Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Retirement...The way I want it to be....

Just came back from Malaysia...spent the last 5 days in KL and Ipoh. Actually went over to attend a wedding dinner on Saturday (my other half's cousin got married) in Ipoh, but we stopped over in KL for a night on Friday first so that we could give Helena a break from all the travelling. After the wedding dinner, we spent another 2 nights in KL...staying at a relative's condo.

Didn't do much shopping but we had great food. To be honest, I never had such good food in my life! And we did not eat in big fancy restaurants....instead my dad-in-law's relatives brought us to a small village called Sungei Buloh.














The village is very small and cluttered with SMEs...the roads are simply just narrow dirt roads with small attap aluminium type of houses along the sides. In this small little village, we had what they call "Village Food {ka(1) heong (1) - cantonese}"...and it was delicious.. the most unforgettable dishes:

1. The Fish...(dunno what fish but it was enormous...steamed in a scrumptious gravy) Yum...the gravy alone had both my other half and dad-in-law down 3 large bowls of rice each. I had about 3 fishes during the whole of my stay in malaysia...every single one I had was delicious. Fresh and steamed just right....*sigh*
2. The Soya Sauce Kampung Chicken...the chicken (both skin and meat) was smooth and flavoursome. The texture of the meat was soft but yet luscious. It tasted like nothing what Singapore had to offer....
3. The Claypot Beancurd...Again the gravy was the one that earned the most points from me....there were simply no words which I could use to describe it. The flavour of gravy simply oozed out of the beancurd when you bite into it....

There were many more dishes which were very very good...but I have ran out of adjectives to describe them....my dad-in-law who is very close to being a food critic was fainting from eating too much...and after each meal, he had this wonderful look of contentment...

The cost of meals there is also low...we had 13 people and it only cost us $118 - $145 RM!!! We had about 6-8 dishes each time too!

Hawker food is great as well. The Penang Prawn Noodles, the Fish Paste Yee Mee cost about $3-4RM only and they taste wonderful. (even milk powder for Helena is so cheap...it cost like S$15 lesser...*haa*)

The Condo we stayed was also very comfortable. It was on top of a hill so it was very windy and cooling all the time. The air is fresh and there was no need to switch on the air-con or fan at all.....Helena was so comfortable she had long naps all the time...

All in all, I think KL is a great place to retire in. Cost of living is low....housing/food is so affordable...















Prime housing in KL such as the Damansara Heights is still affordable to people like me and my other half... Synonymous with elegant bungalows for politicians, wealthy businessmen, directors, and top civil servants...I could actually have such a life! Thats the kind of life I would like to have when i am older... *dreamz*