Relaxing Sekinchan Trip

This is our second Sekinchan trip (适耕庄). We wanted to enjoy the relaxing padi fields again, and visit nearby 天空之镜 Skymirror .

Sekinchan is about 5 hours (430km) from Singapore. But the trip will be easier if we have a few stopovers. I will list down the estimated time and distance from Singapore, GPS coordinates and where we enjoyed our meals.

Take note time is for estimation only, as we drives at different speed.

0645 to 0900 Tuas Malaysia checkpoint

Jams at the customs are beyond our control, and can make or break the trip enthusiasm. With small kids, prepare tons of attraction or food to distract them, and plastic bag for bladder situations!

*Try out Beat The Jam! app, it can give real time estimation of queues at both customs, and even forecast best-time.

We drove 1 hour to Yong Peng, about 80km from Tuas checkpoint.

1030 To 1100 Yuan Yean Fishball 西刀鱼圓
(GPS 2.011111, 103.063056). (rated 3.75/5)

This is one of the popular stopovers in Yong Peng. I told the kids that Yong Peng’s significance ( and smaller tributaries road too) have been reduced due to North South Highway.

Located between KFC and Caltex, look out for the red building.
We would recommend the fishball, fishcake and otah.

Do not eat too much as road ahead is still long.

We did noticed more speed cameras along North South highway, be vigilant and slow down when you see other cars slowing down near hot spots.

Speed Limit for NS Highway is 110kmh, but I normally drive faster.
Use Waze app to get advanced notification of spot-checks ahead 🙂

1230 to 1300 Kfc Bridge at Ayer Keroh (real name is Restoran Jelantas)

(GPS 2.397665 102.220007) is about 115km from Yong Peng. This is the iconic bridge which spans across NS Highway. Exit left when you see the R&R sign for Jelantas.

KFC, A&W and Baskin Robbin’s are waiting. This might be where you wish to top up your petrol for the next 200km, or short toilet break.

Image credit Google Map

1400 to 1500 Drive 130km to Klang area (Exit 214 Nilai Exit, drive towards KLIA and Shah Alam direction)

There are plenty of good food in Klang. These are the ones we visited to/fro from our trip. In fact, food hunting in Klang was high on our Sekinchan Trip itinerary 🙂

1)Restoran Peng Heong (GPS 3.048364, 101.444857) (Rated 4/5)
This is coffee shop, not restaurant. Delicious Hakka food, famous for pork rib. and many others.

Appetising home cooked style, we all love the fried round meatball.

Look for this mosque as you are navigating towards the stall.

2) Regent Pandan Layer Cake (GPS 3.040869, 101.45194) (Rated 4.25/5)

Looks like Bangawan Solo type of pandan cake. But Klang’s version is less sweet and super addictive. Must consume within 2 hours, or keep in fridge.

Please call “+60 3-3371 8382” beforehand to reserve your cake.

*The distance between the food venues are near but the road congestion is bad. Streets are narrow and you need to filter quite frequently.

Try to follow your GPS and exit from the Round-About!
Next, try to ensure your convoy can catch up.

3) Restoran 158 (GPS 3.010268, 101.419470) (rated 3.75/5)

We visited this 肉骨茶 Bak Kut Teh on our return trip. There are many Bak Kut Teh stalls along this stretch of roads.  We reach around 1130 but most of the good stuffs already sold out.

We highlighted another Bak Kut Teh (under the bridge) in our previous trip.

Do not expect super hygienic premise, but we guarantee the soup stork are good 🙂

From Klang, Sekinchan is only 80km away. We arrived around 4pm and drove one round for the sunset view.

Sekinchan Trip
Sekinchan Trip

适耕庄

适耕庄Fields might turn yellow during harvesting period around end May or Nov. Wind down the windows and enjoy the breeze and view. You might see sparrows flying in unison too.

PadiBox homestay
(GPS 3.492957, 101.114076)

Padibox
Padibox

Love our colouful containers, which stands out among the surrounding padi fields. Every window let us peep out to green “meadows”.

Nintendo Mario (wow old school), cycling and billiards kept us entertained.

Our previous container stay at Farmville was a warm experience in the afternoons, even after we full-blast the aircon. PadiBox containers are ok with the aircon. (Maybe Farmville is better now)

Spacious bunk beds for everyone, with a morning view. Do take note this is a 6-pax family room, the smaller rooms might not have a window.

Love the green views !

Looks so poetic right 🙂

   

It is cheaper to book direct, rather than booking.com
PadiBox website here.

N.16 cafe the bus is just next to Padibox
(Gps 3.492867, 101.114068) (rated 3.5/5)

We noticed folks streamed non-stop to visit this bus. Quite a novelty to enjoy your lunch while enjoying the scenery all around.

Food is very Instagrammable too, go for the chicken chop.
(not that there are many options on the menu)

However, beverages and cheese cake are so so only.

We will share more from our Sekinchan trip in the next post. Meanwhile, you may read the following posts and photos first.

Previous 2016 Sekinchan Trip (Farmville stay)
Skymirror trip (Bagan Datoh)
Driving tips for Malaysia
2022 11D10N Road trip to Penang

Sekinchan blog
Sekinchan blog

-2018 3D2N Sekinchan Day 1 
-2018 3D2N Sky Mirror Day 2
Our 3D2N Photos are in our Facebook album, click here.

*We would recommend two more links for Klang food, read here and here.

Refer to our Our 2022 Penang Road Trip video on YouTube:

Ipoh Street Food

When we talk about food in Malaysia, Penang (Asam), Malacca (Peranakan) and Ipoh (Hor Fun) are always popular. We have been to Penang and Malacca recently, but the last time we set foot in Ipoh was 11 years ago.

Last week, we went on a food trail to Ipoh. It is almost 500km away from Singapore. We need to know whether Ipoh’s white coffee is different from our supermarket’s 3-in-1 version :p

Boon Kang loves his toast. Look at the Kaya oozing out of the crispy crust !

We know we are near Ipoh (Perak) when we can see all the picturesque hills surrounding the highways.

Breakfast. Our first taste of aromatic White Coffee, coupled with freshly baked egg tarts and bread toast!

Lunch. Ipoh is famous for salted chicken, we tried claypot rice too 🙂

Tea break. Buns, desserts, or tim sum aplenty. Which one is good?

ipoh family itinerary
ipoh family itinerary

It really does not matter where we settle our meals, follow the locals. Drinking 豆花 (bean curd) in a car is so authentic !

Shopping. We should choose those brands not found in Singapore supermarkets right? Problem is there are so many brands to choose from ! (Bisuits, crackers, cuttlefish, Tau3 Sah2 Piah4, and Mah3 Ti2 Soh1)

We strongly recommend family with young kids to visit Lost World of Tambun. The petting Zoo, Hot Springs are a nice distraction from food experience.

Dinner time. Yummy Bbq Chicken wing.

Cuttlefish kangkong at Woolley Food Centre. This is the best dish of our trip, voted unanimously by Mummy and Daddy. This 5 stars dish is very affordable, the satay gravy so fragrant and the cuttlefish so chewy. It appears on almost every table.

Daddy might have to boycott Singapore’s Satay bee hoon :p

Dessert. You must try the cendol and ice kachang. We love Ipoh’s version compared to Penang (Sweeter). The below left pic is actually a mixed-fruit and topped with chocolate ice-cream (just like a salad).

We did not force Boon Xin to sip off the last drop of Ice. It is that Good !

If you find the above street food appetising, it is only 30% of what we have savour !
Can you imagine why our waistlines have balloon over the short Ipoh stint?

Poor Boon Yee. He was stuffed with so many goodies on Day 1! No wonder he is hesitant about another mouth of goodness.

We will recommend Regalodge to our friends, we stayed three nights at this cozy hotel. Click for Tripadvisor and Hotel website.

Meanwhile, we will share more about the food locations in the next few posts. Meanwhile, you can drop by our Fanpage Day 1 album, or reference and google :

a) F&B names (to be updated)
– Salted Chicken
– Woolley Food Centre (Ipoh garden 怡保花园)

b) Blogs
Eunice (TravelFolio)’s Ipoh list
– Motormouth ( An Ipoh food blogger)
– Ipoh Food GPS

c) Some of our food joints were from XinMSN’s recent “Volkswagen Holiday On Wheels”.
(link no longer valid)

d) How does Penang and Malacca street food fares ?

– Malacca Fenix Inn (Budget) Day 1 and Day 2 albums. Older Malacca post from 2010 Holiday Inn.
Penang (HRC)

Although we drove 7 hours to reach Ipoh, budget air Firefly takes only 1.5 hours. In case you choose to drive, we have just blogged about our driving experience on North South highway too.

=== === === Read our Ipoh posts below === === ===

Malaysia Driving tips
Day 1 – Drive and Food
Day 2 – Lost World of Tambun

** updated 2014Jun – GPS for food locations added
** Or fly to Penang then drive to Ipoh