Tuesday, October 7, 2008

On the winding road to Bentong...

Seeing as it was Raya and all, and we had time on our hands.. we decided to go do a recce on a couple of "adventure" recreational spots in Pahang.

On the road to Bentong...

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Past Selesa Homes...
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This was the place we were suppose to recce! Unfortunately it was closed.


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No worries.. on to that sleepy town called Bentong for lunch...

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Welcome!


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Driving around this place, I feel like I could be anywhere in old Ipoh...

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Apparently this place Kow Po is famous for its ice-cream...


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Boy was it packed!

The ice-cream was nice. Just the thing to cool you down, on a hot, sunny day :D

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The one.. the only... Bentong Bus Station.

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We saw a couple of kids cleaning "lunch".. but decided to not look TOO closely.. haha

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Wow.. what is this place?

Driving around Bentong, most of the Chinese restaurants were busy.. but this coffee shop took the cake. Packed to the rafters.

Kids were eating it...
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Babies and moms were eating it...


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Even Grandad was eating it...

What ever IT was.. it must be good!


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So we jumped on the band-wagon and ordered the Singapore fried beehoon and,
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The Hokkien Noodles.

The Singapore noodles were so-so, but, MAN! the Hokkien Beehoon/Mee was SUPERB!

Even in KL , the flavour is not as strong nor thick with aroma. And for RM5, the plate was huge. The flavour of the Hokkien Mee reminds me of back in the day when the taste of pork was strong, mingled with the dark sauce and the lard... not like the pseudo, watered down flavour you get these days in town.

We love the Hokkien beehoon-mee mix, because nothing imbibes sauce-flavour like beehoon... whilst the mee gives it that additional bite/kick.

Glorious.

No wonder half of Bentong eats here ;D
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If you want to know the exact address, we don't have it...

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But just remember SHL Restaurant on the corner, opposite the Bentong Wisma MCA!


Food/Noodles:8/10

Service:slow during peak hours

MSG levels:low

Salt levels: high



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Right, back on the road.. to check out the Jeram Besu Recreational Park


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Thank God it's open..
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This place is really cool.. out in the wilderness... we see all sorts of colourful plants.. ( I don't know what this is, being a city gal, hah)
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And the people here, even grow their own alfalfa sprouts!

How healthy. Walking around and breathing the air, I feel like I've shed a layer of toxic, free-radical ravaged cells, already ;P


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Ooo.. how cute! A slow loris!

Loris comes from the dutch word "lores" which means sluggish. No wonder they move so slow! They are nocturnal animals and have a very strong grasp, making them difficult to remove from branches.

Later, I found out that the slow loris produces a toxin that mixes with their saliva to protect themselves from predators. If they bite you it will provide a nasty swell!

Also, the slow loris are opportunistic carnivores.

Eeks.. this cute thing sounds dangerous! (Says me.. stepping back.. haha)


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The gibbon! "Dweller in the trees"!

The gibbon is the smallest of the apes.

It sings like a Mad Man.

Gibbons have a home range which they defend by singing. The duet/singing of the gibbons is an amazing sound which can be heard for up to 2km. Gibbons sing in the morning to mark the boundaries of their home range and to let other groups know where they are.

It was so loud. Amazing.

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And finally.. the (off)white water! Music to my ears.. we will be back .. oh yes!

All in all, a pretty worthwhile recce.

By now, the time is 5pm... and we decide to head on back to kl...

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On the way back, we come a cross this sign.

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I am a 'SUSU' addict!

Please stop... we must take a look and buy some:D

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This is Mr Edison's Farm! He has goats and cows.. on his 4 acre land.. not to mention a massive modern bungalow.

He was so nice!

When he found out we were from KL, he invited us in for drinks (of the non-bovine kind), and to take a closer look at his farm!

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The cows were handsome and healthy (not like the mangy kind you see in batu caves)..

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Aww.. look at the KID. So cute! I wanted to take one home, but the husband gave me a warning glare.. haha

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Ice milk "to-go". Wonderful. I'll take one crate please! (RM2.00 per bottle)

We were told to boil the milk and let it cool before drinking. Mr Edison says that his stomach can take the milk fresh, but he doubts that our city-pampered stomachs will fare as well.

Point taken Mr. Edison;)

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The Friesian. (Erm.. can we take one.... just kidding... :P)

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Part of Mr Edison's mansion and estate.

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He even has a tower on his land. They pay him rent.. of course.

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Anyway, this entire 4 acres is for sale by the way. Mr. Edison's kids all want him to return to KL... so, he says, time to sell and head back into the city. He wants to sell Lock, Stock and (two smoking) barrels... cows/goats are optional.

Any takers? He says the price is negotiable:)

A great country home in Jeram Besu .. a comfortable get-a-way!

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It's nearly 6.30pm.. Really time to go before it gets dark!

Bye bye, Mr Edison.
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It got dark pretty quickly as it was about to rain. We decided to stop for dinner.

Someone told me about a great place for wild boar, in the Selesa Homes area...

Now, if only I can recall the name of the place...

We turn in off the highway, at the sign that says, Selesa Homes and at the T junction, immediately turn RIGHT.

Follow the dark and winding road.. until you see...

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Restoran 126! Woo-hoo.. now i remember the name!

Good golly, miss molly.

Another packed restaurant.

We hope the wait doesn't kill us!

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It was so packed they had to open a romantic 2-seater table complete with red table cloth, just for us.. see? LOL

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Wild Boar in black pepper! Delicious. It will keep us warm on this cold, rainy night.

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Home-made BALLS!

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Beans in caramelized deep fried bacon bits! Killer shiok!

We were suppose to eat Frog's legs (all sold out.. habis!) and the legendary Turtle soup(too cruel, something we don't eat)... so that's all we had time for that day:D

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Oooooooo... very nice!

All in a day's work. Not bad huh?!

THE END



Add:

Restoran 126,

Kg Bukit Tinggi

28750 Bentong, Pahang.


Food:7/10

Service: Slow during weekends and public hols

MSG levels: high (left us thirsty)

Salt levels:moderate

28 comments:

choi yen said...

The Hokkien Mee a bit too "wet" :( I like the dry version :)

HairyBerry said...

coincidence or what er? there i was giving ideas about raising cows instead of other domestic animals...haha!

yeah, the hokkien mee looks dense and yummy...i like it with mee+kway teow..then again, as long as it's lard and dark soy sauce, anything goes!!! yummy!

J2Kfm said...

wah .... I was holding my breath right until THE END.
amazing day. what an adventure leh ... envy. our excursions to rural areas mostly involve work as well, thus less fun.

MochaSourcream said...

Wow! What an eventful day!! Never been to Bentong actually. Should really consider going there. Follow your plan bulat-bulat ya... hehehe

minchow said...

Bacon and beans! Is that the blinding combination of orgasmic joy or what! Looks like a super trip, small town cool.

Christina Kim said...

Amazing recce you've had...and there's no traffic??
It came across my mind to have a short break somewhere but was too concerned with the traffic flow so passed on the idea...
Glad you had such a great time:D

Precious Pea said...

Nice! What a fun trip! Actually my family were from Bentong, sis born here but later oved up north. Kow Po is famous for its ice-kacang with ice-cream on top.

Hehe...since you like the cows and goats so much, perhaps you should convince your other half to take over from Mr Edison?

Restoran 126, good choice!

Ciki said...

mimi:
cool bananas!

nic:
I know.. when I read your post I figured someone is saying "buy the farm.. take care of the cows.. produce milk in abundance!" hahaha

j2kfm:
i know what you mean .. but having said that, your posts look like you get a good mix of work and play.. well juggled:D

mocha:
sure thing! but I ain't no expert.. must ask the fellow Bentong-ites for better 'off the beaten track's.

faith:
bacon and beans! chinese style, english style.. all works for me!

christy:
amazingly no traffic:)

pea:
ah! then you the expert! i knew i missed a few things.. next time must get tips from u:D

Regarding Mr Edison's farm.. that makes you and Nic.. all for the cow idea... but erm.. as much as I love looking at the goats and cows.. i don't think I'll survive 1 week of farm life... I HAVE CITY BUGS in my STOMACH!!! HOW?!!!

oh and... 126! 126! lol :P

Anonymous said...

wow, such energetic youth of today. i would have dozed off after that hokkien mee lunch liao.....great write up, i was riveted.
why bother migrating to australia for the great outdoors?!!! we seem to have quite a lot of interesting flora and fauna as it is! hahahah.

Ciki said...

fbb:
lol.. cute;D

Anonymous said...

What a fruitful trip, perfect to cure the tension created from work.

The Hokkien Meee!!!! I want!

Ciki said...

if you cook it.. i'll eat it :D

jasmine said...

haha, you should buy the cow farm. but pay someone to take care...then pop by bila u want. can have all the milk then :P

but what an amazing road trip...

Ciki said...

hi jasmine:)
would u like to take care of the cows.. jez kidding :D dunno lar... must consider a lot of things if wanna start a cow farm.. like how to bloody milk cows.. eek!(and not to mention dispose of the dung).. hahahahaha

Tummythoz said...

Then need to change monkey names to err cows? Cannot recall any kids show featuring lembu-lembu sekalian.

Ciki said...

tummythoz:
do u mean cumi&ciki to duke&daisy? hahahahaha

Julian Si said...

Very impressive and exotic road trip :-) WELL DONE!! Hope you had a super raya ... cheerio.

Juliansi.blogspot.com

Ciki said...

lol.. cool bananas:D

Anonymous said...

Agree with J2KFM that I also held my breath until the end; Interesting article of varying interest; That was Roselle akin to Ribena when you cook it and taste just like it.

Ciki said...

roselle! aw, thanks.. next time must bring u with me .. lol :D so, does one eat it with a salad? as part of a curry? .. how? one thing's for sure, the color will make the dish look pretty !

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wat a holiday..lots of walking and eating eh?

Ciki said...

joe:
that's usually the plan.. stan..

Anonymous said...

Oh, Bentong mali wey... :)

For some reason, "Home-made BALLS!" just made me crack up. What can I say, I'm utterly juvenile and proud of it? Hehe.

Anonymous said...

there used to be a cow farm somewhere 10km near my hometown and i used to drink plenty of fresh milk. but my mom also boiled it for me first before i have it, ahhh those were the good old days.

Ciki said...

kenny:
hahaha... homemade balls indeed (is there any other kind?!)

Xin:
wow.. u must have gorgeous skin ;)

Anonymous said...

wah you very clever to explore ar. I see you got the Chinese restaurant syndrome after eating here hehe

Ciki said...

vkeong:
lol.. chinese restaurant syndrome! i like dat!

Agnes Cheong said...

Hi I am from Bentong. Proud that u introduce my hometown. Kow Poh my favourite ice-cream~~YumYum..