A Foodie Trip From Ipoh To Chemor

YAY!!! TODAY IS THE DAY!!
Through "watsapp", we the three retirees finally met up  this morning at 10.30am... I was all ready to be "picked up" by my ex-colleagues and we were looking forward to a day of Food! 

The Foodie Trio!!

We started off with a Duck Project and the place is called Old Friends Restaurant.  It is located on the main road leading to Chemor town.  The Duck project had been put off many times before due to our busyness and this morning we finally made it to that place.... 

 

Though we reached there around 11.30am, the ducks were nearly all "booked"...

There were only two left for sale, we overheard....

This is the first time I get to taste this...

No wonder they get sold out fast... the meat was really tender and "yup mei!"

Don't need any sweet sauce to go with them at all...

Thumbs up for the food!

After our scrumptious lunch, we continued on with our foodie trip to a small town, Chemor...

We stopped here at this shop famous for their fish head and seafood noodles....

 

Since we were already "half-full" we ordered just a bit to try... to satisfy our curiosity...

A bit of this and that... fish maw, fish paste and wanton...

And the soup has this cilantro taste which really suited our taste buds!

 

We planned to go there some day to try the seafood noodles and fish head! 

Worth making another trip there.. perhaps next Friday??? 

Along the same row, something caught our "beauty eyes!"

hahahahaa...   

 

 DURIANS! 

 There and then, the vendor opened up one for us to eat....

And my friend ended up buying the rest of them!

 

The durian vendor is so cute...

And the durians are Very creamy and bittersweet!!

 

 Ok, we promised him that we would advertise his durians...

They were sold for RM8 each... good buy.. 

They are called "Da-nau"

 

Oh, he has these "Crystal Jackfruits" too... 

Did I get it correct? 

 

Yes, we need to "advertise" these as well... 

It is all in a Package.. hahahaha...

Otherwise we couldn't get them cheap... 

  He even gave us his phone number... 

Call him in advance so that we won't be disappointed!

Mike Mar... no joke!!

Durians all sold out to my friend...

Even coconuts were finished too!

Everyone was Happy And Satisfied with the outcome in Chemor.... 

But that is not the end of the food trip for us....

From Chemor, we drove all the way to First Garden to visit this lady....

Her smooth homemade Tau Fu Far!

Just look at me!  My double chin is coming up next!

Rounded faces could be seen even from afar!

Yes, our foodie trip from 11am till 3pm....

Phew... what a Full-Filling Day!

Thank you for the Food-Fillment, ladies!

My Visit To The Grand Canyon, Arizona

I WAS ASKED ME WHETHER I VISITED GRAND CANYON when I was in Las Vegas... yes, I definitely did this time round.  During our one week stay in Las Vegas, we went for a day trip all the way to Grand Canyon, it was a four hours drive... no joke about that.   We started off early and passed through beautiful greens along the way....

Endless pine trees on both sides of the roads leading up to Grand Canyon...

After four hours drive, we reached the entrance of Grand Canyon Nation Park....

It was very hot..... or should I say... supremely Hot! 

We had to put on lots of suntan lotion and wear our hats.... 

One can never miss this circle on the way in and out...  

We walked up to the Grand Canyon....

And we stood there.... mesmerized... 

It was indeed awesome!

Too bad my pictures did not do much credit to the beauty....

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the state of Arizona....

It is so natural....

And we stood there for some time...

.........admiring the vasts of the mountain natural beauty that lies ahead of us...

The Grand Canyon is 446 km long, 

up to 29 km wide and attains a depth of over 6,093 feet or 1,857 meters...

Even though it was a weekday, tourists were aplenty...

Even the squirrel had no fear for humans.... 

I just keep taking pictures after pictures... 

And realized that I had the flash light on only when I reached home!

That is why my pictures turned out too bright... sigh...

Anyway.... Grand Canyon is like this.. now I know....  

So deep down... looks like endless from where I stood...

And my legs turned jelly... hahahaa... 

The canyon is the result of erosion which creates one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet.... *info from wikipedia* 

A quick picture before I stepped back.... looking down takes guts! hahahaha..

On the way back, we stopped by to say Hi to the Tusayan Ranger Station...

And then it was a four hours drive back to Las Vegas... 

Thanks to my Big Boss who drove tirelessly while we ladies slept and slept... 

I blame it on the Heat!   :)

Super Supper Desserts In Ipoh

EVER SINCE I CAME BACK FROM THE LAND OF APLENTY,  I have been "burning coconuts" for many a nights!  How not to gain weight?  I think I would be slimmer staying in a western world than an asian country... hahahaha... I have so much choices over here and food was also abundant even at odd times of the night.

In the western world, I don't go out at night to eat as I do over here now in Ipoh.  Shops close as early as 6pm or latest by 8pm.  No supper after that unless homemade food.  But normally I stop eating as early as 6pm and the whole night would be spend watching TV... there are endless movies that I could watch in the comfort of my room...  Alas!  It is different when I am back now.... Food Temptation is really Great and I ended up taking supper after supper.... what shall I do....

Last night I went for these .....  Glutinous rice so flavourful in Jack Fah shop in town... 

I finished the whole plate by myself!  

Couldn't resist these too....

And dip-dip... 

Just a few sticks will do...

Followed by a bowl of Ang Tau *Red Bean* dessert...

Most of the food here went into my tummy...

And the price was around RM10.... $3usd?

And as if that was not enough,  my friend and I continued our food bout

at Tongsui Kai (Dessert Street)

Both of us shared a bowl of Ice Kacang before we called it a night...

*Pat my full tummy*

Restaurant Traits

There are a seemingly endless amount of restaurants of there, serving every style of food you can imagine. While the food at these restaurants will vary greatly, so will the quality of service you receive and the environment you are dining in. There are many important elements that make up a memorable dining experience. Very few restaurants manage to get all of these elements right, such as the establishments owned by celebrity chef Tim Love. So how do you know which restaurants to have a romantic dinner at, and which ones to avoid? Here are just a few of the traits you should look for in a restaurant.

1. Quality of the food

This is number one on the list for a very obvious reason. The whole reason you are going to a restaurant in the first place is to get something to eat. If the food is not up to your standards, then the entire experience will be a complete waste of time. You may want to impress a date by taking this person out to dinner. If the food is not very good, your romantic gesture will not have its intended effect.  Maybe some music will enhance the atmosphere and it would be great to check out official guitar center site for more choices of instruments.

2. Quality of service

While the quality of food is the primary issue you will need to take into consideration, it is also important to take a close look at the quality of the service that the restaurant provides to their customers. Are the waiters and waitresses polite? Do they check back at the table regularly to refill drinks, remove dishes and see if there is anything the customers need? If you ask your waiter or waitress to bring you something, is the item brought to you in a timely manner? Does the person serving you have a friendly attitude? If your order is wrong, is the problem taken care of quickly and efficiently?

3. Price

There are certain very fancy restaurants where you will expect to pay a large amount of money. However, if you are just going out for an average dinner, you do not want to go broke doing it. This is why you need to take a serious look at the prices that some restaurants are charging. In some cases, you will find that you are not getting value for what you are paying. The portions are small compared to their price. If you feel that the various dishes are priced too high, you should dine elsewhere.

Ipoh Desserts And Black Thorn

MY FRIENDS AND I HAD LUNCH AT LOKE WOOI KEE COFFEESHOP..... I didn't take any pictures then cos I was too engrossed in the peanuts pancake.... and after our lunch, we just crossed the road to the opposite side to try the desserts at the Tai Soo No. 1.  It is located at the side of a corner shop, just a small corner with three of four tables along the five foot way.

Since my friend had never tried their desserts before, we ended up ordering some funny additions to the authentic Tau Foo Far (beancurd dessert)

Tau Foo Far with Red Beans....

Tau Foo Far with Cendol...
Well, how was the taste for the above two?
If you ask me, I rather stick to the original... that is... no additions to the beancurd dessert..
Eat it just the way it is supposed to be.... it is not meant to be added anything else...

The varieties are only meant for the Ice Kacang... 

See what I mean?  The ingredients are meant to be for this... 

hahahaha...

Anyway, at least we got to experience some new taste.... 

Total cost is slightly below RM10

More desserts were served upon reaching home...

My friend brought along this special durian from Penang called Black Thorn...

And one box was definitely not enough....

I ordered some durians from my former office.... 

These are real "kampong" durians.... 

So creamy and nice too....

And the price was definitely much cheaper than those "branded" ones.....

Oh dear, I guess I have to refrain from any more durian purchase... 

These will definitely last me for one week or more!