Thursday, May 18, 2006

Stopover in Bidor, Perak













Bidor is a small town in Perak, situated off the North-South highway that most travellers heading north stop by before journeying onwards towards Teluk Intan, Ipoh or Penang.


Perak at one time was the world's largest producer of tin ore but these days, tin mining has ceased to be a major industrial activity. Instead, Perak is now well known for its produce - groundnuts, the famous Tambun pomeloes, taugeh (beansprouts) and guava fruits, which is commercially cultivated mostly on former mining land in Bidor.





Bidor is located about 45 minutes away from Ipoh and is famous for its Bidor chicken biscuits and herbal duck noodles served in the Pun Chun Restaurant located along the main road. You certainly will not miss this place which is jam-packed with diners on most weekends and public holidays.





What fascinates me most about this town is how quaint and slow-paced it remains despite the hordes of tourists who descend upon this town to savour the famous noodles and buying bagfuls of its equally famous Pun Chun Restaurant chicken biscuits and local fruits like seedless guava, jambu air, soursop, dragonfruit to take back home. You can even get unusual stuff like lotus-seed pods and seasonal petai sold along the five-foot way here.

And I love the way time seems to have stood still in Bidor compared to major cities like KL. The sundry shops remind me so much of how it used to be when as a child, I would spend many delightful afternoons in shops like these, choosing my favourite biscuits and sweets from the small allowance given to me by my grandma whenever I visited her in Malacca. Even the bicycle leaning against the wall seemed oh so familiar. I felt transported back in time, so long ago, the childlike feeling returning unconsciously at the sight of the ubiquitous biscuits displayed tantalisingly in glass containers along the narrow kaki-lima.






I was glad I stopped by Bidor town. It has a charm of its own and even the magazine vendor by the roadside felt like an old friend. And I did not leave Bidor until I had filled my tummy with the must-have meal - yes, the duck drumstick in herbal soup accompanied by a plateful of springy noodles and fresh prawn wanton, all washed down with cups of Chinese tea. And this time, I remembered to take a picture of it before I dig in. So, here is what I had that day. It was satisfying, to say the least!

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19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great posting & pics on this sleepy forgotton Bidor town that we have to stop by in the days gone by before the N-S highway.

I wonder if that "fresh prawn wantan" stll is still there at the corner shop.

18/5/06 12:29  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

waaa.. reminds me of my kampung!

18/5/06 12:39  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Yes mwt1 - the "wantan" seller is the same ol' one at the corner shop. Two large prawns wrapped in wantan skin - really nice oh!

And xazuru - where's your kampung? Wanna post some pics of it when you head back next?

Thanks for the comments guys - it means I'm reaching out to someone out there in the blogosphere, hehe...

18/5/06 12:47  
Blogger chong y l said...

anak M:

I's crunching KAMPAR Crunchy Biscuit (kai chai beng!) as I'm reading your post -- one fren jest came back from Ipoh. You pass me a packet of the Bidor wan and I'd tell you which brand is badder!
So did you tapau some of the prawn wantan for this papuper writHer? I'd tret you to Mantin's best curry fish head when you're angry with Desi for pulling your kaki2- 2much...:)

18/5/06 13:26  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Aiyoyo Desi - where got angry one? I'm FuRong mah - lots of patient & passion! D'Art is also important part of the geng estet ke-5, right?

I think those kai chai beng are all the same - sweet & sticky to the tooth. But the wantan is really best!

Come & visit me more often - got tehtarik coming up next!

18/5/06 15:17  
Blogger Arena Green said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

18/5/06 15:17  
Blogger H J Angus said...

Yeah I had that famous wan ton noodles but it's a tad pricey for Bidor - guess they are earning tourist bucks!

I was on my way to Lumut to take my son to OBS and we passed thru Bidor.

My kampong was Ipoh so we picked up some kuey tiau (sp?)from a distributor. Took some for friends in Singapore.

18/5/06 16:36  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That reminds me of the heavenly delicious herbal duck noodles! Everytime I travel north, I make it a point to stop at Bidor just for the duck noodles.

18/5/06 16:42  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Welcome to my blog Neo! You are new to me.

No wonder the noodles are so pricey - everyone who seldom travel up north will inevitably make it a point to stop by for the noodles - I'm also like that!

The owner must be laughing all the way to the bank with the support from us all, hehe..

What's OBS by the way, HJ?? And you too an Ipoh-lang like Howsy & Maverick? Seems like Ipoh-lang are very politically & socially conscious, eh? Good, good ...

18/5/06 17:59  
Blogger H J Angus said...

Outward Bound School lah.

My son missed the NS call-up and so we decided he needed some leadership training b4 he goes overseas.

That Bidor shop makes so much money they even developed a housing estate in Bidor.

18/5/06 22:45  
Blogger Howsy said...

I demand you freeze-dry them and DHL to me now! NOW! LOL!

18/5/06 23:43  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Missing home now eh, Howsy?? Those fish & chips, shepherd's pie and puddings must be quite dull compared to what we get here. Kesian ... hehe :)

19/5/06 10:24  
Blogger random person said...

oh my god, Bidor actually my hometown! You know, that place is actually my family and I live here.Thanks so much, for posting about Bidor. =)

23/5/06 18:03  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Kazu, welcome and you are most welcomed! ;P

23/5/06 21:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my kampung near simpang tiga.. :). but lot of my aunts and uncles went elsewhere already.

12/6/06 16:43  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ingin Tahu!
berapa lama perjalanan dr tanjung malim ke bidor, kalau pandu kereta!
jalan kpg dan highway?
TQ

14/5/08 18:37  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice little write up on the town - was in Bidor with family over the recent CNY break - everyone would've had a great time if not for the scorching sun and heat! Anyway, it was great coming back to this place (my last visit > 10 years ago) with wifey and daughter (1st time to Bidor) , among other family members, stopping by for the same duck noodles featured on one of your photos :)

30/1/09 09:24  
Blogger SIEWLOO said...

hellos , I just drop here , because i want find my hometown-- Bidor picture . Do you mind I copy the picture from here ?

21/4/09 16:32  
Blogger Arena Green said...

Hi Xiao, you're welcomed to the pictures - am glad you liked them. ;-)

29/4/09 18:53  

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