Choosing Simple Joys in Ipoh

Today was one of those quietly meaningful days — ordinary on the surface, but deeply grounding.

I accompanied my parents to the bank to settle some Safe Deposit Box matters. No rush, no stress, just the three of us moving through errands at a gentle pace. After banking, we stopped by a furniture shop, browsing without urgency, talking about practical things and small possibilities. Then came lunch — simple chap fan (economy rice), comforting and familiar, the kind of meal that doesn’t try to impress but always satisfies.

After a week-long break, I finally laced up my shoes and went for a brisk walk around my neighbourhood. The moment I stepped out, my body remembered why I love walking here. Ipoh is wrapped in limestone hills and lush greenery, and every walk feels like a quiet conversation with nature.

Some days, I’m greeted by monkeys living by the hills, watching curiously from a distance. Other days, I walk a little faster after being almost chased by dogs — a reminder to stay alert and laugh about it later. It’s never boring, always alive, always real.

As I walked, it became even clearer to me — Ipoh is where I want to spend the rest of my life. I love the peace here. I love the limestone hills standing quietly in the background, the good food that doesn’t need hype, the lower cost of living, and the deep familiarity of everything around me. Nothing feels foreign. Nothing feels forced.

Life in Ipoh is simple. But I’ve learned that simplicity can buy me something far more valuable than flashy wealth or luxury — peace and happiness.

And right now, that feels like everything.

These chap fan dishes from Ritzbina @ Bercham only cost RM32, consisting of 6 dishes, 2 large brown rice, a huge braised fish head and a big packet of steamed chickpeas. We kept the braised fish head for dinner.  The dishes are by far the best in Ipoh in terms of quality (not overly salty or oily) and price. My parents love to get their chap fan at this restaurant.

My mum stole some pix of me while I was doing banking at the ATM.

A Smooth Ride Home: Back to Ipoh With My Soul Cat, Haru

The drive back to Ipoh on 10 December 2025 felt… different this time. Maybe it was because I went home without any of my daughters following me, maybe it was the familiar comfort of going home, or maybe—just maybe—it was because my little shadow, Haru, handled the entire journey like a seasoned traveller.

For the first time ever, Haru didn’t meow at all during the trip. Not a single complaint, not even her usual “Are we there yet?” chirps. After two previous road trips, she’s finally gotten used to the long drive and seems to trust that mama will get her safely to her destination. Once we reached Ipoh, she settled down comfortably in our room—though, true to her mysterious cat personality, she still chose to spend most of her day hiding under my bed. That’s her safe bunker, her little retreat. As long as she feels secure, I’m happy.

Being back in Ipoh feels like sinking into a warm, familiar hug. My parents have been pampering me in every way possible. Dad even double-boiled bird’s nest with ginseng for me—his signature “super tonic” to nourish the body and soul. Meals? All taken care of. Laundry? Not my responsibility for once, though I still helped out. All I needed to do was help out with small house chores here and there, and even then, my parents kept telling me to rest, rest, rest. Mom went "stop wiping the floor" all the time.

And honestly… it’s such a luxury. No worrying about feeding my girls. No stressing over piles of laundry. No mental checklist running 24/7. No feeling of being rushed. Just a chance to breathe, slow down, and let my tired batteries recharge fully under my parents’ loving care.

Feels like exactly what my heart needed.

Stay tuned—more Ipoh stories coming soon!

Last minute photo-taking with their beloved Haru. Cass and Sherilyn miss Haru more than they miss me. Actually they don't miss me at all.

Haru inside her carrier in my car on our way back to Ipoh. My younger brother drove my car.

A Slightly Different Chinese New Year 2025

This year's Chinese New Year (CNY) was slightly different from our usual tradition. Typically, we travel back to Ipoh on CNY Eve or the first day of CNY. However, with my hubby needing to work on the first day, we only made the trip on the second day of CNY. While it felt a little strange not kicking off the new year in Ipoh, the celebrations were still filled with family, food, and treasured moments.

A Vegetarian Tradition

On the first day of CNY, instead of my mother-in-law preparing her customary vegetarian dish at home, this year, my hubby's Aunt Wendy volunteered to host the gathering at her house. Ever since I married into this family, this vegetarian dish has been a cherished part of the first day of CNY. In my own family—the Yong family—we have a similar tradition but with vegetarian fried meehoon. My late paternal grandmother used to make the most delicious version of it (with a soy sauce dipping of fresh shallots, chillies and sand ginger), and ever since she passed away, my papa has carried on the tradition.

While it was lovely to have the gathering with hubby’s family in KL, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for the times we spent in Ipoh on the Eve and first day of CNY. Hopefully, next year we can revive this tradition, though it will depend on the SPM exam dates since Cass will be sitting for her exams. If the dates fall around CNY, we’ll have to stay put in KL.

Journey to Ipoh on the 2nd Day

We left KL at 8:30 am on the second day of CNY and were grateful for the smooth traffic on the highway. The drive took only 2 hours and 10 minutes, which was a relief. Alycia and Sherilyn opted to take the train instead—Sherilyn, still nursing her backache, preferred the comfort of a train ride over a car journey.

Upon arriving in Ipoh, we dropped off Haru at my parents' house. After setting up her litter box and making sure she was comfortable, we headed straight to the Stadium food court to hunt for brunch. While many stalls were closed for the holidays, we still managed to enjoy a variety of local delights: porridge with pig innards, meehoon in tomato soup with pork chop, fried fish and pork paste, Pai Ti with braised turnip, Tosei, Indian rice with dishes, and refreshing Ice Kacang.

Family Favorites and Reunion Dinner

After brunch, we collected Sherilyn's birthday cake from JJ Swissroll in town. Then we made quick stops at the famous Woong Kee bean curd stall to get takeaway tau fu far and Yoke Fook Moon restaurant for dim sum for those at home. 

Our reunion dinner that evening was at Exquisite Restaurant again (we had it in this restaurant too last year), where we indulged in an 8-course feast, including the traditional Yee Sang toss. Sharing this meal with my parents and brothers was one of my favorite moments of the day. These family meals remind me how precious our time together is, and I cherish the laughter and love shared around the table.

Reflecting on Family and Traditions

CNY 2025 may have been slightly different, but it was still filled with heartwarming traditions, delicious food, and the company of loved ones. I hope for many more such celebrations in the coming years, where I can continue to share meals and memories with my parents, brothers, and my own growing family. Here's to keeping traditions alive while embracing new changes as life evolves. Wishing everyone a prosperous and joyous Year of the Ssssnake! 

Lunch of 'Jai' (vegetarian dish) on Chor 1 at aunt Wendy's house (two units below ours).

From the Stadium food court - Indian Nasi Padang, chicken chop, tosei and Pai Ti. 

From the Stadium Food Court - Ice Kacang, porridge with pig innards, fried fish & pork paste, tomato soup mee hoon with pork chop.

Stadium food court - many stalls, including all of our favorites, were closed.

At the Woong Kee bean curd stall to get takeaway silky smooth tau fu far with tong yuen.
Address: 32-38A, Jalan Ali Pitchay, Taman Jubilee, 30250 Ipoh, Perak

Chor 2 reunion dinner at Exquisite Restaurant - pan-fried big prawns, suckling pig, shark's fins soup and braised chicken in truffle sauce.

Braised abalone with broccoli, fish maw and mushrooms, clay pot lap mei rice and dessert of snow fungus + red dates + dried longan and lotus seeds.

Chinese New Year 2024

The last time we celebrated CNY in Ipoh was in February 2020, the year Covid gripped the world and changed things forever. Exactly four years later, we were back again to have a wonderful reunion with my family.  

This CNY is a little extra memorable as we brought Haru along with us. After a failed boarding for Haru, we had no choice but to lug her along with us to Ipoh. And I have no regrets about it. I managed to desensitize Haru's phobia of car rides and I'm still working on desensitizing her fear of meeting new people.  With Haru in Ipoh with us, I needn't have to worry about her having a harrowing time (hunger strike with no peeing and pooping) at the catsitter's place.

Haru was kept inside my bedroom most of the time. I placed her carrier and bed on the floor but this fella decided to sleep in between us on our bed at night despite me kicking her out of our bed umpteen times till I gave up out of exhaustion.

Chor 2 brunch of Dim Sum at Kok Thai Restaurant with my family before we headed to the Yaps' family house for 'Hoi Neen Fan'

Ang Pow gifting session.

We had an early birthday celebration for Sherilyn and bought a cake from JJ Swiss Roll.  Sherilyn was born on the eighth day of Chinese New Year 19 years ago.

The pandan chocolate cake from JJ Swiss Roll was super delish and not overly sweet or cloying.

My Advanced Birthday Celebration In Ipoh

The main reason for my trip back to Ipoh from 13-15 March was to visit my parents since the timing was right.  It was Sherilyn's last day of SPM and Cass had a few more days of school holidays before school reopened the following Monday.  After sending Sherilyn to school on Monday morning, I booked a Grab car to bring us to the KL Sentral station.

Back in Ipoh, my parents told me that they had ordered my favorite cempedak cake from JJ Cakes & Swissrolls. They had also booked a table at Sushi Zento to celebrate my 50th birthday 💓.  What a sweet surprise!

It's been yonks since I last celebrated my birthday with my parents because my birthday hardly ever coincides with the school holidays and also, no thanks to the pandemic. This year the celebration was totally unplanned.

After fetching Cass and me from Concubine Lane, papa brought us to JJ Cakes & Swissrolls to collect the birthday cake.

Birthday dinner at Sushi Zento @ Festival Walk Ipoh.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the food at Sushi Zento.  The food was lip-smackingly delicious, the service was excellent with polite waiting staff and the prices are reasonable.  Cass and I think that the food is even better than some of our favorite Japanese restaurants in KL.

Everyone loved the super fresh and highly addictive cempedak cake, with generous amounts of fresh cempedak flesh wedged between the layers of sponge cake with light cream.  JJ Swissrolls' cempedak cake is always a treat for all the senses, from its appearance to its flavor, texture, freshness, and aroma.

50 years young but always papa & mummy's little girl and I still received an ang pow each from them 💗

Dad is a member at Sushi Zento and got a 10% off the total bill.

Cass and I had evening walks around the neighborhood every day.

On one of our walks, we saw a troop of monkeys at the hillside and they were eating crispy tosei!

Cass and I could hear the crackling sound of the crispy tosei as the monkeys bit into it.  I think an Indian family nearby must have made the tosei and fed the monkeys. There's a kind Indian couple near my parents' house who would feed stray cats and dogs every evening.

Bidding each other goodbye at the Ipoh train station.
Mum could still snap pretty clear photos of me with her fractured right hand 😂

Throwback Food Snaps in Ipoh

Here's a recap of the simple yet delicious nosh that we had during our recent trip back to Ipoh from 24 ~ 27 December 2022. 

We didn't venture into town as both the road and human congestion were horrendous. It was Christmas and school term break, a period when all the touristy spots in Ipoh were jam-packed with long queues. 

We had all our meals at restaurants that were located within a 5-10 minute drive away from my parents' house.  Had the hubby followed us back, it would be another story.  He's a bit more adventurous when it comes to hunting down his favorite foods, and thus will brave the congestion and long queues to satiate his cravings.  

Dinner at Poh San @ Ipoh Garden East.

Dinner at Choy Kee Seafood Restaurant @ Ipoh Garden

We love the Kung Po style fried eel as well as stir-fried fish slices with scallions and ginger from Choy Kee.  Portions were really huge.

Dim Sum for brunch on Boxing Day @ Kok Thai.

There used to be a Kok Thai Restaurant in Ipoh Garden East where my parents' house is but sadly, it shuttered down in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.  The Kok Thai outlet that we went to for dim sum is located on Jalan Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah, just next to the old Casuarina Hotel. 

Kok Thai - a clean and spacious restaurant.

This is not food-related but a pet peeve of mine.  What I find totally gross and scuzzy is the headrest of public transport, especially trains and buses. So in order to have a restful 2 hours 40 minutes train ride, I wore a hoody jacket (with hoody over my head) and placed clean kitchen rolls over the headrest before resting my head on it 😜

I also wiped the seat with wet wipes before sitting on it. But the girls couldn't be bothered with the dirty seats though. They wore a hoodie or a cap to buffer their head/hair from touching the greasy headrest.

And mind you, it's not just plain kitchen rolls, but kitchen rolls with cute and colorful prints on them.  Can't blame an OCD  😬

Alycia's Stay In Ipoh

During the Hari Raya holidays, Alycia tagged along in a friend's car to make a trip back to Ipoh along with her grandma.   After a 7-hour long crawl on the trunk road on Sunday, they reached Ipoh at almost 8 p.m. 

The 6 days Alycia spent in Ipoh have been the best bonding time for her and my parents after not being able to travel back for 2 years during the pandemic.  The last time she had such a long time bonding with my parents (just her and my parents) was 18 years ago when she was only a two-month-old baby.  The mil (who was taking care of Alycia) had to be in Hong Kong and I had to work, so hubs and I sent Alycia back to my parents in Ipoh for several weeks.  We missed her so much when she was away from us.  That was when I had to truncate my breastfeeding journey with Alycia because of the inevitable separation.

Hubs and I would travel back to Ipoh every weekend to visit her.  My parents enjoyed taking care of their first grandchild tremendously.  They were both in their early 60s then and still full of vitality.  Fast forward 18 years on and their first grandchild is back in Ipoh to spend some of the most magical moments with them again, just the three of them 💓

Mum updated us with photos throughout the day.

Dinner at my parents' favorite restaurant, Poh San.  Papa is 79 and mum is 76 this year.

Koong koong gives Alycia refresher driving lessons on his old Nissan Cefiro. 

Alycia's college mates who are from Ipoh came to my parents to fetch Alycia to their housing estate for cycling. They carted my parents' foldable bikes along. They all drive from Ipoh - Sunway - Ipoh regularly. They're all 19, the same age as Alycia. I don't think I can allow Alycia to do this!

Mum made puff pastry pinwheels for Alycia's brekkie.

And 'apam balik' with sweet corn, chocolate hazelnut butter, and crushed walnuts. 

And homemade 'chee cheong fun'.  Mum is a talented baker and cook.  I grew up helping her whenever she baked cakes, bread pudding, pau, puffs, bread, mooncake, and many more.