Breakfast & Stay @ MH Hotel Ipoh

For the second year in a row, we chose to stay at MH Hotel @ Ipoh again for our annual Chinese New Year "balik kampong" trip coz we were happy with our stay here last year.  I managed to get the room at the same rate (of RM250 a night) this year.

I was happy with the good service provided by the hotel, the spaciousness of the room, the close proximity to my husband's family house and the late night 'snacking' possibilities near the hotel (with 24-hours McD next door and Domino's and Subway further down the street....kekeke!) ;D

But, most of all, I liked the bathroom shower....with separate shower compartment and great water pressure! Although this time I was a bit annoyed that the housekeeping made a boo-boo when they took away my towel (one I brought from home) by mistake.  I made a complaint and it they took them about 24 hours to locate it, have it washed and sent back to me.  Other than this little "blip", the rest of my stay was pleasant enough.

Hotel Lobby

Lion Dance (at the hotel entrance) on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Similar to last year, the room stay came with complimentary buffet breakfast (there wasn't an option without breakfast from the online booking site I booked from), so I had breakfast at the hotel for three consecutive mornings at MH Pinnacle on the 20th floor.

View from the 20th floor

Day 1 Breakfast

This year my sister-in-law's family booked the same hotel as us after hearing about our good stay the previous year.  My brother-in-law was pleasantly surprised with the quality and selection of the buffet breakfast seeing that it cost only RM15 per person.

Day 2 Breakfast

If I had to compare the breakfast this year to last year's, I'd say the selection this year had slightly less choices compared to last year + most of the dishes were repetitive and similar (with just a few slight variations) on all three mornings that I was there (but no cause for complaint considering the price).

Day 3 Breakfast

Looks like I ate eggs done every possible way.....omelette, sunny side-up, scrambled and sunny side-up flipped.  No, wait....I didn't have half-boiled eggs (and they didn't do poached eggs...hehe!) ;D

Free flow of hot refreshments and snacks plus complimentary ice cream (one time redemption only) just like last year was available for guests at their in-house cafe on the first floor.  But they stopped selling those cheap pre-packed nasi lemak and fried noodles (in its place were cup noodles) :(

So, this year, we turned to McD (next door) and Domino's (further down the road) for our snacking (or supper) options! ^_~

My Personal Opinion

Convenient location, close to amenities (restaurants, supermarket, shopping mall) and a comfortable stay with value-for-money breakfast thrown in are some positives for those who may want to consider this hotel for their stay in Ipoh.

MH Pinnacle
20th Floor MH Hotel
PT 212695B Jalan Medan Ipoh 1A
Medan Ipoh Bistari
31400 Ipoh
Perak
Tel: 05-545 1000

Snacks from Pun Chun @ Bidor

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant @ Bidor is a regular stopover for many travellers heading north (me and my family included) during our "balik kampong" ritual for Chinese New Year.  We'd usually head here, en route to Ipoh, for a cup of coffee and an early breakfast...and to stretch our legs from the long journey.

We hadn't stopped here during our last two Chinese New Year trips back home preferring to have a better breakfast in Ipoh instead.  But, this year, we started our journey late and got caught in horrendous traffic, so we had no choice but to "singgah" here for breakfast, otherwise we'd be having a very late breakfast by the time we reach Ipoh :(

Breakfast for us is usually either Wantan Mee or Duck Noodles.  I think the Herbal Duck Noodles is probably the better option of the two (and my personal preference too) but since it wasn't available that day, I had to settle for the wantan noodles :'(  Walk into just about any coffee shop in KL and you'd probably find better tasting wantan noodles than this.

The Fried "Wu Kok" (Yam Puff) is also popular with travellers passing through here with the stall owner doing brisk business.  Many would buy them by the boxes....why, I have no idea! >_<  I used to think so too....many years ago when I first began to "balik kampong".  I probably didn't know better then...or the quality has dropped....or my taste buds have changed/elevated since eating excellent yam puffs!  You can easily get way better yam puffs in KL, even Ipoh, at any dim sum shop (you can check my earlier write-up on the wantan mee, duck noodles and yam puffs here).

But not all is lost...as an unscheduled stop over here also meant I get to buy some of my favourite snacks.....woohoo! ;)

And my ultimate favourite is this Kuih Kapit with Pork Floss @ RM7.  Each packet contains 12 smaller individually wrapped packets of two pieces in each packet.

You have an outer layer that tastes like "kuih kapit" or Chinese love letters (crispy wafers made from a batter of egg and coconut milk), only that it's thicker than your usual kuih kapit, and the inside filled with pork floss.

This time, I noticed that there was an additional ingredient....coriander leaves ("yin sai" or Chinese parsley) that added even more fragrance to the kuih kapit besides the toasted black sesame seeds.  What a great snack! So good!! ^o^

I also noticed something I didn't see two years back and got myself a packet of Kerepek Ikan (Fish Crisps) @ RM8.50 and each packet comes with two packets inside.  Although it's called kerepek ikan, both fish and squid were listed as part of the ingredients.

Not the cheapest snack but these fish crisps were incredibly crispy with a wonderful grilled flavour and a savoury fish and squid (more squid than fish) taste.

The crisps were coated with a caramelised sweet glaze that offered a sticky sweet taste to balance the slightly spicy flavour.  This is pretty addictive too...and I regret not buying more! >_<

Of course I couldn't resist the ever popular Satay Ikan (Barbeque Fish) @ RM7.50 which holds 6 individual packets of satay ikan...rather amusing brand name (London Bridge!) for a local product though :D

This one was more savoury in taste and not as sweet as the kerepek ikan.  It's also more spicy but, overall, a bit more fishy in taste (and harder in texture) compared to the fish crisps.

My Personal Opinion

If there's one thing that makes your stopover in Pun Chun worthwhile, it'll be the abundance of snacks you can get your hands on...besides the Duck Noodles and the chance to stretch your legs (or for a pitpee-stop).

If you find yourself in Pun Chun, do look out for the Kuih Kapit with Pork Floss and Kerepek Ikan....but I can't guarantee that you won't get addicted to them! ^_~

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits & Restaurant
38 & 40 Jalan Besar
35500 Bidor
Perak
Tel: 05-434 1554

Snacks Hunting @ Ipoh

After our lunch at Burps & Giggles and with some time on our hands still, we did a bit of snacks hunting in Ipoh before continuing with our drive home to KL.

First up was Sin Eng Heong, a bakery known for its delicious kaya puffs according to my friend who has eaten it.  When we got there, we saw a queue already forming that drifted out onto the sidewalk.  We enquired how long we would have to wait to get our hands on the kaya puffs and were told it'd be between half to one hour. We didn't think the shop would be bursting with customers since it was a Monday but we were quickly reminded by a man in the queue that it was a 'school holiday' Monday.  It seems you can't place an order and come back for it later either (perhaps, they derive great pleasure in seeing us queue)! >.<  Obviously, we couldn't wait and left.  Well, looks like I will have to wait a little longer to try the kaya puffs! :(

We also wanted to have a cup of Ipoh white coffee (before leaving) but also quickly abandoned the idea when we got caught in horrendous traffic in the city.

Next up, we stopped at this place, JJ Roll.  From the outside with the two cute mascots, you can pretty guess what they specialise here....cakes and swiss rolls.

Inside the shop, you'd see rows of fridge with lots of pre-packed swiss rolls stocked up ready for your selection....oh, and some cakes too.

They have an endless amount of flavours and they come in both mini and regular sizes.  The regular sized ones go for between RM8 to RM15 per box while the mini ones retail for RM8 and RM10 each.

This is a box of mini swiss rolls (16 pcs) @ RM8 with flavours of pandan, coffee, chocolate & vanilla. Some flavours (like coffee and chocolate) are more distinct than others.

The other two boxes of mini swiss rolls were filled with flavours of pumpkin, spinach, carrot & banana (top left) and orange tango, lemon, pink dragon & kiwi frenzy (bottom left), both @ RM10 each.

The swiss roll was definitely very soft and fluffy....and I enjoyed the light and airy texture of the sponge with the cream filling giving it the smoothness in a bite.  My only gripe was that the amount of cream filling wasn't even across all the swiss rolls, some had less and some had more.  I suppose when you eat one or two, it's ok but if you eat a few more, too much of the cream filling can become cloying (which was the case for me and I had to scrape off some of the cream).

My favourite flavour was the Pink Dragon.....coz it was the only one that had some strawberry jam to add a bit of acidity and freshness to the creamy filling.  Oh, and the coffee one for its distinctive flavour.  As for the rest, the different colours are probably more of a visual thing coz, after a while, most of them tend to taste the same...hehe! ;D

We made a final stop at Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fah to "tapau" (pack) two tubs of tau fu fah for the road @ RM2.50 each.  Again, there was a queue but it moves quickly as they serve at breakneck speed.

It was a good one hour on the road before we made a pit-stop and had our tau fu fah.  By then, the tau fu fah had 'leaked' a fair amount of water, so the sugar syrup looked like it was a lot more.  Even so, can you see how little tau fu fah there was?  Not even half the container! O_o

This is an opened and uneaten tub of tau fu fah....probably good enough for 2 to 3 large mouthfuls.  There's no denying that the tau fu fa is very smooth and slides down your throat effortlessly (though the sugar water was too sweet for me and I can imagine how sweet it would have been without the 'extra' water contributed by the tau fu fah).  Seeing just how little there was, I can't help but feel ripped off by the amount.  Well, isn't that always the case with all things famous! >.<

With that....it was time to head home!  And with that, I've also come to the end of my Lumut trip posts! ^_*

Burps & Giggles @ Ipoh

After our breakfast on Day 3, it was time to bid farewell to a fun motor treasure hunt, a leisure and enjoyable stay (with friends rather than flies) and a gratifying food hunt in Sitiawan.  We checked out of our hotel at around 11am with the intention of having lunch in Ipoh en route back to KL.

We reached Ipoh one and a half hours later....just in time for lunch, toilet break and to stretch our legs. That's why we targeted one of Julie Song's restaurants along Jalan Sultan Yussuf, Burps & Giggles @ Ipoh.

I was first introduced to Julie Song through the Discover Perak series (hosted by Xandria Ooi) on Astro's AFC. Julie is a well-known chef and restauranteur in Ipoh (think Indulgence Restaurant).  She then embarked on opening a series of smaller, quirky cafes, Burps & Giggles followed by Buku Tiga Lima and Missing Marbles.

I have read blogs reviewing all her three restaurants (which are interlinked) and was privy to the fact that cross ordering was allowed.  Burps & Giggles offers more hearty fare like burgers and mains whilst Buku Tiga Lima dabbles in sweet and savoury crepes and Missing Marbles tantalises with an Asian menu.  But, to my surprise, when I stepped into Burps & Giggles, the server told me that they share one and the same menu.  But that was before I realised why.
  

Crepes are no longer on the menu of Buku Tiga Lima nor in Burps & Giggles (if you want those, you have to visit Indulgence instead).  I'm not sure if Buku Tiga Lima is even around anymore...as they seem to be (at least) partially closed.  Taking its place is a little shop selling knick-knacks.

Only remnants are the 555 booklets that still hang in its 'semi-closed' premises.

Also missing is......Missing Marbles.  Now this one is certainly not there anymore (only the sign is still there)! >_<

Taking over is a new place called Nellis (when we walked past)!

Coming back to Burps & Giggles, the cafe's menu is no longer what it used to be (as opposed to the extensive offerings I saw on blogs previously) and seems to cater generally to sandwiches, burgers and pastas now.  As we were still reeling from a rather full breakfast at Swiss-Garden Resort Damai Laut before we checked out, we decided to order just two dishes for sharing....the first of which was the Whacky Prawns Pasta @ RM19.

It's linguine filled with garlic butter prawns, red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and green peas in a light pesto sauce.  It was an ok pasta dish, nothing out of the ordinary.  There are two other pasta dishes on the menu, one with smoked chicken slices and the other with mushrooms and turkey ham.

Our next order was the Jammy Burger also @ RM19 which featured an Angus patty, gorgonzola spread (which I asked to omit), cheddar cheese, onions, tomatoes and egg.  Everything was held together with a steak knife stabbed through the middle.

The sesame crusted bun was soft but the Angus patty was barely there...it was neither thick nor juicy! :(  And you can see that the egg is one with a fully cooked yolk.

Finally, it was topped merely with thick slices of raw onions and tomatoes.  You can't help but think you can pretty much whip something similar at home (effortlessly).  There are just three other options for burgers here (with chicken, lamb or kimchi).

Luckily, the coffees were at least satisfying.  I had an Iced Latte @ RM12.

My friend had a Hot Cappuccino @ RM10...cute plate :)

Another had the Go Green @ RM14, a detox drink of cucumber, lemon, ginger and whatnot, the combo of which didn't taste all that good...maybe she felt the need to detox after a gruelling 3 days/2 nights...kekeke! :D

My Personal Opinion

You can't deny that the cafe has a rustic and quirky charm about it but it's a place you'd probably end up liking because of the decor and ambience more than the food.  When we were there on a (school holiday) Monday at peak lunch time, the place was pretty empty with just one other table occupied.  This is probably a far cry from its manic days when they first opened and were blazing through social media.  But still a decent place to hang out over a cuppa (and soak in the quirky interior) or to rest your legs (for north or southbound travellers) ^_*

I can't help but wonder why only Burps & Giggles remain to this day....I can only guess that having three cafes in the same row is stretching it a bit, especially so when customers dwindle down after the initial hoo-ha.

I suppose that charm and arty ambience can only get you so far but when all is done and dusted, it's the (consistently good) food that will keep you in the game in the long haul! ;)

Burps & Giggles

93 & 95 Jalan Sultan Yussuf

30000 Ipoh

Perak

Tel: 05-242 6188

Snacks Hunting @ Sitiawan

After a more than satisfying lunch at Villa Seafood Restaurant, we went on our merry way hoping to sample a few more snacks that Sitiawan has to offer.

One of our first stops was Hock Chew So Mee Shua Konpian (located along the same road as Villa Seafood Restaurant) that we spotted while searching for our lunch venue.  This small shop (with the factory beside it) is a producer of Sitiawan mee sua.

Sheets of noodles drying in the sun

Trays and trays of mee sua drying in the sun

You can buy mee sua directly from them in thin and thicker versions and they come in different packaging sizes.  Also on sale is the red wine that you can use to cook this mee sua and some other (twisted) biscuits which my friends bought.  

A 500g packet of mee sua I bought for RM4

They also make kong piah but (sadly) they were all out by the time we got there.  Gong pia (referred to by many other names/spelling) is probably the most well-known biscuit in Sitiawan (either with an onion or char siew filling) as these are reportedly not found elsewhere.  They told us we could order and come back for it the next day but we knew we wouldn't have time to drop by again.

With that, we moved on to pursue our the next food destination....the famous James Cendol in Sitiawan!  As luck would have it, my friend asked for directions and the mee sua seller pointed us to another cendol stall which she says is better than James Cendol as the shaved ice is finer.  So, off we went in search of this un-named cendol stall (they told us to look for a yellow building called Wisma Ganda).

The cendol stall was actually located a stone's throw from the famous Cheong Cia Gong Pian but (again) it wasn't our destiny to savour gong pian (on this trip) as the shop is closed on Sundays! :'(  

Anyway, this was the cendol @ RM2.50 a bowl (regular without pulut) from the un-named stall.

When we were ordering our cendol, I did see they had lots of customers, both having the dessert there and even more packing them away.  I have to say the shaved ice was not as fine as I thought and though the gula melaka was fragrant, the overall dessert was really sweet.

While having our cendol, we noticed a durian stall next to it doing brisk business....and my friends couldn't resist.  The Chinese uncle's haircut is pretty cool...like a Shaolin monk (minus the ponytail)! :D

My friends shared a durian between them...I just watched coz I don't eat durians.  I think they paid RM18 or RM20 for it.

Next, we proceeded to the more well-known James Cendol (as we originally planned) in front of (more like opposite) an Indian temple.  As you can see, it's full house!  We also noticed another cendol stall directly in front of the temple but since there were hardly any customers there, we didn't dare to try.

The stall is now manned by his wife...coz James is busy with his own stall in Old Klang Road (reportedly).....but it's ironic that I've not been to the one nearer to me....haha! ;)

Since the previous cendol was so sweet, I immediately asked for less sweet for this one.  I'm not sure if she heard me as the resulting cendol was still sweet (but not as sweet as the un-named stall).  Our bowl of cendol (without pulut) @ RM2.60.

Comparing both cendols, James Cendol's shaved ice is finer than the un-named stall (I guess the locals are not always right) and, if I had to pick one, I'd go with James Cendol (for the very reason of finer shaved ice) but will need to seriously tone down the sweetness (both stalls).  Both cendols are alright but not inducing enough to make one travel many miles to seek them out (if you happen to be here, fine).  You can get equally decent (if not better) ones in KL.

And that was all the time we had on Day 2 for food hunting in Sitiawan as we had to rush back to the hotel to shower and get ready for our Prize Giving Dinner at 6.30pm.