Ipoh Road Trip

With a team of food lovers, our department's team building is always food centric. We headed down south to Ipoh last week to sample some of its finest delicacies and since our manager grew up there, he was roped in to be our local tour guide ;)

We started super duper early - 5.30am to be exact so we could be on the North South expressway with minimal traffic jam. I did my makeup half asleep guided with only a tiny night light to avoid waking up Hubs and Bubs and I realised that I couldn't even see what colour or how heavy I'd applied my makeup!

Our first stop was a dim sum breakfast at a quiet shop. We were starving by then after the long drive and couldn't stop devouring little steamed baskets of goodies.

To stretch our legs and burn off calories from breakfast, our boss drove us to Sam Poh Tong. I think I might have been there decades ago with my family so I wasn't expecting much ... until I saw those gorgeous limestone caves against a backdrop of lush greenary. I don't know if it was the morning chill, the peaceful still waters of the pond occasionally broken with schools of carp swimming gracefully or the tiny drops of water slowly making its path down from the mountains - I just drank in all the sights hungrily and savoured deep breaths of the fresh air.

Don't miss the outdoor tortoise pen at the back while you are there. It is housed in a quiet garden straight at the back that just radiated tranquility to me, though it had mixed feedback from my colleagues, some said they just felt slightly eerie there. Tortoise and fish food are available for sale at the front entrance and I found the tortoise area to be clean and quite well kept.

A must do in Ipoh: Funny Mountain tau foo fah. Priced at RM1 for a a bowl of the softest and smoothest soybean curd, there were lines of people patiently waiting for their fix. I may or may not had more than just a bowl *shifty looking eyes* Colleagues actually brought along tiffin carriers just to tah pao bowlfuls of it back to Penang. It was seriously that amazing.

You can't go to Ipoh without stopping to buy some freshly baked pastries. My colleague found this tiny little store that still makes them the traditional way and the uncle that owned the store was so warm and welcoming to us. When I first tried to take a photo, he stopped me and said something in Cantonese which my colleagues translated for me: please wait, I'll be bringing out a full batch of pastries for you so it'll look much better in your photo. That was so nice of him! :) Plus they don't follow you around the shop urging you to buy, they just let the aroma of their goodies do all the persuading. I couldn't resist getting a big box of their famous kaya puffs which were deliciously flaky. If anyone's interested, here are the contact details:
Sin Eng Heong 05-2439659
No. 64 - 66, Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri, Jalan Clare, 30300 Ipoh,

Lunchtime was at a coffee shop that serves a decent beansprout chicken rice, another famous Ipoh dish. If you look closely at the photo, you'll see that Ipoh beansprouts are plumper than those grown in other states and they have a nice crunch to it. My manager told us it's because of the famed almost-magical qualities of Ipoh water, apparently even the girls in Ipoh are prettier because of the quality of the water ;)

Our detour before we headed back to Penang was the Gunung Lang Recreational Park. Initially, I wasn't that keen on rambling about in a park right under the hot sun after so much food. I was whining that I'd be sitting comfortably under the shade of a huge tree while the rest of them can do what they wanted there. I'd to eat my words when we reached there.

Feast your eyes on these beauties. More majestic limestone rocks with tiny little paths sluiced through by water droplets, I'm told there's an artificial fountain turned on everywhere now and then. A deep green lake with quiet waters and lots of fishes that you could again buy fish food to feed them with. And the beautiful, unspoiled greenery everywhere. For a moment, I just stood at the jetty and feasted my eyes on how perfect nature can be, it was almost like balm for a jaded soul :) There were little boats to ferry people across the lake to a tiny island but unfortunately, it was closed for lunch.

We then headed back to Penang heavily laden with biscuits, pomelos and salt baked chickens. Ipoh, thanks for showing me that there is more to this grand old dame. I'll definitely be back :)

Needing a Break

From work that is!

Things have been so crazy lately and stressed out from working through nights for the past week so I was thrilled when I found a small pile of fashion glossies for me at my desk one morning.

Australian fashion magazines is this thing between this really sweet colleague located in Sydney and me. He knows how much I miss reading Madison so each time he or someone from the Sydney office is dropping by Penang, he gets me a copy. There's something relaxing about curling up in bed and devouring magazines from cover to cover. Am I the only one that actually enjoys inhaling in the crisp, fresh scent of new pages?

Hubs dropped by the office to surprise me with a cup of Starbucks Christmas edition peppermint mocha frapp. There is no better balm to soothe frazzled nerves than peppermint and chocolate, mmmmm ...

Team Building at the Spice Gardens

Who doesn't love team buildings? A chance to skive off work *ahem* I mean to bond and foster closer relationships with fellow team members ;)

I was a little doubtful when I first heard that we were going to the Spice Gardens at 2pm. Images of the hot, blazing sun and swarms of mosquitoes went through my mind but everyone assured me that:

• Trees would provide shade
• Free flow of mossie repellent

Nevertheless, I was well prepared. Desperate times called for desperate measures so I glammed up in my proven mossie repellent gear.

Everyone looked incredulously at me when I turned up for work wearing a long sleeved top, jeans and kung fu granny white socks with white sneakers.

"You'll sweat buckets there!" was a constant warning.

The humidity and heat were indeed stifling but to my surprise, it was a rather fun walk with my team. We groaned, we moaned but away from the air conditioned, carpeted office, away from our computers and e-mails, we were having animated conversations, stopping every now and then to pick out the best trail, poking fun of each other and whip out cameras. There were plenty of pretty spots to take photos.

And even more pretty spots to take a breather :p The giant swing has to be everyone's favourite. All the girls sat in it while the guys demonstrated chivalry by pushing us.

The Spice Gardens has so many picturesque nooks and crannies that many couples come here to take their pre-wedding photos. We saw a couple there that day. 

True to the tradition of hiking in Penang, somewhere near the peak, there was a rest area with free lemongrass and stevia brewed tea. There's something refreshing about drinking hot tea on a hot day when you feel hot ;)

My manager was the only person game enough to remove his shoes and give the reflexology path a try. I tried it once before and all I can say is ouch! Can you see how sharp the little pebbles are? It's supposed to be really good for your body's circulation but I think I'd be too busy gasping from pain and hopping from end to end to get it over with.

We finally reached the mini restaurant where we gratefully asked for cold drinks and feasted upon the tree dappled view of the sea. I was totally drenched in sweat but achievd my goal: not a single bug bite :D

Shan's Children Home

My mum used to be a member of the Pearl Jaycees (that was really popular back in the 80s) and we were used participating during charity events, particularly children's homes like the Salvos. So when a few colleagues organized a trip to Shan's Children Home, it brought back many memories.

Penang Shan Children's Home caters towards orphans and disadvantaged children and relies on donations for their daily needs. The location is in a slightly eerie place, you have to drive through an old grave yard to reach it but once you reach the home itself, it's a very clean and cheerful place.

 

Dr Chandran, the Home's administrator, brought up a couple of very good points. When they first stayed there, they were a little frightened but they came to feel that there's nothing scary or macabre about being surrounded by our ancestors, the people before us and it's a reminder that sooner or later, we will all rest peacefully there. He also mentioned that in this age of pleasure and leisure, it's good for us to take out time to help them. It made me think ... when I'm gone, do I want to be known as someone who had a wardrobe bulging with clothes or as someone that helped put a smile on others?

We spent the afternoon playing games and chatting with the children there. It took a few games for them to really get into the spirit and to start having fun, giggling, laughing and just being themselves. Can I tell you how well behaved they are? Seriously, they are so disciplined and self restrained in a way that had all of us amazed. When goodie bags were handed out to each child, they lined up patiently without shoving or rushing to the front. During tea time, before they ate slices of cake, they prayed fervently, mouths moving silently to prayers, hands firmly clasped together. 

The part where I nearly had tears was when they were given bottles of Vitagen. You could see the delight in their eyes over an unexpected treat, being able to choose what flavour they wanted and even when they wanted a second bottle, they were shy about asking and when we gave it, they were just so happy. It made me realized how lucky we've been when we have so much and others that are less fortunate have so little. It's so richly rewarding to give and see how joyous the children are.

If you're keen on helping them out, you can contact them here:
Penang Shan Children's Home
679-D Jalan Mount Erskine,
Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang
Tel/Fax: 04-2292186 / 016-4127711
shanchildrenhomepg@yahoo.com

Embracing the 80s and my Dotty Lunch Buddies

Ever since I've gotten my pair of treggings, I've started embracing the 80s.

People, I present to you Exhibit A: the jeggings. Part jeans, part leggings, in a stone wash *gasp* no less! Snicker all you like, these are as soft as pyjamas and oh so comfortable to wear, especially on days where you feel like dragging yourself to work. All I can say is thank goodness my office dress code is casual.

The best part of my weekday is lunching out with my lunch buddies.

This is me trying to snap what I thought would be an artistic shot. You can see the Glamazon laughing at me and Le Petite took this photo of the both of us trying to snap artistic photos.

Le Petite and my BFF are often mortified by my embarrassing antics during lunch and wisely chose to ignore me while I was busy snapping photos of them. Love Le Petite's pink polka dotted phone cover and the natural, totally unedited light flare behind my BFF.

The Glamazon is embracing the 80s too, she was also decked out in this gorgeous polka dot dress. She very kindly shielded her face for me so I wouldn't need to crop it out. Told you I've the best lunch buddies.

The Most Embarassing Thing

I do lots of really dumb stuff at work (slamming the door open on my foot, waving at the wrong people, etc) but today was majorly embarrassing, even by my standards.  

My director from the US flew out on a business trip and each team member had a quick chat with him in a conference room. It was only my second time meeting him in person.

So I went into the room and we shook hands.

He took one step closer to me. I assumed he wanted to hug and I hugged him.  

It turned out that he only wanted to close the conference room door behind me.

Face palm moment :( Everyone can't stop laughing at me.

Little Luxuries at Work

To call it a hectic work week would be an understatement! At times when I get so burnt out and tired, there are little luxuries that calm my frazzled nerves down.

A new Dorothy Perkins printed top. Again can I tell you how much I adore their prints at the moment? I love the splash of goldfish swimming on it. Plus Bubs pointed at it and said excitedly "fwissh" (fish). Paired with yet another black skirt and my new gold sandals that are sooo comfy.

One of the best things to do in bed is to curl up with a beauty or fashion magazine. My favourites are British and Australian ones but they are so expensive here so it's a luxury I seldom indulge in. One of the silver linings of this week was that my ex director from Sydney was visiting Penang and got me a copy of Madison, yay! It's a long standing joke between us. A few years ago, his wife and him actually appeared in a copy of it and I joked with him about it. He was surprised that I saw him in it and when I told him it's one of my favourite mags, he's been getting it for me each time he visits Penang.

What do you do to unwind over a long work week?

Sweet Treats at Work

Every weekday, I get a serious case of the munchies at 3pm. That's when my mind starts to lose focus and I start to hunger for a little pick me up. My workplace is close by a mall so during lunch times, I like to buy snacks or sweet treats to keep me going through the rest of the work day.

Top of the list for my favourite treats would be Starbucks green tea frapp. I'm a sucker for anything green tea flavoured so I love this drink!

The Starbucks red velvet whoopie pie looked so pretty and inviting on display but sadly tasted really mediocre, there was a slightly bitter, burnt afternoon. Definitely not getting this again.

So what are your favourite afternoon snacks in the office?