A 4D3N Trip Visiting Relatives Aug-Sept 2017

In conjunction with the long weekends – 5 days in a row from Thursday 31/8/2017 (Hari Kebangsaan), Friday 1/9/2017 (Hari Raya Haji), till Monday 4/9/2017 (special public holiday in celebration of Malaysia winning unprecedented 145 gold medals in the just concluded 29th SEA Games – Kuala Lumpur 2017), my wife Soh Ai, our eldest son Wai Kit and I decided to make a 4-day trip to Perak and Kedah to visit our relatives, namely my 4th auntie in Menglembu, Ipoh, and Soh Ai’s mother in Rantau Panjang, Selama, Perak and her 3rd uncle in Kulim, Kedah respectively.

It was Wai Kit’s idea to put up a night at a homestay in Ipoh and he booked Café 1018 at Kg. Simee, Ipoh for 3 pax for RM150+.

On Thursday, 31/8/2017 we left home at about 8.45am after having breakfast at Bandar Sg Long.  The traffic on North-south Highway was very very heavy.  It took us about 5 ½ hours (without any stop at any R&R) just to reach Tapah (about 152 km from KL) at 2.00pm.  We ordered 3 dishes + 1 soup at Restoran Jin Chen near toll at Tapah. After the late lunch, Wai Kit took the wheel from me and drove to Ipoh.

Heavy traffic on the NS Highway on the first day of the long weekends

Tapah restaurant, food are pretty cheap and tasty

Restaurant was quite empty while all the R&R along the highway were crowded

Our lunch at Tapah

At about 4.00pm we checked into Café 1018 (a combined homestay, café and boutique) at Kg. Simee, Ipoh. While Soh Ai and Wai Kit took a rest at the homestay, I went alone to Menglembu to visit my 4th aunt秀英四姑 (aged 89) and my eldest cousin brother Kum Thong 锦棠 (aged 68, unmarried).  We had a good chat from 5.30pm till 7.30pm.

My 4th cousin brother Yan Tong仁栋 (same age of 62 with me) came later at about 7.00pm to bring dinner to his mother and the three cousins of us posed for a rare photo together for remembrance sake.  Yan Tong proposed to bring us for dim-sum breakfast the next morning in a restaurant which even his relatives from China found delicious and reasonably priced.

Homestay at Kg. Simee, Ipoh

A glimpse of our homestay room

A glimpse of the main road of Kg. Simee, Ipoh

A pose with my 89-year-old 4th auntie in Menglembu, Ipoh

Pic left: my eldest cousin brother Kum Thong (aged 68) and right my 4th cousin Yan Tong (aged 62)

A pose in front of my 4th auntie's house in Menglembu, Ipoh

I returned to Kg. Simee at about 8.00pm and we went for dinner at Restoran Kamwan Aneka Selera (冬菇亭美食中心), Ipoh Garden.  The food centre was packed with people and we only managed to sit at one far end corner.  I tried the Bibi’s signature popiah (RM 2.20 per piece) and found it tasty.

Food centre at Ipoh Garden

Very crowded food centre

It seems this popiah stall (run by Indians) is quite popular 

At about 8.00am in the morning on Friday, 1/9/2017, I went for a walk at the market just behind our homestay and bought 4 pieces of moon-cakes (RM 5.50 with egg-yolk and RM 4.50 normal).

Posed in front of Kg. Simee market

A glimpse of market

Market view

Our homestay Cafe 1018 is the building exactly on the right-hand-side, so close to the market on the left

At 9.00am sharp, Yan Tong came to our homestay with his wife and 4th auntie.  All 6 of us went with my Avanza MPV to Chooi Yue Dim Sum (翠月楼) at Taman Ipoh Selatan.  The restaurant was packed with people inside and outside and it took us no less than 20 minutes to wait for a vacant table.  The dim-sums were ok. The total cost for more than 15 plates of dim-sums came to RM 101 treated by Yan Tong. 

Popular dim-sum restaurant at Taman Ipoh Selatan

Long wait for a vacant table

People waiting outside the restaurant for tables

A pose with my 4th auntie

My 4th auntie with her 4th son Yan Tong

Sumptuous dim-sum breakfast

Returned to Kg. Simee after breakfast and met an elderly woman (on seeing my auntie walking with a stick) giving tips about Traditional Chinese Medicine for leg pain and thyroid as follows:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for leg pain (脚痛): 3 pc. sweet potato (蕃薯), 1 pc. sweet corn (玉黍蜀), 4 pc. duzhong (杜仲 bark of eucommia). To boil from 4 to 5 bowls of water into one.

TCM for thyroid (甲状腺或大颈疱): 8 pc. candied jujube (蜜枣), 8 pc. chestnut (栗子), one uncut snakehead fish (生魚). To boil from 8 bowls of water into one.

We checked out from the homestay at 10.45am and proceeded to Selama, Perak.  The northward bound traffic on the highway was smooth.

Soh Ai wanted to give her mother a pleasant surprise by not informing her about our visit beforehand.  But instead we were surprised when we reached Rantau Panjang, Selama, Perak at about 1.30pm and found the house locked.  My mother-in-law was fetched by her neighbor to go to Selama town for hair-doing.  Luckily we just waited for about 10 minutes before she returned to let us into the house.

Mother-in-law opening the pad-lock for entry

We wanted to have our dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Selama town but none was opened for business at around 5.45pm.  So we proceeded to Restoran Fong Ting Siew (峰亭秀海鲜/河鲜楼) at Serdang (西岭), Kedah and took the famous fried porridge (炒粥), fried rice, tom-yam river catfish (白须公) and bean sprouts (芽菜).  The fish was fresh and very tasty. The total cost was RM 89.

Restaurant at Serdang, Kedah

Pic from left: Soh Ai, Mother-in-law, Wai Kit

Unique fried porridge

River catfish tom-yam style 

At 8.30am on Saturday, 2/9/2017, we left Rantau Panjang for Kulim, Kedah.  We reached there at 9.10am and visited Soh Ai’s 3rd uncle世南三舅 (aged 83, immediate elder brother to my mother-in-law).  He stays alone in this single-story semi-detached 3-room house after his wife passed away in March this year, and all his children (4 sons and 3 daughters) are living elsewhere either in other parts of the country or overseas.

We went to Restoran Dao Siang (稻香点心) for breakfast as the restaurant selling the famous curry mee that uncle wanted to bring us to was closed.  I had too much of dim-sums lately and took fried dongfen (冬粉glass noodle) instead.  After breakfast, we returned to 3rd uncle’s house to continue to chit chat.

Visiting Soh Ai's 3rd uncle in Kulim, Kedah

Dao Siang Restaurant in Kulim, Kedah

Gathering of brother and sister

Brother and sister with age difference of 3 years

Next we visited Soh Ai’s younger brother Sze Hean’s rented house in Kulim.  Sze Hean had then gone back to Rantau Panjang but his family members were around.  Sze Hean’s wife took us to take a look at their newly bought double-storey terrace house (yet to be renovated and furnished) at Residensi Tropika in Bukit Mertajam.   

My brother-in-law Sze Hean's currently rented house in Kulim

Sze Hean's new house in Bkt Mertajam

A new house yet to be furnished

Residensi Tropika houses

A nearby garden opposite the house

A nearby playground 

Back to Hean's rented house in Kulim, Kedah

Lek-yi (left) and Jia-wei looking at the Transformer toy bought by Wai Kit (right)

Sze Hean returned to Kulim at about 2.00pm and took us for lunch at Restoran Daily Fish (天天鱼).  The restaurant was then out of electrical power because of TNB’s repair work outside.  We still ate there in an environment without light and air-conditioning.

Restaurant without electricity supply

We returned to Rantau Panjang at 5.00pm and took fried noodles prepared by mother-in-law for dinner.

A late afternoon pose in front of my in-laws' house in Rantau Panjang 

I had on 1/9/2017 noticed some photos posted in FaceBook by my former colleague at Minconsult S/B, senior drafts-lady Jane Choo who hails from Tg. Malim, about certain colourful murals or Street Art in Tg. Malim.  Out of curiosity and interest, I checked with her about the location and also google-searched it.  It is located at the back-lane between the main road and Jalan Chong Ah Peng.  And I decided to pay Tg. Malim a visit on our way home to KL.

On Sunday, 3/9/2017 we left Rantau Panjang at about 9.00am and had our noodle breakfast at Selama town.  The traffic on the North-south highway was very heavy, coupled with intermittent raining along the way.  I drove till a stop at R&R Bkt Gantang at 10.50am for a drink, and Wai Kit took the wheel from there to Tg. Malim. 

R&R Bkt Gantang

The southward bound traffic condition on the highway was smooth at a certain stretch 

But heavy traffic at another stretch especially near an exit to a town

It was a lucky day for us as the rain stopped before we reached Tg. Malim at 3.10pm (and it continued to rain after we left Tg. Malim and all the way to KL).  I managed to take quite a bit of photos of the colourful murals on both sides of the long back-lane.  As Soh Ai and Wai Kit were both camera-shy, I couldn’t take a single photo of either of them posed with the street art.  

Tg. Malim Street Art at the back-lane of the main road

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1st PM of Malaysia: Tunku Abdul Rahman

2nd PM of Malaysia: Tun Razak

3rd PM of Malaysia: Tun Hussein Onn

4th PM of Malaysia: Tun Mahatir

5th PM of Malaysia: Tun Abdullah Badawi

6th and current PM of Malaysia: Dato' Seri Najib Razak

After visiting the street art, I wanted to try the Hainan chicken chop recommended by Jane Choo at a restaurant near Yik Mun Tg. Malim Pau.  We drove quite a distance from town to find Yik Mun Pau, but I found the said restaurant E&L appeared to be a Malay coffee shop at the ground floor.  Yik Mun was crowded and there was a long queue of people waiting for the pau’s.

Wai Kit and I ordered the Hainan Chicken Chop (each RM 17) while Soh Ai ordered Hainan Mee (RM 9.50).  Hainan coffee costs RM 3.50 (hot) and RM 4.00 (iced) respectively.  We waited for about an hour from 4.00pm till 5.00pm before being served!  The chicken chop was a bit hard but still tasted ok probably due to hunger.  We also bought 6 pieces of the curry-chicken pau (each RM 2.40). We left Yik Mun at 5.40pm.

Yik Mun Pau

Very crowded restaurant mostly Malays

Publicity displayed at the walls of Yik Mun

The Hainan Chicken Chop I took

We finally returned home sweet home at 7.10pm, concluding a meaningful 4D3N relative-visiting trip.
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The blogger is grateful for the kind comment from Dr. Lim Ju Boo who requested it to be posted as follows:

Dear Ir TO Lau,

Your narration of your visit to your relatives and stay in Kg Simee and finally in Selama, together with your detailed account of all the restaurants and eateries you visited, the various types of food you ate, and even their prices are all vividly described like a sequence in a movie.

I really marvel at your effort and the time you took with all those pictures carefully filmed.

It was too much for me to follow the details, from the time you left your house till the time you return. It took me some time to read.

You truly have taken advantage of the long holidays to join the crowd in a massive exodus of holiday makers  from Kajang to your wife's home village in Selama, encountering crowded restaurants everywhere.

I think they too were holiday makers like your good self and beloved family.

Thank you for the journey that sounded so enjoyable even for me immobilized here in my hospital bed with a long standing leg ulcer.

I am glad you have safely arrived home from your sojourn.

Welcome home, Ir Lau.

Lim jb

Sept. 5, 2017