Recordings of Life

Ipoh and Lou Por Peng

Weekend of the first week of work.... while I should know better and take the chance of the coming weekend to rest fully, but I agreed to join a few of the lifeguards for a weekend trip to Ipoh.

Up early (again) at 6.15 or so (sob) but roll around on mattress until I absolutely got to get my ass off! There were two cars, Wei Inn's and TY's. Penang contingent was made up of Wei Inn, Kenneth, Chin Yee, Soon Jiun, Evan, TY and yours truly.

Very fast d then reached Ipoh Jusco at 9.00am. Too early and so we had to wait a further half an hour (think it was more than that) for the other Ipohans to arrive.

As soon as everyone was there, (everyone meaning an inclusion of MunPung and gf, Swee Lee, James, Loy Chee, Wei Kiang and Po Koon, we decided that we had to eat first before we handle Gua Tempurung!

So we went to this place with some weirdo name... Yin Yau Kui.

Eat the way the Ipohans do! Garlic and chilli sauce.

Hakka mee, with meatballs, fishballs in a separate bowl of soup. Tastes great with the garlic and chilli sauce.

The weather getting hotter and hotter....

This is just outside the Gua Tempurung.

Haven't gotten most of the pics from Wei Inn... The trek into and out of Gua Tempurung (GT) was great, we went for the 3rd tour, which was the 2nd extreme one and involves water. We had to slide down this high and slippery slope where my left slipper beat me to the bottom. Then also lower ourselves into this small opening just after the slope... then crawl with water soaking up to our necks while carefully making sure that the low and jagged cave ceiling does not cut our head open.

Lunch/Tea: had claypot rice in Gopeng.

Assam juice. Not really my type :)

Old cucumber soup, tastes actually quite nice!

Claypot rice, with loads of chicken but not enough chinese sausages. It's a bit too salty for my tastes, but otherwise, good enough to fill our tummies.

Initially the plan was to head off to the hot springs, but due to lack of enthusiasm and a terribly hot weather, the plan changed its course and we ended up in:

Kellie's Castle.

Rows and rows of gaping windows. Articles say that the building has a bit of Malay architecture (I'm assuming the onion-shaped openings then.)

Emo shot :D

This picture confirmed that I have gained weight.

EvQ's high fashion shoot. LOL.

Empty hallway.....

*Peek*

Rooftop, no railings!

View from the rooftop. I can just imagine the past splendour of this area, where the river that flows through it is sparkling and clear, sweeping lawns and forest that stretches into the horizon...

By evening, we lugged our stuffs into Soon Wen's place. All 9 of us in a house. But his house is very large, coolest thing is his bathroom-in-cupboard! It's really cute and totally unexpected. Most of us brought sleeping bags over, so no problems about lack of space to sleep.

At night, the Ipohans brought us to have dinner of 'zhu zhap zhok' (pig's inerts porridge). I'm not a fan of these spare parts, but after listening to all the hype about the porridge there, I gave in under the condition that TY takes most of the zhu zhap while I take the meatballs :)

Chau kuey that to wash down the porridge and intestines and liver and coagulated blood.

It was a food marathon! We were swept across town to try the dessert at a local hawker area, near to Sam Tet high school.

Corn sago.

Mango sago.

Yam sago.

Mixed fruits sago.

For some unknown reasons, we were then directed to the railway station to observe the railway tracks and some angmohs sleeping on the floor.

Then, we were swept to another part of the town to eat again (cue to say oh my god.)

Octopus with spicy sauce.

We thought we were having this sort of fried and dry sort of char koay teow with a raw egg cracked in the middle which will lend moisture to the koay teow. But instead, we got this:

Some sort of wet char hor fun. With raw egg.

I dunno what this is called. But what you see is what you get.

And, chicken feet. Bwarrrk.

Some of the more gila people (tired as they may be) decided to go for a game of Dota, while the rest of us sensible ones went right back to catch up on sleep. So we'll be fresh for our next battle.

Ipoh Dim Sum.

When I say battle, I ain't joking!

Getting dizzy yet?

No words are necessary :)

Dim sum was so so lar, just almost like the ones in Penang, but I do like it's chee cheong fun though.

After a morning filled with MEAT, we attempt to burn some off by going up Sam Phor Thong. It's a Chinese temple nestled under a cave, very unique and beautiful. First temple we went to, we hiked all the way up and through broken stairs with rusty railings.

It was Wesak Day the next day, so I thought I should maybe, pray or something. We ended up buying this spiral incense where you attached your name and hopes on a piece of paper to the incense.

God of love. All together now, Awww....

Some people just do not grow up, eh?

If you think the previous temple has such breathtaking view, wait till you see the next one....

omg.

OMGGGG.

OMFG!

It's real cool. They have this very zen-like pond with plants all over, it all looks very natural, not like those over-the-top and trying-too-hard kind. This is, just nice.

Outside at the entrance, there was this old lady who would call out to the guys (leng zhai~) to buy her vegs to feed the tortoises. I bought one. Thought she'll call leng lui after.

Further into the temple, there was an opening, surrounded by high hills where a large majestic building was constructed.

It looks just like the olden days palace. With its 360 degree protection, it's an ideal spot for fugitives.

After hours and hours of walking, what do we do? We eat of course. (Not before a drama of locked doors ensued.)

Yong tau foo style curry mee.

Tek jia with water chestnut and my lor han guo.

I forgot to take pictures of the dishes! Was too hungry and waited too long for those to arrive that we just wolfed it all down without thinking much. Besides, it wasn't the curry mee that we anticipated cos the stall ran out of curry. Instead, they gave us just like yong tau foo. With fried mee. Not bad la.

After our late lunch, got back to Soon Wen's house and started packing our belongings. Headed out of Ipoh circa 6 to arrive just in time for dinner in Tambun at 7pm.

Some sea-shell creatures.

Stir fried vegs.

Sambal kangkong. It looks as though a portion has been eaten, but this is exactly how the plate came in like.

Steamed fish.

Chilli crabs with man dou.

Huge mantis shrimps. I should say mantis prawns.

Baked crabs.

Fried ice-cream, chocolate! Love.

Bill came up to RM180+ for all 9 of us, which I consider to be relatively cheap for the amount of seafood we had.

All in all, happy faces (Kenneth's too obvious) after stomach is filled.

That wraps up the Perak trip.

Chapter 2

Gosh... Hard to believe, but I've been working for 2 weeks now. Sounds short, but it's actually an achievement in my personal records. Achievement meaning, finally I am putting my education to good use and found a job that actually fits my resume.

First week of work was mostly on orientation, the culture of the company, safety rules and regulations and uniform testing. Our uniform is a blouse, with narrow vertical stripes of blue grey and red paired with a pair of navy blue pants/skirt.

Had my badge done too, no longer need that lousy laminated card to get into the premises now hahahha.

Now I'm trying to get used to sleeping before midnight and waking up at 6 something in the morning. Been doing that for 2 weeks straight. The last time that actually happened was during my Form 6 days.

My department, Product Engineering is at PM4, just on top of the factory's canteen. And my group- Interface is made up of four people. My supervisor, a senior engineer, me and a technician. They are all great people. Especially my senior. I've only been singing praises of her ever since I got to meet her, and I really admire her. She knows her stuff and she has taught me loads. Stuff not only related to the job, but as an employee in the company.

She taught me how to work smart, introduces me to others and most importantly (lol) invites me out for breakfast, lunch, and sometimes tea. She's kewl.

I'm really lucky to be able to meet such a person in my group. I have heard of backstabbing and people taking credit of stuff that you do, but this senior of mine, she's not like that, she values teamwork and watching each others' back.

LUCKY!

Still learning about my job. Surprisingly, all those subjects that I have been studying in USM are not really utilised here at all. Maybe only some very basic and fundamental knowledge. But other than that, I have to start from scratch.

My work involves final testing of the package. Ensure that everything is up to mark before they're shipped to the customers.

Most friends of mine are still out there going for interviews and hunting for jobs. I can't help it but I just have to declare one more time that I'm super lucky. I shall live up to expectations and work my hardest to fulfill the job's requirements and also my group's.

But still... counting down to the next holiday.... :D

Hol's out!

Wrapping up my 1 week and a half holiday... now waiting to board my flight from Johor back to Penang. Took a cab from Singapore at 3pm and reached the airport bloody early, at 4 plus whereas my flight is at 7.20pm. A more stupid thing is that to actually get online here, I need to pay like RM5 for an hour. How 'cut throat' is that?

Drive back up was pretty boring, nothing happened. I was definitely disappointed that my break had to come to an end. I missed those skyscrapers, the systematic life of a Singaporean, the food, the convenience, the order, the service....

Now that I'm back, I can't help but to compare the two countries. Just after the customs, where the officers are all young and fit and looked reasonably strict, then suddenly after the bridge, I am greeted with pot-bellied officers, female officers who actually wore HEELS on duty. Then the rubbish strewn all over the road, people jaywalking with motorcycle riders helmet-less. Yeah, back to the land of nobody's business.