PENANG & CAMERON HIGHLANDS (Part 1)

On 11 Aug, ZacBoy, Rocker57 & I embarked on our first long distance journey to Penang & Cameron Highlands on a 3 days & 2 nights trip.
We started at 7am. Stopped for breakfast at the R&R in Tapah. We made an impromptu stop at Ipoh. Rocker57 wanted me to savor the popular Ipoh curry mee (the one a stone's throw away from the police station). By ten, we were in Ipoh but couldn't locate the place, so Rocker57 inevitably had to ask his staff to guide us there as she had brought him there on few occasions. We had to wait almost 10mins before we could place our orders and another half hour for our food to arrive. By the way, in case you are there, they will come to the table to take order, so don't place your order at the entrance where cooking is done. The cooks (3 of them focusing on each's specialty) will not have time to entertain you. Was it worth the wait, well...the place was full to the brim, with streams of people waiting in line to be seated...you tell me, is the food good?
I had expected a bowl of curry noodle (mine - mee hoon aka vermicelli) to be full of curry with santan. Alas and behold, it was totally not to be!! See pix to know how my curry mee hoon looks like in this outlet. 

Ipoh Curry Mee Hoon

The curry was light with no trace of santan. With loads of Ipoh crunchy bean sprouts, a twig of mint leaves and a squeeze of calamansi/lime juice for the sour flavor and a portion of curry oil, VIOLA - that's my curry noodle! To me, the end effect was nothing to shout about. BUUUUT....the condiments and the dipping sauce compliments the entire noodle set! Which in the end, was truly worth the wait!
A bowl of mixed roasted pork meat, BBQ pork meat, deep fried pig's skin which was stewed to make it soft and chewy and another dose of Ipoh famous bean sprouts/taugeh and some mixture of sauce in the content makes the main dish so delectable. My personal favourite was the dipping sauce.

Main dish - roasted & BBQ pork & pig skin hidden beneath.     

My personal fav - the dipping sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sauce was awesome. lots of condiments with the most palatable taste being the garlic and chopped Chinese parsley which I don't normally eat but as a 'package' it was very tasty. Despite having breakfast an hour earlier, I cleaned my share without much fuss at all. I was the brunt of the joke as prior to that, I told Rocker57 that we should share as I was still quite full but oh no...I had to had a bowl of noodles to my name. No worries, servings are small. We shared, hence so many bowls but if you order individually, the meats are served on top of the noodle, so perhaps then the taste would be different. That would be on my list the next time I go there again.
Satiated to the brim, we started for Penang. The entire trip was pleasant as weather was good. Found our hotel which was at the tail end of Gurney drive and walking distance to Lorongg Swatow (another popular eatery place), we gladly checked into Royal Hotel Penang, a four star hotel. The room is comfy and clean and pleasant service from the staff. 

comfy beds but soft pillows

study table aka our biking wardrobe!

Ample parking lots for bikes but unfortunately none allocated for big bikes. However, we managed to park along side the other bikes but out of the 'confine' area. A refreshing change to the hot & humid weather while we were traveling so we each took our well deserved shower & a short nap to re-energize ourselves. At 2.30pm, we left the hotel in search of Penang food. Read my next blog on what we ate for lunch & dinner :)

Nice bathroom with amenities

If you happen to stay at Royal Hotel Penang and forgot some items, fret not. They have cotton buds, shower cap, disposable comb, shampoo, body lotion and foam bath not forgetting the ever useful sewing kit just in case u 'pop out' a button after being a glutton in Penang...hahehehehaheahhee. And hey, guess what? Rocker57 forgot his tooth brush...and YES, you have guessed it, it was ready packed together with toothpaste....simple thoughts like these makes our stay so pleasant....Aaahhhh...