Penang & Ipoh food trip

As Penang is consider near to Singapore (1 hr 20 mins flight), it naturally becomes a popular choice for short getaway for Singaporeans. Attractions include wall arts/local delights/museums/temples.

I visited Penang when I was 8 years old, a family road trip. So I cannot remember much about this city. All I know is they have some famous delicacies which tops the Asian flavours.

Signature wall art. George Town.

George Town.

Right beside this is a pastry shop Ming Xiang Tai. Their pastries is superb! Especially the pork floss pastry, crispy crust with soft and chunky pork floss filling in it. Thumbs up!


Ming Xiang Tai Pastry Shop 
133, Jalan Burma, George Town, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Toast & Egg, Singapore has it separately although some likes to dip their toast into the egg. Here in Penang, they serve it as one.

If you are visiting Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam, do not miss this famous Assam Laksa (one and only) in Penang. Highly recommended to foodies out there who want to try out this local authentic and delicious dish. Initial taste of it the ingredients did not really blend that well, you can actually taste the individual strong fragrance of mint, pineapples, onions. But after a few mouthful, it blended well to create that unique taste of assam laksa!


Air Itam Assam Laksa
Jalan Pasar, Paya Terubong, 11500 George Town, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

This yellow python is one of the many that is kept in Snake Temple. The pose of it relaxing makes me laugh so hard, I totally do not find it scary, in fact I think it looks adorable! Grumpily hiding in its own body, as if telling us it's not in the mood to listen to anything. The keeper assured us it is safe to touch it, therefore I went ahead! First sight of these cold blooded creatures did made my hair stand a little, but after the keeper uncle's detailed explanation and guidance around the whole place, I find myself more comfortable around... 

Ipoh

If you are on a road trip, I recommend dropping by Ipoh for a day or two. This place has some nice food and hot spring resort to offer. The no. 1 item on my mum's list for Ipoh is always pomelo. So I packed 4 big pomelos back for her this time round, with only a cabin size luggage, I managed to (call me the packing queen!).


I have been secretly hoping my friend can bring me to visit Foh San for this trip, because I really love their dim sum so much. And tadah! My wish came true! I came to know about Foh San when I did a road trip here many years ago. Since then, I have been craving for it, yums.


So on third day of my trip, we set off at 7am from Penang. Ipoh is about 2 hours drive from Penang, so we reached around 9am and the whole restaurant is crowded and packed. The staff signalled us to proceed to the second level for more seats, so we went up and hang around for 15 mins before getting seated.


Foh San Dim Sum
51, Jalan Leong Sin Nam, 30300 Ipoh, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia

Round 1

 When in doubt, eat dim sum. My favourites are their fishball, fishcakes, chee cheong fun, special dishes, lotus muah chee, liu sha bao, and chicken puff!

Round 2

Prawn Chee Cheong Fun

Another famous food in Ipoh is Beansprouts Chicken 芽菜鸡, Lou Wong has been there for many years, simply one of the best there but I do heard some feedback saying it's overpriced. Along the same road there are some other shops selling beansprouts chicken as well, so if you are price concern, can check out the other stalls as well.

Restaurant Lou Wong Tauge Chicken

30000, 49, Jalan Yau Tet Shin, 30000 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Beansprout chicken hor fun

Mount Hua

Went on a 1 day tour with one of the local tour agency to Mount Hua, which is better known as Huashan (Called Xi Yue in ancient times). Huashan is one of the five sacred mountains in China, known as the number one precipitous mountain under heaven. Situated in Huayin City, 120 kilometres east from Xi'an in  Shaanxi Province. There are five main peaks - east, west, south, north and central.

Currently there are 2 cable car stations to allow visitors accessing the mountain from north station and west station. West station is the more preferred one because firstly, west peak has a better scenery as compared to the north. Secondly, other peaks (south the highest, central and east) are from nearer in distance than from north.

We bought 3 tickets per person in total. One for Huashan bus ticket, one for cable car, and one for Huashan entrance.

After 30 minutes of bus journey, the Huashan bus drop us off at this entrance, about 400 steps of stairs to climb to reach the cable car station.

 The flowers are blooming, spring in greeting!

 Gorgeous view from the cable car. It gets a little scary and breath taken when we were about to approach the top. The view is simply jaw dropping, sights of trekking paths and endless mountain range shone like gold under the bright sunlight.

 About to reach the West Peak - 15 minutes from the cable car alight area

Locks and red ribbons are sold by locals at Mount Hua, you can hang them anywhere you like after purchasing. In Chinese, they call it 平安锁 Ping'an Suo (Peace lock). Locals believe by leaving a lock and ribbon in Mount Hua will bring peace to you and your family.

 华山论剑 The most famous legendary martial competition described in Mr Jin Yong's novels.

One of the steep routes you will encounter when hiking Mount Hua.

Oldest capital of China, Xi'an - Day 1

Xi'an has been on my bucket list for quite some time actually, so I decided to go ahead and get it checked because my parents agreed to go with me! (Friends around me are mostly shunning away from China) I first went to Beijing from Singapore, stayed for a few days and took their High Speed Rail (G-train) to Xi'an. The journey is around 4 hours 25 mins.  Train tickets were bought via the tour/ticketing counter located in my hotel lobby. It's simple and efficient, I collected the tickets on that same day evening. Ticket price: RMB 516, there is a handling fee of RMB 12 per ticket. Passport is required for purchasing of the tickets. One thing to note, there are 4 railway stations in Beijing, G-trains will depart from Beijing West Railway Station, arrive at Xi'an North Railway Station.

Accommodation

Citadines Central Xi'an

36 Zhubashi, Beilin District
Xi'an 710002, China

Highly recommended! I stayed in Citadines Central for 5 nights. It fulfilled my top 3 priorities when choosing my choice of accom.

Convenience ★★★★★

Its conveniently located right in the heart of the city. Walking distance of 5 minutes to Drum Tower, 7 minutes to Muslim Quarters, 10 minutes to Drum Tower and 15 minutes to City wall.  There are many supermarts and restaurants beside the hotel.  

Comfort ★★★★★

As it is an aparthotel, room is equipped with a kitchen area with all the necessary appliances you need (pot, utensils, microwave, fridge, chopper, electric stove)

I booked a queen studio it comes with 2 twin beds and its still spacious to be walking around with 3 luggage opening fully on the floor.

Budget ★★★★★

I booked on hotels.com for around RMB 400 per night! Comes with 2 breakfast voucher daily. The breakfast buffet has much less variety if you were to compare with full fledged hotels. But it is still sumptuous enough in my opinion. They have scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast with jams & butter spread, Asian fried rice/noodles, fried vegetables, fresh fruits and cakes. For beverage options they serve juices, coffee, tea and milk.

Terracotta Warriors

I booked a private 1 day english guided tour with Chinaxiantour.com , both our tour guide Ken and driver are very friendly attentive and helpful. Ken explained to us in details bout the history of Xi'an and also the attractions we visit. My parents and I enjoyed talking to them very much.

The Terracotta Warriors was discovered by five farmers in 1974 in Xi'an while digging a water well. It's said that Emperor Qin ordered his people to create these sculptures of army to be buried with him so that they could protect him in his afterlife.

Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum is about an hour drive away from Xi'an city, in Lintong district. Along the way, you get to see the scenic view of Mount Li and passing by the famous Huaqing hot springs where it was said Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Gui Fei had liked this place a lot and spend most of their time there.

At the Terracotta Warrior site, there is a total of 3 pits inside this on-site excavation museum. Pit 1 being the biggest with most of the terracottas displayed. 

Pit 1

           

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The pagoda holds the sutras and Buddha figurines that Monk Xuanzang brought back with him when from his Pilgrimage to the West in the Tang Dynasty where he started off from Xi'an (previously known as Chang'an), along the Silk Road and through deserts, finally arriving in India. Having gotten the permission of Emperor Gaozong, Monk Xuanzang, as the first abbot of Daci'en Temple, supervised the building of a pagoda in the temple.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Statue of Buddha and his two chief disciples.

Evening Dumpling Dinner & Tang Dynasty Dance

We added on a dumpling dinner & tang dynasty show into our tour itinerary. The dumplings (it was a set menu, serving 16 different kinds) were not so much appetizing to us to be honest, but we quite enjoyed the performance which is made up of song and dance in Tang style. We took a quick glance around us and realize, most of the guests are non-Asian. Okay, it just meant I made a wrong choice of program. Asians generally will find this kind of performances rather dull and uninteresting. Should have brought my parents to some decent Chinese food restaurants instead. It cost RMB 300 per person for this dumpling and show, a decent meal for 3 people in Xi'an would have cost around RMB 200 at most. (Okay~ lesson learnt)

       

Seoul delicious!

Why do people love Korea so much? Reason varies. But food is definitely one big part of it!
There are plenty of dining options available in Korea, barbeque, Samgyetang (Korean chicken soup), Dubu Jjigae (Army stew) can be easily located along the streets, and there are also many themed cafes around.
Though its my first trip to Korea, I had tried quite a few popular dishes that both tourists as well as locals highly recommend. So here I am, sharing my shortlisted favourites for this trip.

Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) at Tosokchon. It is different from the usual herbal chicken soup that I take at home. In this case, most all the ingredients (ginseng, glutinous rice, garlic, jujube date) are stuffed inside the chicken. The glutinous rice fully absorbed the essence of ginseng, therefore the taste of ginseng when chewing the rice can be quite strong. But for people who likes ginseng, you will love it. Drinking this in winter can really keep your body warm and it is good for you overall health in general.

심슨탕 Sim Seun Tang Army Stew at Hongdae. One of the nicer army stew we had in Korea. A lot of famous artists went there too! The cheese, when melted is literally a cheese pot for you to dip your tteokbokki, sausages and pork slices! Yummilicious~

빈대떡 Bindaetteok at Gwangjang Market. My day will be great if I can have this for breakfast, together with kimbap everyday. This is basically mung bean pancake served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, green onions and vinegar.

Ajumma that sells live octopus and fresh oysters at Gwangjang market. She is so seasoned to tourists taking photos of her  of. See that octopus in her hands? Yup, that's our pick to prepare the following dish... 

Sannakji (small live octopus)

Yes, its still wriggling and twisting around. Without thinking much (not even twice) I put one piece of it into my mouth and started chewing quickly. Oh my god, in my opinion it actually taste good! Much better than the cooked ones.

Haemul Juk (Seafood Porridge)

I love porridges. Be it Cantonese style congee, Teochew mui or fish porridge, I simply like them all. So I told my friends I definitely need to try Korean's juk too.

Rich in texture, with seaweed, scallion and white sesame, it blended in so well into the freshness of the seafood. *thumbs up*   

Seoul Much fun in winter - Day 4 Busan

Jagalchi Fish Market 자갈치시장

Jagalchi Station, Line 1, Exit 10

Turn right onto Jagalchi 3(sam)- gil street

Walk 5 mins, turn left to arrive.

Largest fish market in Korea

located just beside Nampo port, that means they have the freshest seafood! Most of the stalls are run by elderly women.

There are many small restaurants in Jagalchi market, we just randomly picked one and walked in to order a seafood soup to try.
Pot of sea treasures - Abalone, clam, crab, prawns, squid, octopus, scallop and some funny looking ones which I totally have no idea what it is.

After 5 minutes, dang! Spicy seafood soup is ready to serve. The soup is simply awesome,  with the essence of all the ingredients in the pot. 

Gamcheon Cultural Village 감천문화마을

Toseong Station, Line 1, Exit 6
Turn right once you reach an intersection.
Continue walking till you see bus stop in front of Busan Cancer Center.
Take bus 2 or 2-2.
Alight at last stop.

They call it Korea's Santorini.
This is the main reason why we came to Busan.
For first time visitors like us, we paid for a guide map at the community centre, which you can collect stamps around the village and exchange for postcards at certain stations. By collecting all of it will mean you have all the must-see covered. (Takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete the full course)

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 해동 용궁사

Haeundae Station, Line 2 Exit 7
Bus stop right outside the exit, take bus no. 181 (20 mins)
Alight at last stop

Haedong Yonggungsa is a Buddhist temple built in 1376 by the teacher known as Naong during the Goryeo Dynasty. It is situated right beside the sea, with a great view.

From the bridge crossing over to the main temple, look down and you will find this wishing pond. Make a wish, toss the coin. And guess who's the lucky one! =)

 Statues of the 12 Chinese zodiac.