Two weekends ago, we took a drive up north to the town of Ipoh in the state of Perak. It was a scenic 3 hours drive passing oil palm plantations and fruit orchards.
As we neared our destination, we pass the famous limestone hills of Perak.
"Perak" in Malay means "tin". In the early days, immigrants from China mined tin from the rivers of Perak and prospered from the tin trade. The Malaysian pewterware is made from locally mined tin from Perak and Selangor. Tin is not so much in demand now. However, the region has continued to flourish with other types of industries and activities.
Some of the old colonial style buildings and structures can still be seen around the city. On arrival, we headed off for a late breakfast in one of Ipoh's "coffee shops" well-known for its noodles (kway teow) soup, coffee and spring rolls (popiah).
Did you know that "Old Town White Coffee" originates from Ipoh? It tastes so good that tourists even buy packets of it back to their home country. Of course it tastes much better if it is made by the "old master" in the coffee shop kitchen and served in the traditional way.
We preferred our coffee with lots of ice....especially after a long, hot drive. Mmm not too sweet or bitter and very refreshing.
Did I mention the main purpose of our trip? Of course it's to eat the delightful variety of food that Ipoh offers. We moved to another part of the city to sample the most famous dim sum in Ipoh at the Foh San Restaurant. This restaurant is only open till 2.00pm everyday and it's crowded with locals, occasional visitors like us, and lots of tour groups.
You need to find your own table, and most likely you end up sharing a table with other strangers. You even need to serve yourself.
Being rather full after our breakfast, we ordered just a few dishes to try out. The portions are much bigger and prices are lower than in Kuala Lumpur.
Ipoh is also famous for chicken rice. I don't know why the chickens here are more tasty than in other states but I do know that the bean sprouts served with the chicken looks different and tastes much sweeter than anywhere else. Apparently it is because they are germinated using water from the limestone hills.
Lots of restaurants are selling the same but we visited this one as it is recommended by the food critics. Must be among the best.
Here's the dish of chicken that I ordered. Not much of a presentation but the meat is indeed firm and sweet.
And this is the dish of bean sprouts....just blanched with some sauce. Yummy! Notice that the sprouts are unusually short and fat.
On our way home, we stopped to buy salt baked chicken take-away. Again, lots of other shops in this area were also selling this specialty but apparently this one is the best.
First you need to unwrap the many layers of paper around the chicken. The chicken does not look very impressive but the meat is very tender and the salt gave it a special flavour.
I gave some of my ACAP friends packets of biscuits from Yee Hup. As you can see, this biscuit is a specialty from Gunung Rapat in Perak. To some, the biscuit is even better than those from Ghee Hiang in Penang, but I guess it depends on individual preference.
Lastly, I could not resist taking this photo of a crowd lining up in front of a small shop to buy its soya bean drink. What's so special about "Funny Mountain" soya drink? I shall find out on another trip when I am not feeling so stuffed with chicken rice.
So we decided to brave the hot Australian summer to cook a traditional reunion feast for the children and my niece who is staying with my daughter. I was delighted that the girls helped with the preparations.
We made a day trip to Hahndorf, the little German town up in the Adelaide hills to escape the heat.
This is a restaurant in north Adelaide. No prize for guessing what they are serving.
And this is a very popular food among the students living in north Adelaide. It's called "Abortion"
It was Christmas time.... apparently the best time of the year to visit Hong Kong.
Shopping season. Hongkong people are great shoppers and price does not seem to be a problem. Apparently the tourists from mainland China are even more extravagant shoppers.
Our host arranged a sumptuous dinner for all the participants. 
Followed by entertainment from a group of very energetic performers from South America. 
Notice our happy and very satisfied look?
The Malaysian delegation having a good time.
Hongkong is a fascinating place. It has the most modern architecture on this side of Asia...alongside some very old historic buildings.
And yet, when it comes to construction, they still rely on some old, time-tested methods such as bamboo scaffolding. I was so impressed!
Our host took us on a long bus ride across to another island just to sample the famous roast goose.
I noticed that it is also the season for the hairy crabs.
We have some relatives working in Hongkong. They treated us to afternoon tea at this very posh restaurant. In Hongkong, any place with such a fantastic view must be very expensive!
Now I am ready to blog again, but since so many events have taken place and I have already forgotten the sequence of events, I shall just put a number of photographs in my subsequent blogs and hopefully you can guess what I was up too.
As we neared our destination, we pass the famous limestone hills of Perak.
"Perak" in Malay means "tin". In the early days, immigrants from China mined tin from the rivers of Perak and prospered from the tin trade. The Malaysian pewterware is made from locally mined tin from Perak and Selangor. Tin is not so much in demand now. However, the region has continued to flourish with other types of industries and activities.
Some of the old colonial style buildings and structures can still be seen around the city. On arrival, we headed off for a late breakfast in one of Ipoh's "coffee shops" well-known for its noodles (kway teow) soup, coffee and spring rolls (popiah).
Did you know that "Old Town White Coffee" originates from Ipoh? It tastes so good that tourists even buy packets of it back to their home country. Of course it tastes much better if it is made by the "old master" in the coffee shop kitchen and served in the traditional way.
We preferred our coffee with lots of ice....especially after a long, hot drive. Mmm not too sweet or bitter and very refreshing.
Did I mention the main purpose of our trip? Of course it's to eat the delightful variety of food that Ipoh offers. We moved to another part of the city to sample the most famous dim sum in Ipoh at the Foh San Restaurant. This restaurant is only open till 2.00pm everyday and it's crowded with locals, occasional visitors like us, and lots of tour groups.
You need to find your own table, and most likely you end up sharing a table with other strangers. You even need to serve yourself.
Being rather full after our breakfast, we ordered just a few dishes to try out. The portions are much bigger and prices are lower than in Kuala Lumpur.
Ipoh is also famous for chicken rice. I don't know why the chickens here are more tasty than in other states but I do know that the bean sprouts served with the chicken looks different and tastes much sweeter than anywhere else. Apparently it is because they are germinated using water from the limestone hills.
Lots of restaurants are selling the same but we visited this one as it is recommended by the food critics. Must be among the best.
Here's the dish of chicken that I ordered. Not much of a presentation but the meat is indeed firm and sweet.
And this is the dish of bean sprouts....just blanched with some sauce. Yummy! Notice that the sprouts are unusually short and fat.
On our way home, we stopped to buy salt baked chicken take-away. Again, lots of other shops in this area were also selling this specialty but apparently this one is the best.
First you need to unwrap the many layers of paper around the chicken. The chicken does not look very impressive but the meat is very tender and the salt gave it a special flavour.
I gave some of my ACAP friends packets of biscuits from Yee Hup. As you can see, this biscuit is a specialty from Gunung Rapat in Perak. To some, the biscuit is even better than those from Ghee Hiang in Penang, but I guess it depends on individual preference. 
Lastly, I could not resist taking this photo of a crowd lining up in front of a small shop to buy its soya bean drink. What's so special about "Funny Mountain" soya drink? I shall find out on another trip when I am not feeling so stuffed with chicken rice.
As usual, the EANET Secretariat and Network Centre came well prepared to brief the participants on the progress of EANET and latest developments. The representatives from each member country were also eager to share their monitoring achievements. 
Chatting with an old friend Jiro Sato-san from ACAP. On my left are friends from Universiti Teknologi Mara.
At the dinner table with Prof. Akimoto (on my left) and friends from Malaysia and other countries. My thanks and gratitude to Prof. Nik (on my right) from UPM for providing support from Malaysia in the organization of the meeting.
This is unique! We were served a choice of white or brown sugar sticks with our after-dinner coffee. If you prefer your coffee sweeter, you just stir longer.
I'm with Aida from the Secretariat and Sinia from MMD. Aida and I first met when we attended the discussions leading to the establishment of EANET and now we have lost count on how many meetings we have attended together in various capacities!
Everyone was happy and relaxed at the end of the meeting. We ladies love to take pictures so we can treasure the memories. I believe the men like to be included too.
Young and old, we've all become part of the EANET family.
