Piling on the weight

It was a high-calories trip.

It all began with a simple dinner by the roadside where I'd my first taste of the authentic Ipoh’s Hor Fun (Guo Tiao), soft and marinated with the sweetness of the soup… Nothing like what I ever tasted and definitely unlike the hor fun sold in Singapore, even when they are being packaged as the Ipoh hor fun.

Breakfast on second day was Guo Tiao (again)… Haha. This time it was even more scrumptious than that of the previous night. The food served was reportedly so sought after by the local food-loving Chinese population that on any other days one would have to wait for at least thirty minutes just to get a seat, and even longer for the food. Even more amazing was that the stall was only opened for three hours a day. Reckon working only a couple of hours a day, and having the rest of the day off. Life is good. Haha…

Next stop: P. Pangkok. The road journey to Lumut (nearest town... famous for its local birds' nest) was utterly sleepy… gave me a preview of the road trips I would embark on in FL in just a couple of months, tho of course they probably wouldn’t be exact repeats since I would get to be as crappy as I want, plus a shot behind the wheel at the more deserted stretches of road… Haha. [A tidbit of info: cos birds' nest is collected from the ‘under-roofs’ of shophouses, many locals choose to stay in shophouses. nice. imagine, ya just got to reach out your hand to get a delicacy] Boy, was I glad that the boat ride which came after the drive more than made up for dreariness of the car journey. Unlike the short ones I used to take to Pulau Ubin, the Pangkok cruise was almost 40 minutes long, and I simply loved every minute of it. There’s nothing like the three big S-s in my life: The Sun, the Sand and the Sea.

[I almost forgot to add this in… I consumed at least two durians even before stepping foot on Pangkok… ohwell, it was the durian season and I was nudged to try the “small but nice” King of Fruits, esp since after someone blabbed that I looooveeee durians, which of course isn’t the whole truth.]

Anyway.

I experienced my first dip in the sea at Pangkok. It was unnerving at first, esp with the high tide currents and my inability to tread water… But as with all new activities I took to it and was soon bobbing in the currents. It was, no doubt, the highlight of my day, even with all the sand in my swimming underpants… Haha…

Then it was nightfall… and guess what, the whole island was just cloaked in a thick blanket of darkness… hardly a handful of shops and households were with electricity… I couldn’t even see my hand before me when I walked in the streets. Along the way, I almost felt guilty of leaving the aircon, lights and tv on when we left the room. ‘These people are really poor… that they have to live by candle lights at night…’ I thought to myself. But as it turned out that, according to uncle at the chalet, that the island was experiencing a black out. Oh chey.

We had a seafood dinner… which wasn’t that great. When we got back to the room I was forced to finish up another durian. I didn’t, and left half on the table. Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility. The next morning I had second round in the sea. It was low tide, but the impending storm was stirring up a fuss in the currents. Looked like I wouldn’t get to r & r in calm waters after all, not that I was complaining… what with the thrill of riding in the waves ;p

We went back to Ipoh for the night, then to KL. Along the way I was further stuffed with a couple more durians. I think I ate more durians on this trip than I ever did in my whole lifetime. My mom would probably kill me if she knew this; she never fail to inform us time and again of the heatiness of the fruit. I also had dim sum for breakfast, crabs for dinner and bak ku teh for breakfast the following day before going on my coach journey back to Singapore. As I sit here penning this entry, I had a visibly thicker waistline and a bulging tummy.

Little wonder where the tyres of fat come.