This steamboat is ‘powered’ by charcoal. Yes, I kid you not! This brass object is divided into the base, pot and lid. The soup is placed in the pot, which is heated by the charcoal in the base. I’ve never eaten out of one of these…have you?

This picture (from Thomas Lee) needs no explanation. Steamboat restaurants have mushroomed around the place (there is one barely 1 km from my house!) and at a glance, these restaurants are often packed. What I’m curious about though is HOW/WHEN this dining experience began in Ipoh.