Ipoh - Eat, Ride & Eat again; 15 June 2013

We met up with Ashley & his wife Cynthia together with Johnny at the NKVE petrol station at 9.30am. Also there was Alex who dropped by as he wanted to test out the second-hand Ducati he intents to purchase. After a brief chat over KFC's diluted coffees, we headed north to Ipoh via the PLUS highway. Alex's intention was to exit at Rawang and turn back to PJ but at the end of it, he rode with us more than half the way as he was really taking a huge liking to the bike. Men! *eyes rolling*

Incidentally, Ashley rides a Kawasaki Versys 1000 

Pix of Versys 1000 taken on 16 June - belongs to Ashley

while Johnny rides a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 custom. We rode on Zacboy as Mr7211 is not ready for long distance riding. Nope! Not because it is not road worthy but simply because it lacks the proper tools for travelling. We have yet to install the back rest & the carriage rack due to out of stock for the latter. No luggage room means no overnight stay, period!

We met up with Mark's family (Ashley's first cousin) at Mark's residence near Simpang Pulai for lunch. We had a hearty & sumptuous meal cooked specially for us by Mark's wife; Saineh a Sabah Kadazan. Kadazan is one of the several ethnic group found in East Malaysia. Here's more about this ethnic indigenous group. If I wasn't told she was a Kadazan, she could easily pass off as a Chinese. Their off-springs a girl and a boy are truly Malaysian. You see, Mark's eurasian.

Little did we know their hospitality was to the MAX!!! There was traditional kuih-muih (local delicacies pictured above) and Ethopian coffee (brewed fresh, mind you!) post lunch! Such warm hospitality extended to us despite us meeting them for the very first time. Now, that is truly Malaysian hospitality! Thanks Mark & Saineh for extending us such a warm & friendly hospitality while we were "imposing' on your weekend with loved ones.

In the background, Mark our superb host. Ahem...he is being "trained" to refrain from serving until I have taken pictures for my blog. Ohhh...he is such a doll, don't you think so? Or was it my stern voice that says "HEEEYYY...I need to TAKE A PIX for my blog" that scared him off? Who cares! Picture taken, incident long forgotten!!??!! *snickering*

                     This pulut panggang or literally grilled glutinuous rice was awesome!

The glutinous rice was slightly salted with a touch of santan (coconut milk), not too overbearing, the rice was fluffy yet not too soft nor too hard (it happens if it's over-grilled). It bites off nicely. The fillings of dessicated coconut with marinated spicy shrimp was not too spicy nor too salty. I would have love to eat more but I need to watch my weight as well as cholesterol...so...*sadly* one would do.  

If you had been following my blogs, you would know that I like beans, particularly red beans. This topping is not red beans but pulut hitam or black glutinuous rice. But it does look like red bean, doesn't it?  The fillings were made from beans though. Generous serving of fillings, not to sweet, beans well mashed and it complements the bland topping/mold. This is one of the "spin-off" traditional Chinese/Nyonya/Hokkien "ku-kueh"...or kuih-muih in Bahasa Malaysia. The green & red ones were the ones I grew up with, this pulut hitam version is the first I have seen. Perhaps, I haven't traveled far and wide yet, hence, yet to chance upon this kind. Anyway, this too was a delight to savour. 

After some enquiries, we found out from Saineh that she bought them from a shop in Taman Ipoh. The shop that retails these delicious kuih-muih is located between a shop named Hollywood and another shop of which she can't recall the name. So, if you want to know where....well...take a tour of Taman Ipoh, find the place and then tell me where exactly it is, OK?   

Thanks again Saineh for going all out in ensuring that your guests are well fed and taken care of. *BLURP*....bursting at my seams already. Good lunch & great tea-time... Next, up we go on the bike to check-in to our hotel....MH hotel, Ipoh for the night.

This is our room....

I fell in love with the star...the starfish. I liked the color coordination & simplicity of the room. Its cozy & clean.

A view from the entrance into the room.

We rested until 7pm and then Rocker57's colleague came to pick us for dinner. After much discussion on what & where to eat, we landed up here.....(where? Down there....see below....)

FYI, this wasn't our option. But the one we wanted to eat at was filled right up to the road (normal sight in Malaysia if the food is good) so we landed with this. But then again, still a famous eatery in Ipoh, ok?

Ong Kee Restaurant at Jalan Yau Tet Sin, Ipoh. This is opposite the famous tourist attraction Restaurant Lou Wong. 

I learnt that locals prefers to dine at Ong Kee. Oh well, to each its own.

Pictured here from left : Lee Mei, Cynthia, Ashley, Johnny and Rocker57.

The MUST have...ta-daa..... Ipoh bean sprouts. The bean sprouts are thick, short and juicy, unlike those found elsewhere in Malaysia which looks under nourished ....hehehe...meaning long, thin and not so juicy. Apparently the spring water in Ipoh makes the vegetation here flourish.

Steamed free-ranged chicken doused in soya sauce & oil. Sprinkled with few dashes of pepper & garnished with spring onions.

Used to eating farm reared chicken, free ranged chicken meat are firmer and harder to chew. But these are quite easy to chew compared to some I've patronised before .

One can have a choice of noodles (see picture) or plain white rice (errr....no need picture, right???). 

Between the six of us, we took 50-50...i.e. 3 noodles and 3 rice with additional 1 bowl of noodle and 1 small bowl of rice. Inclusive of drinks, the bill came to RM75

As the night was still young, we adjourned for a short Ipoh night tour and then we stopped at Secret Garden for a night cap.

A picture doesn't tell a thousand words, seriously. This is actually Kilkenny in a Guinness glass. Hehehe...

We were led to understand that they were short handed that night as the bar tender was not around. But service was bad and we had to repeatedly remind the waiters & waitresses for our orders. This glass of Margarita took an hour to arrive! But as we were out of towners & have no place else to go, we decided to "chillax" and enjoy our company instead of getting annoyed with the atrocious service rendered. 

Thanks Ashley for footing the bill and giving us a treat. Cheers!!! 

We called it a night and agreed to check out & ready to leave by 9am as we have new company joining us tomorrow. To know more, stay tuned for the upcoming blog.

Until then....

Mr7211 & Vanilla; Mille Crepe cafe - 4 June 2013

No champagne to welcome Mr 7211, we just needed mille crepe cake! Where else but Vanilla; The Mille Crepe cafe at 17-G Jalan SS15/4, Subang Jaya.

A couple of weeks ago, we chanced upon this cafe while we were checking out a motorbike accessories shop adjacent to Vanilla. I had a fabulous 'durian' experience and we came back for more because the last time, I ate alone while Rocker57 sat patiently watching me indulge :)

So, what better way then to eat something we both like? Remember my last article on Nadeje, Melaka (my favourite place for mille crepe cake), well, well, well...I finally found one that came close to or matches Nadeje. 

         
The RM15.00 durian mille crepe cake I had for the very first time, pictured above. It was flavourful and rich. Worth ever Ringgit. Half an hour later, I was burping durian!!! Ewww...yup, to eat it is heavenly, but burping durian aint welcome, anywhere!!! Period! It reeks!!! This was the cake that Rocker57 patiently waited for me to indulge.....awww, ain't he nice? He IS.

Soooo...what is Mille Crepe? Well, check it out :

 The various flavours available

                                                            "Vanilla" is also on Facebook

The menu....

This time around, we had tiramisu and double chocolate. Both were equally good but I much prefer the tiramisu. Its RM9 per piece.

              Rocker57's Americano but doesn't look like one though...more like flat white. But...it was a good cup of coffee. Smoky aroma, rich, full bodied and bitter....aaaahhhh....

My cafe mocha was thick, rich, flavourful and balanced. It suited me just fine. 

It was a great way to celebrate as we can 'eye' our new bike through the glass doors. What a great day, after a week of waiting....we finally brought Mr 7211 home. 

Catch me next where we went....

Until then.... 

Gearing up for Mr7211 (Our new Harley Davidson)

Indeed it is a good morning when you have something new, isn't it? We i.e. Rocker57 and I were eager beavers. Why? You asked? Well, simply because we have a new 'toy' and we get to 'play' dress up all over again!!! YAY!!!!

You see...when you ride a big bike or superbike or super touring bike like ours, this is what you wear.

But when you ride a Harley Davidson(H-D), these are what you'll need to wear:

1) H-D bikers normally wear different type of helmets from superbikers. Basically non full face but not necessary so if safety is your first priority. Mostly, if you watch the movies, H-D riders normally wear these:

There is a grey line here in terms of helmets. So my suggestion is, wear what is safe for you and not what is the norm. In any case...what norm? For the time being, I will use my very own open faced helmet and Rocker57's Nolan X-lite full face helmet when I ride ZacBOy. 

By the way, did you know that helmets has expiration dates too? As a rule of thumb, from manufacturing date, expiration is approximately 4 years. Yup! Well, now you know. Ours is 3 years old, so we will make do for now and then buy new ones when ours expire. If you are reading my blog for the very first time, what-it-takes-to-ride will give you a good indication the cost of gears/apparels,etc.

Below, more helmets examples :

                  Picture credits - iStockphoto

2) And then, you have to have the boots! The H-D biker boots are different from those worn by the big bikers/ superbikers.

 

Just in case you think Rocker57 is wearing this...the answer is NO. He took the pix for me. We did check out this outlet but we didn't buy the boots but something else. Stay tune to learn more....hehehhe...

I fell in love with this pair of H-D genuine leather boots. Sold for RM890 at Naza Prestige Sdn Bhd. It was the only pair left and it fitted me like a second skin. So, OK....I exaggerated a bit, but these boots were meant for riding and yes....it had my name written all over it. Ok OK...I exaggerated again but who cares...I bought them boots and love them to bits! YES!! Do not be deceived by the mean looking boots, it may look mean but it is seriously very comfy yet has proper protective elements. Awesome!

Next :
3) The leather jackets: 
We bought these made in Pakistan leather jackets for RM200 each. Although not really to our liking, temporary, these should suffice until we find something we really like. FYI, dressing up for superbiking and H-D biking is totally different. It's like errr...dressing up for a cocktail function & the other a beach wear. Or something to that tune...oh well, you are smart, you get my drift :)

Leather or Denim jackets are a-OK for H-D riding because H-D bikes are not called cruisers for nothing. One is expected to cruise on a H-D and enjoy the loud patented Vroom Vroom exhaust sound and take time to relish the ride.

The H-D logo is original H-D embroidery bought at RM79 from Naza Prestige (same place I bought my boots) Then, we had to bring both jackets to Pertama Kompleks to have them sewn on. Incidentally, you can get your leather jackets, boots, etc tailor-made in the many outlets in Pertama Kompleks at a fraction of the original cost. Quality wise, no comment. Just for cross comparison, my embroidery is RM79, the jacket is RM200...the embroidery cost is 40% of the jacket! Insane!!

 

Purchased the front logo for RM15 from a logo embroidery shop in Pertama Kompleks. (no..not typo, just sounded better when Complex is spelled in Bahasa Malaysia) Oh, before I forget, this is MY jacket - back & front. Cool, eh?

Below is Rocker57's jacket :

This is even more ridiculous. The original H-D embroidery logo bought from Naza Prestige cost RM119 vs the RM200 jacket. It is more than half the cost of the jacket!!!! CraaZZZzy!! The front logo is also RM15 from the same shop in Pertama.

This pair of gloves I purchased from H-D Singapore 3 years ago for SGD70 or approximately RM160. It looks "rugged" ( a phrase rarely heard of these days) but logically, provides not much of a protection BUT then I get to show off my manicured hands!!! hehehehe.... Meantime, this would do until I get a full leather glove that I really like or one that can fit my XXS-sized hands.

Seriously, dressing up for a new bike is a serious affair and a costly one as well. We need to "dress for the occasion" or risk looking out of place. So, for you pillion riders who intend to embark on one in support of your love one, think again! Ka-ching, KA-CHING...$$$ rolling out but on a positive note, you get to look CHIC! (again, rarely heard of these days..."Hey, you look Chic, man") But...if you have already thought about it....well, well, well...WELCOME to the club!!!

Also, you'll need lots of H-D t-shirts :~ 

The first of two H-D T-shirts I bought from Naza 3 years ago. Cost about RM100 but I got it on sale for half the price :)

Smart shopper, eh? 

Rocker57 bought this when we were in Tasmania couple of years back. The outlet was in Launceston, Tasmania called Richardsons Harley Davidson They even had a museum dedicated to H-D. Awesome!!

The rear view of the same long sleeve T-shirt.

Below, some of our H-D T-shirt collections

bandannas: 

 jeans, H-D belts, H-D belt buckles, etc to complete the H-D biker/pillion look. And oh...a few stick-on tattoos should do the trick, that way... one would look so 'IN'. 

In the event, you don't want to spend too much or rather don't want to be swarm by an overdose of H-D stuff, you can don these and look really cool too :

Cool "ride"? Afterall, it sounds like right, ride? Right! Oh well...until the next blog >>>>>

Ride strong, Ride far & Ride long....Vrooom, Vrooom, Vrrrroooom! (ramp it up, babe...ramp it loud)