Roaring Tiger Year Day 1

It was the first day of the Tiger year as well as the Valentines Day. The day starts with visiting my Aunt who lives in Gunung Rapat. We then continued the day by visiting my another uncle and aunt who lived at Bercham, lied somewhere near the Ipoh. Counting my fingers, it has been almost 9 years since I last visited them. Oh well, they still looked pretty much the same minus the part where they looked a little bit older.

So, while we were at Bercham, we were being served with the homemade cookies prepared by their future daughter in-law.

Homemade Cookies

Fried Crab Stick Meat
This snack has been the "in" thing for the past few years. I have tried many of them, but this stands out the most as it was crispy, crunchy and not oily.

We lingered around at my uncle house for an hour before we moved on to a street market located somewhere in this little garden called Kg. Terusun Temasek.

It was crowded

Wondering what were the people crowding for?

Yes, it was the Roasted Pork stall
The roasted pork was huge, and it was seen tangling around while people crowding in to get their share. The selling price for it was RM 50 for 1 kilogram. It makes me wondered at that time, is this roasted pork really that good?

Fried Chicken and Duck
Spot how the uncle fried the duck. Not something that is really healthy.

Roasted Chicken and Duck
We opted to get the duck meat from this stall because the duck was roasted, which means it will be less oily. At RM 26 for the whole bird, we really think it was a bargain.

I managed to check this stall where they sell a lot of lovely look steamed buns.

Orangy Steamed Bun

Pinky Steamed Bun

Prosperous Bun

iIt was almost 5 pm by the time my mum and aunt finished shopping at the market. Time to head back to my aunt house at Simpang Pulai to prepare for the dinner.

Smooth road heading south on PLUS

The "wonder works" of humans

So while waiting for the dinner to be ready, I had some drinks and munch to some little sesame balls.

Sesame balls
There were no fillings, but somehow it tasted decent. It was my mum's favourite.

The clock was showing 6.30pm when the dinner was ready. I realized that the people in Ipoh really had their meal on time, which is good for the body system I suppose.

Roasted Duck
Decent roasted duck. The skin was not crispy but the meat was tender and juicy. At RM 26 for the whole bird, we couldn't really have asked for a better bargain.

Stir Fried Nestum Prawn
A dish that was prepared by my cousin sister. The prawns were fresh and it was all well-coated with the Nestum flakes.

Roasted pork
This roasted pork was a bomb! The skin were crunchy and crispy while the meat were juicy and succulent. And this explains why the stall was crowded with people even though it was a little pricey. Definitely one of the best roasted pork I have had before.

Blanched Choi Sum
According to mum, this choi sum came from Kampar. The stem was sweet and there was no room for the taste bud to sense any bitterness.

Steamed Tilapia Fish
Usually tilapia fish was well-known with their muddy taste. However, this tilapia has no hint of any muddy taste. Reason because this fish was reared by my Bercham Uncle using the fresh water of waterfalls at his farm. Mum prepared this dish by adding on minced garlic, chillies, ginger and some black beans. End result was a fantastically flavoured gravy that blends well with fresh fish.

Chicken Soup with Octopus Fishball
Time to reheal the body with some chicken soup.

Fireworks box

It's the night time, time to get ready for another fireworks display. Heard my uncle bought a few box of fireworks sets ready to be lighted up to welcome Day 2 of the Tiger year.

The alley of Lorong Simpang Pulai 5

Rooooar for the Tiger Year!

And obviously, it was the Valentines day as well. First time spending time in Ipoh and spending Valentines with families, a double festive with double joy=)

Wishing my loved ones a Red Valentines Day=)

The cracking noises of red fire cracker

The Beer for the year

Though it has been a long time since I went back to visit my relatives, they still do remembered me a lot. I felt touch with the warm greetings and their concerns. They were very friendly, and even the strangers would just greet you with a very wide smile.

I had a very first time experience of ushering Chinese New Year in Ipoh. Awesome is not enough to describe it all. It was just an indescribable feeling. I promised them I will make it an annual thingy to usher into the Chinese New Year together.