Before we get to Ipoh I must mention that I have spent one night in Kuala, Lumpur or KL to travellers. We had to spend a night there before catching a short flight to Ipoh on our last trip. Our hotel was at the foot of the Petronas Twin Towers. They are the largest twin towers in the world and can be seen in the movie Entrapment. They are very impressive. Now on to Ipoh.
PRO: The population of Ipoh is at least 75% Chinese. The Chinese food here is amazing, and certainly was the best I have ever had. I had some type of fried chicken once that I still remember fondly. My search through the US has never revealed anything like it.
CON: It is HOT! You may not be aware but Arkansas is very humid in the summer. It is dreadful, but humidity in Southeast Asia gives new meaning to the word.
PRO: Dim Sum breakfast at an outdoor market complete with dozens of dumplings and other treats washed down with hot Chinese tea. I know many of my PRO's are in the food category. Leave me alone. I like to eat.
CON: Eating a dumpling with chopsticks is very hard. Our host finally told me to just stab the dumpling. I tried and failed. My dumpling jumped off my plate and across the table. You gotta love us Americans.
PRO: We got to visit a Buddhist cave temple that was very cool. It had an elaborate entrance and several huge buddha statues inside what was simply a limestone cave.
CON: The first time I visited Ipoh we sat down to eat and everyone was given chopsticks. At this point in my life I had no idea how to use them. Thankfully I have since learned. When I got my chopsticks I said, "I am going to starve to death if I have to use these." Such manners. I was rewarded with a plate, fork, and spoon.
PRO: Food is served family style. It is like a Chinese buffet right at your own table. One of the restaurants even had a table where the middle spun around to help you serve yourself.
CON: I was stuck there during the 2005 National League Championship series. The Cardinals were playing the Houston Astros for a chance to get to the World Series. I did get to see bits and pieces of the broadcast in the mornings, but it was terrible for me to miss the big games. By the way the Cardinals lost.
PRO: At the cave temple there were about 20 monkeys hanging out in this little garden. They were very close. It is always cool to see monkeys just hanging around like squirrels do here in the US.
CON: The Ipoh international airport is the smallest I have ever been to in all my travels. The pilot actually warned us the landing might be bumpy becasue the runway is not long enough for a 737 and he would have to get down and stop fast. It wasn't bad, but when we got on the ground there were 20 or 30 people lined up watching us through the fence. I am not real comfortable with my landings being the top entertainment in town.
7 comments:
All I could think of when you talked about how hot it is over there was that scene from the movie Volunteers where Tom Hanks' character gets off the plane and says: "We must be a mile from the sun"
But did you invoke the 5-second rule when the dumpling tried to escape? You totally should have.
I don't know how you do it. All that travel simultaneously depresses me and scares the hell out of me. I'm such a homebody.
But I am noticing there's no story from Malaysia about your trip to the "massage parlor" that involved a "natural release" and a lovely young lady in a basket love swing.
What? That happens on every trip to southeast Asia right? Or have I been watching too much porno again??
I love traveling with you because I can do it from my armchair. The only plane rides I've ever taken were to and from Ireland and they were my first and second plane rides . . . last year. So, if a pilot warned me that a runway was not long enough, I'd probably hyperventilate.
I had to laugh at your rolling dumpling story. I could see me doing the same thing. As far as chopsticks are concerned. I would starve. I'd probably be to embarassed to say anything, though.
I might be a frequent visitor to the Southern states if my dad moves to Tennessee. Maybe I'll come in the cooler weather months.
Sounds like a fascinating trip. Thanks for sharing.
Ah, dim sum. If they added bacon there'd be no reason to eat anything else.
That was great! Funny and informative. ow I want to go and eat.
I want to go to Malaysia and eat now.
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