Tag Archives: travel

Kow Po Ice Cream Parlour, Bentong

Posted on by
Reply

Bentong’s most famous attraction turned out to be the legendary Kow Po Ice Cream Parlour. It is an old-fashioned coffee shop that sells yummy home-made ice cream. The flavours include chocalate, coffee, banana, peanut, vanilla and strawberry. Not a big variety but every flavour contains real, tasty ingredients.

Tried their coffee ice cream and it was like eating molten Nescafe. The banana ice cream is heavenly too. Each scoop is only RM 2.80 and comes with fruit cocktail. Kow Po serves up another simple and forgotten gesture which you won’t find in fancy city outlets. A (free) glass of plain cold water is served along with the ice cream, as it should be.

Kow Po is a family run business for the last 40 years. Every family member is media-savvy as the shop has been featured in countless news articles. The youngest son, Michael Tan, takes an interest in photography and we had an interesting chat 🙂

Although Bentong is in the state of Pahang, it is only about 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur via the Karak Highway. Kow Po is easy to locate as it is opposite the bus terminal in the heart of town.

Warung Ais Krim Kow Po
2 Bentong Heights, 28700 Bentong, Pahang.
Tel: +609 222 1258

Kow Po Ice Cream Parlour, Bentong

Jeanne d’Arc Church, Ho Chi Minh City

Posted on by
Reply

The St Joan Of Arc Church and Synagogue is located in the Chinatown district of Saigon. Built in 1928, this Ho Chi Minh City landmark is almost always photographed straight-on with a wide-angle lens in travel brochures.

I walked down a bit and waited until these two street vendors arrived. Their Vietnamese conical straw hats provided juxtaposition against the pink Gothic architecture. The Church is known locally as Thánh Nữ Jeanne D’Arc and also Nhà thờ Ngã Sáu.

Jeanne d'Arc Church, Ho Chi Minh City

Face To Face

Posted on by
Reply

I was walking around the Orang Asli kampung (aboriginal village) in Carey Island looking for a Mah Meri artisan. Many of the craftsmen were in London for some Tourism Board exhibition last week.

Finally found Atan busy chipping away outside his house. The friendly Orang Asli  explained that each mask takes him about a month to make. It is sculptured out of a single piece of mangrove timber. He laments that wood of this size is increasingly hard to find in the nearby swamps.

The ancient Mah Meri art form includes figurines and other intricate carvings. See the next post for a picture of a completed mask.

Face To Face