Perak Delicacies | Labu Sayong Signature Restaurant (Gourmet)

This time around, Labu Sayong is NOT a Labu Sayong.
And let me tell you why.

If you google, you will find that Labu Sayong in English means The labu Sayong (water container) is a Malay earthenware container. As many of you know, Labu Sayong is a significant heritage craft of Perak. An iconic Perak pride originated from the village called Sayong, in the district of Kuala Kangsar. This gourd-shaped clay pitcher existed hundreds of years ago, it was crafted by the Malays living along the Perak River. It was used to store drinking water by the locals back then.

Todate, this local fine dining restaurant is called Labu Sayong Signature, named after the Perak famous craft. Labu Sayong Signature is housed in Rumah Kutai in Meru serving the usual nasi campur (mix rice lunch menu) as well as fine dining gourmet dinner. Very the haute cuisine dinner (kira macam arts of fine food and drink gitew). And guess what, I get to experience all this!

Labu Sayong Signature described themselves as ‘Labu Sayong Signature is the perfect stop for anyone seeking for the true taste of Perak. The original and traditional restaurant offers a wide array of dishes with the unique and authentic flavours of Perak.’. Some of the dishes are new to me but I have to admit, they taste are superbly yummeh.  There were a lot of ‘ooohhhh, aaahhhh…. and wow!’ as the dishes were served. We were awe-strucked, mind-blown, spellbound and obvious speechless (cos I am very sure all of us combined, our vocab range is more than ‘ooohhhh, aaahhhh…. and wow!’ [eyes rolling]).

Some of you might be wondering, Malay fine dining? Gourmet dinner? Haute Cuisin!?!

Let me share with you…. [wink]

Appetizer

Tenggiri Kepai Pandan Udang Kertas

Traditional baked mackerel fish mousse with crispy prawn & seafood black sauce

Soup

Rusuk Kambing “Tongkat Ali” Kelapa Muda

Aromatic soup of lamb with onion, lemongrass & “Tongkat Ali” root in coconut

Main Course

Nasi Lemuni

Ikan Purba Kala Sayong

Deep-fried seabass stuffed with 27 local ingredients accompanied with bird eye chilli ginger sauce, vegetables & Lemuni Rice

Dessert

Putri Gunung Ledang dan Pisang Goreng Rangkai

Rice flour dumpling stuffed with date sesame served with coconut gravy, deep-fried crispy banana

With end it with the good trusted tea/coffee coupled with good fun laugh.

I was told that for course meal, you need to book a day or two in advance. They also have serving options such as tiffin style or makan berdulang. I was thinking to bring my mom and try the tiffin style. What do you think?

Note : Rumah Kutai or Kutai House - “Kutai” means old or ancient and the houses could be seen along the banks of Sungai Perak, from Kuala Kangsar to Pasir Salak.

Labu Sayong Signature (Labu Sayong Cafe Sdn Bhd)

Persiaran Meru Raya 1

Bandar Meru Raya

Ipoh, Perak

Phone : +605 237 5237

Email : signature@labusayong.com.my

Operating Hours

Sun until Thurs : 11.30am – 10.00pm

Fri & Sat (include eve of Public Holiday & Public Holiday) : 11.30am – 11.00pm

Lunch : 11.30am – 2.30pm

Afternoon tea :  3.00pm – 6.00pm

Dinner : 6.30pm – 10.00pm (Weekdays)

The VM2020 Heritage and Family Fun 2019 Media Fam Trip is organized by Tourism Malaysia in partnership with all its sponsors.

Perak Mosque Trail (Jejak Masjid Perak)

I was ecstatic when I received the invitation, glancing thru the culture and heritage places that we will be covering, plus food (oh this time around the food is simply amazing!), not forgetting the educational and fun part (this is rather mind blowing if I may say so myself). You guys better stick to my blog like a Scrat to an acorn (Ice Age reference) cos everything, and I mean E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G that I covered will simply impress and surprise you. Basically you will be ‘im-prise’. Ahaks.

I have covered Ipoh Heritage Trail some time ago (click HERE) and I was glad that this time around we will be covering… jeng jeng jeng…. The Ipoh Mosque Trail! I bet many of you are not aware the existence of this trail huh. Neither do I, but I am so glad that we did cos the mosques that we manage to cover were rather unique.

Perak Mosque Trail Map. (Credit to DKosognLapan)

Back in 2014, Tourism Malaysia Perak has compiled a mosque trail covering Masjid Dato’ Panglima Kinta (built in 1898), Masjid India Muslim (1908), Masjid Kampong Paloh (1912), Masjid Pakistani (1930), Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II (1968), Masjid Baru Cina Muhammadiah (2013) and Masjid Ubudiah in Kuala Kangsar (1917). Travelers will get to see the architecture dated way back in 19^th century being preserved. Interestingly, all the architectures have the elements of Chinese, Hindu and British.

I was told that this trail has attracted travelers from all over the world. Unfortunately for us, we only managed to cover 3 mosques during this trip; Masjid Dato’ Panglima Kinta, Masjid India Muslim and Ipoh State Mosque. I would like to also share 2 mosques that I wrote in my previous blog entry, namely Masjid Ubudiah in Kuala Kangsar and Masjid Ihsaniah Iskandariah in Padang Rengas.

Indian Muslim Mosque

Mogul style architecture, lacey scallop design and green in colour is the famous Indian Muslim Mosque. Constructed in 1908, the mosque was funded Shaik Adam, a wealthy Tamil Muslim. The main purpose was to gather the Indian Muslim community within the area. I was told that the khutbah is done in Indian language.

Indian Muslim Mosque

Jalan Seenivasagam

Ipoh, Perak

Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II / Ipoh State Mosque

Despite that the Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque or the Ipoh State Mosque looks very simple and not as grand as the Ubudiah #Mosque in Kuala Kangsar but the info about it is rather interesting. This mosque was officially opened in September 1978 and it is unique as it jas 44 orange domes. There are 30 dome ventilation airways (not sure what I should name it), and 14 round-flat ventilation airways. The 44 ventilation roof airways was sealed when they fully air-conditioned the whole place in 1995.

Masjid Sultan Idris Shah II

Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab

Ipoh, Perak

Masjid Dato’ Panglima Kinta

Also known as ‘Central Mosque’, this blue Moghul-designed mosque was built in 1898 by Dato' Panglima Kinta Muhammad Yusuff to commemorate his wife who passed away. This was once the largest mosques in Ipoh back then. There is a family mausoleum located behind the mosque, a renowned Egyptian Quran teacher Shaik Tholji who popularizing Quran recitals in Perak is also buried in Panglima Kinta's family mausoleum. Somehow this reminded me oh Shah Jehan and Muntaz Mahal love story.

Masjid Dato’ Panglima Kinta

31, Jalan Masjid, Kampung Kuchai

Ipoh, Perak

Ubudiah Mosque

Known as the most photographed mosque in Malaysia, this beautiful gold dome mosque is located next to the mausoleums of the Royal Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar. Built in 1887 by Sultan Idris Murshidul Adzam Shah, Ubudiah Mosque is also known as the Royal Mosque. It is said that the architecture influenced by `Saracenic' (Islamic-Indian) and the domes were taken from the Indian Moghul architecture.

Ubudiah Mosque

Jalan Istana

Kuala Kangsar

Perak

Ihsaniah Iskandariah Mosque

The intricacy of kelarai (woven bamboo strips) - a cultural and artistic heritage from the mosque's walls - have made Masjid Ihsaniah Iskandariah's famous nationwide. Also known as Masjid Kampung Kuala Dal, this unique 1936 mosque with Arabesque influences was financed by Al-Marhum Paduka Seri Sultan Iskandar Shah, the Sultan of Perak. It is aslo said to resemble a bird cage. The mosque was built by Chinese artisans and assisted by local residents. The ornamentations and wall of the mosque were carved and woven by locals, making it even more special. The mosque had a relatively short life - it stopped being used in 1976 after the Al-Wahidiah Mosque was built next to it. Read HERE.

Ihsaniah Iskandariah Mosque

Kampung Kuala Dal

Padang Rengas

Perak

(To cover in the near future : Masjid Kampong Paloh (1912), Masjid Pakistani (1930) and Masjid Cina Muhammadiah (2013))

As you can see, the mosques(trail) in Perak comes in different architectures, colours and audiences. No one mosque is the same hence none should be missed.

The VM2020 Heritage and Family Fun 2019 Media Fam Trip is organized by Tourism Malaysia in partnership with all its sponsors.

Denmark | Nyhyn & Chilling at PapirØen (The Paper Island)

Second DIY trip with Anna.

We decided to venture places ‘unventured’ before (no, there is no such word exist).    

I was sincerely impressed with Anna, knowing that she is very much a city girl, trolley dolly and tour group type of traveler. The first time she agreed to travel with me is to the Balkan countries where we covered Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Austria and Germany (Frankfurt). To be honest, I was a tad worried as everything was not pre booked and these countries is not as modern as London, Paris or US that she frequented. But I was surprised that she coped really well and don’t mind all the long tiring walk (after all, I am the type that absolutely love to walk and wander around the city, especially old town). In fact, she wandered alone in Frankfurt, Vienna and in Sarajevo. Tabik spring…

I can’t recall how we plan, decide, or whatchamacallit… all I remembered was Anna whatsapping (or was it a call?!!) me saying we going to both Iceland. As we are flying via Copenhagen, that smart woman did the math and said we can actually extend our transit in Copenhagen for a few days with an additional RM600 (IF I remembered correctly). And so we did.

1 month later, we were in Denmark.

The only thing we did was book a flight and our 1^st city location, we plan to book the stay in Reykjavik the day we arrive Copenhagen. Smart huh. NOT.

We figure we shall learn to travel spontaneously. Since I was able to do the same in South India, I am sure we will fare well in this trip. We did bump into a few hiccups when we were in Iceland, kinda panicky one.

Anyway. Copenhagen is super easy to navigate oneself. Really. Super. Easy.

Stay in the city and your life is a bliss. Even if you don’t stay in the city, the city itself is pretty straight forward. You can even do your own walking tour. In fact, ‘get amazing lost’ in the city… you’ll find your way back in no time. Trust me (and all we have is a paper map). We stayed a walking distance from the stay, roughly a 10 mins walk or so, and this 10 mins walk is very pleasant and we will be walking by bakery shops, canal and old churches. There are a few ways to get to the city and my favourite is the route where it takes you through Nyhavn or New Harbour… it is the icon of Denmark.

Nyhvn

Almost everywhere can be done on foot, Nyhvn, Tivoli Gardens, Hard Rock Café, The Little Mermaid, Christiansborg Palace, The Radhus or Town Hall and etc. That is, if you up for a walk lah, a very very loooooong goooood walk. Hahhahaha…. As you walk into the street of Nyhavn, you’ll see the 17th-century colourful waterfront buildings, canal with boats docking, cafes and pubs blasting soft music in the evening sunset. Been to many cities in my travels, yet only Nyhvn gives me this ambience hence I always have the urge of going back, reliving my memories.

Papiroen or Paper Island

In one of our walks, we heard music by the warehouse at the rivedbank, people enjoying the sun, breeze and snack. We check the map and found out this place is called Food Market on Paper Island or Papiroen. We knew it’s a place we must venture…

This is the place where you sample Denmark street food. Yup!!!! Street food.

Opening Hours (Autumn / Winter)

Monday – Wednesday 12:00 – 9:00pm

Thursday – Saturday 12:00 – 10:00pm

Sunday 12:00 – 9:00pm

Copenhagen Street Food

PapirØen/The Paper Island

Warehouse 7 & 8

Trangravsvej 14

Copenhagen