"Not 'Ipoh' it's 'EEEEpoh!'
Our next destination was the main city of Perak, EEEEpoh! (Ipoh)
16.07.2011
So! After a sleepy 2 and a half hour bus journey (with a manky roadside toilet stop where we were at risk of getting bitten on the arse whilst squatting over the toilet!) we arrived in Ipoh, corrected fiercely by the bus driver that it's pronounced 'EEEpoh!'.
Checked in at a friendly Chinese Hotel "The Sun Golden Inn" and then basically proceeded to get lost wondering the city streets for about four hours! (Without our guidebooks which we later discovered we left back at the hotel!) Lunched at a random tin roof garage where the locals stared at us as if we had three heads when we asked to sample the traditional cuisine! Jackie then faced her fear of ingesting a whole fried fish, head and everything. We washed it down with some flavorsome Chinese soup.
We then came upon an Optometrist with the fattest earlobes we have ever seen (Jackie was facinated by them!). Nevertheless, he sorted her specky self out with some good contacts, tried to guide us home without a guidebook and failed so off we went again, aimlessly wondering! (and sweating of course).
Somehow found the hotel, showered and freshened up ready to go and hunt for the only thing there seemed to do in this ramshackled run down city...munch bean sprout chicken (ayam taugeh). And how delicious it was! We luckily found a night market to buy a few presents in and an amazing tea shop, selling every variety of tea you can imagine! At a bar, an audience of locals surrounded our table, amazed at Jackie playing a game of cards by herself. They watched her every move (it was the clock game!-You know!!) but she cracked under the pressure and went wrong so gave up and drank tiger beer!
With not finding much more to do and being desperate for a break from the city we headed for some much needed beach relaxation at the exotic island of Pulau Pangkor.
Posted by MalaysiaGJ11 06:14
