Holidaying in Cameron Highlands

During the Merdeka holiday and weekend (31st Aug. – 2nd Sept.), we went to Cameron Highlands. I can't remember when was the last time I went (more than 15 years ago) and I can only vaguely remember how the Highlands look like. BIL from S'pore came with his family (wifey, daughter Cassandra and maid) and together we went with another fren, May, and her family (hubby and 2 daughters, En Qi and En Xuan). We started the journey in 2 cars at about 11.30 a.m., took the Simpang Pulai way (yup, dat's the longer route to the Highlands, not many vehicles and no jams) and it started to rain heavily on the way up to Brinchang, so the drivers had to drive slowly and cautiously, so we reached at about 4.30 p.m.

It was not foggy and cold as what I expected, it was not raining (yippee) when we reached but was still drizzling and we were like "oops, what a start" and I was hoping PRAYING it won't rain throughout our stay.

The Hotel we booked was a 3-room Apartment in Star Regency Hotel Apartments situated on the main road of Brinchang. I did searched the internet and did some surveys of the hotel apartment which seemed to be okay BUT don't let the beautiful pictures and outlook deceive u. The apartment was not in the least up to our expectation.

See for urself:

1) The beds looked okay but the wall was .... yuck ...
u wouldn't want to sleep facing it.
2) There were stains on the walls of the toilet and the door was 'repaired'
with a patch of wood to cover the hole, maybe kicked by someone
who was disappointed (heehee).
3) It happened dat something dropped and I bent to pick up and to my
horror, I found a thick layer of dust under the bed! *pooh pooh pooh*
(don't know when it was last vacuumed). *tsk, tsk, tsk* So dirty.
4) When I slid open the curtain, LAGI TERUK! (WORSE).
Goodness, there were, what looked like, bedsheets all over on the floor.
I guess the 'housekeepers' wash their laundry with 'natural water' *blek*
We dared not open the windows the whole nite so we had to leave
the door open else we would have been in a 'sauna' cos no fan, no air-cond.
5) The kitchen area had a kind of (which will make one go away) smell
and I wanted to vomit when my itchy hands opened the cabinets.

Not only those, the heated showers were faulty too. Not only did they need to be heated up 5 minutes beforehand, we had to be cautious as the water would suddenly become cold icy water and another minute would become hot water again. Destinee was shivering with cold half way thru bathing, only did we realise the water suddenly became cold water and quickly we got her out and wrapped her up with 2 towels.

The TV was another 'gila' (crazy) feature of the hotel apartment. Not only the reception was bad, the channels would 'jump' (switch) from one channel to another (suddenly) when we were engrossed with a show on this particular channel. We were watching KING KONG dat nite and suddenly off it went to another channel and however we tried, we were not able to switch to the channel again. *duh*

We suggested to change rooms but too bad the hotel was fully booked and as what Pappy said, the rooms would have been the same so we decided to 'wat jau' (bear) for the nite. Well, maybe we were the UNLUCKY ones. I'm pretty sure it definitely will NOT be my choice to stay for the nite the next time.

All of us opted steamboat for dinner. There were many steamboat restaurants in Brinchang but we had this particular restaurant in mind and as we went in search. Suddenly this LARGE placard outside one of the steamboat restaurants caught our eyes. Yes! We found it! The tables were all occupied and we had to wait for our turn. We ordered the organic vegetables with mixed meat. I love veggies and therefore I enjoyed helping myself to the different varieties and to me the meal was simply 'slurp, slurp'.

After dinner, we went to the 'Pasar Malam' (nite market) just outside the apartment to 'walk walk see see'. We didn't 'sapu' (wipe/buy) much things as we need to transfer to another hotel the next day.

Next morning, after having breakfast in one of the shops outside Rossa Passadena Hotel, we went to Cactus Valley. It was opposite the Hotel. The weather was perfect for outings, it was neither warm nor cold. We walked and walked, climbed and climbed.

Dat's May carrying En Xuan in the foreground.

The various types of cacti

After visiting the Cactus Valley, we had lunch at the "Lou Zhi Hou" restaurant, opposite the Cactus Valley and not very far from Star Regency. The chicken with yam in santan (coconut milk) was their signature dish. It was yummy and highly recommended by me but to those who are not in favour of santan, it might taste too creamy.

After lunch, we checked out from Star Regency and checked in Rossa Passadena Hotel, a nearby hotel.

Nite view of the Hotel

This place is completely different from Star Regency. What a relief, this is what I call a place to put a nite. Of course different, the hotel is more pricey than the apartment.

Off we went sightseeing after checking into the hotel. Visited the Butterfly Farm (hei, not for free, okay?).

Interesting insects in a Butterfly Farm.

Where's the Thorny Stick?

1st pic – guess where the leafy mantises are?
Notice the miserable butterflies?

Next we went to the tea plantations in Cameron Valley. We were told dat the road to Boh Plantations was narrow and winding so we went to Cameron Valley instead.

After visiting the plantations, we ordered 2 types of tea from their cafetaria. We tried the strawberry and rose flavours. Errr..... nothing special cos I'm not a tea drinker.

Steamboat for dinner again. This time we had at this Watercress Steamboat further up the road from Brinchang. The environment was superb (dat was what Pappy complimented).

Some of the vegetables we bought:


and of course not forgetting this

'Jeruk' (pickled and dried) Strawberries

I was not interested in the strawberries which were in abundance. I tasted some of them and all were sooooooo sour! We went to one of the strawberry farms and planned to let the kids pluck with all their heart but 'alas', all were plucked the day before and we were told "NO MORE STRAWBERRIES". Gaks! What a big let down for the kids!

The kids with the big long cabbage.

And finally the answers to 'Where's the Thorny Stick?' and 'Guess where the mantises are?'

The Thorny Stick

The Mantises

We had an enjoyable time and I know there're still a lot of interesting places we have yet to visit and I'll make sure we'll be well planned the next trip but so long for now, Cameron Highlands, hope to visit u again in the near future and Pappy did mention we'll be staying in Brinchang cos of the convenience but definitely not in the u-know-which hotel.

*psst psst* June, I'm sure u'll be tempted and will want us to organise a trip when u are back.

On the way back from the Highlands, on Sunday (2nd Sept), there was a massive jam and only to find out dat a lorry carrying fruits from the hills had overturned. Wanted to take a pic of the overturned lorry and the jam but was too late after I fumbled for the camera, we were away from the scene. *slap head* Taught me to have my camera in hand when travelling.

After the trip to Cameron Highlands, BIL and family stayed with us for the next 3 days and on Wednesday, they were off to the hills again but this time to Genting. Pappy, Des and I joined and spent a nite with them on Friday. Didn't take any pics this time cos has been taking too many pics when we were there the last few times.

We certainly had a wonderful time especially Des who refused to go to sleep, sometimes until 1.30-2.00 a.m. *blek*

We had 2 wonderful meals which I will write about in my next post. So, stay tuned.

Now, back to my pile of housework and office work *sob sob sob*.