The Gerik-Pengkalan Hulu Trail (Pt 2)

(.... continued from Part 1)

Miniature-like tank at a non-existent round about.

(Gerik-ans can't be bothered to make one full round but instead zoom from every direction)

Just got back from Penang. Realizing in shock (*o*) that I'm WAY behind in my posts, and with my memory starting to fail me, I've made a resolution to post as much as possible, and hope the backlog of photos are cleared before the impending KL journey(and work) this month, and another Taiping stay end of June. Phew ....

Oh, it's a Scout Car ... for display purposes only though. Enemies would've spotted this from far away, defeating its 'scouting' intentions. =P

Yeah, in fact the small town of Gerik has its own landing site. But doubtful in full use. Probably only for the army's planes. Wondering what the common folks utilize this empty, vast land?

Some of the residents jog here, in the evening, successfully turning the land into erm, race tracks? LOL. Let's hope it's an abandoned landing site, else everyone would scramble like ants once the jet fighters zero in.

Restoran Chau Y (makes you wonder if the signboard makers scratched their heads in puzzle, wondering WTH Y stood for?)

Time for dinner, although the previous roti canai was still swimming in my stomach. But they were in famine mode, right after their badminton session. So, here goes ...

Stir-Fried Anchovies and Cashew Nuts (RM9)

Normally a dish best served with plain porridge, they spiced it up a notch by adding some curry leaves and dried chillies, not unlike Kung-Pow/Kam Heong style. Yummy.

Kam Heong Chicken (RM8)

The chicken meat was tender, and boneless. But the taste was moderate only, the sweetness offset the overall sensation. Even MBoy and gang who frequent this shop often, and ordered the same dish on most nights, admitted the taste was off, on that evening. Whoops.

Crispy Skin Tofu (RM5)

Their signature beancurd is homemade, deep-fried until the outer layer is crisp, and the interior soft and silky. Served with generous drizzles of onion oil, (probably too generous, according to KYT) the two blocks of goodness cost only RM5. A steal, no?

Kung Pow Mantis Prawns (RM15)

The mantis prawns (lai liu har) fared not much better though. Though the batter was crispy, some complained it was too thick, overpowering the succulent and natural sweetness of the meat while others consider the dish praiseworthy. Me? I'll go with the former group of thoughts. Portion was rather large, sufficient to feed 7 of us.

Stir-Fried Yau Mak with Fermented Beancurd (Foo yee) RM4

A bit on the salty side, but as expected when any vegetable is cooked with foo yee. Total bill for 7 came to RM49.90. Muahaha ... I thought I was dreaming ....

Location : Restoran Chau Y on the main road (Jalan Intan). No address, but pretty easy to locate. Just go towards the direction of Pengkalan Hulu from Gerik town, and you'll notice this restaurant on your left, same row with Restoran 113, another dai chow style restaurant.

Empty streets at 10pm, taken from the roof top of a four-storey building

Dark, 'treetop' setting cafe

We then proceeded to supper, after a nice, long bath. Initially planned for mahjong session on the roof top of MBoy/Tee's landlord's shophouse, the plan was scrapped when only the table was found. The mahjong set remained in oblivion. Supper sounds fine anyway. Hehe ....

French Fries (RM3/serving)

Other than KL's/JB's version of the tree top cafe, Gerik has its very own too! Nameless, and situated at a housing area behind Restoran Chau Y, this cafe serves Western food at affordable prices, and a frequent haunt when they have a cause to celebrate. One word of caution : the wait was relentless, more than 30 mins for 2 baskets of French Fries!! But the ambience made up for that, I guess. We were seated on the floor, cross-legged, and turned on our personal fan on the wall. Drinks are rather cheap, fruit juices for less than RM3.50. But the coffee was horrible.

(to be continued ... )