Malaysian Cendol and Italian Tiramisu - All in one place
One of my good Aussie friend came over to Malaysia for a visit and as a local, I felt obliged to bring her to all the good places Malaysia has to offer. However, it was sad that we had a constraint - time. So, I suggested that she make a one-stop at Mid-Valley the well known food/shopping haven. After indulging in the local delicacies at Madam Kwan's, she had a wonderful time exploring and getting lost in the spacious shopping walkways of Mid-Valley and Gardens, or at least I hope she did.
Met up with her in the evening and as she was still full from lunch, I took her on a dessert tour, stopping at Nyonya Colors for the famous Teh Tarik (Pulled Tea). We asked for 'kurang manis' (lesser sugar) and was very happy that it was really 'kurang'! :)
Next up, I introduced her to Malaysian Cendol served by the dessert stall at Garden's food court. This stall has never disappointed me with the large portion.
We capped off the night with a heavenly slice of Tiramisu from Alexis. Alexis had the perfect setting for two girls who were dying to catch up with each other, who needed a place that was quiet enough for us to not shout when speaking to each other, but allowing us to giggle, laugh and squeal. LoL.
Tiramisu Cotton soft sponge cake topped with crunchy nuts. The strawberry sauce definitely took the cake enjoyment to the next level =) Having said this, I still prefer non-spongy tiramisu but this attempt by Alexis certainly deserves a thumbs-up
My Ipoh adventure + dining experience at Sin Meng Kee, Ipoh
The good thing about Malaysia is that great holiday destinations are all within a few hours (be it via land or air!).
For our latest trip, we drove to Ipoh to spend the weekend. We only left KL at around 1pm and arrived at Ipoh a little late as we exited the highway midway to enjoy the scenic drive along the villages and small towns. With a few stops along the way, we finally inched our way to Ipoh at around 5pm. Feeling the need to unwind in a hot bath, I googled "hot spring ipoh" and was thrilled to find that there is a hot springs just 10 minutes drive from Ipoh city. On Fridays and Saturdays, the hot springs at the Lost World of Tambun is open to public from 6pm - 9pm. And for a very affordable fee of RM5, you can relax and enjoy the scenic view of the famous Banjaran Titiwangsa, which is situated next to the Lost World itself!)
pic credit to sixthseal.com
The next morning, we woke up early to as I wanted to fulfill my childhood dream to conquer Gua Tempurung by joining the Grand Tour, a 3 and 1/2 hour tour of the Tempurung Caves. However, my parents were discouraged by the guide to join the grand tour as he thinks it is a little too extreme for seniors. True enough, the tour was not as easy as it sounds, as we do go off-track, climbing and descending near vertical rocks without safety harness of any kind - i really think that this should be illegal in Malaysia! Even the sure footed goats do make mistakes, what more first timers like mua?!??!
As we ventured deeper into the caves, all we were left were the lights from our torchlight and when we were told to off everything, we experienced a wave of nothingness, reminding us how lucky we are to be blessed with great eyesight. At a halfway mark, we found ourselves in the east entrance of the cave and we took the opportunity to wade in the cooling stream and rest our tired arms and feet until a few playful group mates decided to stir a water fight and everyone started splashing each other. The second half of the tour was spent crawling under limestones while our bodies were immersed in 6-inch high water levels.
Look wat we found? Amazing! Life in the caves! Wonder what it feeds on!
While I was literally clinging onto dear life, my parents spent their day at Ipoh, trying to locate a vegetarian restaurant named Sin Meng Kee that was said to be around the market in the city center. This vegetarian restaurant offers over 20 different dishes to go with rice, noodles or yam cake. Unlike others only uses flour, this yam cake was prepared using yam. Feeling a little heaty, the cooling tea helped a great deal as it was both strong and tasty. The ABC ice kacang was also tasty and reasonably priced. "Hiong Bang", "Tau Sar Bang", "Pumpkin Fried Crackers" were also on sale but I regret to say are all not up to standard, as the Hiong Bang tasted stale. I would probably try the Vegetarian Pig's Trotter the next time I visit as it was strongly recommended by the shop owner as their signature dish.
Yam Cake with 3 types of vege - RM 5.50
Cooling Tea - 1.20ABC Ice Kacang - RM 2.10
Soup of the day - RM2.50 per bowlRestaurant's famous Vegetarian pig's trotters
Name: Sin Meng Kee Products Sdn Bhd Address: No. 34 Jalan Dato Onn Jaafar, 30300 Ipoh, Perak Tel: 05-2553076
Feeling that I needed my dose of Mother Nature after living in the concrete jungle for my whole life, I decided to end my Ipoh visit at the Lata Kinjang waterfalls. If you do visit this waterfalls, don't get too excited and be tempted to join the crowd at the bottom of the waterfalls, instead take a 10 minute hike up the uphill path and you will find your self in a rather exclusive section of the waterfalls, having less than 1/10th of the crowd compared to the bottom of the falls :)
Ice Kacang at Terminal 2 - Singapore Changi Airport
It's going to be 41C tomorrow here in Melbourne, it makes me crave Cendol and Ice-Kacang even more. After browsing through some of my food pics from Singapore, I came across an unposted pics, taken in T2 in Changi Airport - ice kacang. Ahhh... how I miss this delightful thirst quencher and "body cooler". For those of you that do not know what's an ice-kacang, it's a bowlful of shaved ice drizzled with a few different colored syrup, with hidden goodies like sweetened red beans, corn, atapchi, peanuts, etc, hiding underneath the huge mountain of shaved ice. Though this may not be the best ice-kacang I've ever tried, but just looking at it makes me salivate and crave for it even more.
Since young I've been a big fan of Banana Fritters (more commonly known as Goreng Pisang in Malaysia). The sweetness of the banana is amplified to an enormous extent when deep fried. However, deep fried bananas become very mushy. Its creators were very creative to pre-dip the bananas in a pot of batter before deep-frying, thus adding a crunchy texture to the outside making it a well loved cuisine amongst people of all walks of life.
Lan Kee at Bedok Interchange in Singapore serves awesome banana fritters
This is really a must try ice kacang especially when you have friends coming in from overseas who wants to try out Malaysian desserts. They are very generous with their ingredients like cincau, red beans, sweet corn, cendol, attap seeds and to top it all, a big scoop of ice cream on top of it.
Two avid vegetarians are here to share some insights to the world of vegetarianism.
Hopefully, through this site, the lives of some animals can be spared. Always remember, animals have feelings too, they are our friends not our meal.
pic credit to sixthseal.com
As we ventured deeper into the caves, all we were left were the lights from our torchlight and when we were told to off everything, we experienced a wave of nothingness, reminding us how lucky we are to be blessed with great eyesight. At a halfway mark, we found ourselves in the east entrance of the cave and we took the opportunity to wade in the cooling stream and rest our tired arms and feet until a few playful group mates decided to stir a water fight and everyone started splashing each other. The second half of the tour was spent crawling under limestones while our bodies were immersed in 6-inch high water levels.
Cooling Tea - 1.20
ABC Ice Kacang - RM 2.10
Soup of the day - RM2.50 per bowl
Restaurant's famous Vegetarian pig's trotters
Name: Sin Meng Kee Products Sdn Bhd
Name: Sweet Temptations
Vegetarian Party
Pot Luck Party