stand behind the bigger stones to shelter from the cold wind.

My grandson

Me sheltering behind a stone

It has panaromic views with the mountains of BlenCartha, Helvellyn and Skiddaw as its backdrop.

We had the Stones to ourselves for a short while before groups of tourists came.

Archeologists believe that the Stones were probably used for marking events of the seasons, trade, festivals and tribal gatherings

Rydal Hall, Lake District

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 12:29:00 +0000

This stately old mansion and its extensive grounds is located between Ambleside and Grasmere.

It was built in the years 1909-1911 by Thomas Mawson and sons and is a tourist draw.

Stately Rydal Hall

A view of Rydal Hall grounds

Another view of Rydal Hall

The entrance to the Quiet Garden

Beyond Rydal Hall is the waterfall and there is a small hut known as the Grot. It was built in 1668.

The Grot and the Waterfall

To get there, one has to walk through the Quiet Garden. Then it is quite a fairly long walk over undulating foot paths that go uphill and downhill through the woods.

There are small bridges built across the rushing stream.

Fortunately, there are benches strategically placed so that elderly visitors can pause to get back
their breath.

The water fall cascades into a sparkling clear stream, rushing over a rock strewn bed.

Inside the Grot is a window which frames the waterfall beautifully. People come here
to look at the water wall through this window and to appreciate the view.

The famed view of the water fall from the window inside the Grot

Grassmere, Lake District, UK

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 12:55:00 +0000

This is a very pretty little country town in the Lake District.

Grassmere is the home of Grassmere gingerbread and the little house where Sarah Nelson used to bake the gingerbread is still standing.

History behind Grassmere Gingerbread

Sarah Nelson's home where she used to bake gingerbread

It is a tiny house with a small counter where you make your purchases.

There is always a long queue to get in and to make purchases of gingerbread and other ginger products such as ginger fudge.

My purchases: Gingerbread and Ginger Fudge

The famous Wordsworth Daffodil Garden is also in Grassmere.

Entrance to Wordsworth's Daffodil Garden

From Wordsworth's poem "The Daffodils"

The footpaths are paved with stones bearing the names of donors from all over the
country and abroad.

Each stone has the names of donors

Donors have their names engraved on the stones paving the footpath in the garden

The Church where William Wordsworth is buried, is also in Grassmere.

Stonyhurst College

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 11:32:00 +0000

This is a Roman Catholic Independent School established in 1593. The frontage of the school already tells you that this is a premier school.

It is a huge school with magnificent grounds, including a church.

There are students who board here and the extensive grounds cater for their various activities.

Apparently it costs upward of 30,000 pounds to have your child study in this school.
No doubt that the parents are well heeled, judging by the number of expensive cars
we saw in the grounds that day.

There was an event on and many parents were visiting.

We had a quick look around the grounds and were duly impressed.

We don’t have such a grand school in our country.

Clitheroe Market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 10:48:00 +0000

After leaving Chester, we came to a little town called Clitheroe.

There was a castle on a hill or what looked like castle ruins but we didn't bother climbing up to take a closer look.

Clitheroe Castle

We stopped at their market as I love to visit small markets in the countryside.

Clitheroe Market didn’t disappoint as there were many small stalls selling different types of produce.

Entrance to the Clitheroe Market

Clitheroe market stalls

Beautiful flowers

My first stop was the sweets stall. The variety of sweets, toffees, fudges, etc was astonishing.

Amazing display of sweets, fudges, toffees, etc

Never to resist anything sweet, I picked out a few varieties, much to the horror
of my granddaughter who kept reminding me that I’m a diabetic and these are forbidden items. My reply??

“I’m on holiday!!” cheerily as if that gave me licence to eat forbidden stuff. But what the heck!
I’m on holiday!!

Then we looked for a place to have our lunch. I’m not really fond of western food,
pastries included. I don’t eat beef, lamb, cheese or butter!! So choices for me are very
limited, much to the despair of my family.

Luck was with us as we chanced upon a place called The Conservative Club! We stepped inside and there were many diners, so we waited for a table that could accommodate the five of us. In fact, we finally pushed 2 tables together.

In a cosy corner

Quite a variety on the menu

My grandchildren went to the counter and snapped a picture of the menu for the day and showed it to me.

Wonder of wonders, there was something I would enjoy!!

Roast pork and Yorkshire pudding served with fresh local market potatoes and vegetables!!

We all made our choices, paid for the meals at the counter and settled down to wait for
lunch to be served.

Waiting for our meals

My granddaughter's asparagus soup

My lunch! Roast port, Yorkshire pudding, local market potatoes & vegetables

After a most satisfying lunch, we left Clitheroe and soon found another lovely place, Stonyhurst College which I’ll introduce to you in my next post.

The Lake District, Cumbria.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 03:42:00 +0000

This is one of the most beautiful regions in the UK. I first visited the Lake District
as a college student in the early 1960s, then in later years with my children. Now I
return once more with my grandchildren who are attending universities in the UK.
I wanted them to see how beautiful the lakes are and most of them are still unspoilt
in all their beauty.

My daughter hired a car big enough to take all of us and our luggage and we made
Lake Windermere our base.

The Volvo which took us all over the Lake District

Fully loaded with luggage & stuff

We stayed at a lovely cottage, the Moss Cottage, a fully furnished and well equipped 3 bedroom home that suited us beautifully.

The first lake we visited was Ambleside.
The lovely homes and narrow roads, the walking paths and the quaint shops are enchanting.

The most famous landmark is the Bridge House, a tiny double storey house built on a small bridge. Apparently it was built there to evade the land tax! It now belongs to the National Trust.

Holiday in the UK: the Lake District

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 08:38:00 +0000

After a hearty English breakfast, we set off for Windermere, the largest in the Lake District.
We had rented a cottage and this would be our base for the next week.

Along the way to the Lake District

We found it without any problem thanks to technology.
My daughter expertly brought us to a beautiful cottage which surpassed my expectations. It was called Moss Cottage.

There were 3 bedrooms all on different floors. We had the bedroom on the first floor as
the stairs narrow and steep.

Our room

Very steep stairs

My Grandson's Room

My daughter and my granddaughter's room

The girls had the bedroom on the second floor while my grandson had the room right at the top.

A lovely view greeted me when I looked out of my bedroom window.

There was a comfortable living room, a large kitchen and a delightful conservatory
which looked out into a lovely garden.

View of the garden outside

Living Room

Another view of the living room

The Conservatory

The large kitchen

However, since it was still very early in the spring, not all the flowers were in bloom. I could picture its beauty in a few weeks' time.

A Short Holiday in the UK: first stop Warrick University & Chester

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 08:03:00 +0000

The last time we landed in Heathrow was 2 decades ago when we went to Wales
to bring our two little grandchildren home to the Land Below The Wind. This
time it was to visit them during their Easter term break and to enjoy a short
holiday with them.

Lights of Heathrow beneath us

After an overnight stay at Heathrow we picked up the car rental and headed off
to fetch our granddaughter before heading off to Chester.

Warrick University has lovely grounds which are seeing the first blooms of Spring!
The gorgeous Daffodils were everywhere!!

We arrived at Chester in good time and located our B & B. It was a quaint corner
house with a few bedrooms to let and breakfast was provided.

The decor was very pleasant, although the stairs were steep and narrow, typical of English houses.

Chester is an old town with remnants of the Roman Wall still standing and well
maintained.

Steps leading up to the Roman Wall

We walked about the town area and saw many interesting features.

Sculpture of Baby Elephant along a street

The Cathedral

Typical English architecture

This clock commemorates the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897

Jenjarom, a Must-Visit Place during the Lunar New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 14:56:00 +0000

Each year this small rural village becomes the focus during the Lunar New Year celebrations.

The Fo Guan Shan Dong Zen gardens become a twinkling fairyland with its beautifully lighted décor.

We left Kuala Lumpur early, around 4 p.m. to avoid the traffic jam. Despite that, we still
encountered very heavy traffic along the way.

On arrival we looked for a restaurant to have an early dinner and we found one in one of the back roads. The meal was delicious, home cooked style.

After dinner we headed for the gardens. It wasn’t dark yet when we reached there and the crowd wasn’t that dense yet. So we managed to get nice photos.

Since this is the Year of the Pig, there were many pig décor, all beautifully lit in various colors and in different poses.

The décor was different in the different areas of the large gardens. There were fish and flowers, butterflies and bees. Some walkways were twinkling with myriad tiny colored lights.

The photo above shows Admiral Cheng Ho in his ship

The scope of the decorations was on a smaller scale this year probably because of the funding and it could also be the zodiac animal that reigns this year. Malaysians have to be sensitive to the feelings of others who consider this animal to be unclean.

Unique Dessert Restaurant in Chinatown

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 13:09:00 +0000

This morning we went to a little restaurant located in Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur. It’s just a half shop and the rental is expensive, according to Mr Poh, the owner. The rental, he shared is RM6500 per month. It is located at the lower end of Petaling Street.

His sign board inside his restaurant

Mr Poh is from Melaka so he serves a few select nonya dishes from Melaka and his main niche is the taufu fa dessert which is very popular among Malaysians and tourists.

Some of the nonya dishes which we ordered

Basic or Original Taufu Fa

His taufu fa differs from other vendors’ in that he offers different toppings served in sets.

Cendol Taufu Fa which also has sweet corn, grass jelly and red beans

The basic taufu fa, which is a soya bean custard sweetened with either white or brown sugar syrup is sold by itinerant hawkers on tricycles which carry a big wooden tub containing the bean custard.
Mr Poh offers a variety of toppings shown in his menu. His prices are reasonable.

The walls of this little restaurant are decorated with many antiques which Mr Poh has collected over a long time.

There are also different types of vases and old granite equipment which were used back in the 1940s and 50s, perhaps up until the 70s in the rural communities. I saw the old wooden coconut scraper which I used to scrape coconuts with, the granite roller which many Indian homes would have and the bottom half of a grinder. He didn’t have the top half.

Granite roller used to grind spices; the coconut scraper is behind it.

Bottom half of the grinder standing on its side

This grinder is what my grandmother used to grind rice and water into a watery mix that she dried later and scented with jasmine flowers for use on her face to keep cool. It was known as bedak sejuk. She gave me some to use whenever I visited her. It left powdery streaks on my face but it was very cooling.

So visiting this little restaurant was like making a trip into one’s past when we looked at his antique collections, most of which were very familiar to us goldies (senior citizens in our seventies!!).
It is very well patronised and the restaurant is always full. Should you visit Kuala Lumpur, this place is not to be missed.

Mr Poh kindly took a photograph of us after our meal.

Lunar New Year Décor in the Malls

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 05:32:00 +0000

The Lunar New Year is almost upon us and a quick visit to the shopping malls is a must. Not only to do some last minute shopping but also to take photos of the creative décor that malls come up with.
In all the malls, the predominant color is RED.

Red is the color of prosperity and good luck. So red lanterns in all sorts of shapes and sizes are everywhere. Then there are the flowers, red, pink, yellow, red….peonies and this year hydrangeas have made their entrance, apart from orchids.

Early visitors get the opportunity to take photos without having people blocking their views.

It is also customary for a mall to schedule lion dances to entertain their visitors during the weekend in this festive season. Families with young children and adults alike are prepared to wait patiently for the lion dancers to set up their props. Then the drums begin and the lions spring into life. The lion dancers are very nimble and agile as they prance atop the raised posts, drawing gasps and admiration from the spectators.

Malaysian Food (Simple Dining)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 13:29:00 +0000

I would like to introduce two simple types of food which are very tasty and which any visitor to Malaysia should try.

One is the Nasi Kerabu which is very appetising and filling. As you can see, the rice is blue and its colour is derived from the blue pea flower. This dish comes with either fried fish or fried chicken and is accompanied with condiments such as spicy sambal sauce, kerisik, salted egg, pickles and keropok.
It is accompanied by a drink which is also blue pea flower based mixed with soda which makes it very refreshing.

My friend and I opted for the fish. It was a slice of mackerel and was fried very well.

The other dish is the fish head curry and this particular dish is to die for!! It comes with condiments which include an appetiser which is pickled sour lime, vegetables and other dishes with which I’m not familiar but taste good. Your rice is served on a banana leaf and even if you’re not a big rice eater, you will easily consume two helpings because of the fish head curry.

This dish is readily available in all Indian curry houses.

Local Malaysian Food (Madras Lane)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 12:15:00 +0000

Malaysians love food and I’m no exception. I enjoy my food, especially street food. This is a place which I used to frequent after school, together with my classmates. So it has been in existence way back then, in the nineteen fifties!!

What do you think these people are queuing up for?

See the yummy fare available? Collectively it’s known as Yong Tow Foo. They are actually vegetables and tofu stuffed with fish paste. There are also springy fish balls available.

Has to be good, right, with so many people willing to queue up for their lunch.

Note the place. It’s not fancy. In fact it’s a back lane parallel to Petaling Street, the Chinatown of Kuala Lumpur. It has been roofed over but it’s still very hot and fans are on full blast. Despite this, when the lunch crowds thicken, the place is like a sauna!!

People still patronise the place because the food is good and prices are reasonable. The other stall which is a hot favourite sells noodles, curry laksa and you choose what goes into your curry noodles, whether it is chicken, cockles, vegetables, etc. The other noodle is assam laksa, which has a sourish soup because it is tamarind based and comes with pineapple, fish, cucumber, onion rings, ginger torch flower, and two types of garnishing, daun kesum and mint leaves.

You have to try it and you’ll get hooked!! It’s that good!!

So visit Madras Lane whenever you’re in town but you have to be prepared to sweat it out as you partake of your food.

Ipoh Food

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 04:03:00 +0000

Leaving Penang meant leaving all the super delicious food behind. The rain seemed to mirror the gloom as we drove across the bridge to the mainland.

Gloomy and rainy weather

However, it was comforting to know that a tasty lunch was in store in Ipoh. Yes! The famous chicken and beansprout dishes touted to be the best in the country are synonymous with Ipoh.

Famous coffee shop for chicken and beansprouts

We soon found our way to the coffee shop and ordered our meal. The shop was packed but we managed to find a small table tucked in a corner. The food lived up to its reputation.

Steamed chicken, beansprouts & fish balls

It was very tasty and the chicken texture was very smooth. The bean sprouts were fat and crunchy and the fish balls had the taste of fish, unlike those we usually find in KL and Kota Kinabalu.

Then we nipped over to the shop selling the chicken biscuits that Ipoh is famous for. I was surprised to find that they have so many flavours now.

Famous Ipoh Chicken biscuits

By the time my shopping was done, my daughter’s car was fully packed with all the goodies to be distributed back home in Kuala Lumpur as well as in Kota Kinabalu.

After lunch, my spouse wanted to see his alma mater so despite the rain and the Friday traffic jam, we drove past it, just to satisfy his curiosity.

Side entrance to St. Michael's Institution

St. Michael's Institution, Ipoh

Then we hit the highway to return to KL. Along the way the rain was so heavy that visibility was very poor. At one stretch there was a long queue of vehicles inching slowly forward as there had been a bad accident.

Slow moving & heavy traffic

It was a relief to reach home before the sunset as we had a dinner appointment to celebrate my daughter’s birthday.

Food Trail (2) Favourite Food in Penang

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 03:04:00 +0000

After last night’s assorted hawker food dinner, we were ready for our noodle breakfast.

Penang’s kway teow soup is different from Ipoh’s. Our friend took us to this coffee shop which he says serves the best kway teow soup.

We took him at his word since he is a Penang local. He ordered for us and it was as delicious as he said. The texture of the noodles was slippery smooth, just like silk, and very thin. The kway teow we get in Kota Kinabalu is thick and rough, compared to this.

Penang Kway Teow Noodles

Come lunch, we went our separate ways, my daughter and her father went off elsewhere while my college alumnus picked me up for a small college reunion lunch at the 747 Restaurant.

Penang Brinsford Alumni lunch

The dishes they called were interesting and tasty and it was a big lunch. The food was less important than the getting to know you as I had not met them before. They were many years my senior in college, except one who was my junior and we had stayed in the same house in the college.

Lunch at 747 Restaurant

Lunch ended with photo taking and a suggestion that a reunion should be held in Kota Kinabalu, to visit that part of the country which had not been on their bucket list.

Garden of 747 Restaurant

Brinsford Ladies

The following morning, before we left Penang, our friend took us to another shop for the famous Char Kway Teow. This stall goes by the name of Tiger Kway Teow.

Tiger Cook
When the kway teow was served, there was a generous amount of cockles and two tiger prawns lay atop the plate of noodles. It was very well fried, not oily unlike some stalls and the aroma was mouth watering!

Super yummy char kway teow

These days, many stalls, especially in Kuala Lumpur, do not offer cockles in their char kway teow but to me, the cockles make the difference to the dish. Without the cockles, it doesn’t taste nice.

After breakfast, our friend took us to shop for Penang’s famous biscuits, nutmeg and sesame oil.

Famous Ghee Hiang shop for pastries & biscuits

Buying nutmeg and sesame oil

Then it was time to wish him and Penang goodbye as we wanted to stop at Ipoh for lunch before returning to Kuala Lumpur.

Food Trail Ipoh and Penang (1)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 08:10:00 +0000

The recent trip to Penang to meet up with friends, old and new, saw us on the lookout for good food. We made an early start so that we could have breakfast in Ipoh, a 2-hour drive away from Kuala Lumpur.

Morning queue of cars heading into Kuala Lumpur

It was a smooth drive and we soon saw landmarks which indicated that Ipoh was far away.

Limestone Hills of Ipoh

Ipoh is renowned for its smooth kuey teow soup too, apart from its steamed chicken and bean sprouts. We located a coffee shop on the outskirts and ordered kway teow soup and a bowl of fishballs to share.

Fish Balls

Prawn & Meat slices in the Kway Teow Soup

After a satisfying breakfast, we headed for Penang, aiming to make it for lunch. A friend would be meeting us to take us out for lunch.

We made good time despite a queue on the way into Penang. Our hotel was located within the Heritage area so its frontage had to be behind the main road.

Our friend arrived and he whisked us away for lunch at the Penang Club which had a good view of the sea. We had assam fish head, chicken, claypot taufu and a vegetable.

That night we opted for hawker stall food. This is where we landed. There were many stalls selling a variety of food and the coffee shop was packed. These are what we ordered.

Prawn noodle soup

Vegetable spring roll (poh piah)

Oyster omelette

chicken & beef satay

Loh Bak

The hawkers were kept very busy fulfilling the orders placed by the never ending round of customers who walk in, hunting for a place to sit.

Desa Dairy Farm

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 07:41:00 +0000

The dairy farm is situated high up on the slopes and a certain part of it is open to the public each day. Since it was a holiday weekend, there was a very long queue of cars crawling up the narrow road to the farm.

Everyone needs to buy a ticket to enter the farm grounds.

Visitors go there to see the Freesia cows, the milking process, and to feed the goats and young cows.

They also purchase the cheese, the packets of milk and the gelato. The queues for the gelato were long too but we got our cups of gelato in the end. It was super yummy.

We queued to go up and we queued to go down too!!

The Foothills of Mount Kinabalu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 12:55:00 +0000

It was an extended long weekend holiday and many people, both locals and tourists took to the foothills of Mount Kinabalu. As the vehicles snaked their way up into the hills of the Crocker Range, the air became cooler.

The first pit stop was Pekan Nabalu, with public toilets and a row of stalls selling souvenirs and fresh local fruits to the visitors who thronged the stalls. The toilet queues were very long too!!

Welcome to Pekan Nabalu Stalls

One of the many stalls

We could see a bit of Mt. Kinabalu when the clouds shifted. Mt. Kinabalu is the highest peak in South East Asia and has been granted world heritage status.

The dark hulk of Mt Kinabalu in the background

A few years ago, there was an earthquake which brought down one of the Donkey’s Ears at its summit and lives of climbers and guides were lost.

The old trail was damaged and a new one has been opened. Climbers still come to climb this august mountain which is considered sacred to the locals.

Our guide helped us to purchase the Tarap fruit which belongs to the Jackfruit family

Tarap

and the Nona which is similar to the soursop but is sweeter and its flesh is more firm.

Nona Fruit
She gave us a Bambangan which is very fibrous and has a sweet sourish taste, not unlike the mango.

We stopped for lunch at Ranau, a small town and she recommended the Hakka Food Court which accommodates quite a number of stalls selling local food such as various types of noodles and a variety of vegetable, chicken and pork dishes.

Enjoying the fruits after our meal

The stalk is all that's left of the Tarap. On the right is the Bambangan.

We made this day trip specifically to visit the Dairy Farm and the Poring Hot Springs.

Modern Food Court

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 07:40:00 +0000

Food courts are usually crammed with different kinds of stalls selling various types of food. They are usually arranged against the walls and customers sit in the central area where tables and seats are crammed into the space available.

The mall which we recently visited had a food court unlike the usual run of the mill kind.
It also had a name, Food Nestie!! It was located on a high floor.

Starlings hanging in the void

The stalls were individual and stood apart, each from the other. There were tables and seats in the spaces near them but they were not crammed.

A stall selling Japanese food

We opted for a table which had a good view through the glass panels. Those customers who opted to sit outside the glass enclosure enjoyed the breeze and could smoke there since it was considered to be outside the air-conditioned mall.

Seating area outside the glass panels

We selected our seats which gave us a nice view of the outside and ordered our food, which turned out to be tasty and filling too!! It didn’t burn a hole in my pocket either.

So a thumbs up for this place!