My First Attempt As A Tour Guide

I just came back sending my coursemates to Medan Gopeng for their bus rides to their next destination, KL (12 hours ago when this was posted!). It's Raya break and since it's 1 week break, they decided to went south from Penang for 3 stops before the end of the holidays and their first stop was here in Ipoh. I was their inexperienced tour guide, constantly thinking of places worth visiting here in Ipoh.

First day (20/09/09)
It's approaching 11am when they called me, telling me they're arrived but instead of the appointed McD's drive thru at the Ipoh Timur (is it where it's called, the one with Petronas beside it?), they ended up with Bangunan Perak besides them. So, I asked them to stop at the building opposite Padang Ipoh aka St. Michael's Institution, waiting for my arrival. When I reached, I led them back to my house in Bercham for them to put their stuffs first before we started our journey.

My proposed first stop was the Lost World of Tambun but due to the scorching heat, we decided to go later in the afternoon. Since their stomachs had been humming tunes, I brought them to experience the wait-to-sit-and-eat people here in Ipoh willing to do to get good food (not me though XD). We went to Kong Heng Kopitiam at Old Town for lunch. As expected, there's lots of people standing by the tables, waiting for the people occupied the tables to be merciful and eat their meals quickly. Luckily, we didn't get to wait long (15 minutes???) before our marked table was emptied. We ordered kai si hor fun, popiah, satay and Ipoh white coffees. You have to ask them whether it's nice or not since I'm pretty much used to it even it's been ages since I've been there but the kai si hor fun still so delicious!

Ipoh train station

Then, we went to the train station in Ipoh for some photo taking sessions. A weird spot, I know, but hey, not long after our arrivals, a bunch of Japanese tourists came by and did the same thing, so I guess our train station is an unique spot, right? After some serious photo taking sessions, we went to eat tong sui at a restaurant near Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah (should be the name of the street...). Not the one at Tong Sui Khai but around there la. Again, it's the same for me so if you want real comments, ask them.

We visited Ipoh Parade for some cooling down (it's hot out there!) and exploring before we went to Lost World about 4pm. The ticket for adult is RM 30 while for kid is RM 24, I think and the closing time for the theme park is 6pm. It's my first time there too even though the place is just about 5 minutes drive from my house. We didn't expect there'll be so much things to explore and play in it so with such short time left, we didn't really make full use of the place. It's not worth the money for us but if you went there early in the morning, like the moment it opened, RM 30 is rather cheap, I guess.

In Lost World of Tambun

We went back my house to freshen up ourselves before we went out for dinner. Where else if not the Lou Wong Ngah Choi Kai Restaurant, the all famous Ipoh ngah choi kai where everyone keeps associate it with Ipoh. It's like, if you visit Ipoh, ngah choi kai is a must. Again, the wait-to-sit-and-eat system applied here to even greater height as we waited almost 1 hour and 45 minutes, the same time used to travel from Penang to Ipoh, just to taste it. That's why me and my family only been there once, centuries back. Is it worth it, you asked? Of course...........(I'm not going back again if I got choice). Later, we went yum cha at Tong Kui (Ipoh Timur I think) before we called it a night.

Sunset from my house
The famous ngah choi kai...

Second day (21/09/09)
We were supposed to go Foo San Restaurant for dim sum early in the morning but since all of us can't seem to wake up, our proposed breakfast turned brunch by the time we reached there around 10.30am and boy, it's the same system all over again. After waited for a while, we decided to skip dim sum and went to Sun Seng Fatt Restaurant for some delicious curry mee. Seems like everywhere in Ipoh, there's people queueing up just to eat and Sun Seng Fatt is no exception. It's less crowded but it doesn't mean you don't have to wait. There's only one person taking orders and one person cooking the food. They really mm yau jou (if you can wait, wait, if not, you can leave now policy). At least I like the curry.

If only you can look at the crowd...

Then, our next stop, Sam Poh Tong. We used up almost 1 hour exploring Sam Poh Tong and its neighbours, Nam Tin Tong and Ling Sen Tong, paying our respects to the deities, taking pictures of the caves and all. Then, we went to Kinta City for some bowling sessions before we had our teas at Chatter Kopitiam.

Sam Poh Tong
The greenery inside Sam Poh Tong XD

We had bak kut teh at the Good Taste Restaurant near my area for dinner with my family. After that, we went to pasar malam at Gunung Rapat searching for smelly tofu. No idea why but they kept asking for it as if Ipoh is famous for smelly tofu. Too bad it didn't open tonight so no smelly tofu for them. After we finished scouting for snacks, we went touring around Ipoh for some night light. Then, we headed back home for early rest 'cause tomorrow we wanted to try our luck with Foo San again.

Night view in Ipoh...my shot XD

Last day (2322/09/09)
We woke up very early today (around 5.30+am) and prepared ourselves. When they finished packing their luggages (about 6.30+am), we started our trip to Foo San. Even at such early hour, it was still packed with people, though much less than yesterday. After waiting for 15+ minutes, we had our table, though shared with another family. We ate and enjoyed the dim sum a lot. Before I sent them to terminal bus, we went for another quick tour for another round of photo sessions.

ps- stupid blogger won't let me upload any photos (or is it Streamyx?) so gonna try later...
pps- super duper slow uploading pictures...already an hour only 4 pixs uploaded...
ppps- I had enough!
pppps- By the way, all photos thanks to KK (again, except for the last shot which was mine XD)