The Journey Home

It has been so blissfully quiet in the city as city dwellers return home for the holidays. Couple of weeks before the traffic on the roads started, I took the opportunity to journey back to Ipoh; the hometown of my parents, home to the most beautiful women and more importantly ngah choy kai (bean sprout chicken). I am grateful for the NKVE which makes the journey much easier but this time round, I found myself reminiscing about the slow and windy drive on the old roads through dusty old towns. Its been awhile since I had a chicken biscuit from Bidor. I always prefered the ones at Kampar but obviously no one else feels the same way. Not so pleasant memories of second-hand smoke and Tom Jones also cropped up in between. I was incredibly hungry by the time I had finish imaginary eating over 1 hour and 45 minutes. We headed straight into old town. For the first time it struck me as odd that my favourite coffee shop , Tien Chun, served custard. Not custard like Bird’s Eye or Ambrosia but crème caramel. How random!

I found myself really enjoying my kai si hor fun. Funnily enough, I never really liked this particular one but father and grandfather used to frequent this place so I never stopped to question. Just like how I never questioned why the “chicken” satay here tasted so different from everywhere else. You know it was only about 10 years ago that I found out it was pork? This is one time when I prefer chicken over pork. Anyway, for awhile I stopped coming here to eat because I found I always felt queasy after. This time was no exception but I found it tasted better than I remembered. This is the original kai si hor fun for me after all. Old Town White Coffee is a good substitute but is a substitute no less. The noodles are smoother than a baby’s bottom and the broth sweeter than a lover’s promise. We also had the customary satay, popiah and chee cheong fun. I am carrying on a family tradition after all. We finish lunch with a plate of chilled custard. It is still as egg-y as always. I still don’t like it but I eat it anyway for old times sake. It just wouldn’t feel right ending the meal without it. I order 6 more to bring with us and we head home with our tray of wobbly custards in tow.