FamilyFoodTime in Ipoh
First stop: eldest brother Uncle Yew Weng’s house (for anyone reading this who is not familiar with our family, Rob’s father – the Grandpa doing this trip with us – married a Chinese girl from Ipoh in 1957 – it’s her brothers and sisters and their families who we are visiting whilst in Malaysia). Here we saw the familiar pictures of Uncle YW’s parents (also KL Uncle’s parents and Rob’s grandparents and our children’s great-grandparents) side by side on the wall. Grandpa also spotted Uncle YW’s maternal grandparents looking very youthful on another wall. They had been discovered amongst the parents’ possessions when they died. There they were – our children’s great-great-grandparents! They were the ones who originally came to Malaysia from China. She, with her bound feet.
Having connected with other modern-day family members who all congregated here at the parents’ house, we drove out for breakfast/dim sum. We had not long been in the restaurant when a man delivered a plate of baked custard to the table. He placed it in front of Tessa, saying "For you little girl." I encouraged little girl to take a bite and smile broadly as the giver was watching her from afar. She managed a bite and grimace. "It’s too sweet," she whispered in confession. After sharing the sweet treat with siblings whose opinions were far more favourable, J14 and T4 went over to thank the man, who turned out to be the restaurant’s proprietor.
Before too long he was bringing plates of fried crabs, which he assured us would not grow any bigger (not now they wouldn’t!) Having found out from J14 our origin, he assured us we would not be arrested as we would in NZ! These tasty little morsels were a treat for our hosts too, as they had never eaten them either. Lightly battered and deep fried, you pop them in your mouth whole and CRUNCH. After the initial crunch comes a soft juicy mildly flavoured flesh. Altogether quite delicious.
Into cars and drive back south to Gua Temperang. Passing rubber tree plantations, sugar cane and young palm oil trees, we neared the hills into which we were about to walk 800m. From the carpark we cannot see where or how, but the guide lead us to a small metal cagelike entrance. The padlock bothered me! Going from bright sunshine to near darkness, our eyes take a moment to adjust. We carefully tread our way along the boardwalk. Suddenly the passageway opens into a massive cavern. It’s hard to take it all in. Light from an overhead hole bounces off rock, shadows quiver, colours blend, and it’s all so BIG! T4 grasps my hand tightly and steps along gingerly beside me, onwards into this space. The guide points out images in the rocks – a dolphin, some elephants, an alien, a turtle, an old lady, a pregnant woman, a monkey, a car, Buddhist gods, a fallen soldier, and even Osama bin Laden.
In we go, up 640 steps (these caves are much bigger than the Batu Caves!)
And back we come down the 640 steps.
I had expected the air to be cooler in the cave, especially with a river running through it, but apart from the short wind tunnel, it was just as toasty as outside.
By now it was 2:30pm, so we headed back to Cousin Chris’s place for "a bath", which in our version of English means "a shower" as there is no tub or soaking involved.
Chris lives four storeys up in a lift-less apartment block that suddenly appears from amongst little residential rows of houses, deep drains and narrow lanes. It’s in another one of those run-down-ish-looking towns.
Once everyone had cleaned up and washed off all the mud, Chris produced an array of local biscuits, which were to keep us going until we made it downtown for "tea". The plan had been to have lunch together, but by now it was 4:30 and so it turned into "teatime". This did not mean that dinner at 7 was cancelled! Not at all!!
Knowing dinner was coming up so soon, we did not want to eat too much, but this light snack of locally grown fresh vegetables and Kampar Chicken Curry Bread was too good to refuse. We all came back for seconds. The curry is wrapped in a heavy paper and then cooked inside a loaf of very light bread. There was also a Chinese herb one done with a whole chicken inside, which was tasty, but the curry one was out of this world. How can we possibly describe it? While it was hot, it did not burn, and it had a deep full flavour without being rich. If I ever get the chance to have that again, I will!
While we were eating an Indian funeral procession marched down the main street. Music blared from two flower-bedecked vans, behind which the casket was carried by six men. People threw flower petals over it as they walked alongside. Many many more followed on motorbikes.
Then it was gone.
Death comes and goes. We have seen a funeral procession every few days. Partly to be expected when the population is greater – simply more people dying. But also, it would appear these people grieve more publicly.
We managed to sneak in an hour’s rest before meeting the entire family again for dinner. Needless to say, we didn’t eat much – though who can pass on satay?
As we were leaving we were given one more treat; a butter cake made by a local lady in her own home. This was to be "for supper". We’ll eat it for breakfast tomorrow!
It’s the first familiar cake we’ve had – we have had carrot cake, but it wasn’t familiar. For a start, it’s made with white carrots so it has an insipid appearance, and then it has a texture somewhat like almost-solid jelly, and it certainly doesn’t come with cream cheese icing. In fact, if you don’t want to eat it as is, it can be chopped up and fried. Not quite what we were expecting!
Family and Food. From beginning to end of a long day.
Tags: food, postcard: Malaysia, recreation
rayres
[…] FamilyFoodTime in Ipoh […]
what an interesting ancestory you have
interesting post 🙂
Food food! How wonderful!! I love the restaurant experience. How amazing to see the photos. Aren’t families interesting. I wonder what your descendants will say in a generation or two about this trip 🙂
egg tart, turnip cake, porridge….yum yum yum.
Have you tried the famed Ipoh Sar Hor Fun?
ditto Fiona T’s comment about your descendants.
Wow! NZ food is going to seem so bland by the time you get home 🙂
Every time I use my computer, I check if there are any updates on your website. I am loving following your family’s travels and getting tips for when we take our own family trip in two years time. Thanks