What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Tai Ping - Cool Hill Station !

In the friendly town of Tai Ping (which was actually not very friendly back in the gangsters' years) lies the first British Hill Station (afternoon tea, old boy ?) - Bukit Larut (a.k.a. Maxwell Hill back in the British days) and the lovely and peaceful Lake Gardens. We hiked the 10 km and more than 80 hairpin bends up to the hill station and were rewarded with a fine view and cool air. Surprisingly it did not rain on the day as Tai Ping is known to be the wettest place in Malaysia.Pulau Penang - An island so big that it is a State, impressive temples though.

Moved on to the friendly island of Penang which is the Malaysian State with a major Chinese presence - famed for its Chicken Rice, elegant Buddhist temples and of course the delightful colonial feel around town.Pulau Langkawi - Da Beach !

Say no more and just sit back with a few duty-free beers and watch the beach life, yeh, it's tough.

Ipoh - Where can we eat tonight ?

We spent two nights in the Majestic Hotel which used to be part of a train station. The hotel building is truly "majestic" as it evokes the grandeur of colonial architecture at its best. We did have problems finding a decent place to have dinner as downtown Ipoh was deserted after office hours - surprisingly, we found a shockingly-gigantic Chinese restaurant (comes with a performing stage fit for a few school choirs) when hunger beckoned and we ran into a local function where they even performed a lion dance during their banquet. What a meal !

Kuala Kangsar - A Royal Town.
We spent an enjoyable day out from Ipoh and visited Kangsar. The town was clean, tidy and the royal palaces overlooked the pretty Sungai Kangsar.
KL - A better experience this time round.
Back to the hustles of KL. We were here in 2002 but this time around the city felt more vibrant and modern with the many comfortable shopping malls - and of course shopping is an Asian obsession and favourite past-time.

• an early morning AirAsia flight;
• bus from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to KL Sentral;
• Metro to the Pudu Raya Bus Station in KL;
• pushing through thousands of people at the station;
• asking almost the equal number of people where to buy a ticket;
• 2 hours wait for the next bus;
• 3 hours bus to Melaka Sentral;
• 1 hour bus to downtown Melaka;
• 1 hour walking around to find a vacant hotel (that had probably the last room in town).

I can only describe the Baba-Nonya cuisine as a delicious and ingenuous fusion of Chinese cooking ways with local flavours of coconuts milk, spices and ingredients.

What a delightful city with its culture, cuisine and sights !