Ling Sen Tong Temple 1 Sep 2017

After our breakfast at Restaurant Kong Heng, we came to the famous cave temples in Ipoh. The first cave temple that we visited and so eye catching is Ling Sen Tong cave temple.

It is located next door to Nam Thean Tong and Sam Poh Tong just off Jalan Gopeng on the southern outskirts of Ipoh. Ling Sen Tong probably picks up a lot of tourist visitors who are heading to those more famous cave temples.

This temple is quite different from its neighbours. The garden in front is decorated with colourful statues of characters from Chinese mythology such as the Monkey King from the classic tale Journey to the West, the Ji Gong and others.

The almost cartoon-like caricatures of dragons, the Goddess Kuan Yin and other figures give the temple a children's theme park atmosphere. Issac and Annabelle were so facinating with all the interesting statues around the court yard.

The cave itself is very shallow and is more like an overhang of the hill Gunung Rapat which looms above the temple.

Although the courtyard outside may resemble a children's garden, the cave temple itself appears to attract many whom come to pray and we can see the roof of the cave which has been stained black by the smoke of countless joss-sticks.

After spending some time here, we just walked to the Nan Thean Tong Temple through the connecting courtyard.

Princess Belated Birthday Celebration 2 Sep 2017

Princess actual birthday is on 31 August – Malaysia National Day. We only managed to celebrate with her after we were back from our Ipoh trip. Daddy bought a fresh cream butter cake for her. And, here we are!

Fulfilling My Duty to God

Preparing for the Priesthood #2 ~ Read D&C 20:57-60 and Aaronic Priesthood: Fulfilling Our Duty to God [Deacon], page 7. Discuss with a parent or leader the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood and what it means to do your duty to God.

This is the second lesson for Issac for the Preparing for the Priesthood session. It is about what is the duty of the Aaronic Priesthood.

Issac needs to learn about the scripture to understand more about his duty as the deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood.

Well, I must say the topics under this “Preparing for the Priesthood” is quite ‘heavy’ and ‘serious’ matters to talk about.

Doctrine and Covenants 20:57-60 is about the duty or authority of the lesser priesthood, the Aaronic Priesthood:

Priests, teachers, and deacons hold the Aaronic Priesthood. Priests may baptize new members and bless the sacrament. They also help the elders.

Teachers may help get the sacrament ready and go home teaching. They are to help Church members live righteously.

Deacons may pass the sacrament, act as ushers, and collect fast offerings. They are to help keep Church buildings and grounds in good condition and to serve as messengers for priesthood leaders.

It is actually quite the same scripture as the previous lesson and Doctrine and Covenants 107:20.

Then we discussed about the Purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood, as stated in the Church Handbook:

Lastly we discussed about What It Means to Do Your Duty to God?

“You are a son of God. He has restored His priesthood in our day, and He has entrusted you with that priesthood.”

“All priesthood holders have a common call from the Lord: “Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence" (D&C 107:99).”

“But where can you go to learn about this duty? The first place to look should be the scriptures. Specifically, you’ll want to study the sections in the Doctrine and Covenants where the duties of the Aaronic Priesthood are outlined in Doctrine and Covenants 20:46-60, 20:72-79 and Doctrine and Covenants 84:111.”

It can be divided the Aaronic Priesthood responsibilities into 3 sections:

1. Administer Priesthood Ordinances
2. Serves Others
3. Invite All to Come unto Christ

“The Lord has promised that as you fulfil your priesthood duties, you will be sanctified by the Spirit, you will become the elect of God, and eventually you will receive all that the Father has (see D&C 84:33–38).”

“Your service as a priesthood holder will bring great blessings to those you serve.”

I know it is quite a lot to learn about all these duties of an Aaronic Priesthood for Issac, but I just make it simple and it is still an introductory to him. He will learn more when he is ready to receive his Aaronic Priesthood.

Jalan2 Cari Makan @ Kampar 2 Sep 2017

We were enroute to Kampar during on our way back to Kuala Lumpur.

Medan Selera Kampar is the place to go for breakfast in Kampar, as there are so many food stalls in it, and surely there is something for everyone.

The area is separated into two sections – one serving halal food, while another one area consisted of mostly Chinese stalls. There are really a lot of people in the Medan Selera.

We just walkabout, and found the seating just next to the famous Stall no. 32. Be sure to sit near the beverage stall that you are ordering from.

We joined in the line immediately after we managed to find the stall. While queuing up, we observed what the locals ordered for theirs.

Sometimes the beverage stalls can be territorial about the tables but there are no restrictions on which food stall that you are ordering from.

That is what happened to me while I was ordering drinks from the beverage stall.

Stall no. 32’s uncle is famous as everyone knows him as the uncle who sits on a stool while frying and dishing out his plates of char kuey teow.

Charcoal, instead of conventional gas is being used so this explains why his Char Kuey Teow is always full of ‘wok hei’.

The famous Char Kuey Teow (fried noodles with eggs, prawns, and waxed sausages) was served on a sheet of banana leaf, and a welcoming half a calamansi lime for extra zing. Well, here goes our breakfast.

After our breakfast, we went around the Medan Selera and hunt for other food.

Stall no. 42 is another famous stall in Medan Selera Kampar. It has been serving their famous glutinous rice for more than a decade.

We were very lucky to secure the famous 2 glutinous rice. Unlike its plain counterpart, the glutinous rice was served together with roasted peanuts, and char siew.

The glutinous rice had a lovely chewy texture, the roasted peanut was crunchy, the char siew was tender and silky texture.

We did walk around and saw some of the famous food stalls that we did not manage to try, such as the curry chee cheong fun and the claypot noodles, which the queue is very long. We definitely will come back if got chance to try it ourselves.

Then, we continue our journey back to home. officially ended our 3 days 2 nights Ipoh trip.

Jalan2 Cari Makan @ Ipoh 1 Sep 2017

We woke up quite early in the morning. Daddy drove us to Jalan Bandar Timah, which is just along the famous Concubine lane. We decided to have our breakfast at Restoran Kopi Kong Heng.

We arrived around 7.00am. There were not so crowded yet, and the food stalls just started began their business. We managed to find table and chairs. After half an hour, the crowd started to flood in.

Kong Heng is ever so popular with the locals and tourists alike. Getting a table here is no easy feat, one has to be ruthless and prey like a hungry vulture.

We ordered the ever famous Ipoh Sar Hor Fun, Pork Ribs Wanton Mee, Bak Chang and Dumpling Soup.

Kong Heng and it's next door neighbour Restoran Thean Chun, has been around since the 60s and still serves up the whole plethora of great local food till today.

People from all over come to Ipoh for their famous hor fun, chee cheong fun, white coffee, pork satay, popiah and Kong Heng is the one-stop place to start all your food adventures in Ipoh.

Then we went for some egg tarts at Egg Tarts King. They serve Portuguese egg tarts, normal and pandan egg tarts, and also siew pau. It is really nice, and crispy on the pastry crusts, and the egg is so smooth and soft.

We left around 8.00am and headed to our destination at Gunung Rapat to visit the caves temples: Ling Sen Tong Temple, Nan Tian Tong Temple, Sam Poh Tong Temple and Kuan Yin Tong Temple.

We spent almost 2 hours there and went for our next food hunt at Restoran Chong Kee (Tai Shu Kiok) located Kampung Pasir Pinji. This is the place for Yong Tau Foo in Ipoh. It is called Tai Shu Kiok because it is just under a huge tree.

There is an impressive selection for you to choose from and you just join the queue and patiently wait your turn.

We were considered lucky as we managed to find a parking with paying some parking fee, we managed to find a table with chairs as we shared with an old local uncle.

The first impression of the whole Restaurant really shocked me a little, as every where is full of people and they were standing just beside the table just next to you!

Actually you can order laksa, or other types of noodles to go with Yong Tau Foo, but we did not order any of the noodles as we were still full.

The fish paste used in the making of the Yong Tau Foo screams homemade, and the pieces are not miniature in size either.

They are stuffed to the brim, ensuring bang for your bucks. But really, go for anything … they’re all good.

After we just went to the next stall for the drinks and shave ice desserts, especially in this hot weather.

We headed to Ipoh Parade again today for 2nd movie, which is the children’s favourite “ Cars 3”.

It is really a nice movie! After the movie, we back to Jalan Bandar Timah again around 4.00pm, now is to visit the Concubine lane.

There were a lot of tourists around that small lane and the surrounding area! We took selfie at the Concubine Lane 2 and Concubine Lane 3 which is decorated with a lot of white and red umbrellas a long the lane.

It is quite a shock to us that the whole back lane has changed to a very commercial, compacted with a lot of small business kiosks. I can not see the architecture of the colonial building at that back lane any more. Only people, people and more people!

It is quite disappointing! It is so much difference during the time we visited last year! But this time, we managed to snap some nice photos with the 3D mural walls along the streets and shops.

We had our dinner at the famous Michelangelo's Pizzeria. We did not know that the restaurant have so many waiting rules.

We arrived early as around 5.15pm, we were thinking of want to use the toilet then we can wait for the kitchen to open at 6.00pm.

While, the owner is an American and he told us that we have to wait outside the shop as they are still preparing in the restaurant. We did not expect this at all. So arrogant!

Any how, we came back nearly 5.40pm and there were people already sitting on the bench outside. We joined the queue. There were more and more behind us.

The theme of this restaurant is American Rock n Roll, it is just like drinking beer in the pub, with the loud music.

We did not manage get to see the kitchen. At last, we have been ursher and seated to a table, and the menu was given.

The serve 16 inches pizza which comes in pork, chicken, tuna and vegetarian pizza but the choice is not really many though.

However, we suppose that the main pizza is pork pizza as we can see from the menu that more than half of the choices are pork pizza.

So we only order pork pizza. We choose for Bacon and Egg pizza and Hog Extreme pizza in one, and, there is no extra charge.

The Bacon and Egg pizza is is topped with streaky bacon and then 2 eggs are cracked on it and then was grilled to just right with the cheese is still springy and the eggs are half cooked.

The texture is so fluffy and the eggs is still watery like half-boiled egg that we always eat.

From the name Hog Extreme we must have known that the pork meat used must be very much.

The topping is so generous that covers almost the whole surface of the pizza.

Every bites also full of meat. If you are a meat lover, like me, this must be a must order pizza.

Well… both pizzas were so cheesy and we were really feel full having 1pc 16” pizza for total 4 of us.

After which we went back to hotel to rest. Daddy and Issac did come out again in the night to walk around at Gerbang Malam again.

They bought us salt baked chicken from Happy Delicious Salt Baked Chicken for supper.

It was tasty and salted to the core of the chicken. The juicy meat practically falls off the bone, with flavours infused heavily with salt and herbs.

We were so into the chicken until forgot about taking photos!

Well… This is the last night of our short trip in Ipoh! It is a Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan trip.