Opportunistic food vending

How would you feel, when your favorite hawker food for all-time, decides to up its price - just for the hols?

Not by 10 sen or twenty, mind you .... that being the very common rate of increase in virtually all food these days ... but a whole 50 sen! Yes: half a Ringgit ...

That's what happened recently, when I had the best Char Koay Teow this part of Ipoh: from RM3.00 (which is already a 30-sen increase from pre-Hari Raya prices) in October ... to RM3.50, for a plate of with egg and cockles (no shrimp.) From what I see on the rest of the stalls' price lists - price hikes are across the board for every dish in the shop. The only thing that did not get a price rise are the drinks.

Sorry to say - this will be the last time I'm gonna step foot into this shop until the prices revert back to sanity (if ever) come 2011 ...

Uncle Burger hit by thieves

In a very sad development, our sponsor, Uncle Burger, reported that his stove, table and parasol was stolen from his residence yesterday morning at around 10:30am.

Schlotzsky's, Ipoh Parade

Alrighty - this is not gonna be a nice, long review. In fact, it's gonna be short and rather bitter :mad: cos I really did not expect what I had coming when I plonked down in this Schlotzsky's outlet which I had held in high regard - in the US, that is. Here? Sorry lah. Here's what happened ...

I was like, thirsty and slightly nibblish after window-shopping around Ipoh Parade with friends lah, right ... So we decided to sit down at this "Funny Name, Serious Sandwich" shop smack midways up/down the ground floor of the mall lah, right ... Order lah: 3 drinks, 2 plates of nibbles (something hot dog one, I forgot lah). Service cantik. Waiting time wasn't so cantik ... makan ok ... until I saw the bill.

KFC inconsistencies

I've always had a nagging feeling that quality control - especially for an international food franchise - in Malaysian KFC outlets is, well ... non-existent. But I was never able to prove it in material - until now.

Recently I decided to try their new item: Cheesy BBQ Meltz. I was in Parit Buntar (Perak) one day, so here's what I ordered up at this town's only KFC outlet:

Stadium foodcourt

There is a name for these row of stalls wrapped around the exterior (well, it's on the east side) of Perak Stadium ... but I honestly never noticed. I just call it the stadium foodcourt. Maybe I'll notice it the next time I get around there; and update the title of this topic.

I like this place. Besides ample parking in front of the stalls on the service road, this place has quite a bit of variety for the breakfast and lunch going crowd. Most of the stalls are non-halal, but there's a strip closer to the swimming pools that caters specificly to Muslim patrons with Malay-owned stalls. Don't assume that all the other stalls in the foodcourt are non-halal though ...

Kedai Makanan & Minuman Taman Timur, Ipoh Garden East

Wow: I just realized this neighborhood kopitiam which I've been patronizing for yonks is named after a non-existent residential park ...



Anyways, Kedai Minuman & Makanan Taman Timur is the de facto kopitiam for me - if you wanna meet up with me, be there every morning, 8am to 9am :lol: I present to you here, the stuff that I think are passable for daily consumption (meaning you won't puke after having it for 3 days in a row) ...

Oldtown Cafe, Medan Ipoh

Most of you in Ipoh would have noticed the "new face" of one of Ipoh's famous white coffee brewers - Oldtown Cafe. I'm not too sure who are its owners, but it's probably safe to say that Oldtown is somehow connected to the Nam Heong kopitiam (best known for its instant Old Town White Coffee, sold virtually everywhere). Maybe someone can enlighten me further here ... anyhow, on to my lil review!

The Mentally-Blind Motorist Syndrome

Recently, the Ipoh City Council went about the whole of Ipoh Garden and its surrounding areas, repainting road markers, lines, and parking lots. That's utterly commendable - syabas! Job long overdue, but still most welcome.

Having said that, the folks around Ipoh Garden have pretty much adapted to a "no-lines-so-taroh-onli-who-cares" mentality. Although the demarcation lines are highly visible now, motorists cannot "see" them anymore after over 10 years of driving around purely by experience around the area (where's the parking lot, stay off that road shoulder cos ada lobang, fire hydrant tarak pakai one so park onli nobody kacau one, etc.) - and here's the result:

 

Kinta City Foodcourt

Just a quick post on one of my favorite places to grab a quick bite: Kinta City Foodcourt - otherwise known to locals as "the Jusco foodcourt".

What I like about this foodcourt is the fact that it's big, convenient (especially when I need to grab some stuff at Jusco), air-conditioned, and clean. Plenty of parking space on Kinta City's roof parks and great access from there down to the foodcourt, too. A friend who works nearby told me once that this is the only logical place to have lunch during weekdays due to the abundance of parking lots, relatively sparse traffic - and air-conditioning on the cheap :P

D'Polo Restaurant

I should be getting all my road names right by now *sigh* ... maybe I'll get a roadmap of Ipoh later. Oops - hi :) Right! My review on D'Polo Restaurant in Ipoh, hehehe ...



D'Polo Restaurant is a multi-ethnic cuisine kinda eatery, set in the super-duper big compound of one of them big colonial bungalows around the former polo grounds. In fact, it's right in front of the grounds, on Jalan Brash. Please don't ask me what's the new name of that polo ground ... everybody knows the polo grounds, ok? *sigh* You probably made out there once before too (or maybe still do, hahaha!)

Restoran New Holly Wood

Don't ask me why they spelt Hollywood that way. Oh, I think I know - there's another "Hollywood" kopitiam thingy in town, near the Jalan Pasir Pinji / Kampar Road junction. As far as I know, these two aren't related ... I think :roll:

Anyways, this one - New Holly Wood - is located at the corner of Jalan Cecil Rae and ... uh ... Jalan Lee Kwee Foh (man, I didn't even know of such a name for the street). Still dunno where ah? Well, ask around for the Canning Garden wet market: it's at the corner of the only row of shophouses beside the market. No ping-pong to find ;-) The photo below shows the service road in front, with Jalan Cecil Rae being where you see the red brick wall at the background.

Pro Car Care Centre

Alright, here we go on the Pro Car Care Centre review!

I must say from the onset that this review is based on a car wash done on member jkn's car. He was visiting and really needed to get his black Myvi spiffed up before he heads for his hometown up north. You know la; the thing about dark-colored cars ... sikit-sikit habuk all cover the thing :|

FedEx

Alrighty: FedEx :D You just know this is gonna be good, don't ya? Well ... it is good. But not from the start ...

After my incredibly harrowing experience at the counters of Poslaju, I took the rest of that evening off to ponder just what the heck did I do ... I actually spurned our national courier who's almost guaranteed to be cheaper than any other commercial courier - let alone #1 big boy FedEx. But I was sooo pissed with the experience, I thought, hell: I'd pay to have my ego stroked!

Starbucks Coffee in town!

Ok, fine - you might think that all Starbucks Coffee outlets there ever is and was, would offer the same thing to you - right?

Wrong. There are plenty of things that can make your cuppa at your local Starbucks go all nice and aromatic ... and plenty more that can really f*** it up, and take the rest of the day to hell with it.

Medan Gopeng Bus Terminal

Continuing on with the Ipoh Blog & Podcast article on Ipoh's worst public infrastructure, I have here yet another recent photo of this public disgrace:

Kek Look Tong Cave Temple

Ok here are some photos of my last two visits to the Kek Look Tong Cave Temple. I'm no religious expert, and therefore cannot say much about that when it comes to this cave ... just there as a humble observer of Nature :)

Getting there can be a bit tricky if you don't slow down to read the teeny-weeny yellow signs that point you there and through a maze of houses. It's off the road that links Tiger Lane or uh ... Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, I think (ok I suck at "new" names for Ipoh's roads) to Gunung Rapat. I honestly don't know what that road's called ... just turn off Tiger Lane when you hit the traffic lights in front of Jabatan Kimia ...

Poslaju for international deliveries

I had to send 4 pieces of A4-sized documents urgently to the US. The first people I think of to do this for me is Poslaju Malaysia, secondly - if you must know - is FedEx. More on FedEx later ...Edit July 11, 2006: Read about my FedEx experience!

So ok, I filled in the international airwaybill; waited patiently for my number to be called and attended to. DING! I'm up ...

TechStar ST-029 DVD/MP4 Player

Before I commence, I'll like to state for the record that I actually bought this player after testing it at the shop - in this case, it's Giant Hypermarket, Sunway City Ipoh ... uh, Ipoh :P Got a story to tell on Giant too, but more on them later.

Why On Earth ... I already have a DVD player in the house. The reason I wanted another is because I needed my home DVD player to play MP4 video discs - the old one couldn't do that. I wouldn't wanna get into specifics about what MP4 is; just suffice for all to know that MP4 is just another form of video on a shiny disc, like VCD or SVCD or DVD. Other "names" for MP4 video you'll probably see pasted on DVD player boxes with such playback capability are "XviD", or "DivX".

So ok: Onto the TechStar DVD/MP4 player, model ST-029 ... which of course, plays MP4 discs.