My first packaged tour

Reading YG’s post about the old People’s Park reminds me of the other famous ‘park’ of that era. Do you know which one I am referring to? It’s Outram Park.

The Outram Park shopping complex was located at where the present Outram MRT station is situated. Unlike People’s Park, the blocks here were only two storeys high. The layout of the buildings was quite unique in that the blocks were not arranged in the typical fashion; i.e. parallel to the main road with the shops facing it. Instead they were at an oblique angle to it, forming a long zig-zig row, with a long open car in front.

Thanks to Peter Chan for this 1968 photo.

Here's a photo of the Chancellor Departmental Store at Outram Park courtesy of Peter Chan. Strange, they translated Chancellor as 'da ren'? Could they have interpreted Chancellor to mean a 'big shot'?

This is the only photo of the Outram Park Shopping Complex that I could find in the National Archives’ Picas collection.

I do not know in which year Outram Park was built. But I remember clearly the first time I went there was early one morning in December 1970 to board the coach which would bring me and my family (my parents and my sister) for my first packaged holiday tour to Malaysia. I had just completed my HSC exams - today’s equivalent of the A-levels - and was waiting to be enlisted into the army. There were two well-known tour agencies at that time. One was called Nam Ho and I think the other was called C&E. We booked our tour with C&E. Can you guess how much was the fare? I think it was slightly less than $100!

Our tour covered the main attractions in Peninsula Malaysia all the way up to Penang. Of course at that time there wasn’t any North-South Highway. Neither was there a Penang Bridge. Along the way, we stopped at several popular Malaysian tourist spots. For example, we stopped at Kajang to sample the famous Kajang satay. And then there was the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur and the very popular Cameron Highlands hill resort. Our itinerary did not cover Fraser’s Hill, the other famous hill resort. But among our group, we made a collection and got the driver and guide to add that to our itinerary. I remember the poor driver’s arms became stiff from all that mountain road driving. At that time, Genting Highlands was not built yet.

Another significant stop was the Cantonese town of Ipoh in Perak. We stopped at a shopping centre called the Octagon which was called Pat-kok-lau in Cantonese. It was demolished recently. The tour guide spun a fanciful story about the smooth hor fun (rice noodle) and fair ladies of Ipoh. The former was smooth because of the special quality of the water in that region whilst the latter was fair because Ipoh sat in the shadows of the nearby limestone mountains. At that time, I never dreamed that one day I would make one of these ‘fair ladies’ my life partner. I assure you my decision was not influenced by the tour guide’s fantastic story. Neither did I dream that this little mining town would be second home to me and my children; and who knows, it could well be the place where I spend my last days.

Below are some photos from my first packaged tour.

This photo was taken at the entrance to what is known as The Gap which is a narrow winding road that allows for only one way flow of traffic. If you continue on without turning left to Fraser’s Hill, you will come to the small town of Raub which I visited once many years ago when my 9th uncle was working in the town hospital.

This photo taken with our Minolta Hi-matic camera at Cameron Highlands was from our first row of Kodak colour film. Only four of us, my father, mother, sister and myself went for this trip.

Trip to Yong Peng Pt 1

Recently I visited Yong Peng with my brother Chun Chew (Zen), my sister Pat and her husband KC, and her friend Hui Choo. It was a very short trip and we stayed only 1 night. You might think that Yong Peng is such a small town and thus there isn’t much to see. But Hui Choo is from Yong Peng and her brother and sister-in-law brought us to see some interesting things that you certainly would not be able to enjoy in Singapore; such as the traditional pasar malam, roadside chendol stalls and this durian farm. It belongs to Hui Choo's brother. It was a small plantation and they have only about twenty trees plus some mangosteen and dragon fruit trees.

Unfortunately, our timing was not very good as the durians have not ripened yet. But our hosts invited to visit again when the time is ripe.

Question? Why are there so many durians on the ground?

Answer: Monkeys pluck them and chuck them on the ground. They would return in a few days when the durians start to rot and then eat the fruits. Of course the monkeys did not pile the durians into a neat pile like these. Our hosts did that.

Another question. How can you tell if a durian was plucked by the monkeys or if it dropped off naturally. I did not observe until we talked about it later; and so I will leave it to Chun Chew to explain.

To deter the monkeys, they strapped zinc sheets to the tree trunk, but apparently it wasn’t very effective.

Quiz:

Here’s a little quiz before I sign off. What is the lamp on my forehead for; and what is the object that I am holding in my hand used for? Hint: Our hosts used them for their work which starts at 4 am every morning.

Famous Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken

Ipoh is well-known for its food. One of the most famous dishes from Ipoh is the Ipoh Ngar Choi Kai, or Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken. Every time my family visits Ipoh, we try to have a dinner at the famous Lou Wong Ngar Choi Kai restaurant in town. This one is supposed to be the original (equivalent to our own Jalan Kayu Roti Prata) In recent years, many other stalls and restaurants have ‘sprouted’ up in Ipoh offering this same dish, including one just next to it called Onn Kee as you can see from the photo below.



Personally, I am not choosy; but one of my Ipoh brothers-in-law always insists on Lou Wong. He is a friend of the boss there. Another brother-in-law from Kuala Lumpur loves this dish so much that whenever he goes to Ipoh, he must visit this restaurant. In fact, I heard that he once made the three-hour drive to Ipoh just to satisfy his craving for this dish. And I thought that we Singaporeans are crazy about food.

By the way, in case you are wondering; my wife has four sisters. She is number 2. Two are married to Ipoh guys, 1 to a KL businessman and another 2 to Singaporeans. Every December we try to have our ‘reunion’ in Ipoh.

For you foodies, please don’t ask me for the address of Lou Wong. I always have difficulty remembering Malaysian road names. But that’s not to say I do not know where it is. The only road name that I can recall that’s near to it is Jalan Yang Kalsom.

The way the Ipoh bean sprout chicken is eaten is quite different from our Singapore chicken rice. In the first place, they don’t usually eat it with rice. Instead it is usually eaten with kueh teow in soup, or what Ipoh people call ‘fun’ – short for sar hor fun, and the bean sprouts of course. In addition, we usually order a bowl of fish balls to go with it. Ipoh people call it ‘yu tan’ or fish egg to be more precise, whilst in Singapore we call it ‘yu yuen’. The chilli they use is also quite different. Instead of chilli sauce, they take cut green chilli on a plate mixed with garlic and light sauce.

I am sorry that I not good at describing food. Let’s just say that it tastes great.
Anyway, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I show you some photos instead. If you want more, just go to Flickr and do a search and you will certainly be able to see better photos than mine.

I felt at bit silly taking out my camera to take these photos. But judging from the reaction; or rather, non-reaction of the other customers and the restaurant staff, I can say they are pretty used to people taking pictures in the restaurant. Just look at all the newspaper cuttings on the wall.













I shall end with a funny story relating to the Ipoh Ngar Choi Kai. Not far from my house, at the junction of Jalan Pasir Puteh and Jalan Bunga Raya, there is a food centre. One of the stalls sells Ipoh Ngar Choi Kai of quite good standard. So one evening we decided to eat there instead of driving all the way to town. Whilst ordering the chicken, the stall owner recommended us another chicken dish. It had a rather fanciful name. Ipoh hawkers are very creative in coining names for their dishes. Remember the Four Beauties of Big Tree Leg.

Anyway, when the dish arrived, we asked the hawker what is so special about this dish with the fanciful name. He said. “This is a special chicken dish from Singapore.” We almost burst out laughing, but restrained ourselves in order not to embarrass him!

Big Tree Leg

My mother-in-law who recently passed away was a wonderful lady. Everything you read in the comic strips about ‘monsters-in-law’, she was not. Once, I casually mentioned that I liked to eat chicken feet, and guess what? Every time we visited my in-laws in Ipoh, she would cook or order same braised chicken feet for me. The same is true for sea cucumbers.

Anyway, now that she has left us, I guess my pilgrimages to Ipoh will slow down in frequency. Which means that I am going to miss the wonderful Ipoh food. But at least I can still blog about it can’t I?

Once, I was having lunch at a new food court in town, similar to the ones we have in Singapore. I saw a stall proudly displaying a banner that said that they were formerly from 大树脚 (pronounce tai-shu-keok in Cantonese, meaning ‘foot of big tree’). I found out later from my relatives that this was a famous eating place in Ipoh, and not far from where we lived. Below are some photos of this unique place

Actually, Tai-shu-keok is a collection of shanty stalls located in the shade of some huge sea almond trees in the Pasir Pinji area. Although the conditions were a little shabby and dirty, it was very popular with Ipoh folks. I saw many office workers including some men in ties. Traffic was chaotic and we had to park our car far away.





Some of you may have heard of the legendary Four Beauties (of China) or 四大美人. Did you know that Ipoh too have 4 beauties. Here they are.



The Four Beauties is actually the name given to 4 super-sized mixed fruit drinks (top of banner). Notice the many dead leaves on top of the canvas canopy.

Frankly, I didn’t find the food any different for the other places. But then I am not a discerning ‘foodie’. Like the Dance Floor (tv show) judges, my only adjectives are wonderful and fantastic. Anyhow, I enjoyed the unique environment of the Big Tree Foot’. I liked the huge sea almond trees. I don’t recall ever seeing such huge ones in Singapore.







Next time, I will blog about the famous Ipoh Bean Sprout Chicken.

Mount Ophir

Las Montanas' mention of Mount Ophir in his comment in the previous article reminds me of my own excursion there in April 1980. At that time, I was working as an industrial engineer at Philips Singapore. The trip was organised by our recreation club and we had a great time climbing up by the tough route.

It was a tiring climb. At some points, the slope was so steep, we needed to use rope to haul ourselves up. Sigh .... sure miss being young and fit.

We were rewarded for our efforts by the wonderful view from the top. I remember that it was very windy and cold at the peak where we spent the night. I built a basha (simple tent) and shared it with my good friend Roger Lee. He was quite tall and thus his feet stuck out of the basha. I could actually feel him shivering beside me the whole night. Being 'katek' (short) has its advantages too, yeah?




The lanky guy in red T-shirt with his hand on my shoulders is my friend Roger Lee.


Me and Roger and another colleague from Accounts Dept (centre) next to our basha.

Ipoh Snippets

For the benefit of my fellow Singaporeans who cannot follow my banter with my Ipoh friends in the comments of my previous post, here are a couple of photos of Ipoh town.

The first photo shows the old Odeon Theatre that Aiyah Nonya spoke about (I think). There are lots of makan stalls here at night. Wish some of the foodies here have the chance to try Ipoh food. Mo tuck ting ah!!



The second photo shows the Sam Tet (pronounced Sam Tuck, 三德) Primary School.. According to my sister-in-law, another veteran science teacher, all students at Sam Tet are schooled in 3 essential skills: sik tuck, fun tuck and orr tuck - Can Eat, Can Sleep and Can Shit.

Banding Island

I doubt many Singaporeans have heard of this place called Banding Island in Malaysia. Also known as Pulau Banding, it is actually an inland island located right in the heart of Peninsular Malaysia, in Tasik (lake) Temenggor in the state of Perak, and sits squarely on the highway that joins Kota Bahru and Kuala Trengganu in the east, and Gerik and Kuala Kangsar in the west.

I first visited this scenic island in 1997, when I decided to take the long way to get to Ipoh; i.e. via the east coast and stopping in towns like Kuantan and Kuala Trengganu. We stayed overnight at the Banding Island Resort, the only hotel on this tiny island. It was raining much of the time and so we did not get to see much of the attractions. Since, my kids were too young to have any recollections of this place, we decided to visit it again during our recent annual pilgrimage to Ipoh last month and spent Christmas Day on the island.

Compared to 1997, when the highway were not fully completed and much construction was ongoing, the drive this time was much better. I particularly liked the 100 plus km stretch between the North-South Highway exit and the small town of Gerik. The road was new and traffic was light. Even though the speed limit was only about 80 or 90 kph, I must confess that at some stretches, I could not resist going up to 110 even. From Gerik, it’s another 40 km or so eastward to Banding Island. Here the terrain is hilly and the road winding, so of course one has to drive much slower. In total, the distance from Ipoh to Banding Island was slightly less than 200 km.

If you are looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road, I would recommend a short holiday in Banding Island. The road signs are excellent, and if you drive, it should not be a problem getting there. However, be forewarned that there isn’t much to do there except nature walks and fishing. The hotel organizes some excursions for fishing (mostly tomans) and visit to Orang Asli Village and jungle trekking to see the Rafflesia flower. Besides the Banding Island Resort, which charges RM140 per night, there are no other decent accommodation. There are some ‘floating chalets’ but the condition is very run down and I don’t think Singaporeans can take it.

Below are some photos that I took during our trip.


A section of the North-South Highway just north of Ipoh approaching the tunnel.



A view of the lake from our hotel room. The bridge joins the western end of the island to the mainland.



Another view of Tasik Temenggor from our hotel room.

This is another bridge which joins the eastern end of the island to the mainland.

The ‘floating chalets’ I mentioned can be seen at the top of this photo.


“When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.”
(Carl Boberg, 1886)

Link: Banding Island Resort

My Recent Trip to Ipoh

Question: What type of bread does not go mouldy?

Answer: The 70’s pop group Bread of course!



Yes, yes, I know it’s a pretty lame joke. But then this time the joke is from my kids, the very ones who groan every time I tell a Lame Joke.

Are you surprised that teenagers in 2006 listen to Bread? Well, it’s a tradition for us. Every time we drive up to Malaysia we must listen to my Bread Essentials CD in the car. So it was no different this past week when we made another trip to Ipoh. Some of you know that I make a trip to Ipoh every December with my family to visit my in-laws. This time, it was unplanned as we wanted to see my mother-in-law who had a fall recently. Thank God it was not serious.

Nevertheless, it was a good break for all of us.

One afternoon, while my girls went shopping, I went fishing with my son to this pond near Tanjung Rambutan, about 10 km from Ipoh. It was one of those ‘special’ ponds with salt-water fish; and at RM20 per hour per rod, it was quite exorbitant by Malaysian standards.

We could see that most of the other anglers were seasoned regulars with expensive gear and reeled in their huge catches (sorry don’t know the name) which put up fierce fights, with practised ease. Most of them were Malays. On our part, we managed to hook 8 kois. Yes; kois - apparently, the owner had discarded them into the pond some time ago.

On seeing our miserable performance, one of our neighbours came over and asked if we came from Ipoh and how much we paid. He sounded surprised to learn that we paid the normal amount of RM60 for 3 hours (plus another RM4 which I presume was some kind of “GST” – Goods & Services Tax). Apparently he was thinking, “These rich city folks are really suckers, paying so much just to catch kois”. What he didn’t know was this:

1. As ‘amateurs’ we were thrilled to be able to catch 8 huge (by our standards) kois. If only we could bring them back to Singapore. In fact, if one of the big fishes were to bite, we neither have the skill nor the equipment to reel it in.

2. We were from Singapore, not Ipoh. The S$28 we spent for an afternoon of quality time and father-son bonding was well worth it, not to mention the many nice photos that I took for this blog. I share them with you here.

(1) This is a shot of the entrance to the pond

(2) No doubt, my blogofriend Francis Ho of Kuching Kayaking will like this picture of the clouds. See? Not only Sarawak has nice clouds and mountains OK.

(3) Do you know what this chap is doing?

(4) He is perched on a raft and pulling himself on a rope to the cages located at the centre of the pond to release more fishes. Too bad it didn’t make any difference for us. See the funny shaped limestone mountains in the background? (Can’t wait to see what ‘sexy’ ideas my friend Victor is going to come up with)

(5) On the way to Tanjung Rambutan, we saw this Chinese temple located at the mouth of a cave on the side of a limestone hill. Does it remind you of a scene from a Chinese kungfu movie?

One other thing to share with you guys before I sign off. When friends learn that I drove a Toyota Wish, they often ask me about the mileage. They have heard that this car was very energy-efficient. Being rather ignorant and uninterested in such things, I have never been able to give an answer. So this trip, I decided to check.

On my trip back from Ipoh to Singapore, I topped up the petrol tank at the outskirts of Ipoh. When I reached the Gelang Patah rest point near the Malaysian Immigration Check Point, we had traveled 534 km and used up slightly more than ¾ tank. The mileage meter read: 15.5 km/litre.

The Toyota Wish is truly an amazing car. When I bought it about 3 years ago from a parallel importer, there were very few such cars on the road. I was quite concerned about the difficulty of getting spare parts. But today, I see so many Toyota Wishes on the roads of Singapore, even though there are hardly any reviews or advertisements in the papers.


Footnote: For foreign friends reading this blog; Ipoh is the capital city of Perak, one of the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. It is linked to the western end of Singapore by what is called the North-South Highway; or PLUS in Malay, Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan. Traveling time for the approx 600 km journey is 7- 8 hours including rest breaks, and depending on traffic and immigration/customs clearance etc.

Gunong Brinchang – Some Afterthoughts

Last weekend I finally managed to compile the photos and video clips of my Ipoh/Cameron Highlands trip into a DVD for my relatives. Viewing them again convinced me that going on such jungle treks and hill climbs are great for family bonding and building mutual care. Viewing the videos after the event is also great fun.


Looking at the videos, I realized how unfit I have become. There were a few points where the slope was particularly steep and my son had to lend a hand to pull me up; and the girls as well. Then on the downhill trip, I heard shouts of, “Slow down; wait for papa!”

I really recommend you to go for such a hike with your family. For a start you can go to Bt Timah Hill or MacRitchie Reservoir. Another place you can consider, which is quite near, is the Kota Tinggi Rain Forest Resort (cannot remember exact name) which we went to during the June holidays.

I Almost Conquered Gunong Brinchang

Last week I took my family on our annual ‘pilgrimage’ to Ipoh. Every year, around Christmas time, 3 families on my wife’s side; 2 from Singapore and 1 from Kuala Lumpur will gather for a ‘reunion’ in my wife’s home town, Ipoh; joining the 2 families that are there. Of course, top on the agenda is to pay respects to my aged mother-in-law. In order not to inconvenience my relatives in Ipoh, I actually bought a small terrace house in Ipoh, right next to my sister-in-law’s house in Pasir Puteh, Ipoh. In case you think I am very rich, please let me declare that the 2,100 sq ft, free-hold, corner terrace house costs only RM105,000, which in 1996 was only about the price of a COE.

While we were there, my son, who is crazy about pitcher plants, convinced us to go for a jungle walk up Gunong Brinchang, in the Cameron Highlands to look at the natural flora. So we spent 1 night in Brinchang, the highest town in Cameron Highlands and set off the following morning for our jungle walk. Of course, only the 2 families from Singapore were crazy enough to take part in the walk, which turned out to be more of a mountain climb.

The trek to the start point already tired me out!

Altogether, there were 8 of us in the team, comprising my family of 5, plus my sister-in-law and her 2 sons. The oldest member was aged 53 (yours truly) and the youngest only 12. Midway, my sister-in-law found the going too tough and gave up, and decided to stop and wait for us. When we reached about 600 m from the peak, many of us were exhausted and debated whether or not to continue because the path had become more difficult. My 15-year old son, who was the fittest in the group, being a kayaker, wanted to continue. I too did not want to give up so near the destination. Someone suggested that we split; one group to continue, and another to return to where my sister-in-law was waiting. That I absolutely forbade. I didn’t relish the idea of reading newspaper headlines that say; “2 Singapore Families Lost in the Mountains of Cameron Highlands”, or “Minister George Yeo Thanks Malaysian Government for Help in Locating Lost Singapore Families”. In the end, we made the painful decision to turn back, which turned out to be the right decision, because, by the time we reached the main road, I could hardly walk.

Although somewhat disappointed, I was quite proud that I made it thus far. What surprised me too, was that the descent turned out to be more difficult than the ascent. This was probably due to my problematic knees, which caused me to lag behind the rest.

The trip up Gunong Brinchang reminded me of a similar climb up Mt Ophir in 1980 with the Philips Recreational Club. At that time, we camped overnight on top of Mt Ophir. I remember sharing a basha with my colleague and old friend Roger Lee. As he was quite tall, his feet protruded out of the tent, and were exposed to the strong mountain winds. Throughout the night, I could feel him shivering beside me.

During this trip to Ipoh, we also got to visit a pomelo farm. We met a friendly fruit stall owner, and she happily agreed to bring us to her farm about 3 km away. It was a very good education for the kids. We met a couple of farmers who were still fit and strong despite their age. We bought some fresh vegetables from them – when I say fresh, I mean fresh from the ground. This reminded me of my kampong days. It gave me another opportunity to tell my children about life in the kampong.

During this trip, I also found time to bond with my children, especially my son. While my wife went shopping with the 2 girls, I accompanied my boy to go fishing. This time around, we managed to catch 4 fishes, as compared to last year when we ‘suffered’ together, because, whilst everyone around us caught lots of fishes, we returned empty-handed.

On the last night, we had a great time viewing old family videos; laughing at how cute the children looked a few years ago, and marveling at how much their appearance had changed. I am proud to announce that I was able put my video editing skills to good use.

I must say that although my family missed many opportunities to visit other countries due to our annual trips to Ipoh, we always had a wonderful time there. One year, we went to New Zealand instead of Ipoh. After spending a tidy sum, my children’s verdict was that they did not enjoy themselves, and much preferred Ipoh. I guess, they always looked forward to these trips because they loved to play with their cousins. The way I look at it, I should cherish the opportunities while it lasted. It is a matter of time before they grow out of it.

As it is, we were able to enjoy warm fellowship with our Malaysian relatives, and strengthen our family bonds. I thank God for the joys of family life. On occasions like this, I often wonder why young Singaporeans deliberately choose to remain single, a topic I frequently read about in Singapore blogs. (Examples here & here)

3 good reasons for marriage