Travel Log: The Mist, The Balrog, The Ghost & The Food

Destination: Ipoh, Malaysia
Date: December 10, 2011

After several weeks of “discussion”, we finally went on to our Ipoh trip on Dec 10, 2011. Our arrangement was simple, 3438 met 9663 at BJ, passenger in 3438 then hopped into 9663 to meet 9218 in Juru Autocity. 9218 would then hop into 9663 as well to meet 3003 at Juru toll for the drive to Ipoh to meet 2699 at Foh San Dim Sum. The highway was so misty in the morning with low visibility. Oh mine, this was the first time I’d seen mist like this on the highway. I half expected some nasty creatures to appear from the mist to kill us all like Stephen King’s “The Mist”. Perhaps there was a government experiment gone wrong?

Look at all the mist...

Our fearless leader!

Fortunately, the creatures did not appear and we arrived at Ipoh toll safely. There was when we realized our GPS sucked! It took us round and round the city when Foh San Dim Sum was right there! *facepalm* The restaurant was crowded with people but luckily we managed to get a table after some waiting. We took a tableful of prawn dumpling, giant fish ball, chee cheong fun, egg tart, yam puff and century egg congee. My favorite of the bunch was the yummy congee! It was really smooth and flavorful. The yam puff was a pleasant surprise as the inner ingredient was cooked in a totally different way if compared with those in Penang.

Dim Sum!!!

The Yummy Congee!

After our breakfast, 2699, 9663 and 3003 were broken into two groups – one for praying in some cave and another to the famed Gua Tempurung. Guess which group I was in? It was a short drive from Ipoh to Gua Tempurung and we bought our ticket of Tour 2 (Top of the world) as we have no intention to get ourselves wet for the wet tours. The cave was really interesting and beautiful, it was dark inside with minimum dim light and it really reminded me of Moria – the Dwarves city in Lord of the Rings.  

The Road Leading to Gua Tempurung

Just Walked in...

Stairs!

It was supposed to be a guided tour but the next tour only started much later. They agreed to let us go in by ourselves as we did not wish to wait. There were a lot of stairs involved (duh!) but it was not as difficult as I imagined it would be as the path was built nicely. The more adventurous path would be the wet tour which we did not take. Our 1^st stop was at the Golden Flowstone at the height of 90 meters. The stalagmites and stalactites on walls and ceilings take various astounding sizes and shapes.

Moria!!!

The Golden Flowstone Cave...

Walking towards the Darkness..

There is some dim light..

Are there dwarves?

We then climbed higher to another platform which was 120 meters high. There was a wind tunnel and we could feel the cool breeze before we proceeded to other caverns. The Top of the World basically was on the stairway which you could touch the top with your hand. There was another dark stairway leading down the cave after Top of the World but we did not proceed as that was the pathway to the wet tour. It was really dark and looked bottomless and we wondered whether a Balrog lived in there. Since we did not have Gandalf to save us, we walked back by using the same way as we came in.

Wind Tunnel...

Yet Another Cavern...

Climbing up to the Top of the World...

Sammy is touching the Top of the World!

Creepy?

From another Angle..

Some Creatures on the stone? Balrog?!

Finally there is light...

Survive the Cave Safely!

Live Another day to tell the tale..

3003 then met up with 2699 and 9663 for Oon Kee Sprout Chicken Restaurant in Ipoh. Of course our dear GPS took us to a big round again. Did GPS Company and the petrol company made an alliance so that driver could drive further to spend more fuel? The chicken was disappointing as it was so difficult to bite and swallow. Nando’s had better chicken than this! The bean sprout and the meat ball were nice though even though the soup was really salty. Overall, not that impressed with this restaurant.

The Famous Restaurant...

The Hor Fun

The Bean Sprout, Chicken and Meatball.. or what's left of it when we arrive!

We then went for souvenir hunting.. hmm..i meant food hunting for local snacks. We bought some biscuits and salted chicken and accidentally found the famous soya drink stall. The soya drink was nice! Our group then got split again as some were to continue to Taiping and some to Kellie’s Castle.

Soya Drink!

Salted Chicken

Kellie’s Castle was seemingly further from Gua Tempurung but we then realized our dear GPS took us for the long route. We finally reached the castle and were amazed that Malaysia actually had a Western style castle. The castle was built by a William Kellie Smith in honor of his wife and it was unfinished as tragedy hit the castle before it was completed. The workers all fall to their death due to sickness before Kellie succumbed during his trip to Portugal to bring the 1^st ever elevator back to the castle. It was said that his ghost still romped around the castle till this day.

A View from Afar

Secret Pathway!!!

The Pitch Dark Wine Cellar hosts a Secret Pathway but was Closed..

Small Stairways from ground floor to bedrooms..

Kellie's Residence behind the Castle

A Guest Room!

The Elevator Shaft!

Top of the main building.. it was supposed to be a tennis court

A View from the Top

The Tennis Court..

The Elevator Shaft from the Top

The stairs to the highest point of the Castle

During our visit, there were 2 couples taking wedding photograph and a teenagers taking portrait as well. We went into room after room, stairs after stairs in search for secret pathways and secret rooms. Unfortunately the secret underground pathway was closed by the authority due to safety reason. What a bummer! It was supposedly leading to the nearby Indian Temple where Kellie worshipped during his stay. However, we did drive to the Indian Temple during our way out from Kellie’s Castle and took a photo of Kellie being worshipped as a God there.

The Daughter's room, It was said that the daughter's ghost still romps around here!

Master Bedroom

Beautiful Aisle

Secret Stairway out from the Master Bedroom

This is where it leads

The Guard House

Beautiful Wall!

The Stove

Kellie's Residence from another Angle

The Air Ventilation System for the Secret Underground Pathway

A view at the courtyard

Kellie's Castle & Residence

The Aisle where Kellie's ghost still romps around..

The Bear Tree...

Side View of the Castle

Let's take a photo!

Another Ventilation System for the underground pathway

Bye Kellie's Castle!

The Indian Temple - where one of the underground tunnel leads to..

Here is Kellie!

It was almost 5pm when we started to drive out from Ipoh and we were wondering whether we should go to Taiping Lake. In fact, we had Taiping Lake keyed in to the GPS but then did not go through the plan as there was a heavy downpour at Taiping area. Thus this ended our short little trip in Ipoh. =)