Friday (11 June 2010)
Departed early in the morning at 7.30 am from home. Kids were still a bit sleepy in their pyjamas when we started our journey to Gua Tempurung which is located at Lembah Tempurung near Gopeng, Perak. It is 25 km to the south of Ipoh the capital if the state of Perak.
We had simple breakfast at Rawang rest stop along North South Highway. Since it was still early, the kids did not have much appetite. They settled for doughnuts while Kwee Yap and I had nasi lemak. The queue for nasi lemak was long, so we reckoned food should be good. Nasi lemak came up nice pipping hot and rice was fragrant, moist with coconut milk. After the simple breakfast, we headed for Gua Tempurung. We took North-South PLUS Expressway and exited at the Gopeng Toll Plaza. There are signboards to help us find the way and it’s easy to get there as the road is well paved and leads right to the ample parking space just outside the entrance.
We reached Gua Tempurung around 10.30am. Since its Friday, we were informed that they had closed booking for Tour 3 as they needed to go for Friday prayer. Fortunately a young Malay couple and a group of 3 families also intended to go for Tour 3. The Manager relented after seeing the crowd and let us in as the last group for Tour 3. Tour 3 consisted of dry cat walk (Top of the World) and river walk. The journey should take us approximately 2 ½ hours but end of the day we completed in less than 2 hours time. It’s a journey of about 2.4 km from the entrance to Golden Flowstone, Top of the World and returned through the underground river. There we explored Golden Flowstone (GF) and climbed to the Top of the World (top of the cave), then we went down 230 steps and got wet in the underground river. GF stood at a height 90 metres, GF describes the sloping and wavering floor and wall of the cave which has a golden hue when water flows in. Inside the cave, we saw images of, kwan yin, world cup, alien, nasi lemak (without the side dishes)as well as many other images at the limestone. .We sure had lots of fun crawling through holes and sliding down slippery stones before getting out to be greeted by the beautiful sight of greenery outside. The kids were braver than mummy when it came to sliding down slippery stones. In many parts, we had to crawl through water and rocky holes. It was quite an adventurous journey. Ye was the youngest participant but he sure showed he was as fit if not fitter than the rest of the group. We didn’t manage to see the bats as its not their season. The guide who was really friendly informed us that come March – May, we could see bats by the hundreds at it is their mating season.
The whole journey has provided us a truly rewarding experience. We promised to come again next time to try the most challenging tour which is known as Grand Tour. By the time we completed our journey, we were all drenched and hungry for food. After a quick bath at Gua Tempurung, we proceeded to Ipoh for lunch.
We went to Sin Yoon Loong, one of the first coffeeshops at Ipoh after packing some egg tarts, yam tart and triangular chicken biscuits from opposite shop i.e. Nam Heong coffeeshop . The egg tarts and yam tart were really nice and could match the one sold at Tong Kee. Business was brisk both sides and we barely manage to get a place to sit. Coffee was done in old style and came up good. They still sold many traditional cakes. We tried Ipoh chee cheong fun which is similar to KL but they added mushroom sauce and sprinkled lots of fried garlic. We still prefer KL version though. After that we checked into our room at Sun Inn Hotel, a simple budget hotel near to Lost World of Tambun. Since it was raining, we played Millionaire to kill time.
We had famous chicken rice at Lou Wong though we heard from nearby traders that many local prefer Onn Kee which is situated near to Lou Wong. Ye and I had hor fun while Kwee Yap and Sean had chicken rice to go along with beansprouts and steamed chicken. Both dry and wet version of the hor fun tasted real nice and we had a hearty meal.
Nearby some traders have started setting up stalls but we didn’t manage to stroll as it started to pour again. Since it was still early, we went to Ipoh Parade to catch a Jackie Chan movie, “Karate Kid”. After that, we spend the night at hotel watching World Cup match munching junk foods bought from home.
Saturday (12 June 2010)
The next morning kids woke up late, Ye didn’t had a good sleep as he complained of cold the other night whilst Kwee Yap and I was awoken by the chatting sounds of staff at mamak stall behind. We had simple breakfast at a coffeeshop at Sunway City before heading to Lost World of Tambun. Since I’ve prepaid the tickets, we just went to counter to get the printed out wrist bands. Kids had great time at the water slides. We literally spend most of the time at water slides. We barely had time to visit petting zoo as it started to rain again by then and it was almost time for the park to call it a day.
We had dinner at the famous Tong Shui Kai, situated next to SRJKC Sam Tet. Had fried squid, sweet and sour crab, stir fried vege and steamed fish. The foods were good and kids had extra rice, which does not happen often. Before leaving the place, we packed some desserts for supper. It was back to hotel, kids and Kwee Yap were busy catching World Cup match while I dozed off.
Sunday (13 June 2010)
Sayonara to Tambun, a place with breathtaking view. Had breakfast at Foh San, the famous dim sum restaurant at Ipoh (it has just shifted to behind Maybank) and there were so many customers waiting for seats. We had earlier packed some soya drink and tau foo fah at Funny Mountain. Dim Sum was good though it was not really something to shout about. We find the dim sum at Seremban better than this.
We left for Kellie Castle which is located at Gopeng after breakfast. It was really hot by then and we could literally feel the sun burning at our neck. The castle was not completed but it sure looks magnificent. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at Sungkai offering famous river fish and pork knuckles. Business was brisk though it was already nearing teatime. No thanks to an accident at the highway, our journey home was very much delayed.
We had late dinner at Desa Aman Puri. Home sweet home. The kids had truly enjoyed themselves and they were in their best behaviour throughout the journey. Now we can’t wait for Tong to grow up so she could join us for the next trip.
Departed early in the morning at 7.30 am from home. Kids were still a bit sleepy in their pyjamas when we started our journey to Gua Tempurung which is located at Lembah Tempurung near Gopeng, Perak. It is 25 km to the south of Ipoh the capital if the state of Perak.
We had simple breakfast at Rawang rest stop along North South Highway. Since it was still early, the kids did not have much appetite. They settled for doughnuts while Kwee Yap and I had nasi lemak. The queue for nasi lemak was long, so we reckoned food should be good. Nasi lemak came up nice pipping hot and rice was fragrant, moist with coconut milk. After the simple breakfast, we headed for Gua Tempurung. We took North-South PLUS Expressway and exited at the Gopeng Toll Plaza. There are signboards to help us find the way and it’s easy to get there as the road is well paved and leads right to the ample parking space just outside the entrance.
We reached Gua Tempurung around 10.30am. Since its Friday, we were informed that they had closed booking for Tour 3 as they needed to go for Friday prayer. Fortunately a young Malay couple and a group of 3 families also intended to go for Tour 3. The Manager relented after seeing the crowd and let us in as the last group for Tour 3. Tour 3 consisted of dry cat walk (Top of the World) and river walk. The journey should take us approximately 2 ½ hours but end of the day we completed in less than 2 hours time. It’s a journey of about 2.4 km from the entrance to Golden Flowstone, Top of the World and returned through the underground river. There we explored Golden Flowstone (GF) and climbed to the Top of the World (top of the cave), then we went down 230 steps and got wet in the underground river. GF stood at a height 90 metres, GF describes the sloping and wavering floor and wall of the cave which has a golden hue when water flows in. Inside the cave, we saw images of, kwan yin, world cup, alien, nasi lemak (without the side dishes)as well as many other images at the limestone. .We sure had lots of fun crawling through holes and sliding down slippery stones before getting out to be greeted by the beautiful sight of greenery outside. The kids were braver than mummy when it came to sliding down slippery stones. In many parts, we had to crawl through water and rocky holes. It was quite an adventurous journey. Ye was the youngest participant but he sure showed he was as fit if not fitter than the rest of the group. We didn’t manage to see the bats as its not their season. The guide who was really friendly informed us that come March – May, we could see bats by the hundreds at it is their mating season.
The whole journey has provided us a truly rewarding experience. We promised to come again next time to try the most challenging tour which is known as Grand Tour. By the time we completed our journey, we were all drenched and hungry for food. After a quick bath at Gua Tempurung, we proceeded to Ipoh for lunch.
We went to Sin Yoon Loong, one of the first coffeeshops at Ipoh after packing some egg tarts, yam tart and triangular chicken biscuits from opposite shop i.e. Nam Heong coffeeshop . The egg tarts and yam tart were really nice and could match the one sold at Tong Kee. Business was brisk both sides and we barely manage to get a place to sit. Coffee was done in old style and came up good. They still sold many traditional cakes. We tried Ipoh chee cheong fun which is similar to KL but they added mushroom sauce and sprinkled lots of fried garlic. We still prefer KL version though. After that we checked into our room at Sun Inn Hotel, a simple budget hotel near to Lost World of Tambun. Since it was raining, we played Millionaire to kill time.
We had famous chicken rice at Lou Wong though we heard from nearby traders that many local prefer Onn Kee which is situated near to Lou Wong. Ye and I had hor fun while Kwee Yap and Sean had chicken rice to go along with beansprouts and steamed chicken. Both dry and wet version of the hor fun tasted real nice and we had a hearty meal.
Nearby some traders have started setting up stalls but we didn’t manage to stroll as it started to pour again. Since it was still early, we went to Ipoh Parade to catch a Jackie Chan movie, “Karate Kid”. After that, we spend the night at hotel watching World Cup match munching junk foods bought from home.
Saturday (12 June 2010)
The next morning kids woke up late, Ye didn’t had a good sleep as he complained of cold the other night whilst Kwee Yap and I was awoken by the chatting sounds of staff at mamak stall behind. We had simple breakfast at a coffeeshop at Sunway City before heading to Lost World of Tambun. Since I’ve prepaid the tickets, we just went to counter to get the printed out wrist bands. Kids had great time at the water slides. We literally spend most of the time at water slides. We barely had time to visit petting zoo as it started to rain again by then and it was almost time for the park to call it a day.
We had dinner at the famous Tong Shui Kai, situated next to SRJKC Sam Tet. Had fried squid, sweet and sour crab, stir fried vege and steamed fish. The foods were good and kids had extra rice, which does not happen often. Before leaving the place, we packed some desserts for supper. It was back to hotel, kids and Kwee Yap were busy catching World Cup match while I dozed off.
Sunday (13 June 2010)
Sayonara to Tambun, a place with breathtaking view. Had breakfast at Foh San, the famous dim sum restaurant at Ipoh (it has just shifted to behind Maybank) and there were so many customers waiting for seats. We had earlier packed some soya drink and tau foo fah at Funny Mountain. Dim Sum was good though it was not really something to shout about. We find the dim sum at Seremban better than this.
We left for Kellie Castle which is located at Gopeng after breakfast. It was really hot by then and we could literally feel the sun burning at our neck. The castle was not completed but it sure looks magnificent. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at Sungkai offering famous river fish and pork knuckles. Business was brisk though it was already nearing teatime. No thanks to an accident at the highway, our journey home was very much delayed.
We had late dinner at Desa Aman Puri. Home sweet home. The kids had truly enjoyed themselves and they were in their best behaviour throughout the journey. Now we can’t wait for Tong to grow up so she could join us for the next trip.
1 comment:
HI. what a great holiday .. haha...Angie
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