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| In front of the Leaning Clock Tower of Teluk Intan |
On Thursday, June 5, 2014, my wife Soh Ai and I joined Terry Yip and his wife Jenny Lee for a day trip to Teluk Intan (安顺), Tanjung Tualang (督亚冷) and Ipoh. The purposes of our trip are four-fold: to visit the famous leaning tower in Teluk Intan, to savour the famous gigantic freshwater prawns in Tanjung Tualang, my paying a visit to my 85-year-old aunt and eldest cousin brother in Menglembu (万里望), and Jenny’s fetching her eldest sister’s 13-year-old grand-daughter from Gunung Rapat (昆仑喇叭)to K.L. to stay with them for the last week of mid-year school holidays.
Terry came to fetch Soh Ai and I in his Myvi car and we left Bandar Sungai Long at 9.00 am, shortly after an early morning rain stopped. It took us an hour to reach Hong Kee Restaurant (洪记酒家), Taman Connaught, Cheras due to the bad traffic jam at Jalan Cheras. We had "Dim Sum" or Cantonese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates (8 types including Chinese tea amounted to RM 42.00) for breakfast in that restaurant till 10.30 am.
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| Renowned "Dim Sum" restaurant at Taman Connaught, Cheras |
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| Some of the "Dim Sum" we ate |
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| My favourite 'Loh Mei Kei" (glutinuous rice chicken) |
We took the Kerinchi link expressway and passed through Damansara toll to hit the North-South Highway. From Bidor, we proceeded to Teluk Intan and reach there at about 1.25 pm. The only place we visited was the Leaning Tower (or ‘Menara Condong’), standing majestically right in the heart of Teluk Intan town.
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| Reaching Teluk Intan town. The spectacular by-election was just held 6 days ago on last Saturday. |
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| A glimpse of Teluk Intan town |
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| Kompleks Menara Condong in the far side |
It is understood that the tower was built in 1885 by Chinese contractor and philanthropist Leong Choon Cheong for the dual purpose of storing portable water in a steel tank at the top of the tower and announcing the time by a large clock imported from England. The design of the pagoda-shaped tower is appears externally to be 8-storey high but inside the tower it is actually made up of 3 storeys. The tower is 25 m tall and has a base diameter of 13 m and a top diameter of 8 m. It has 110 steps and the structure is made of wood and brick. In contrast, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy stands at 55 m. In any case, the inclination of this so-called leaning tower was not very obvious to me.
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| Front view of Teluk Intan Leaning Tower |
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| Terry Yip |
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| The blogger took a pose |
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| Background introduction of the Leaning Tower |
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| Pic from left: Soh Ai and Jenny Lee |
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| Visitors of the Leaning Tower |
I climbed up to the 3rd floor and took some photos inside and outside the tower. Terry also went up later after re-parking his car in a more appropriate parking lot, while the two ladies preferred to stay on the ground. After that, I went to the nearby biscuit shop at Kompleks Menara Condong SGT Food Marketing (新源珍) and bought 3 packet of Biscuit Wangi (芝麻香饼) of RM 7.30 each and Mocha and Durian Heong Peah (摩卡/榴莲香饼) of RM 9.00 each.
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| Interior look of the Leaning Tower |
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| Steel tank bottom |
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| Looking down the stair-way inside the tower |
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| Timber side-struts around the steel tank |
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| Outside viewed from the tower |
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| A street in town with the campaign banner of DAP's candidate Dyana Sofya still hanging around |
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| Biscuits bought from Teluk Intan |
Terry wanted to take us to try the famous coffee at Medan Selera Glutton Square of Teluk Intan. But in view of the difficulty in finding the way to the place in spite of the GPS system built-in the car and that it was getting late for our intended seafood lunch in Tanjung Tualang, we didn’t stop for any drink or food in Teluk Intan after visiting the leaning tower.
By the time we reached Tanjung Tualang, it was already about 3.10 pm. We went to Luen Fong Restaurant (联芳海鲜楼) at Jalan Pasar diagonally opposite the market. This restaurant proudly displays on the wall the photos of the owner taken with celebrities like HK gourmets 蔡澜丶梁文韬丶radio DJ林德荣丶singer谢玲玲and others.
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| Luen Fong Restaurant at Tanjung Tualang |
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| My wife and I |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Terry Yip |
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| "Wan Thau Long" (sweet-sour-tasting yellow jelly) |
The signature of Tanjung Tualang is the fresh and large (or medium-sized) freshwater PRAWNS.
Terry ordered 2 versions of the medium-sized prawns (RM 83 per kg), half kg of them (about 8 to 10 pieces) dished out in steamed style (清蒸淡水虾) in Chinese rice wine and finely-julienned ginger, and another half kg in “Kon Chin Har” (干煎虾碌) style or pan-fried lightly with soy sauce. Both the platter of succulent, bouncy and sweet prawn flesh and the juicy roes imbued in the prawn heads did satisfy our cravings. Super-duper finger-licking yummy!
We also ordered sauce-steamed Tilapia fish (酱蒸金凤鱼RM 26) and Kangkung Sambal Belacan (马来风光 RM 8), both of them were very tasty. The total bill came to RM 127. I felt that the price for the freshwater prawns at RM 83 per kg was on the high side, because I have read from the internet that the price of medium-sized prawns should be around RM 70 per kg.
I also tried the sweet-sour-tasting, yellow-hued wobbly jelly called "wan thau long" ('giddy-headed bloke' 晕头浪) for RM 2 per cup. It was very refreshing when served chilled with a squeeze of lime. It is said not to be found outside Perak. But I find it similar to the Taiwan’s “Ai Yu Bing” (爱玉冰) widely sold in any pasar malam in K.L.
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| Steamed prawns (RM 41.50) |
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| Pan-fried prawns (RM 41.50) |
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| Tilapia fish (RM 26) |
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| Four dishes costing RM 127 |
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| Restaurant owner posed with HK gourmets |
We finished our belated seafood lunch at about 4.00 pm and left Tanjung Tualang after buying from the stall outside the restaurant some “Shat Kei Ma” (crispy egg flour with molasses biscuit or 萨骑马).
We reached Menglembu at about 5.00 pm where I visited and chatted with my 4th aunt and her eldest son. She is now 85 years old and besides having to cling on a rattan chair to walk and is almost toothless, she is otherwise quite healthy and alert. We left at about 5.25 pm to proceed to Gunung Rapat where Jenny Lee picked up her eldest sister’s grand-daughter and the 2 sisters also met briefly at the latter's Chinese herbal medicine sundry shop.
We left Ipoh at about 6.20 pm and travelled without taking our dinner because we were still feeling full after the sumptuous late lunch, but only stopped at Tapah R&R station for washroom and fresh coffee.
We reached home at 9.45 pm and concluded our free-and-easy leisurely trip to places in the Perak state.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank Terry Yip (and the companionship of his wife Jenny Lee) for being the tour leader, tour guide-cum-driver for this enjoyable one-day trip (at least no stress from driving on my part), for without his recommendation, I would not know about such a famous cuisine of freshwater prawns available in Tanjung Tualang.
