The best pork noodles in town...

I've been eating at Peking Hotel's coffeeshop for some time and the real treasure there was a pork noodles stall.

Its called "Peter's Pork Noodles" and frankly, they are the best in KL bar none. I am yet to come across any peers that can compare to this guy's rendition of the chee yuk fun.

Now, before I proceed, I just want to mention that I strive on the word 'freedom of choice'. We are free to pick and this made things worthwhile.

After writing about street food for a few years at the old workplace, I was slapped with an email from the top saying that pork should not be glorified.

My loss their gain. But a week later, a Mat Salleh contributor wrote a piece on German pork knuckles and was given a picture spread.

Double standard? I gave up completely and when I was asked to deliver food stories, I simply told the desk head that I don't eat Malay food cos there's no pork in it. End of the story.

They took it badly and this led to me taking my trade elsewhere. So, back to pork noodles! I must say that Peter is very generous in using lard and pork rind.

The soup is clogged with pig's fat and its an experience to slurp up the hot broth that comes with sliced liver, meat and pork mince.

What made this experience memorable, is the extra blast of chee yau char or pork cracklings. And at RM4.50 a pop, you cannot argue with the man lah!

My RM19.25 lunch.

Entrance to the makan place
cili api and chopped garlic
Hakka noodles

I thought of holing in at home today. But the depleting supply of dog food kinda drove me out to my regular supplier at Subang Jaya's SS15 to get the job done. Otherwise the kidz will be upset.

After picking up the goods, I headed off to Sunway Pyramid. Parked there and made my way down to the 'Marakkesh' food centre. Impressive line up of makan places and I had wanted to check out this Hakka food joint. Its got Pork, glorious Pork! Oh yeah...

Ordered the Hakka noodles plus a small pot of Oolong tea. Was prepared to pay and well, service is prompt and the food got delivered on time. Portion's purty decent and best of all, they give sliced peppery hot cili api and chopped onions! These you get only at Bak Kut Teh stalls.. I took the shots with my new Nokia N82

So, how does this Hakka place fare? I saw on the menu that they have plenty of traditional Hakka dishes like the kow yuk, ham kai and so on. Very impressive. Price wise -- its a premium to eat in this place. But hey! Got Porco! I will bring my wife over for lunch or dinner someday...

Forgetful

Time ravages on even when you are not concerned about it. I am on my annual leave till Friday and I found that each hour, minut and second passes by really quickly.

First order of the day, was to get an early lunch. This, I found at USJ 6. I went to Q'-up coffee shop for a bowl of fish head noodles.

When I got there, I noticed the owner Mr Ang who was talking to a customer. One prominent thing at the eating place was missing. 

The lady selling wantan noodles, it seems, was out of there. I asked an Indonesian woman who served me drinks where she went and her answer was: "Tidak tahu" (I don't know).

My guess was there has been a clash between Ang and the owner. That said, the store was gone. 

I saw a banner in Chinese a few doors away from his shop. Maybe that's where the stall had shifted.

Later, I went to Nick Ooi's tacklestore in SS15. I needed to get some hooks and swivels for tomorrow's fishing trip.

There, I met this funny dude who told me that knives that rust are good knives. After leaving the tacklestore, I went to get some dog food.

From ss15, I drove to the Giant hypermart in Putra Heights to post a parcel. After getting some groceries, I noticed that I had completely forgotten about the basic ingredients for cooking.

I missed out the garlic and small onions. For that, I made another trip to Jusco at IOI mall in Puchong.

When I rounded up all the essentials, it started to pour like mad. That said, half the day was gone.

For dinner, I made cabbage soup with pork and pork meatballs. And to liven up the day a bit, I am stir-frying some pak choy with shrimps.

Looks like its going to be a light evening cos tomorrow, I am gonna hit the road and join some buddies in Karak, Pahang.

'Lorong Selamat' Char Koay Teow..

A zoomshot from my Nokia N82 of the couple at work
Kopi-O peng and a fresh plate of Char Koay Teow
It can't get any better than this generous serving at USJ 14

If you have been following my work, I did mention of an elderly couple who sells char koay teow at USJ 14. They run a small stall in a coffee-shop and had a very good run from 8am - 11:30am from Mondays to Saturdays. The name of the stall is 'Lorong Selamat' Char Koay Teow and some dude actually did some legwork to get the lowdown from the uncle who helps garnish the meals once his wife is done frying it.

On a scale from 1 - 10, I'd say this stall scores an easy 8. Its simple and has all the ingredients one would expect. What I marvelled the most, was the uncle's eye for detail. He garnishes the fried noodles with pork rind. Or in simple Cantonese : Chee Yau Char. (not chee yuk char). The noodles are not too oily, dry and salty. This couple got it right and a big plate of koay teow mee (my favourite) sets me off at RM4.50. As a matter of fact, they did brisk business on weekends and the waiting time is about 25 minutes. I was patient enough to wait for my turn and the eating part didn't take more than 5 minutes. But the time the last shred of noodles went into my mouth, it was a done deal. So, was it worth it? Absolutely!

ToST III - Part 3

Checking out the Great Lake...

We woke up at 05:00am, set out towards Thale Noi's village square.
It was early in the morning and we had our lights mounted, keeping in mind that it was the first day of the Songkran festival.
Not too far into the distance, Sin spotted a few stalls serving breakfast.
We wasted no time by parking our rides there and worked on our very important meal of the day.
The rest had pork porridge (20 baht a bowl) while I worked out a good appetite by having a plate of rice with salted fish curry and pork slices.
It was relief to know that food is available on the first day of the Thai New Year and our confidence level grew as we past by more shops in the area.
We parked our bikes and locked it at the Ranger's office and made our way to the jetty.
The boat ride has been arranged prior to our arrival and we were quite stocked with the prospect of rounding the Thale Noi lake.

Daybreak at the lakeside

Salted fish, pork and rice.. 

Our porridge breakfast..

Awesome is the word.. 

Our boatman prompted us to board his vessel and when we were seated on the longboat, a guy came and snapped some photos. These were framed and sold at 120 baht each. 
I don't have any reservations about it because this helps supplement the local economy.
The boat took us on a one and a-half hour loop around the lake and it was simply amazing to see a whole sea of red lotus in full bloom. 
There were also some interesting migratory birds at the lake and to our surprise, the waterway traffic was pretty heavy, even on Songkran.

Lotuses in full bloom

A fine specimen

Tourists at the boat ride...

So, to sum it up, the boat ride was awesome.
This was a thousand times better than tasik Chini or Bera in Pahang.
We alighted from the boat and made our way back to the village square.
This time round, another breakfast session at a noodle and chicken rice shop next to the Ranger's office.
There, we sat down and chilled out.
Later, back at the resort, we had a few beers and decided to head back to the village to experience Songkran in rural Thailand.

Late breakfast: soup noodles..

A splashing time!

No one is spared.. 

The gang at Thale Noi

The Songkran experience..

I found that rural folks in Thailand are polite and hospitable.
We rode past some water stations and the kids there politely asked if they could bless us with water which we gladly obliged.
Some of the waterguns were added with colouring and most of us were soaked with food dye and the ones that were riding up front were splashed.
The trick was to ride in between reloads! hahahah!
We had lunch at the lakeside and chilled out till mid day before returning back to the resort.
I had an idea about using a shortcut back to our accommodation, but it's Songkran, there's people waiting at every corner to ambush you.. 

Riding out to dinner

A decent makan place in Thale Noi

Later in the day, we assembled and rode out for dinner.
The same place which Roger had booked for two days.. It's a very decent makan place with good food, so, we didn't hesitate at all.
But like anything that is too good, sometimes, Murphy's Law will never cease to amaze me.
We ordered a few dishes and it came out wrong.
A group of Thai customers who were seated next to us had their orders misplaced. 
Lucky for them, we didn't eat up their food.
Even our orders were totally messed up, but that didn't matter because we've had good time, then it was back to the rooms for a couple of beers and a discussion on what lies ahead.
Ranot is our next destination after Thale Noi...

ToST - Part 5

All good things must come to an end.. 

A limestone hill that looks like the Devil's Tower

So, there we were. 
In a town called Patthalung, some 96km North of Hat Yai.
I woke up at 06:00am and packed up all my stuff in my trusty Ortlieb Frontroller pannier.
Basically, this was my third bicycle trip in Thailand.
We've clocked-in more than 200km on the trip from Hat Yai to Patthalung.

Its time to part and head to where we started.. 

Yeah, that's it! 
The first thing that came in mind, was to find a good place for breakfast.
We walked around town and found a market. There, we saw some stall selling packed food. But it wasn't enticing enough until we discovered a Dim Sum shop on the street leading to Thai Hotel.
This was the place which was recommended by Mr SK Yeong, a fellow cyclist back in KL.
We gave it a try and it was pretty decent.

Good food at the market

Dim Sum time

We checked out of the hotel and rode to the train station. 
I knew for a fact that bikes can be carried onboard.
Seeing as it is, we don't want to be late as there a train ride from Patthalung to Hat Yai at 10:40am.
This was the debate I had with Roger who was unsure about bringing bikes onto the Thai train.
I told him that sourcing information from the internet is just 60% accurate. The rest is getting ground intel and I knew for a fact that many travelers have taken bikes onto the train - especially in Thailand.
That said, I was willing to risk it with a back-up plan in the offing.
So, we went to the ticketing counter and purchased four tickets for the class 3 seats at 72 baht.

Taking the path less-traveled to the train station in Patthalung

Motorcycle taxi riders admiring our folding bikes

Cheap ass ride and unbeatable value! 

I couldn't believe what I saw. 
A computer printed sheet of tickets valued at 72 baht (roughly about RM7.30). 
I told the guys that the hourly train from Chumpon has wooden seats and a lot of cargo room. This is yet to be confirmed as we waited patiently for the coach to arrive.

At the Patthalung train station

Our train arrived a little later than scheduled and the helpful station staff pointed out the last coach.
We loaded the bikes and were shocked to see a brand new motorcycle strapped to the sidewalls. 
There were plenty of space to park our bikes. So that said, my suspicion was confirmed.
We placed the bikes next to some cargo materials bound for Hat Yai.
The train ride was roughly about one and a-half hours.

Lots of room in the train

We arrived in Hat Yai around noon and Roger had suggested lunch at a place he was familiar with.
He said there is a noodle stall that serves Koay Teow Lueah (boat koay teow).
I bought the idea lock, stock and barrel and at 30 baht a bowl, one cannot ask for more.
The noodles were really tasty and later, I had a chance to talk to the owner who told me that he used the Isan style to prepare his noodles.
It was much later that found out from my Thai friend Santi Senarat that blood is mixed into the soup which gave it a dark appearance.

The skilful lady who serves a damn good bowl of koay teow

Koay Teow Lueah

The shop owner

The Heartbreak Hotel..

Over the past four days, we've had some good luck with our choice of accommodation under RM50 or 500 baht.
In the case of the Emperor Hotel in Hat Yai, it was very clear that one cannot trust the internet entirely.
I found this place through Agoda.com and it turned out that the hotel was a real run down place offering just the bare minimal.
It looked like a haunted hotel just like a scene out of some Thai horror movie.
The place looked very depressing.
So, I took this with a pinch of salt because it cost only 470 baht including all that fees and stuff charged by Agoda.com
This was the lowest point in the trip. But we kept our chin up. Our plan was to survive the night, get a couple of hours of sleep and get the hell out.

Emperor hotel in Hat Yai

Spending the remainder of our time...

Michelle went for a Thai massage while I did some laundry in the room.
Our plan was to have dinner and perhaps a beer at one of the nightspots.
I took the guys and treated them to dinner at Jae Lek restaurant at Thanon Niphat Uthit 1.
The food was decent, but through the years, I guess their standards have dropped.
Later, we had some dessert at a stall next to the hotel and seeing as it is, I wasn't really in favour of spending the last night having drinks at Hat Yai's nightspot.
I knew it would be an expensive affair.
So far, I've kept to my budget and we were doing well.
So, I suggested that we have a few beers in the room and call it a night.

Last call

We woke up the next day and Roger had a plan.
Despite all the horror stories, we survived the night at Emperor Hotel.
He suggested that we visit the largest reclining Buddha in Hat Yai and pay a visit to Sri Suwandee Bicycle shop which is owned by a dude called "Thai Teoh".

With some Thai cyclists in Hat Yai

So, we agreed unanimously and rode out.
While climbing a bridge leading out of town, someone greeted behind me. 
"Sawadee-ka!," said a Thai lady on her mountain bike.
She was the first cyclist we met along the way and was very friendly.
Roger did the talking and as we made our way to a coffee shop which was patronised by some cyclists, the lady took off on her own.
We found a decent place for breakfast and made friends with some local cyclists.
These were guys in their 50s and 60s.
They told us about their recent touring adventure to Patthalung and as we exchanged stories, one of them gestured to have a photo taken with us.
Later, we parted ways and headed to the temple..

Largest reclining Buddha in the South

The gang

A senior monk approves our mode of transport

Roger being blessed with prayers

The search for Thai Teoh

To the uninitiated, the namesake Thai Teoh is a legend.
We heard about this Facebook personality who hosted cyclists from Malaysia at his shop in Klongrien Road.
After the visit to the temple, we gave this guy a try.
But, efforts to find him was in vain.
Lucky for us, there was a diversion. We found a shop selling Siew Yuk (roast pork) and took the opportunity to give it a try.
It was Andrew who found the shop with his GPS.
And to our dismay, Thai Teoh was na-da!
We found his shop, but it was closed.

Cycling along Hat Yai's klong or canal

Thai Teoh as left the building!

Good food, and more good food! 

That Thai Teoh fellah was a sheer disappointment. 
Nevertheless, we had a train to catch and the plan was to get back to the hotel, ask for a late check-out.
We packed our panniers and after a good shower, it was time to hit the road.
Our first stop was a Khao Kha Moo shop near the hotel.
We had a feast with the excellent food and made our way to another coffee shop near the Tune Hotel in Hat Yai for some iced coffee.
Later, we rode out to the train station and re-supplied for the long journey back.

Pork knuckle rice for the soul

I picked up some buns from 7-Eleven for the ride home.
And I also made a critical decision to pack rice and some dishes from the train station's food court.
Its better to be prepared and ready as I had anticipated little or no food onboard the KTM train.
We had a nice mix of vegetable, fried egg and pork, so, I don't think anyone would complain.

A mix-up..

At Hat Yai, we bought the return ticket.
When we boarded the train, someone else had taken our seats.
So, I decided to gamble with the seats on row 15. 
When the conductor came, he asked for our tickets and some explanation.
Well, lucky for us, he diverted the passengers who had booked the seats we took to the forward section of the coach.
Later at night, the guy said he might charge us RM10 or more for the bikes. I told him if we could come up with an amicable settlement and what he said was: "Tunggu la nanti bila kita sampai Butterworth.." (wait till we reached Butterworth).
And throughout the journey, we didn't pay a single sen. 
By daybreak, we arrived at KL Sentral. 
We parted way with Andrew and continued on the LRT to Petaling Jaya with Roger.

Loading up in Hat Yai

Arrival at KL Sentral

Michelle and I got off at the Paramount station and cycled to her mum's place in SS3 which was less than 2km away.
We ended our tour with the journey home and were greeted by our kidz...

It feels great to be back home with the kids

Summary

Well, the trip had turned out even better than expected.
Roger did a good job researching the route, but when it comes to sourcing for information through the internet, we have to take it with a pinch of salt.
Even though we were faced with Language issues, the Thai people were very helpful throughout our journey.
The ride from Hat Yai to Songkhla was a breeze, the later stages, only the journey from Ranot to Patthalung was challenging.
On the whole, I spent RM185 on lodging and another RM150 on food and drinks, RM96 on the train trip. So, the entire budget of RM600 which I had initially set was not blown.
That said, Southern Thailand is a haven for bicycle touring and with this awesome experience, we are definitely looking for more adventures... 

Kelantan indoor archery cup 2017 - Part 1

Our first archery tournament at the East Coast...

I have very low expectations when I signed up for the 2017 Kelantan Indoor Archery Cup in Kota Baru.
A fellow archer Wan Rohafizan had alerted me about the tournament taking place in mid-March and it didn't take long for me to get the details to sign-up.
This is the second year such an event is being organised in Kelantan and what got me really interested was the location of the tournament.
Jeff, my shooting buddy and I represented the Subang Barebow Archers. Michelle is nursing her post-surgical wounds and will be out of action until May this year. The other archer, Mr Lau is changing his shooting style after a poor performance in Bangi.

Preparations

Like any other tournament, we spent time training at the range. Our aim is to get a nice grouping on a 40cm, 10-ring target face. This is the standard shooting format at all indoor tournaments for Barebow archery.
The last time we shot, was in Bangi. Following that, we trained at our range. Getting shot placements, grouping and consistency in check and balance.
Since Kota Baru is about 1,200km round trip, we had to book our accommodation in advance. My preferred lodging is Tune Hotel which is located near the city centre. Since I had to drive, the car was serviced for the long-haul.
After paying the tournament fees (RM100/US$22.60) we secured a place at the shooting line.
My choice bow was the Hoyt Tiburon. I grew very fond of this modern traditional takedown bow. For arrows, it's the Easton Axis Traditional size 500 carbon shafts.

The fantastic journey...

At the old Gua Musang train station in Kelantan

Samo made his mark in Kelantan...

Enjoying a late lunch before heading off to the event venue

We left KL a day before the tournament and took a long drive via the Bentong - Kota Baru trunk road.
The journey was a breeze as there weren't many vehicles on the road. I wanted to show Jeff, my shooting partner Gua Musang in Southern Kelantan. We had a short break there before proceeding towards Kota Baru.
By late noon, we arrived in the city and went straight to get our lunch. The choice makan place was Lim Siong Kee Beef Noodles located opposite Tune Hotel.
Jeff loved the beef noodles and compared it with the branch in Puchong, Selangor. He said the one in Kelantan tastes even better. Maybe he was really hungry!
After a good fill, we made our way to Pusat Tarbiah Islamiah Kelantan (PUTIK) located near the airport.
There was some confusion on Google Maps as the apps navigator led us to the airport's departure terminal instead.
After a phone call was made, we were redirected to the actual place. It was supposed to be registration, equipment inspection and practise. But that didn't happen.

We met a fellow barebow archer Wan Rohafizan at the PUTIK hall. He was there earlier to compete in the Men's Recurve open event and was ranked 12/16. 
Wan is an aspiring barebow archer who has also competed at the International Barebow Championship in Bangkok last year.
His experience is invaluable as barebow archers are growing in numbers. 
We indulged in a conversation and also met Simon, a Singaporean who organised the IBC event in Bangkok.

 After hours...

We scouted the location and felt that it was time to head back to town, check-in at the hotel and prepare for the tournament day.
Jeff was really suprised with Kota Baru as a city. The impression he had was a backwards town that is repressed.
What came as a surprise was beers in Chinatown and roasted pork in skewers. We had a meal in town and chilled out with a couple of beers before hitting the sack...

Singapore run

Klang Bak Kut Teh in Beach Road?

Dinner in Gelang Patah

Baghdad street off Beach Road

Tangkak Beef noodles

Me and Lawrence at a taxi stand in North Bridge Road

There goes another weekend.. Yeah, Saturday was a full-day. I sent Michelle to the airport and shot straight home after that. She was bound for
Texas in the US and its a bitch to sit in an airplane for 25 hours. My day was rigged for a short trip to Singapore. This was planned with my buddies Lawrence Leong and Ah
Pan. They came by my house at 10am and our plan was to reach Singapore at 3pm.While we were on the road, I suggested a pit-stop at Seremban for beef noodles, but Ah Pan had a better
suggestion - head to Tangkak, Johore.This is a well-known makan place and our destination was a shop where everybody goes. We overshot the town
due to Ah Pan's bad directions and lucky for us, the NUVI 660 GPS system had the noodle shop marked as a
point of interest.After we found the place, we had a really good lunch. Ah Pan paid for it and we packed a few boxes of beef
jerky. With Tuas in sight, we cleared the Second Link CIC without much hassle. The drive to Singapore's downtown
business area took about 20-minutes.Our first stop was Camper's Corner. I need to claim my Chaco sandals which was sent in late last year for
replacement. Lawrence went shopping for shoes and other outdoor gear while Ah Pan bought some drinking bottles for his
friend farmer Wong.Later, we shot off to Beach Road and checked out the tacklestores and a mandatory pit stop at Mustaffa's in
Serangoon road. We went back to Campers to settle the bill and I made a mandatory visit to the Marketplace to stock up on my
large Campbell's soup.After that, we took off to Tuas and had dinner in Gelang Patah. Checked out a new place called Chua Kee. The
fare was so-so and what we found to be palatable there was the hor chien and sliced pork.The total time spent on the road was about 8 hours with 6 hours to spare in Singapore.

I've been doing this for some years and well, I guess with the Singapore Dollar at a staggering rate of RM2.45 per $1.00, there'll be less and less daytrip to this island republic...