Cendoi And Chandan

Went back to Kuala Kangsar for the weekend with Eddie and Izrin. Started our journey at about 9.30am Friday morning, stopped by Tanjung Malim for breakfast at Yik Mun, and arrived in Kuale at about 12.45pm. Checked into Double Lion, and went to the mosque for Friday prayers.

Afterwards went to catch up with Ms Grace before meeting up with Hj Manan '75. Lunch at Yut Loy is a must, so off we go to indulge in the succulent paus. After lunch, I was hoping to acquire (or purchase if need be) our batch's film negatives from Lisse. They were the folks who took the batch picture in '96, '98 and '00. After trudging up the steep stairs to Lisse, we were told that they did not keep any of the old negatives. Either the lady owner lacked the vision, or she just didn't care. She could've made some more money out of those negatives, and I'm sure we were not the first ones to come inquiring about it. She showed us a recent batch pic that they took, and it looked like some horrible page out of SMK Hulu Banat's yearbook! It has garrish green/blue border around the boys, and there's a caption on top proclaiming the picture was taken in 1996 of a certain batch. Below the pic, there's the list of names. Come on, just because Photoshop is very common nowadays, doesn't mean you have to do it like that. What I pity. I would think hard about putting that kind of pic on my wall.

Later on, Eddie went to coach the ruggers while me and Izrin went up to Bukit Chandan for a driveabout to kill time. Went to Sayong too just to use the Sultan Abdul Jalil bridge. Topped it all with a trip to the cendoi stall. The same proprietor used to have his stall by the roundabout near the Post Office, and we would sit by the wall of the adjacent building sipping our lovely cendoi while cars zipped past not too far away from us. It was so old school, the uncle used sawdust as his anti-melting material for his ice. The bench that we sat on was actually balanced over a drain, we would be doing a balancing act by a roundabout at a rickety stall. Talk about fun!

After going back to the room to shower and change, it's time to go to stesen (the train station) for dinner. Since Cik Nah is no longer around, we had to eat at some other stall. The food frankly sucked, and made me miss Cik Nah's NGA (nasi goreng ayam, fried rice with chicken lah) more.

The next day, we started out with breakfast at Kawkee in Lembah. I had what I always have there - chicken pau and mee goreng basah topped with loadsa cili jeruk. Then it's onwards to Galeri Sultan Azlan Shah. It's a converted istana methinks, and it's filled with interesting exhibits connected to Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak. Spent a few hours there, and was going to Istana Kuning (aka Istana Kenangan) as well but unfortunately it is closed down for renovation works.
Stopped by Ubudiah mosque as well to pray and to take pictured of the old (and dilapitated now) Perak house beside it. The house was immortalised in a painting we saw at the Galeri.

Then on, Eddie went for 2nd training session while I went pic snapping of koleq with Izrin. Curiosity uncurbed, we went to Latek's house yet again to get more photos. We went once on Friday, but it was too short a visit to sate our curiosities. Took pics until my battery die out on me (which reminds me to buy a spare battery). Went to drink the famous herbal tea before heading back to the field to wait for Eddie. Finally we left koleq at about 7.30pm.

In all these years, I have never actually gone around Kuale as a tourist, taking in the sights et cetera. 12 years after first setting sights of this slow and sleepy town in the bosoms of Perak, I finally did just that. It was a well spent 2 days, and I'm cured of my longings for good ole Kuale food.

As for the age old question, which pau is better - it is Kawkee's for me. Yut Loy came second and Yik Mun trails the pair. Kawkee's is the most succulent and tasty, while Yut Loy's is a bit less juicy causing it to take numero deux. Yik Mun's that most KLites like to rave about? Dry and definitely no contest for Kawkee's or Yut Loy's, and I swear I'm being objective in this survey of chicken paus!