Ipoh-Taiping Trip

So, like I said yesterday, I just came back from my tour guide duty last weekend to my 10 fellow coursemates. It was a nice experience.

13 Nov 2009
We began the day with the ride back Ipoh. The five of us went in Xin Hao's car while the rest took bus to Ipoh. When I reached my house, I went to the bus station with my car to fetch them. Then, we went to Dai Shu Tao (or Big Tree Head for literal translation) for lunch. It's been so long since the last time I went there. Then, the standard visit to Sam Poh Tong temple and beside it, the Nam Thian Tong temple. Almost deserted of people, we went to just have a brief tour and paid our respects.

After that, we drove all the way to Batu Gajah for the famous Kellie's Castle. Like my friends, it's my first time going there and I did got lost for a moment, making a wrong turn. When you made the right turn, there was almost no sign left for the building is quite large till you can spot it on its own. We spent a whole good hour there, taking photos and all.

Then, back we went to Ipoh for the famous Ngar Choi Kai (Beansprout and Chicken) before we headed to pasar malam (night market) at First Garden. Going to pasar malam required me to make a few calls for I did not know of the direction, but after few minutes of detour, we finally reached the destination. A tiny rain forced us to head back home for resting, and also to celebrate our friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Ginael!

Before we said goodnight, we went to Tong Sui Khai (Dessert Street, again, literal translation) for Tong Suis. Then, a quick tour to train station. That's the first day.

14 Nov 2009
We woke up quite early for Foh San dim sum, but, only when we reached that we found out that it was closed for renovation. Well, we turned to the next available restaurant, Yoke Fook Moon. Not as nice as Foh San, or so said my friend.

Then, we drove for almost 45 minutes to Gua Tempurung to spend some time with nature. There's four type of tours, 2 dry and 2 wet, but since the wet tour really all wet, we opted for the longest dry tour. The interior was really beautiful and all and at one moment, the air was chill. But I have to say, I really don't like the management. Poor guide and terrible management.

Since we were so near Kampar, we went to have Kampar's famous Roti Ayam (Bread Chicken) where there's curry chicken wrapped inside the bread. It's quite delicious but the curry needed for a little spicy, in my opinion. Then, we went to uni-crash UTAR, or just the lake outside UTAR, West Lake. At least their lake was way much cleaner than the Aman Lake or Fajar Lake at USM. Ours got iguanas resting in it.

Next, we headed back Ipoh for a quick look at the Lost World of Tambun before bringing them to buy some souvenirs and having some snack at Kong Heng Kopitiam. Nothing much to eat since it's their closing time. Then, a quick rest at home before bringing them for dinner at Same Taste Restaurant near my house. After that, we sent the 6 of them back Penang while the remaining 5 of us stayed on for tomorrow at Taiping.

15 Nov 2009
After breakfast, we headed to Taiping, with Mei Ling as our tour guide. After dropping some of her stuffs at her house, we went straight to Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill). Even I've been to Taiping countless time, it's my first time going up that hill. Of course, we took the jeep up instead of climbing it. We were really a bunch of lazy people. And also lack of time. We spent 3 hours absorbing the beauty of nature and the cold air up there. Then, we went to have lunch (or more like high tea) at pasar (market). I like their Oo Tao Kou (Yam Cake), really delicious. Before we headed back USM, our tour guide brought us around Taiping, showing us her schools and those famous schools around Taiping. Due to rain and tiredness, we just headed back USM and aborted all the planned visit to Bukit Tambun and all. True to its name, Taiping really rain non stop.

Hope everyone have a blast in the trip. I know I did.

p/s Photos will be uploaded when I went back home using my laptop and when I got back my memory card.