April week 3

During the recent Wednesday which was a public holiday, my family managed to squeeze in a one-day trip to Ipoh for yet again another food excursion! We left early in the morning to make sure we arrive just in time for breakfast in Kampar. (All our food stops are from a list of highly recommended and commendable stalls that my father diligently compiled from reading food blogs) Therefore I knew the food we'll be gorging the rest of the day will be assured of its good taste. For breakfast, we had the famous charcoal-fried noodles, Wan Tan noodles(the best among all the food we ordered), Curry Chee Cheong Fun and Kampar noodle soup. After satisfying our hunger, we then rushed on to Ipoh, another 45 minute-drive away as we didn't want to miss getting a taste of a crowd-pleasing bowl of curry mee. Sadly, the shop wasn't opened that day. Following that, we enjoyed a very subtle tasting and cooling Tau Foo Fa along with soya bean to liberate some heat on that hot hot day. My favourite stop however was at an old-fashioned, traditional Kopitiam in Ipoh Old Town(no big surprise there). They serve the most authentic and delicious Old Town White coffee that makes me time travel back to the time of my grandfathers'. The taste we get from the coffee has the right kick and richness of flavour, very different from the ones we get here.  As perfect complements to our Iced Coffee, we ordered Sotong Kangkung with generous flooding of the unique gravy as well as sate. That was definitely one sumptuous brunch! And our tummies were pleading that we give them a break! So, we did. We rested in my grandparent's place till late afternoon and managed to visit the much talked about Gaharu Tea Plantation (their gaharu ice-cream is to die for!) To mark the end of our food trail, we had dinner at a dim sum restaurant in Ipoh that didn't fail to live up to its name. I feel glad that we, Malaysians, have this culture of 'balik kampung' where the younger generations especially, can go back to their roots and experience the food the older generation ate and how was the eating culture like last time. These are indeed simple pleasures.