Wonder.Food.Travel

Five years ago, i left a place i spent five years in. That place is near Ipoh, a usual weekend getaway for food and entertainment. In other words, to de-stress and keep balance being a student. The fond memories of Ipoh will remain with me and forever hold a special spot. Over the years, Ipoh has grown to be a booming tourist attraction. No surprise as i always see its potential, but there are definitely still room for improvements. Recently, my family and i visited Ipoh, partly to reminisce, and partly to explore and discover, creating new memories. Colourful mural art scattered around Ipoh. It was challenging to find them previously ( read Wall Paintings in Ipoh ) but today, there were abundant.  We came from the north ( read about Kuala Sepetang ) and our first stop was the Taman Rekreasi Gunung Lang . Passing by this place numerous times in the past, i was often intrigued. It was a crowded late morning, school holiday, Saturday when we arrived. Upon stepping onto the v...

We stumbled upon this restaurant in the Internet; it's a place we have passed by but never once stopped. Not that it is far off the main road, nor that it is in a secluded neighbourhood. It was rated fairly well, with some interesting reviews. So after hunting for JJ Cakes and Swiss Roll's Swiss Rolls, we headed towards this restaurant near Tesco, Ipoh for a Friday dinner.   I expected the crowd to be less since it was a weekday- and i was hungry. But there were a few tables occupied, luckily already dining. Even almost at the end of our dinner, we saw a family just coming in. Late dinner i suppose? I can imagine that on weekends, this place will be crowded. Pretty decorations. We were seated quick and the waitress, knowing it was our first, gave good recommendations. While waiting, i explored the restaurant, or the gallery that comes with it. Walking into the restaurant, i was amused by its decor. It wasn't like any ordinary Chinese restaurant. At the far en...

This one-of-a-kind, tea house under the umbrella of the Purple Cane Group opened in 2010 and is located in Ipoh. It found its way into my food hunt list because of my friend's recommendation. From its exterior, one would never guess that it is an eatery. Upon opening its classic wooden sliding door, i was amazed by its interior and it transformed what i had earlier thought- an old 120-year old, white, heritage building to a zen-like garden ambiance. Notice the Purple Cane Tea House sign on the sides.  We were there on Friday for lunch and many tables were occupied by families, office groups and friends wanting to catch up. With these said, this eatery exudes a peaceful and comfortable atmosphere, a truly pleasant place for gatherings. The place was divided into three sections: air conditioned, open air on tables and chairs, or low tables with cushion on the floor. We decided to take the third option partly because there were no other tables and partly because we wanted to...

Ipoh is famous for white coffee. And a visit to Nam Heong kopitiam is a must for coffee-lovers, especially with its claimed Old Town white coffee status. I went there once in the morning for breakfast and it was crowded; and it was no less crowded in my second visit during tea time. The white coffee drink was later sold out at late evening when we decided to order more, leaving me to savour my cup of iced white coffee (RM1.70). The aromatic beverage had just the right sweetness, and it was authenticity at its best. Even toasted bread took awhile for serving due to demands of the crowd.   Iced white coffee 'Pak Ko Pi Ping'. There was a stall selling dim sum such as 'siew mai', 'pau', 'loh mai kai', amongst others, and with an open kitchen concept, we could see the preparation of their popular egg tarts (egg filling poured into the molded pastry before entering the oven). Another recommendation here is the dry curry noodles (RM4). The curry tas...

Because it was new, it was challenging to locate this place. There were not many websites promoting this upcoming attraction of street art and none with clear directions to get there; like a treasure hunt game with no map for us to follow but clues of rainbow coloured buildings and that it's located somewhere near Ipoh Oldtown. Googling it redirected me towards the cave or cave temple paintings instead. We stopped by many places to ask the locals for directions, asked them about the lion dance mural. But because it was new, they didn't know where it was too. We were literally driving in circles; the sun almost down and the sky grew dark. Until i noticed a row of shophouses painted in familiar colours. Quickly, we parked our car and headed towards the Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue-Indigo-Violet buildings; one clue found and we were in the lookout for the wall paintings. Rainbow colour combination is always a good colour combination. See the rainbow. The street art is at...