On Thursday, my mom Whatsapped me and asked if we wanted to go and eat ikan patin at Temerloh on Saturday, Since me and Imaan had just recovered from a bout of illnesses, we were gaaaaame! Anything to do to spend more time with my parents. Now that Imaan walks more, my parents love to take her out.
My dad actually took her out for breakfast of roti canai without telling us first (when his initial plan was just to take her inside the car and let her play with the steering wheel and give a honk or two).
Temerloh is well-known for ikan patin, a freshwater fish in Malaysia, otherwise known as "pangasius" or shark catfish. It is native to Pahang, and the moment you enter Pahang you can see signboards featuring ikan patin everywhere.
Patin is usually served in tempoyak sauce, fermented durian, with birds eye chilli, fresh turmeric and Vietnamese coriander. One always prefers to buy wild patin (usually grown in cages in the riverbanks) compared to those grown commercially, which you can purchase as supermarket, as you can taste the difference in the flesh of the fish. The commercial ones tend to taste more muddy.
This shop is quite famous... there were others who drove from KL just to like, to enjoy the patin.. do note the patin is only available from 12 PM onwards... we arrived at 11.30 so we have 30 minutes to kill.
Snacking on the tiny fishes whilst waiting for the patin. I forgot to the name of it - the texture is similar to White Bait - little crunchy fishes. Could have snacked endlessly on it. The owner explained that it was quite pricey, at RM 20.00/ kg.
Unfortunately, the sauce isn't as good as I remember it to be. The tempoyak flavor was not as strong; it was quite watery and it was crazy spicy (although, need to note, post pregnancy my spice level ain't as strong as it used to be). It's RM 12.00 per portion.
You can see how crowded this place it. People came for the patin.
My dad amazed that his granddaughter was eating chicken.
We detoured to Teluk Chempedak. It's a great touristy spot, too bad the local makan-makan shops wasn't too good. Bad for the locals as the fast food giants such as McD, KFC and Subway that already opened there will be taking over their business.
Imaan cried when we took her next to the sea (she did it previously to a trip to Melaka!!) so we didn't pursue it anymore.
On the way back, we stopped by the riverside of Kuantan and took a few photos. My girl is walking so fast now! She is still wobbly and sometimes trip over, but I'm so proud of her walking slowly. Sometimes, she doesn't even want to hold our my hands.
Asked her to pose, instead she starts digging her ears. Such elegance. Such grace -_-
This is the 'tired-and-sunburnt-and-full' face. We had been driving around for several hours and was full from all the drive and stop to eat activity.
Thanks Pahang for the memories! It was a daytrip to remember. Sorry for the lack of photos, my phone died and I didn't bring my charger so I hijacked my husband's phone for photos hahaha.
