Morning Madness

It looked like we could be in for a spot of rain so we skipped breakfast in favour of staying dry on our 20 minute walk to the bus stop. It meant we would be way too early for the bus but meant we didn't need to use our new black bin liners as waterproof covers. In fact, it didn't rain!

We had just decided to have breakfast at a small cafe as we had plenty of time as the bus wasn't expected for another 45 minutes. Just as we prepared to cross the road to the restaurant, a car pulled over and a man asked us where we were going. We told him that we were going to catch the bus to the centre of Ipoh. He then told us to jump in and he would take us there. In fact we had a great journey with our driver to Ipoh. He told us he volunteered to help the local people who lived in the jungle to travel to Ipoh to work. He explained that they couldn't live off the land anymore because of deforestation. There were now no animals to hunt! He was really interesting and not only did he help us get to the train station but he also took us for local coffee and toast with local coconut jam.

We were now about 3 hours early for our train so we went exploring the heritage area of Ipoh once again. We saw lots of street art that we missed yesterday with the help of a cute old lady. It was quite funny because she was looking down on us from high up on her balcony. She would clap her hands to gain our attention and then point in the direction we needed to go. We weaved our way down the Heritage Trail from side to side taking our orders until we reached the end of the street. We looked back to wave a thank you message but the lady had gone. Maybe it was a ghostly image or she had gone back to her famous Ipoh White Coffee.

We were in luck today as the famous tea museum Ho Yan Hor was open. The refurbishment was done and the door was open. The museum was amazing. It told the story of Dr Ho Kai Cheong. He started with a very simple Chinese medicinal street stall. He had no money to open a shop so he sold his medicine to the local workers. He started off being able to make just one pot of tea with the money he had. He sold all of the tea for a small amount but made enough​ money to buy more. His business grew and grew. His wife took over the tea stall in Ipoh and he travelled the length of Malaysia on his bicycle, selling and promoting his medicinal tea.

The business really took off and the story of success continued; growing farms, transport vans (VW split screen vans) and factories. It was a great story and so well told by the museum. At the end of our tour we were treated to cups of medicinal tea. One that helped you sleep, one that fixed many ailments and finally the original blend from way back in the very beginning. Needless to say, it was quite bitter and fairly disgusting but we are sure it would cure everything!

We decided that lunchtime would be spent on the train, so thought we would squeeze in a quick meal at the restaurant next to the central mosque, where we ate yesterday. A great chicken curry with mixed sauces. Mmmm. As we were quite early for lunch the restaurant was quiet and the friendly man who served us and spoke good English came over to talk to us.

He explained that the restaurant was very old and owned by his father. He told us many interesting things and we would liked to have stayed longer to talk with him. However, we were now rushing to catch the train and had to leave.

A 10 minute walk plus a game of chicken to cross the busy road and we were back at the train station. The entry gate to the platform was closed and we waited to be let through. The time came and our tickets checked as we were let onto the platform. The train was waiting and our coach was straight in front. The train was very clean, comfortable and quiet. What a great way to travel. Choo choo! Hmmm, maybe that's only the noise steam trains make and this one is electric travelling over 120 kmh.

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur 3 hours later and decided that rather than get off one train straight onto another to our accommodation we would go for little walk first.  We saw huge skyscrapers, a colourful street market and the Masjid Jamek Mosque.   We then caught the train to our accommodation, dropped off our bags, freshened up and headed back out to a famous street food area, Jalan Alor.  This is one long street with restaurants down each side ranging from Malay, Chinese, Thai, Vietnam, to name but a few.  We chose one and tried lots of new things.  Fried carrot cake - not at all what you would think.  This is a Chinese dish made from turnip (which we understand is called carrot in Chinese) which is cooked, mashed with flour then stir fried​ with beansprouts and a tasty sauce!  We also tried oyster omlete, curried stingray, duck and chicken rice - what a feast!   On the way back we tried a local dessert called putu piring, a steamed rice cake and chatted to a man from Manchester.

Back at our accommodation we took the lift to the first floor to check out the swimming pool and then to the 25th floor for spectacular views of the KL skyline at night. We chatted until we realised it was 2am and then Zzzzz.