From Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh, we took a bus for about 3 and a half hours and made it to Ipoh just in time for FOOD! Our first food experience was great of course! There was a covered outdoor food court where only the locals were, just down the street from our little hotel and it was so so good! We went back here 2 more times. Also really close to us was a long strip of food stalls each selling something different! We also went here twice.
More skeptical of my picture taking than of the food 
street market shoulder action 
Hor Fun
kind of thick eggy soup, sounds gross, looks gross, tastes amazing!
On Christmas Eve, we treated ourselves to a super delicious and extravagant breakfast consisting of sticky rice and chicken, egg on toast, sweet caramel sauce on toast, a kind of egg custard like flan, and sweet iced coffees for a TOTAL of around 5 Euros….
Then we walked around to see what this city has to offer its tourists. Street art is common to find as well as some old colonial style architecture. Here are some pictures of what we stumbled across.
For dinner on Christmas Eve we also treated ourselves to a pretty elaborate meal… which probably totaled around 7 EUR… I am still so amazed at how far you can stretch money over here. Its great!
As Ipoh itself is rather small, we ventured a bit outside the city to see some cool cave temples!
Nam Thean Tong Temple 
Ling Sen Tong Temple 
Sam Poh Tong Temple 
Through the cave of Sam Poh Tong and then out again
The final destination of the day was the Kek Lok Tong Temple (also a cave temple) and according to google maps, there was something called the Qing Xin Ling Leisure & Cultural Village, just about in the middle of those first three and this last one. Unfortunately it was closed when we got there, but we did get to see some interesting housing neighborhoods on the way. ALSO, going this route led us to another temple we weren’t planning to see at all. AND a bunch of little monkeys playing around. So it was worth it.
So when we finally made it to the Kek Lok Tong Temple we were already sunburnt, sun exhausted and just tired. But it was a good final destination of the day anyway! We went up some stairs and then inside you can see a big hole in the back wall leading you back outside and down some stairs to a nice garden and little trails.
This place was wild! We sat with strangers at a big table for 10 people, and waiters walked around with different items on trays, you pick what you want, and they tick the item on your receipt and then you pay at the end for what you took. It was all very hectic but somehow worked.
We have to get ready to go out and take part in some Penang NYE celebrations… whatever that means is a mystery. So the rest of Ipoh will have to wait. Second Ipoh post coming soon! 🙂
Stories of Exploration and Travel 