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| Birch Memorial Clocktower built in 1909 by the British in memory of JWW Birch. Although the British were willing to spend $25,000 on this memorial, Birch was disliked by the Malay Royals. He served as the first British Resident in Perak for slightly less than a year before he was assassinated in 1875 by Dato' Maharajalela. |
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| Taman Song Choon, walking distance from Mornington Hotel. Note the karst hills in the background |
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| Gunung Lang Recreational Park comes with a scenic view of the lake. You can take a RM3 boat ride to the other side of the lake where there is a petting zoo and endless vistas |
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| Getting to Tasik Cermin throws you off a bit as you have to travel through a working quarry! |
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| Entrance to Tasik Cermin. They now charges RM3 per entry |
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| Inside the man made tunnel |
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| The tunnel leads to a lake surrounded by karst hills |
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| Da Seng Ngan Cave Temple |
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| Little Buddha statues... |
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| ...Large Buddha statues... |
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| ...is Rocky anointed into sainthood or is this his tomb? |
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| Can you count the chicken heads? Dog's meal at the end of Sam Poh Tong Temple |
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| Nam Thean Tong Temple |
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| Upon Mindy's insistence, we ventured inside and were impressed by the vastness |
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| Large urns filled with joss sticks |
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| A corridor led into a larger void |
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| The chamber |
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| Rocking horse and coin operated rocking rooster, vintage toys from yesteryears |
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| Sun Yeong Wai Roast Duck @ Taman Ipoh Jaya |
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| Masjid Jamek Iskandar Shah @ Kampung Sungai Rokam |
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| Restoran Choong Kee "Pokok Besar" for Yong Tau Foo |
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| Spoilt for choice with more than 24 flavours of these super soft, creamy and mildly sweet swiss rolls @ JJ Swiss Roll. |
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| Old heritage shop lots with chimneys for woodfire stoves |
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| Ipoh's Mural Art Lane showcasing a tigress feeding her cubs to commemorate The Year of the Tiger |
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| Ipoh's Mural Art Lane featuring skipping rope as traditional games |
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| Ipoh's Mural Art Lane expressing binding friendship |
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| Traditional Malay building in wood design, next to Masjid Panglima Kinta |
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| Masjid Panglima Kinta @ Taman Jubilee |
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| Bridge over Kinta River @ Jalan Sultan Iskandar |
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| Viewing tower |
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| Kinta River |
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| Ipoh Train Station |
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| The gang at Dataran KTM Ipoh with Ipoh Town Hall in the background |
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| Century old train station |
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| Quiet corridors, Covid times |
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| IPOH |
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| Panglima Lane. The narrow alley leads to Concubine Lane |
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| Concubine Lane |
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| Concubine Lane |
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| Concubine Lane |
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| Concubine Lane |
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| Concubine Lane |
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| Hor Yan Hor Museum dwarfed by Han Chin Pet Soo, Hakka Mining Museum |
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| Jalan Bandar Timah intersecting with Market Road |
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| The gang enjoying snow beer @ Jalan Bijeh Timah |
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The gang enjoying snow beer @ Jalan Bijeh Timah
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| Snow beer is a technique where beer is given a great shake before they are poured into chilled mugs |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge @ Kinta River Walk |
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| San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge @ Kinta River Walk |
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| Kinta River Walk |
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| Restoran Lou Wong's for Nga Choi Kai |
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Restoran Lou Wong's for Nga Choi Kai
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The morning started as early as 5.50 am for Claudine. On sixth sense, she woke up knowing something was wrong. Jac and Joyce had arrived 20 minutes earlier by bus to discover there were no reservations made for them. Despite all her planning, the hotel had placed all reservations as per Claudine's Agoda booking ID, which unknown to her and the gang omits the name Claudine!
Hauling her disheveled self downstairs, she spotted the 2 familiar figures fast asleep on the sofa. Yes, there are bookings for the girls but the hotel can only allow them to check in at 7 am. No, they cannot allow them to check in any earlier!!!
Throughout all the whisperings, Joyce stirred. A short exchange between the 2 wakeful girls before Claudine proceeded back to her room.
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Restoran Chang Wang serves fantastic Ipoh White Coffee and char kueh tiau
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Once back in her room, Claudine could not get back to sleep and thus an ultimatum for breakfast was announced for 8.30 am. Nobody signed up except for VT and herself and within half an hour, they were back at the hotel, waiting for the girls.
The Ipoh Municipal Council are like wolves waiting to pounce on all guests at Mornington. Claudine and VT returned from breakfast slightly after 9 am to find a parking compound pinned to their windscreen. Every car on the street had the same "welcome" note from the council.
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| Restoran Foh San |
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| Housed in a new building with neoclassical designs |
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| Shanghai in the 1920's feel |
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| Jasmine and Gaharu tea. Gaharu tea tastes a bit like pandan leaves |
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| Har Gou or prawn dumplings and succulent chicken feet |
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| Woo kok or fried taro puff with char siew fillings and egg tart with a tinge of vanilla flavour that would have been better without! |
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| Chee Cheong Fun, salted egg custard pau and a strange bee hive with lo mai kai fillings |
Tried as they might to wait for the girls, VT and Claudine set another ultimatum for 11.30 am. Again, no additional persons signed up and thus the lone couple made their way to Ipoh Foh San for a delicious dim sum brunch. When the last crumbs were dusted off the corner of their mouths, they proceeded to Gunung Lang Recreational Park and were amazed by the gigantic Ikan patin in the lake!
The actual ride began at 2 pm on extremely hot weather. Chooi and Mr Lim had arrived from JB an hour earlier whilst John, Andrew and Angel had hopped in from Selangor and KL. Meanwhile, Robert had decided to complete our diverse group with a Simpang Pulai membership.
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| Fascination with tunnels |
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| Light at the end of the tunnel |
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| Beautiful platform... |
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| ...in flooded !!! |
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| Exploring nearby the karst hills... |
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| Led us to this "room", walls made up of limestones |
Mornington Hotel is strategically located a stone's throw away from Tasik Cermin and all the famous Cave temples. However, we only managed to visit Da Seng Ngan and Nam Thean Thong temples as Lin Seng Tong and Sam Poh Tong Temples did not open their doors to public due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
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| Da Seng Ngan Temple |
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| Nam Thean Tong Temple |
Mindy, who was on tomb sweeping duties in the morning, took over as tour leader after the temple visits. Rather, she became our makanthon leader taking us on a city tour which was packed with culinary delights!
Photo Credits :
Mindy
Jac
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Mornington Hotel Soon Choon, Ipoh
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Pre-Ride - March 18 2022
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| Driving to KLIA to pick up Chief Navigator |
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| KLIA carpark |
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| KLIA very quiet on March 18 |
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| All quiet, before Malaysian borders were fully reopened on April 1 |
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| No more paradise! Another Covid 19 victim |
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| Chief Navigator wheeling in Shanana |
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| Bag and Bike dropped off at Wangsa Baiduri before a quick pick up of vadae and the likes from Rojak SS15. While most businesses were killed by this Covid 19 pandemic, Rojak SS15 moved from food truck to restaurant status. They even have special parking for their customers! |
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| Ipoh at 5 pm |
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| Dinner at Hooray |
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Dinner at Hooray
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Dinner at Hooray
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| Lap sap kai |
