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...

Past Selesa Homes...

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

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

Welcome!

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

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

Boy was it packed!

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

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

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


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...

Babies and moms were eating it...

Even Grandad was eating it...

What ever IT was.. it must be good!

So we jumped on the band-wagon and ordered the Singapore fried beehoon and,

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

If you want to know the exact address, we don't have it...

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

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

Thank God it's open..

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)

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

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)

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.


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.

I am a 'SUSU' addict!

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

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!

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

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

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;)

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

Part of Mr Edison's mansion and estate.

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

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!

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...

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

Good golly, miss molly.

Another packed restaurant.

We hope the wait doesn't kill us!

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

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

Home-made BALLS!

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

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

Baptism of water & fire then Pan Mee POWER!

Today is a Blessed day!

Sound the Horn.

Blast the Trumpet.

The final member of our family (youngest uncle and family) gets Baptised today at Bukit Lagong Forest Reserve!

What a happy occasion.. It's only fair that we celebrate with good food after;)

Fried PAN MEE noodles ... food to share in the rejoicing and thanksgiving...
This place in Selayang is totally new to me. And what a wonderful surprise... You'd expect some Hokkien Mee texture and taste to the dish but get more than you've bargained for.
The texture of the noodles and flavour is out of this world. The belacan lime chili sauce is spicy hot too. The picture above doesn't show much and words cannot describe this dish so you just have to try it for yourself.

RM8.00 for a massive plate shared amongst 3 persons. Worth it?


Restoran Sei Ngan Chai..! (Four-eyed boy/Spectacled Boy Restaurant)

I will never forget this Coffee shop's name and its delicious fried noodle ... hmm, nor today, for that matter. Oh, what a special day;)

CUMI: Having eaten at many popular street-side shanties across the country (yes including the 'must eat' shacks in Imbi, Pudu, Sentul, Jalan 222, Taman Maluri, PJ Paramount area....to demonstrate my badges) for fried dark sauce noodles, i rate this plate of noodles as good as the Bentong hokkien mee. The other popular places are good (at unreasonable prices) but this one (& Bentong) just reminds me of the good stuff we had as a kid. I will have to return again to test the consistency of the cook's work plus the other noodle dishes.

Add:
Restoran Sei Ngan Chai,
6-S, Jalan Bidara 1,
Taman Bidara,
Selayang

Noodles:8/10
Salt levels: low
MSG levels: low

Snap, crackle and pop!

Genting Trailblazer 2008!
Pulse-pounding combination of exciting adventure racing and intense trail running, the trailblazer has also been designed to raise awareness on the importance of rainforest conservation.

Highly recommended for those individuals who are full of BEANS and energy!
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After the mud has settled and the sweat and grime had dried... and the adrenaline dissipated... the hunger pangs began to set in;)

The nice thing about being in Peninsular Malaysia's largest state is, not only the lush tropical forests, cool mountain air, lakes and waterfalls nestling in the arms of mountain crevices, but also, the FOOD! Upon reaching the foot of Genting, we decided to venture a little further, to the foot of Bukit Tinggi, in search of some lunch.

This area is called Bukit Tinggi, Bentong and the streets are paved with stalls selling fresh produce and all sorts of interesting fruits.

Now this fruit we just could not resist buying.

This is the milk banana. Dark brown when unripe and it gets redder as it ripens. According to the lady, the milk banana is less sweet than its yellow counterpart. However, the milk banana is much more fragrant and is normally best eaten as cut slices, between bread! How nice. People who suffer from cramps after exercising or after strenuous activity, should add these little babies to their diet. Yellow or red, the high potassium in bananas helps prevent muscle cramping.

We love seeing holes in our greens! This means less insecticide... and we know that the less chemicals we put into our bodies, the better. Live long, live strong!

Baby ginger - the best type of ginger to pickle is the baby ginger because it is less tough than the old ginger. This is a bottle 'in the making' - the lady told us , 2 more days to go before it is done. She let us try some and we found it crunchy, warm and sweet with a slight sting/bite. Just nice if you ask me. I don't like the burn you get from old ginger - too fiery and pungent. Ginger incidentally, comes from the word stringa-vera which means body like a horn (antlers! you see my point...)

Ginger is also a diaphoretic - i.e. it makes the body hot. Because of this, medieval medicine men used it to fight the plague. How clever!

The Chinese mainly 'prescribe' this rhizome for 'fong' (wind)... but looking up the encyclopedia, we also found that ginger is good as an aphrodisiac (it is mentioned in the Karma sutra as being used to 'gain the affections of a woman'! ) Hmmm... now a days, you need to wine and dine your hot date and spend loads before they warm up to you... Next time, try the cheaper alternative of feeding her ginger instead:P

So, you don't need me to tell you EAT your GINGER, right, it's good for you!

Gingerly handling the baby ginger.

A ginger plant. Not for eating but for deco.

The Roselle (a species of hibiscus). This pretty red flower has many medicinal properties including some antihypertensive activity.

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Wow, the village really got us distracted. 2.30pm! We need to eat.

Restoran Makanan Laut Loong Sing! Famous for its fish and chinese-style cooking. 2.30pm and still crowded with patrons. Maybe people eat late here in Bukit Tinggi, huh?

Upon arrival, we are given dragon fruit enzyme to prime us for lunch. (Kidding - we were given samples to encourage us to buy, more like..). This tasted like a sweetened version of Toddy to me.. but apparently there is no alcohol in this drink (what a waste of time.. haha.. kidding).

Looking around the shop.. every table was eating either ,

THIS...
or,

THIS!

Therefore, it was no surprise that when ours came... it was fantastic! Crackling and crispy but not burnt. You can snap/cut right through the fish with the metal spoon. We ate the smaller bones, fins, head, tail... everything..!

Fish - RM22.50 (RM20 per kg. How affordable is that?)

Average tasting Hokkien mee.. not enough lard. However, it was still cheap for a huge plate.

Fried noodles - RM7.00

Deep fried caramelized bacon, done chinese style! The experience of biting into one of these, reminds me of the morning cereal tagline... "Snap, Crackle and POP!" Excellent.

Bacon - RM10.00

Finally, no meal is complete without the luscious, green greens! We love our greens, just under-cooked, with loads of garlic. This place does it just right.

Vege - RM5.00 for a (very) large plate.

All in all, a totally satisfying meal. Fresh, piping hot, delicious food at reasonable prices.

Gives new meaning to the word, Value for Money.

3.00pm and we are done eating. Now the arduous task of driving home to KL on a full stomach... Maybe we'll take a 5 min nap in the car before we head on home.. ;)

THE END.

Add:

Makanan Laut Loong Sing,

No. 97, Bukit Tinggi,

28750 Bentong,

Pahang.

Food:8/10

Service: slow (more than half an hour)

MSG levels: moderate

Salt levels: high

Advice: drink more water! (or beer, as the case may be.. )