A sleepy town....

I thought I should write something about this tiny and sleepy little town called Sungei Lembing.  Most visitors went there for the purpose of climbing Bukit Panorama to see the beautiful sunrise and for the popular tou foo and noodles. 

The town is really small.  While we were there, almost all the shops were closed and I think they had been closed for a long time.  There were hardly any people on the streets.  It is quite hard to imagine this place used to be a very busy and wealthy tin mining town in the 60s.  Here are some snap shots of the old buildings:

All the shops except for one coffee shop are closed

A very old tree

Deserted streets

Smallest petrol station which is still functioning

Kolong Pahat hanging bridge

 I have never been afraid of heights or crossing hanging bridges.  But, for the first time, I feared for my life when I crossed the above bridge.  When we were in the middle of the bridge, throngs of people came from the opposite direction.  The bridge started swaying violently.  The low railing at the side didn't help... I was so worried that I might just lose my balance and plunge into the river below.  At the same time, I was also worried for the kids.  At one point, I thought the swaying was done by someone on purpose.  Naturally, I asked (in quite a loud voice) that the person stopped shaking the bridge.  I hope nobody heard me though as DH told me later that the swaying was due to too many people crossing the bridge at the same time.  Thinking back, it was rather an amusing experience.......

The Food Chapter 6 - Melaka (part 4)

This would be the last chapter on food.  I would like to highlight 2 very interesting and yummy desserts/snacks which we had in Melaka - durian puffs and mille crepe. The former is a very common snack in Singapore while the latter is quite an unknown, at least for me....

The shop that sells the durian puffs is located about 2 shops away from the famous Jonker 88 eatery.  Besides durian puffs, they have durian ice cream and pineapple tarts.  We tried both the ice cream and the puffs.  They were fantastic!  As it was too hot outside, we had both in the shop.  It would be good if they could put some tables and chairs for the customers to dine in.  The puffs were special, quite unlike what we normally had back home.  The fillings were very creamy.  It is almost like eating ice cream wrapped in the choux pastry.  When no. 2 took the first bite, the fillings squirted out and some went to his shirt.

  

 We had mille crepe at Nadeje cafe in Dataran Pahlawan Megamall.  Mille crepe is actually made by layering crepes with cream.  Mille is a French word and it means "thousands".  We ordered 3 flavours: original, tiramisu and double chocolate.  At RM8.50 per slice, they were pricey but they were all worth it!  Personally, I think the original one is the best.  Reason being, I could taste each layer more distinctly as compared to the other 2 flavours.  How I wish we could have that in Singapore.  A friend of mine sent me the recipe and I realised it is actually not very difficult to make the cake. The process is tedious though as it requires making several pieces of crepe which perhaps explain why the cake is rather expensive.

Top to bottom: Double chocolate, Tiramisu and Orginal

 I really miss all the good food we had in Melaka.  Can't wait to go back again!

The Food Chapter 5 - Melaka (part 3)

I came across this place called Portugese Settlement when I was looking for places to have our dinner.  There are 10 stalls in Portugese Settlement selling the same type of food i.e. seafood - one of my favourites!  Again, the advice is to go there early, say at 6pm to beat the crowds.  The stalls are only opened at night, by the way.

It wasn't too difficult to find the place with the help of our trusted GPS.  Once we got out of the car, we were mopped by touts.  As I already knew which stall to go to, it was not too difficult to get them off our backs :) I found out that stall no. 1 Sea Terrace serves very good and cheap seafood but the wait for a table could be horrendous if we were late.  We had no problem getting a table since it was pretty early.

We ordered sweet and sour crab, deep fried calamari, steamed prawn with assam and wine, Portugese grilled fish and some stir fried mix vegetables.  Except for the steamed prawn which was just average, we enjoyed the crab, calamari and fish.  The crab was meaty and the crab meat was firm.  The sweet and sour gravy was similar to the famed Singapore chilli crab, except that it was not spicy.  The calamari was very good too.  It was crispy on the outside and chewy in the inside.  2 thumbs up!  The Portugese grilled fish was too spicy for the kids so DH and I ended up having the whole fish to ourselves.  The grilled fish was good!  Total bill came up to RM140, pretty reasonable considering the items we ordered.  We ordered whole coconuts to go with the meal.  The coconut juice was really really sweet, the sweetest I had came across so far.

Delicious sweet and sour crab

Portugese grilled fish - see all the red chilli paste on top!

There was a foodstall just next to our table which offered quite a range of exotic seafood.  In fact, they call themselves "Exotic Seafood".  They have scallops on shells, mussels, clams, fresh oysters etc.  The most unique one has got to be this:

We were curious how they served the horseshoe crab cause according to DH, it is supposed to be poisonous.  We found out that they actually grilled the whole crab.

Business was brisk and I was really tempted to have a go at the large and juicy oysters.  I told DH that it was okay for me to eat it since I wasn't the one driving.  His reply was not very encouraging.  He said if anything happened to me, he couldn't drive either as he had to take care of me... sigh! There goes my oysters:(

The Food Chapter 4 - Melaka (part 2)

Melaka is famous for its chicken rice balls and there are several shops selling it.  The two most popular ones are Hoe Kee and Chung Hwa.  Most blogs I visited said that Hoe Kee's chicken is better than Chung Hwa but Chung Hwa's rice balls are better than Hoe Kee.  Years ago, I tried Hoe Kee's and from then on, I avoided chicken rice balls.  The rice balls were so hard and tasteless that I had problems finishing my share.  From then on, I formed the impression that all rice balls were like that... But, Hoe Kee's chicken was good. For this trip, I decided that I would give Chung Hwa a try, not for the chicken but the rice balls.

I made it a point to go there early as I had seen enough pictures of long queues outside the shop to know that the wait could be a long one.  Alas, we were later than planned and by the time we were there, there were about 10 people in the queue already.  For crowd control purposes, a shop helper guards the entrance and will only open the metal gate when there are people leaving.

Fortunately, the wait was not as long as I had expected.  The food arrived quickly too.  As expected, the chicken was really not very tasty.  It was quite bland actually.  I wasn't disappointed since I already knew what to expect.  But, I have to say that the rice balls are good! Much better than Hoe Kee's version and it totally changed my opinion about rice balls.  The rice balls were soft and had a nice fragrance.  They were flavourful as well and tasted even better if eaten with their chilli sauce.  If Hoe Kee and Chung Hwa join forces, I am sure they will monopolise the entire chicken rice balls market in Melaka!

Next up is another must-eat in Melaka - Chendol!  I have a sweet tooth and like all sorts of desserts, both western and asian.  Chendol is an Asian dessert and a very popular one in Malaysia as well as Singapore.  It has ingredients such as red beans, chendol (jelly like and green in colour), coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup.  We tried the famous Jonker 88's chendol the last time we were at Melaka.  I was quite impressed with it but thought I would try another shop this time round.  I read somewhere that Bibik House at Jonker Street serves good chendol too and since it is just opposite our hotel, we decided to drop in to give it a try.

It is a good decision after all!  The chendol is really really yummy.  The coconut milk was thick but not overpowering.  They were generous with the ingredients and best of all, they allow you to add gula melaka syrup on your own.  We overheard the lady boss telling another customer to drizzle the gula melaka syrup onto the shaved ice and just eat it without stirring the syrup.  We did just that and were blown away by the taste.  We ordered both the original and durian flavours and both were good! The 2 bowls of chendol were wiped out by the 5 of us in no time.  DH ordered two more bowls, it was that good!

Durian chendol (the green worm like stuff is chendol)

The original flavour

The Food Chapter 3 - Melaka (part 1)

This trip makes me realise that among the states in Malaysia, Melaka comes in second in the food category (Penang is tops IMHO).  In my past trips to Melaka, I didn't research on food at all and what we ate were really forgettable stuff but this time round, I listed the food that I wanted to try and I was happy to report that all of them are good!

First on the list will be teochew cuisine from Teo Soon Loong Chan Teo Chew Seafood Restaurant.  Like what other bloggers said, it is really a hole in the wall restaurant and easily missed.  As it could only accommodate about 8 tables, reservation is a must.  We went there for our dinner and saw those without reservations being turned away.  When we were about to order, the owner (an old uncle) brought us to where the ingredients were kept.  As I had already done my "homework", I rattled off a list of items which I wanted to order.  The moment I pulled out my list, a guy seated on a large table with his family exclaimed: "She also has a list!" and all of us laughed.  From the way they spoke, I reckoned they were fellow Singaporeans:) 

Without further a-do, (drum roll).... these are the yummy food we had:

The no. 1 dish - oyster noodles (best eaten with garlic and vinegar)

  I read from a blog that the owner recommended to the blog owner to eat the noodles with a garlic and vinegar mixture.  I asked the uncle for some and I have to agree that the garlic/vinegar mixture really enhanced the taste of the noodles.  So, remember to ask for garlic/vinegar when you order this dish!

Steamed pomfret in teochew style

The fish was very fresh and the gravy went very well with rice.  Yummilicious!

We also ordered some prawn rolls and bitter gourd with spare ribs.  Both are good, just that the spare ribs were a tad too little.

Bittergourd with spare ribs (hidden underneath)

 And finally desserts.  This is a must order dish - the famous Or Nee (aka teochew yam paste).

Or nee with gingko nut and pumpkin paste

The or nee was really smooth and creamy.  The sweetness was just nice.  Unlike those served in local restaurants, this one was not oily.  A very addictive dessert, so addictive that we ordered a second helping!  Trust me, it is very rare for us to go for a second helping of the same food unless it is really good.  We just couldn't get enough of the delicious or nee and all of us raised our hands when DH asked if we should order another one.   The wait for the second helping was quite long as they had to steam the pre-prepared dessert.  While waiting, we had mango which we didn't order.  It is not FOC, mind you.  I realised that the owner actually added it into our order without us saying so.  Not sure why but since the mangoes were sweet and juicy, we didn't really mind.

If you are in Melaka, do go to this restaurant.  I know I will be paying them another visit, hopefully in the near future:)

The Food Chapter 2 - Kuantan

The most memorable food that we had in Kuantan must be the Sungei Lembing famous 山水豆腐 aka tou foo (beancurd). We had the famous beancurd in a food centre at the foot of Bukit Panaroma.

The stall selling the famous tou foo

We ordered some yong tau foo and Lembing noodles too. The noodles and tou foo are supposedly made using the spring water from the mountains in Sungei Lembing.  The Lembing noodles are truly springy and tasty even though the seasoning was quite minimal.    But, the highlight has got to be the tou foo. It is indeed very soft and the melt in the mouth texture is simply out of this world.  I have to declare that this is the best tou foo I have ever tasted so far!

Don't be deceived by the plain looking toufoo!

The cheap and yummy yong tau foo

The Food Chapter 1 (Seremban/KL)

In the past before the kids arrived, I didn't include food search as a must-do activity while planning for a trip. In fact, we hardly planned for the itinerary nor to source for accommodation.

I guess I wasn't that interested in food when I was younger but now, I love to eat. A significant portion of time is now devoted to sourcing for must-eats and good eating places whenever I plan our trips. All these hard work are worth it as we get to savour yummy food which is often not found back home. Not only that, we don't waste precious time deciding where and what to eat, especially with hungry (and grouchy) kids in tow...

I was looking forward to try out the various food I researched on when planning for this trip since all of them were new stuff which we have yet to try. I'll cover the food places in Seremban and KL in this post.

The original intention was to arrive at KL as early as possible so that we could have lunch there. I changed the plan when I examined the map and realised that we could actually stop at Seremban on the way to KL. Seremban is famous for its siew pau (a baked pastry with barbequed pork as fillings) and I had always wanted to taste the real stuff. Since siew pau is only a snack, I researched further and discovered that Seremban is also famous for its beef noodle and Hakka mee. Coincidently, the famous stalls that sell both are located in the same food centre:

It took us a bit of time to locate the food centre and by the time we found it, it was already 12.30pm. It looks very much like the markets in Singapore. The stalls selling vegetable, seafood, poultry are at the ground floor and the food centre is on the second floor.

It wasn't difficult to locate Tow Kee hakka mee and Yee Kee Beef noodles since I had the stall numbers. We found Tow Kee first. Unfortunately, their noodles were sold out and they were in the midst of closing the stall for the day! I charged to Yee Kee immediately while fearing the worst.... It was a huge relief that they were still open. I was told that the waiting time would be long. Under normal circumstances, I wasn't the type who would queue for good food but now, I did not have much of a choice. I went ahead and ordered 4 bowls: 2 originals (dry), 1 sweet meat noodles (no idea why they call it as such) and 1 soup noodles.

While waiting, DH ordered a plate of wonton noodles as an appetizer first. The noodles were good! The noodles were springy with the right amount of sauce and the wonton was tasty too.

Yummy wonton noodles

The beef noodles finally arrived. They looked appealing and delicious. We dug in immediately but sadly, the noodles did not taste as good as they looked. I guess it was because we had tasted better versions so we found these to be so so only. In fact, the beef was pretty tough and chewy. The texture of the noodles was a bit too soft for my liking. Comparing this to our favourite stall in Singapore, the latter wins hands down.

We adjourned to Empayar Seremban Siew Pau next. According to the websites, the owners are the originators of the snack. Besides selling siew pau and other pastry, the owners diversified their business which also includes a seafood restaurant. When we were there, the tables were all taken up and the food looked yummy. I have already bookmarked it for our next trip:)

The siew pau was delicious. The fillings were generous and the taste was just nice, not too sweet nor salty. Unlike some of the siew paus I tasted in the past, the fillings were not too dry. Two thumbs up! The durian egg tarts were good too.

We had dinner at Jalan Alor, a famous food street in KL. My kids, especially my youngest, were uptight about the snatch theft warning signs they saw when we made our way to Jalan Alor. Perhaps snatch thefts are more frequent at Jalan Alor, cause I don't remember seeing the signs in other parts of KL, or perhaps, they didn't catch my attention....

These are 2 more memorable dishes that we ordered from Charn Kee:

Malaysian style Hokkien Mee in black sauce

Grilled fish (huge and tasted really good, especially with the chilli)

We had other dishes such as stir fried vegetables, fish paste noodles and carrot cake but they were nothing to shout about...

The very busy Jalan Alor

Another nice hotel....

Jonker Boutique Hotel

When I first saw the picture of Jonker Boutique Hotel on the internet, I was honestly not impressed. The grey exterior didn't appeal to me at all and I quickly jumped to the conclusion that it must be one of those dodgy budget hotels.

I would have made a big mistake if I didn't go to the Tripadvisor to search for recommended hotels in Melaka and surprise surprise, Jonker Boutique Hotel was ranked third! I checked out the rooms immediately and boy, they took me by surprise! All the rooms are nicely decorated and some are so spacious that they could fit 2 queen sized beds comfortably. Without hesitation, I called the hotel up to check on room availability. They gave me both good and bad news... The good news is, their grand deluxe (largest) room was still available for the first night of our stay. The bad news is, the same room type was fully booked for the second night of our stay but the premium deluxe room is still available. The difference between the two is that the beds in the latter are smaller. For the sake of being able to stay there, I decided to go for it ie book the grand deluxe room for the first night, then shift to the premium room for the second night.

The rooms, especially the grand deluxe room, didn't disappoint. They are really as good as they look on photos. We stayed in room 109 for the first night and 206 for the second night. I fell in love with room 109 the minute we stepped into it. It is incredibly big despite the fact that there are 2 queen sized beds. The bathroom is very nicely decorated too.

Bathroom in Grand Deluxe room - love the flower decor 

Very comfy queen sized beds

  Room 206 is not bad too, loved the beautiful black and white wall paper. I was quite happy with the room until I saw some tiny red ants (Yikes!) crawling on the wall in the bathroom.

All in all, except for the need to climb the staircase to go to our rooms, it was a good stay in the hotel and I will not hesitate to return for my next trip!

A waterfall, a cave and rain

During my research, I came across this lovely waterfall called Sungai Pandan Waterfall. It is about an hour's drive from Kuantan. We decided to drop by for a visit enroute to Sungei Lembing from Swiss Garden Resort.

Unlike other waterfalls we had been to, this one is pretty easy to get to as it is very near to the carpark. We didn't have to trek uphill at all which I really appreciate. However, there were some rocks to navigate though. As they were rather slippery, I had to keep reminding the two older ones not to go too fast. DH carried the youngest who was grouchy and refused to walk.

I like the look of the waterfall. It is not as tall as most of the waterfalls we had visited in the past but it is very broad. Surprisingly, it was no. 2 who couldn't wait to go into the waters to join his father. No. 3 refused to get his feet wet and preferred to keep a close watch on our belongings .... He didn't even want to take his sandals off!

Here are some pics of the waterfall:

On the way out, we came across this Malay family having a picnic by the pool at the bottom of the falls. DH was so tickled by the sight that he snapped a few photos:

Ababy learning how to walk in a river:)

Gua Charas is not a destination I had intended to visit. The main attraction is a reclining Buddha in the cave and not sure why, I wasn't really interested to see a reclining Buddha this trip. Guess I had seen similar Buddhas in Penang as well as Bangkok... So, it was a rather impromptu decision to drop by on our way to Sungei Lembing.

Gua Charas

There are 200 steps to climb before we reached the bottom cave where the reclining Buddha is. Not only we had to be careful as the metal stairs were quite slippery, we had to climb fast. The temple attendant told us he would close the place at 5.30pm and we had only about 45 mins to get to the top, see the Buddha and come back down.

After some heavings and pantings, we made it to the cave. The climb was worth it as the cave was huge though not as big as Gua Temburung in Ipoh. Lots of bats were resting at the cave ceiling. We had to walk deep into the cave to get to the Buddha and we were the only ones there. There were some incense burning which made the whole place very foggy. The walk was quite a thrill due to the smokiness and misty surroundings.

See the reclining buddha (in orange robe) right at the end of the cave

After offering incense to the Buddha, we made our way out and it was then when I heard some worrying sounds.....

Gosh, it was pouring buckets outside the cave. Strong winds blew the rain into the cave entrance and we had to retreat further into the cave to avoid getting wet. For the first time, we were stranded! I had left our raincoats/umbrellas in the car because I thought it was just a short visit. I felt like kicking myself for being so careless! There were 2 options for us: to dash down the stairs in the rain or to wait it out. The kids who were dying for a chance to play in the rain shouted earnestly for option 1. I, being the concerned parent as always, said no of course, much to the kids' disappointment.

Fortunately, we were not alone. The 3 Indian temple attendants were also waiting for the rain to stop. Personally, I found it strange that they were not prepared for such bad weather since this was definitely not the first time they encountered rain. We waited for about 30 mins before the rain started to subside. It was already 5.45pm by then. One of the attendants told us we had to leave no matter what as the lights in the cave were programmed to turn off at 6pm. It was now or never! We charged down the stairs as fast and as careful as we could. Fortunately, due to the thick foliage, we were not extremely wet.

It was indeed a memorable visit, one which I would not forget.......

Before we depart for Melaka, DH insisted that he wanted to go back to Gua Charas to take some photos. This is what he took:

For those who can read Chinese characters, I am sure you will find the above familiar. The word 山, means mountain in English. Interesting, isn't it?

Clouds, Clouds, Lovely Clouds

While searching for attractions in and around Kuantan, I came across Bukit Panaroma. I learnt that it was a small hill top located in Sungei Lembing and every day, throngs of visitors sacrifice their sleep to climb to the summit to catch the sunrise and the stunning sea cloud. I was drawn to the beautiful photos and made up my mind to conquer the hill despite the fact that we have to wake up really early and that I have always hated climbing stairs.

Prior to this, I had never heard of Sungei Lembing. I found out that it used to be the richest tin mining town in Pahang. However, that era is long gone and now, most of the younger generations have moved to bigger cities and the villagers are mainly made up of the older folks.

Initially I planned to stay at Kuantan, then drive to Sungei Lembing very early in the morning to catch the sunrise but that would mean that we have to wake up at around 4am. It takes about an hour to drive from Kuantan to SL. DH chanced upon Lembing River View Resort which is just 5 mins drive away from Bukit Panaroma. I was hesitant at first as I wasn't sure about the quality of the accommodation. The rooms featured on blogs and the website of the resort look okay though. And, the reviews are pretty good! So, it was decided, we would stay at the resort the night before we climb the hill.

It turned out to be a comfortable stay at the resort. The room that we booked comes with 2 queen sized beds, just nice for our family. The place was generally clean and well maintained. I don't mind going back there if I ever visit SL again.

We woke the kids up at around 4.45am. I reckoned we need about 30 mins to get ready. Thankfully, the kids were pretty cooperative and we did manage to leave at 5.20am. It was pitched black when we arrived at the bottom of the hill. There were other groups there already, some with young kids like us and there were some elderly too. One old man told us the sun would rise at 6am which means we only have about 30 mins to get to the top. I didn't really believe what he said as it was still very dark then, no sign of the sun coming out at all..... However, I guess what he said did help to push me to move a bit faster....

For someone who doesn't exercise, it was a real challenge for me. Before long, I was the last in the group. I was panting and felt like throwing up. My thighs were also aching like crazy. At that point, I thought I must be out of mind to leave my comfortable bed and choose to suffer like this. I willed myself to stay focus and push on, which I did. After about 45 mins, we finally reached the top. Boy, what a huge relief! I thought I would never make it....DH had to piggy back my youngest who complained that he felt like vomitting towards the end...

It was still very dark when we reached the top. We were about to settle down on our mat to wait for the moment when it started to drizzle! Duh, what a timing! Not sure if it was because of the rain, we didn't see the sunrise at all cause the sun was blocked by thick clouds. I was really disappointed but one consolation was that we did manage to see the sea clouds which were really beautiful. 

View of the village from the summit

When it was time to leave, I thought going down should be a piece of cake. Boy, I was wrong! The continuous flight of stairs turned my legs into jelly and very soon, I was holding onto the railings for support. This was the first time I struggled to go down a stair case. Not kidding! By the way, I was not the only one who was struggling to go down the hill. I guess I really need to build up my stamina if I ever want to attempt any such strenuous activities in future!

Don't you think the clouds look like a giant cotton candy?

Beach Time With Our Tiny Friends

DH wanted to stay at a beach resort so I went in search for a nice one. Having stayed at the Impiana in Cherating during the last trip, I decided to stay in Kuantan this time round. We decided to go for Swiss Garden Resort after reading the good reviews in Tripadvisor.

The family room comes with 1 king sized bed and 2 singles in an adjoining room. As expected, the furnishings are dated. The room was quite clean except for ants on the dressing table :(

The highlight of this leg has got to be the beach itself. Balok beach where Swiss Garden is located is indeed an interesting beach. I am not talking about building sandcastles or picking seashells. In fact, there were hardly any seashells to be picked because all were occupied by these:

Millions of hermit crabs on the beach! The kids went crazy and like everyone else, they began to construct moats etc for the crabs they caught....

The next morning when we went back to visit our tiny friends, we found millions of this:
This was the first time we saw so many tiny crabs scurrying on the sand, quite an amazing sight I must say!