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    #16
    SG-Ipoh-Penang-KL-SG road trip

    SG-Ipoh-Penang-KL-SG road trip :

    20/09/12 (Thu)

    We set off from Singapore at 5am to MY thru EDL onto NSH. 7am first pee stop and pump petrol, at Ayer Keroh rest stop. Then we turned off at Nilai to bypass KL to Seng Huat Bak Kut Teh (under the fl***er one) at Klang for breakfast. It?s the herbal type and the herbal smell is very strong. Not too bad but I still prefer Kiang Kee at Kota Tinggi along route 3. The traffic at Klang was terrible there, esp with cars double parking at both side of the road. Not sure why they like to double park. Next, we continue to Gopeng and exit to visit the Kellie?s Castle. Have to buy tickets to enter the castle. From outside, the castle looks very grand. But actually inside, nothing much. Should be pretty eerie if visit at night.











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      #17
      Its lunch time, so we proceeded to have Yong Tau Foo under the big tree one along Jalan King. The place was crowded. The food was ok, my wife say its nice. We also tried the red bean drink, not bad. Overall its cheap and nice food. But hygiene there needs lots of improvement. With a full stomach, we proceeded to Ling Sen Tong, a famous cave temple in Ipoh. The inside was smokey and dark, the roof of the inside were covered in incense soot. Just use my hands to pray and move on to Nam Thean Tong, just next door. As we approached, the drinks stall lady pointed to us abt the newspaper cutting of the face of Buddha on the outer wall of the cave above Nam Thean Tong. Took a few photos, went in use hands to pray and climbed up the stairs. There were lots of monkey there but we got no food for them just take some photos of them.















      After that we walked to the pomeloes stalls. There are abt 20 shops there in a row selling pomeloes. Its one of Ipoh?s delicacy. We don?t know which stall to go to so we just went to the one with two pretty ladies. Stall 888, they were frenly and let us tatse the two types of pomeloes. Normal ones are sweet and red meat ones are a bit sour. Bargained a bit on price and we decided to take four big ones for RM24 each. They were indeed sweet even after we are back in SG when we finally ate them.



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        #18
        We proceeded to check-in our hotel, Syuen Hotel and opted to park at the front for just RM10 per 24hrs. They will reserve the lot for u even when u drive off for shopping or dinner. Syuen hotel is just opposite Ipoh Parade Shopping Mall. The hotel is nice but fittings were pretty old. Breakfast variety also not too many choices. We then went for dinner at Onn Kee as many mentioned Lou Wong standard drop. But to me the chicken does not taste as good as the ones I had in SG. The bean sprouts were fatter n crunchier than SG ones, we ordered a second plate after finishing the first. Char siew was also tasty cos they only use lean meat to make it. Overall, quite good and filling dinner. Forgot to try the Sar Hor Fun. Visited a confectionary just opposite and they had very nice mooncakes and piglet snacks. My fren?s kids were more fascinated but the angry bird cakes. I bought some mooncakes and piglets, while my fren bought the angry bird cakes for his kids.













        We then went back to the hotel to park the car and time for the missus to do some shopping therapy at Ipoh Parade mall. Nothing interest me here, the usual mall with various brand shops u can find at any mall in our heartlands.



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          #19
          21/09/12 (Fri)

          Breakfast at Hotel and headed for Butterworth ferry terminal. But before we knew it, the GPS routed us to Penang bridge. So we travelled to Penang Island by the bridge instead. So we proceeded to Lebuh Kimberly for lunch and walkabout. We parked along Lebuh Camarvon and walked pass a corner coffeeshop selling roast duck, pork and char siew so we stopped and had lunch there. The coffeeshop was crowded so had to wait a while for our orders to serve. All we told to stallholder was everything, four adult and two kids. Alamak, when the food was served, it was tasty. As good as SG standard or better but still lose to the ones I ate at HK. It was served with lotus roots soup too. The coffeeshop also famous for its boiled sugar cane drink which I missed having it. My mum would always boil sugar cane drink for me and not allow me to have normal sugar cane juices. The frenly coffeeshop uncle keep promoting his boiled sugar cane drink as ?international? to every walk-in customer.

          The parking there is pretty weird. U park ur car at designated lots. Then someone will come n put a piece of coupon on ur windscreen. He will update the time in intervals, starting from 40sen. When u leave, look out for the guy and pay him accordingly on the spot. Otherwise u have to pay at Komtar Centre. The fine is RM10 if u did not pay. I checked with the locals. They told me to bin the paper. So I have not paid my coupon yet.




          After a satisfying lunch, we intended to walk the streets but a heavy downpour came and we decided to just drive to the hotel and check-in. Proceeded to Evergreen Laurel hotel along Gurney Drive. The drive there was confusing cos the roads in Penang are mostly one way and the lane will split suddenly. A few times, ended up in a right turn lane when I wanted to go straight so no choice got to turn on left signal, wave ?sorry? n tested 0-100kmh timing. The hotel looks grand and parking at the front cost RM5 per entry, we chose the complimentary parking at the MSCP behind the hotel. The MSCP has CCTV on every floor and looks pretty safe. Nothing happened to my car. We unpacked and rested a while, set up my laptop for broadband connection. We selected a seaview room, but the room given to us is indeed seaview but the trees in front blocked the view due to our room on a lower floor, seventh. Nevermind lah, since nothing much to see too.





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            #20
            We next went to the snake temple to look see look see. There were lots of vipers on the stick at the temple in front. They stayed pretty still, cannot touch them. But I also don?t dare to touch them lah. Looks like fake rubber ones till I saw on another stick got snake skin around it. Next door they have pythons for u to hang ard ur neck to take pictures, cost RM30. My wife was scared so we did not take any. Then behind was a Kuan Yin Temple. We walked there and pray, bypassing a small chiku tree garden surrounded with concrete low walls. At first I didn?t notice much, then there was this tour guide bring some local tourist(probably from KL) pointed out the dangerous vipers on the tree branch. My fren stretched out his hand to point it for his kids, the tour guide quickly shouted don?t stretch ur hand. These vipers in the garden have not been de-venom and will strike. See if u can spot the vipers.



















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              #21
              Its dinner time and we went to the recommended Good Friends Seafood Restaurant at Teluk Kumbar. Lucky with the help of GPS, we made it there. Have to turn off the main road and onto a small sandy road. The place is just by the sea and the shore is littered with fishing boats. Great place for picture taking of sunset views. The prices were reasonable, crabs were of smaller sizes, RM50/kg for male and RM55/kg for female with roe. Mantis shrimp was RM30/shrimp, good for four persons. We ordered four crabs, one mantis shrimp, one plate of seashells like lala, one plate of cockles and vegetable. Total ard RM143.50. Price is reasonable. But I don?t like the mantis shrimp. My wife, my fren and his wife say its nice. I guess I?m the odd one, I passed my share to my wife after having a small bite. Next to the restaurant is a satay stall by the carpark who operates independently but will serve to ur table. She only had chicken satay and its very nice. The satay is marinated already then bbq. There is no satay sauce. The meat on the stick was generous, it cost RM12 for 15 sticks. We ordered a second plate of 15 pieces after finishing the first 15 in a flash. Overall highly recommended to visit if you are near the south of Penang. Driving back to Gurney Drive was a pain, traffic was slow at most of the times.












              Went back to hotel to park car and walk to Gurney Drive for supper. The front desk told me its just a 10mins walk. Indeed it was. Lucky I park my car in the hotel, as I walk I see the traffic along Gurney Drive was damn jialat. Finding a parking lot along the road would be a nitemare. Tried the following at Gurney Drive Food Centre on the first nite :

              Oyster Omlete - Yucks!!! Oysters tasted like rubber, probably overcooked. Starch n egg not cooked properly.
              Rojak - Yucks!!! It was wet wet wet sauce. Too much and cause the stuff to be soaked till soft soft. Still prefer my usual Whampoa one.
              Deep fried keropok - Yummy!!! Chat with the uncle. He catch his prawns from Taiping and then process it there but sell at Gurney cost of tourist money. Each pack RM2.50. I bought 8 packs. Instant fried, instant pack.
              Char Kuay Teow - Nice. Flat noodles size was consistant, flavor much like ours except no dark sauce.







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                #22
                22/09/12 (Sat)

                Breakfast at hotel and the spread was good. Lots of food to choose from. The main staple is the nasi lemak. After breakfast we proceeded to Kek Lok Si Temple to view the largest standing bronze statue of Guan Yin. Being a weekend, traffic near the temple was slightly heavy and crowded. We parked at the lowest level and climbed our way up the various temples within Kek Lok Si. We took the tilted elevator up to view the bronze Guan Yin. It is almost completed less some scaffolding on her right side. The view there is also nice, can see parts of Penang. You can have ur name written on the roof tile with a token of RM100. This roof tile will then be part of the building structure of the bronze Guan Yin. I didn?t buy it, just dropped a few dollars into the donation box and used my hands to pray instead. Next to it was a Pagoda. Climbed up the Pagoda and the view was good too. The Pagoda is abt six storey high.























                After all the walking and climbing needed food to replenish our energy. We settled for vegetarian meal at the vegetarian restaurant inside Kek Lok Si Temple. We ordered the set meal for 4-5person, RM45 only. Unlimited servings of rice. The food was 4 dishes + 1 soup. It was tasty. Got vegetarian fish and pork. Definitely have to try the food here if you visit this temple. Furthermore it is not crowded at all only three tables occupied including us out of the 20 tables. But after our meal, three more tables were setup for a group of elderly tourist.



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                  #23
                  We then drove up the hill at Kek Lok Si, it?s the Air Itam dam. One of the two dams in Penang. It?s a smaller reservoir. Nice n quiet place for couples to ?par-tor?. We are to go to Penang Hill next but the ladies in my group say tired lah, whole morning spent at the temple tire them. They wanted to go back hotel to rest. But I insisted to visit Penang Hill and queued up for the tram tickets which cost RM30 each. Not cheap for tourist. Those with Mykad(MY I/C) entitled to cheaper rates. It was crowded at the tram station due to being a weekend. When we are up there at Penang Hill, all tiredness were lost. The air up there is very cooling but not as cold as Cameron Highlands. The view was great, lucky it was not too hazy when I was there. Can see Georgetown, penang bridge and the mainland. There is a food court there, a mosque and Indian temple. We just walk ard and enjoy the view + cool breeze. There is also an opportunity to take a picture with an albino python and somehow my wife sum up her courage to hold the snake. It cost just RM10 for our picture to be taken. Much cheaper than the one at snake temple. My wife also bought a grasshopper made from a leaf. Satisfied having been up the hill, we left and proceeded back to our hotel.























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                    #24
                    More pics of Penang Hill :











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                      #25
                      To clean our sweaty body n tired body, we went for a swim at the hotel?s swimming pool. Water was a bit cold but after a few laps, got used to it. There were other tourists there enjoying the pool too. After a quick shower, we decided to go for dinner at Kafe Goodall recommended by my brother after the previous nite supper experience at Gurney Drive. It is just about 1km further up from Gurney Drive Food Centre. Free parking is available at the rear of the food centre. The whole place looks like a food centre in Tuas. It is sheltered with many fans to circulate the air and once a while the mist spray comes on. Food here is cheaper, local pricing for local peasants. Food is good, the oyster omlette here taste exactly like what we have in SG. We ordered porridge, wan tan mee, char koay teow, char hor fun, oyster omlette, fish soup, grilled snails, sotong, cockles, herbal beef soup and satay.











                      After dinner, we went to Plaza Gurney shopping mall for the ladies to do their shopping therapy. They had a mooncake fair at the lobby, went to have a look. Buy four pieces, free one piece. So we ended up bought four. I let the wife to run wild in the mall while I went to buy ice cream and do some window shopping while licking my ice cream. Had three scoops, passion fruit, water melon and mango. Nice!!!

                      Feeling a little hungry, we proceed to next door, Gurney Drive Food Centre again for supper to try other stuff :

                      Penang Assam Laksa - Yucks!!! Soup was watery n tasteless. White noodles had a little springy taste.
                      Otah ? Yucks!!! Texture was soft like jelly and taste weird.
                      Kaya Pancake wrap coconut ? Nice. Pancake was soft and easy to chew.
                      Muah Chee - Not bad, chewy and full of peanut toppings. Comparable to the one I had at Melaka.
                      Nutmeg w/ sour plam juice - Power. Nice refreshing taste.







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                        #26
                        23/09/12 (Sun)

                        My fren and I wanted to view the Teluk Bahang Dam and it was our last day in Penang so we decided to make a dash for it. Woke up at 5.45am, by 6am we drove out of the hotel MSCP and clocking speed of avg 80kmh towards Teluk Bahang Dam. Road was twisty and winding, at some points with huge red sign Laju, have to really slow down. Great drive if you love to drive. Traffic was little to none so we reached there by 6.30am. The sun was not out and it was still dark so we slept in the car till ard 7.15am when it was bright enough. The guard came and open the gate ard 7am. The dam faces the sea and the view was great. The morning air was also refreshing. After taking lots of pictures, we proceeded back to the hotel, enroute we drove thru Gurney Drive and there was no traffic but lots of joggers. There were also lots of ?tour d? france? wanabes on our way back cycling on the single lane road towards Teluk Bahang Dam. Other vehicles had to cut into the opposite lane to overtake them, an accident waiting to happen only. I can just shake my head.











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                          #27
                          By 8am, we are back in the hotel and ready for breakfast at the hotel. Finished breakfast, pack up and left the hotel for the confectionary to buy tau sa piah recommended by my brother. We went to Ban Heang at Macallister Road. Bought many many boxes for colleagues and relatives. Drove back to the mainland thru Penang bridge. Heading towards Mid Valley, KL for our rest stop of the day. Booked Cititel Mid Valley Hotel, the room was small but the staff there were frenly. Breakfast not much variety but ok lah. Mid Valley mall is huge the first three levels are all the branded shops and boutiques. Again its for the ladies, not for me. I went to the huge ACE hardware store and mostly walked ard the basement which had food shops and little push-cart stores. Had dinner at one of the Chinese restaurant, then back to shopping before dragging my wife back to hotel room to catch the Man U vs Liverpool game live on ESPN.




                          24/09/12 (Mon)

                          Breakfast at hotel, then shopping at Carrefour for groceries and headed back to Singapore. Drive back was uneventful, stopped at Ayer Keroh A&W for lunch and saw opposite direction a fleet of Ferraris screaming past. This time no speeding ticket for the whole trip cos mostly drive at 110kmh and used cruise control. A very helpful tool.

                          I find Penang a nice place and there are still lots of places I have not been. I will be back to Penang, maybe next year again.



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                            #28
                            Looks like you had loads of fun!!. Nice pics too.

                            I have a Penang trip to share also...ha ha ha
                            Keep Moving, Look Forward, No Regrets!!

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                              #29
                              I am flying there next weekend......for a wedding dinner...

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                                #30
                                Here is an overview map for u. When I was there, the first night at the hotel also got a wedding dinner.





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