Day 6: Ipoh - Tongs

The day was spent in Ipoh again, with Uncle Mike and his wife.  We started with Haka mee for brunch.  I liked the setup for picking the dish -- you individually pick the pieces you want with the type of noodles.  Fish balls, tofu, wontons, a bunch of other things, and then choosing the type of noodles, served dry, in a curry, or in a soup.  Ipoh is known for its good iced white coffee, so I tried some.  I don't usually drink coffee, but this tasted more like mocha.

After eating, we went to three Buddhist temples that lie within caves: Kek Lok Tong, Sam Poh Tong, and Lam Tien Tong.  Ipoh is also known for its impressive caves.

Kek Lok Tong was beautiful.  Tall caves and luscious green trees on the hills.  Along the pathways and sides of the stairs were delicately chiseled limestone pieces, shaped like dragons, phoenixes, Buddhas.  Also within these pieces were bonsai plants, so many years old already.

Tsk tsk...

The entrance featured a large pond with a variety of koi fish.  There are also monkeys that roam about!  I'm surprised they don't try to catch and eat the fish.

Stunning garden at Kek Lok Tong

Towards the back of the caves, the opening leads you to a big and stunning garden and pond area.  With a path that goes all the way around, it is an area that is frequented by joggers.  Vibrantly colored hibiscus flowers adorned the vicinity of the garden, and more limestone and bonsai pieces.


Sam Poh Tong was not impressive compared to Kei Lot Tong.  It was small, and not maintained.  The fountain was aging, the garden area was dead.  Next to the garden was an enclosed concrete home for turtles, with a small pond for them.  It was so sad seeing them.  No one takes care of them, and they rely on visitors to throw leaves in.  Once I walked up to the railing area, the turtles came close and just stared at me, hoping I had some food.

Entrance to Sam Poh Tong

Poor turtles at Sam Poh Tong.  I like turtles.

Lam Tien Tong was also small.  The caves were not as prominent.  But, one feature I enjoyed was the "wind tunnel".  There was one particular cave area that led to another via a large tunnel, and the breeze that naturally blows just in this section is strong and cool.  We sat around here for some time.  Outside, there is also a redeeming garden, featuring colorful flowers, a playground of animal statues, and a large pond full of fish.  Koi, tilipia, tiny baby fish, and a fish with a huge brain-like bump on its head.  I kept scaring them with my shadow.

Garden at Lam Tien Tong

We had lunch at All in Cafe on Jalan Sehala.  Had some dried curry mee, and tried a refreshing aloe vera drink.  It was here that I saw the first non-asian tourists.  Ipoh is not a popular city for young tourists.

The train station was the next stop, where we bought tickets for our trip to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow, leaving at 2pm.


Back at Goo Poh's place, we all had dinner together across the street, at Restoran 33.  Tanks of eels and fat frogs were available to eat as well.  We had other dinner plans later, so this was dinner number one.

Oh look, eels.

Grilling the stingray!  Was tasty.

Dinner number two was at Ipoh Garden, with many of my mom's secondary school friends.  I could barely eat anything, but managed to have a good barley drink, a few bites of stingray, and a couple satay sticks.

It was yet another busy day!  Tomorrow I'll have internet access again.