One day in Ipoh

Finally another resolution off the list! Can't believe i finally drove out of Penang without my parents, all the way to Ipoh for 2 hours!

It was a really impromptu trip so our plans weren't well-planned, and there were several unexpected situations so we skipped a few good places to go.

Our original plan was: Double breakfast at Lemon Koay Teow Soup Sungai Puya & Dimsum at Ming Court ➡ Concubine Lane ➡ Funny Fountain Soya Bean ➡ Sin Eng Heong ➡ Gaharu Tea Valley ➡ Qin Xin Ling Cultural Village ➡ Kellie's Castle ➡ Dinner at Sun Tuck Kee Restaurant ➡ Kinta Riverfront Walk ➡ First Garden Night Market

Before i begin my review, i would really like to recommend everyone to a car accessories supply shop that's located at Ipoh (just in case you need one)!
My car number plate dropped down due to the heavy rain and flood at Penang so we decided to fix it in Ipoh, which cost the whole delayed trip :/

The aunty is super helpful and friendly, except the number plate, we also asked for help to check the tyre because of our weird insecurities and turns out she settled the minor car problems for us. Just talk to her and she'll be more than willing to chat around during your wait.

Polywest Car Accessories

(Located at the same row with UOB at Jalan Dato Seri Ahmad Said)

1) Lemon Koay Teow Soup Sungai Puyu - Dimsum at Ming Court

I am a very huge fan of the Lemon Koay Teow Soup since i was little and because my aunt owns the stall, i would suggest you guys to read up the review from other bloggers, like: Kenhuntsfood. Only i would like to say that I prefer my aunt's LKTS more than any other stalls outside!

Tourists will always go to Foh San Dimsum which is located directly opposite Ming Court Hong Kong Dimsum but we picked Ming Court like the locals did.
We only picked a few special recommendations from my friend because we clearly don't have too much space to spare in our tummy.

Highly recommended: Muar Chee (def a must try!), Shrimp Dumplings (虾饺) - didn't manage to get pictures of these - 

Fred Meat & Shrimp Dumpling (咸水角)

Sesame ball with Lotus Seed/Red Beans Paste

If you're looking for something to fill your tummy, Black Sesame Tong Shui, Pork Bun (叉烧包) and porridge could be a good choices as well.
The thing special about this place is that the dimsums are small enough for me to put into my mouth in one bite, and also the dimsums are different from what i can get in Penang!

Psss...the aunties here are helpful! I get that sometimes they get really grumpy when its busy but they're willing to get the dishes from other aunties for you if you ask (the dimsum here are serve in trays there will be waiters walking around with it so look out for your favorites!)

2) 二奶巷 (Concubine Lane)

Its actually just a very short lorong (lane), something like Love Lane in Penang. I personally like this place only because the shopkeepers there are nice and also it's a good place to take nice pictures.

 Also, this pretty Rainbow house filled with souvenirs (personally like the ambiance of this shop).

Not forgetting some special snacks you can find in this lane after a round of breakfast/lunch, 

Fancy cotton candy

I'm only recommending this to people who's getting it in group of 2 or 3 because eating it alone not having the speed to finish it will only cause a mess. The candy melts in less than 10 minutes and the sugar will spill all around causing stickiness. 

 Gaharu tea ice cream 

If you love ice cream you should try this, if you love tea you should EVEN try! I could've had two if it weren't because of my limited appetite and my menstrual that day. 

I guess there are some other snacks that everyone should go explore yourselves because i'm a little picky on my food and also some closed shops so i couldn't try some of them. 

3) Funny Fountain Soya Bean - Sin Eng Heong

I'm not a really big fan of Tau Fu Fah but I can swear that Funny Fountain has one of the best Tau Fu Fah! 

It's so soft that it slips through your tongue and throat and its not as sweet as those you get in Penang. They don't use white/black sugar, they use Vanilla sugar. For a person like me who don't really take sweety food, I am a total fan of it!! 

Also, not to forget the soya bean 😋😋

Sin Eng Heong is another destination that delayed our trip, we stayed there for more than an hour (based on the hilarious boss, we were there for 1h 15m 03s 😅). 

The queue is no joke.

People queue up for the Fluffy Kaya Puffs and it's popular for that. People don't get them in pieces, they get them in boxes (a minimum of 4, and i feel stupid for just getting 1 when it only costs RM9 with 9 pieces in it!), so did my friend. 

I would suggest everyone to go read Kenwooi's review, saliva dripping, i miss the kaya puffs already! 

4) Kellie's Castle, Ipoh, Malaysia

The journey from Sin Eng Heong to Kellie's Castle takes around 30 minutes because it's located a bit more outskirt than the usual places you can visit. 

*Tip: Same goes to Qin Xin Ling and Gaharu Tea Valley. The locals recommended us to take the route from Gaharu Tea Valley ➡ Qin Xin Ling Cultural Village and visit Kellie's Castle as the last stop but because 3 of these places are only opened from 9a.m. to 6p.m. and we're behind schedule so yeah.

It was raining cat and dogs when we arrived, and the ticket to enter will cost RM5 so in case you're not willing to be caught in the rain (even if you have an umbrella you're still gonna get wet), it's not recommended to go in.

Make sure you show your Malaysian IC to get a price of RM5 for adults! 

We never manage to walk around because it's raining and the wind was too strong and we got really wet! Additionally it's a bit dark because of the rain, and you know what it feels like to be in a incomplete castle not fully furnished/uninhabited :/

But still, if its bright, please walk around and explore all the secret tunnels, hidden rooms and the mysteries behind this castle because this place is amazingly incredible and i totally want to be there again!

See you again, Kellie's Castle! 😍

5) Sun Tuck Kee Restaurant - Kinta Riverfront Walk - First Garden Night Market

We actually found out Sun Tuck Kee Restaurant through the internet that it has some of the best food recommended for dinner so there we go! 

There are a lot more other coffee shops around this place and it's like 2 in a row so there shouldn't be a problem looking for good food there. 

Moonlight Noodles (月河粉) / Fish Noodles (idk what exactly the name is)

Dumplings (水饺) 

We ordered enough food to feed us, but the menu is a variety! 

Everyone should really try it's Moonlight Noodles as it's most of the reasons why people dine in there and also a highly recommended dish! Anyhow the noodles were both delicious so i guess the other dishes wouldn't be too bad as well. 

Kinta Riverfront Walk is nothing much but just pretty lights and nice environment to take a nice walk and release your stress. 

Pss.. If you still play Pokemon, this is a nice place to catch one! 

First Garden night market is only available on Friday nights! Ipoh has night market almost every night and here's a list of it: Night markets everyday in Ipoh 

We don't have too much space for snacks it's been a long day about food, hence, only 2 recommendations from this market from us :/

Raindrop Cake (水信玄饼)

This jelly-liked dessert has been a hit for some time on my Facebook and i finally saw it in real (but i didn't try it because i never liked jelly lol but the comments weren't bad and it was recommended by most people so it's a yes!).

Peanut Ice Cream (花生冰淇淋)

Literally my favorite dessert of the day! The ice cream and peanut and popiah skin combination is perfect.It tastes something like Peanut Candy (贡糖) if you've tried it, with ice cream in it. Definitely a must-try if you manage to get to First Garden. Miss it already! 😋

Check out the Facebook page for more details! 

I took a video of how the peanuts were made because i find it amusing!!!! Check it out! 

We ended our one day trip at the night market and drove back home at 9pm. It was a pleasant 14 hours trip despite that there were a lot of bumps in the trip but we still had fun! 

Psss.. Waze is your good friend for the trip to Ipoh, definitely save us a lot of time from the traffic and taken a few shortcuts! 

If you have any concerns or questions for a trip to Ipoh please do not hesitate to contact me through the comment or email: elsy.ahning@gmail.com :) 

"2016 resolution: Road trip with a friend ✔"

We're too young to stop

I guess recently it has been a bit harsh for me, where disappointments happen so frequently.
From the incident where i got approved by AIESEC to volunteer to Taiwan, finally crossing out something from my dream board, but ended up rejecting it because of family reasons,
to today's (01/07/2016) exam that i thought i was so confident in but ended up screwing my paper (i guess they call this over-confidence?).

Heartaches and sadness are the easiest thing to get over because you cry, you sleep, you eat, and it will go anyway,
but the pieces that form regrets, disappointments and sometimes even reasons of being mad at yourself will always be there.




After realizing that i screw up half of my accounting paper today, i was literally drown in sorrows, heartbreaks, anger at my own stupidity and all kinds of the saddest emotions you can have.
Of course, it went off real quick after a few good rounds of food and entertainment,
but at the end of the night, the disappointments and regrets never left, including the ones that were left over from the AIESEC incident.

Yes, the people around you might tell you to stop being sad, they tell you that it's fine to not always be perfect, and also they will always manage to convince you that it's not your fault to not achieve certain expectations, but at the end of the day, the decision of letting things go comes back to you.

I'm not that kind of girl who let things go easily. I struggle a lot, especially when i have too much expectations when i put in tons of effort.

Yes, people always say that "if you don't expect too much, then you won't get too much disappointments".
I never really agree much on it because i always say, if you want to do it, work for perfection. Hence i always believe "how much effort paid, how much you get in return", expectations are always there.

I find it hard to get through this because I can never forgive myself for making such a mistake. 

I bet anyone can hardly understand how does it feel to be so so disappointed when you were so good in tutorials but make a simple mistake that could ruin your entire question in the exam.

Even up till just now in the evening, i started to doubt my capability for the next three papers. :(

WHAT DID I REALLY DO TO DESERVE THIS?

Getting through it is hard, but there's a will, there's a way. I guess mine has always been musics and lyrics (yes i'm much of a kpop addict, why?).

Tomorrow | BTS

"Tomorrow" has always been my favorite song since I entered university and it has accompany me through three semesters, now the forth. 

The lyrics are a definite must-read! They never fail to motivate me and pick me up from a lot of fear and failures, including this time. 

These are two of my favorite verse: (also because it's my bias part la k hehe)

I guess in Chinese we call this “不忘初心”? Even in the far future when they have a lot more new songs releasing, this song will always be my favorite. ❤

"니 꿈을 따라가 

무너진대도 뒤로 달아나지마"

Because you're too young to stop, xx

Diet tips

A lot of people has been asking me about tips for dieting because I have been on and off slimming down (and actually gaining weight again 😂). 

I actually don't have an idea on sharing my diet tips because I never realize myself losing weight before except that the people around me keeps telling me that I did, did I lol? 

Last week I happen to come across this YouTube video of Get It Beauty featuring SISTAR Soyou's diet tips and find it really relevant so I really hope girls who are on your diet or trying to diet, you really should watch this! 

1) Don't follow what female celebrities do 

"If you want to succeed in dieting, it's most important to find an exercise that works for you, something that you can do for a long time" 

Falling in love with the gym & pool & hikes is my biggest push in body building 

2) Say goodbye temporarily to your friends 

Going to eat with your friends-"ah, should I take a bite?"-"anyway i've taken, i'll start diet tomorrow" 

If you can be a bit more discipline and strict on your diet even eating out, then you may exclude this from your plan

3) 'No' to weighing scale, 'Yes' to mirror and full length photos

"It's fun to take photos because i can see the change in my body. weight is just a number." I DEFINITELY AGREE TO THIS. 

Weighing yourself is team kill, you worked out so hard, eat clean, but ended up weighing yourself and realizing your weight goes down only a kg, i know that pain. 

Instead, i take a lot of pictures from time to time of which part of my body i want to ton and always look into the mirror. 

This really helped, and gave me a lot of motivations

4) You don't lose weight and still maintain your breasts & bottom volume

It's normal to lose  a bit of volume so don't panic. Instead of cardio, do weight training!

If i really did lose weight, i can swear to you that i never worry about losing too much of my volume because i do at least 15 minutes of weight training in my one hour training each time, it works

5) You can't lose weight only in certain body parts no matter what 

Because "your body is one and not separated"

"If you want to lose weight on certain body parts, you should work out the whole body and decide how to FOCUS more on certain body parts"

There are a few tips I would really love sharing on how I'm being so determined and motivated to work out. 

✔️ Follow enough fitness accounts on your social media to motivate yourself (make sure you scroll them often enough to keep you motivate)

✔️ Your diet starts from the kitchen, clean diet (which i sometimes eat cheat that's why i didn't lose a lot of weight 😐)

✔️ NEVER skip meals, I do eat dinner a little too!

✔️ Find your motivation source and make sure you change it once you immune to it! 

Mine's nevertheless my oppas and unnies 😍, looking at their pictures and nice bodies will never fail to bring me to the gym! 

Ailee;

VIXX (Ravi, Hongbin); 

 Jung Jiwoo (J-Hope's sister); 

Everyone, work hard on your diet~ 

다이어트 열심히 하세요! xx

Diet takes time, but 

"EXERCISE IS THE REFLECTION OF YOUR EFFORT"

Hi, May 2016

Hello elsylicious readers, 안녕하세요! 

I finally decided to come back blogging.
드디어 다시 생각했어 여기가 돌아왔다~

I won't be too active, but I will do my best to keep on updating.
활성화 질수 있지만 항상 업데이트를 계속 하기 위해 최선 을 다할 것입니다.

Thank you for keep on cheering on my posts! xoxo
계속하게 많이 응원해주면 감사합니다!