Easy weekends and home cooking....

Ipoh food is great..but once in a while you just want something plain and homey...Saturday was an off day due to Nuzul Quran so everyone was at home...we caught up with the movies, housework and hobbies...Stayed up for the Presidents cup Friday night...so it was a late night...
Saturdays breakfast was maggie mi goreng with whatever leftovers and coffee..a good pick me up after a late night....

..next the fishies needed their breakfast...these guys are growing....

...then watched 'the Bourne Ultimatum'...nice and fast movie...before long it was lunch time...we had something light..fish and chips..which was ikan tenggiri, veggies , salad cream and wedges..

and washed down with a little vino...not a bad lunch....

then after lunch...siesta lah!...
Sunday was the same...breakfast ..toast, sausages,poached egg and coffee....

then a photo shoot..the honey star fruit tree in my backyard was blooming..and the flowers looked gorgeous..hard to imagine it all starts out with the attractive flowers...

nice dainty flowers these....


and the fruit is so sweet it soon had the flies smelling it out...

roast chicken being prepared for lunch.....

fusion food...roast chicken, potatoes & sauce with asparagus and sambal petai...yummy really

it was a relaxing weekend....could it be that i had watched the movie 'ratatoulie' earlier that could have influenced me to have home cooking for the weekend...nah cant be!

cheers!

Kledang Sunset

...the sun setting for the day behind the Kledang Range..west of the Kinta Valley...in the right foreground... Kiara Condos along Bercham main road...

..when you see such a sunset you know its time for a cold sundown.....cheers!
(nb:this shot was taken by Jonathan:12 years old )

Korbu sunrise

Gunung Korbu...the distinctive outcrop east of Ipoh..with the morning sun about to rise behind it..the distinctive roof of MBI is in the foreground...

lets break fast.......cheers!...

Hospital Fatimah..nice kids ward , nice chapel,nice...

I was at Hospital Fatimah earlier this month visiting a friend.

Afterwards i wandered off along the corridors and came across the kids ward...


..a rather friendly door greeted me...most appropriate

the floor of the ward...coming alive??

when i left ..this is what was painted behind the door..good stuff this

on the ground floor i came across this painting of the Mother Mary..painted by TH Tan...nice.

down the corridor from the painting was the chapel...the hospital was originally started by the Brothers of Mercy....hence this chapel was on the premises...

it was a lovely design..like that of a bees honeycomb...

nice stained glass illuminated by the evening sun...the floor was of black marble..

honeycombs and stained glass....

nice copper stand...the outside view of the chapel....

the view from the verandah entrance...G.Panjang is in the background..the bell tower of OMPH Church is to the right of the photograph.

i enjoyed the visit.

cheers!

Kopi Tiam, White Coffee and Old Town - the image lives on....

Old Town,White Coffee, Kopi Tiam...what does it all mean..how did it come about..
From wikipedia...kopi is coffee ok..and tiam is the the Hokkien dialect word for shop..so coffee shop..
White Coffee..well the story below explains how the taste of white coffee came about...and its been popular ever since...

Now 'Old Town'..this i know...this is the part of Ipoh Town located west of the Kinta River...the buildings are old but still charming..with nice windows frames

Below is a view of Old Town..the brown corner building in the front is Nam Heong ..where the flavour of white coffee originated from....the name of the street it is on is Jalan Bandar Timah ( formerly Leech Street)

..a water color painting of Nam Heong coffee shop with the Old Town logo...
(water color painting by Mr Khor Seow Hooi)

across from Nam Heong is Kedai Kopi Sin Yoon Loong....which also serves white coffee. Apparently both these shops have a staunch following of coffee lovers each proclaiming their kopitiam has a better flavour....

but that is just the coffee flavour..what Old Town White Coffee has also done is to project the image of Ipoh in those day gone by ...by furnishing their outlets with marble topped tables and large wall mirrors...a feature that is found in alot of old coffee shops around Ipoh till today

this is the result..Old Town outlet at Ipoh Garden South...marble topped tables and stools..and large wall mirrors..with large photos of Old Town...a chic ambience huh...

..use coffee cups common since that time..pale green flower motif.. a cup being served with a chinese spoon held up by the cup handle ...served with a traditional menu of kaya & toast..with a thick spread of margarine or butter..yummy...

or yau char koay...to dip with the coffee...just like those days

a copy of their menu.....prices are very reasonable..pop in ..have a cup + a light snack..in a heritage enviroment...its really nice...

no doubt about it..the character and charm of Ipoh Old Town has been captured through this chain of Old Town White Coffee outlets.....and better still 'this old town concept' is being marketed nationwide...wow ...and it started in Ipoh.

below the outlet at Hale Street....its housed in 2 lots at this row of old pre war shoplots.....how appropriate...

the interior of one of the lots...

the interior of the next lot....a cozy blend of black and white...

cafe style cubicles and square marble topped tables....

large mirrors adorn the walls...really cozy....

the outlet at Pasir Puteh



the outlet at Ipoh Garden South...small yet cozy....

the outlet at Medan Ipoh...wifi available.....


another good outcome of this outlet...it is an integration outlet where all the races sit and eat together at local prices...how cozy..

cheers!