Journey to the East

October 2

After many years of not stepping foot in the town of Bentong, we took a trip to visit my Khaw Foo, who was re-posted back to oversee the Lee plantations in that district a few months back. Travelling on the Karak Highway, the scenic landscape was a soothing treat for eyes that daily saw heavy streams of cars on highways twice a day. Layers of mountains in green-blue hues as far as the eye could see - the Titiwangsa range that separates the town from the much congested and polluted city of KL. One could even smell the grass and trees in the air. Ah, so refreshing and I had missed the smell of greens, like those in Taiping. Would these still be around in the next 10 or 20 years? Would urbanisation wipe these away?

Typical of a chinese family, we nursed our stomach the moment we reached. Khaw Foo had earlier booked a table at Qin Han Lou for lunch and a lavish one we had. Among its signature dishes were the fish paste noodles in soup with superior chinese wine and fresh steamed fish balls that were amazingly springy and tasty. We had steamed pomfret that was so fresh that its flesh was sweet and crunchy. The most expensive dish was probably the stewed deer tendon with water terrapin flaps. The other dishes were yong tau foo that were served rather differently from those in KL, stir-fried spinach with anchovies, sliced pork in black pepper-mustard sauce, and fried tung fun, (glass noodles) with prawns, onions, eggs and chillies that was eaten wrapped in fresh chinese lettuce.

Contrary to the Buddhist monk, Zuanzang's pilgrimage to India to obtain Sutra, the Buddhist religious texts in one of the greatest classical novels in Chinese literature, Journey to the West, we were lured to the East by the delicious food. Now, weren't we religious? :P