Cameron Highlands June 2010! (lots of photos!

First and foremost, I hope everyone appreciates how long I took to upload these pictures! 2 weeks! All because of the stupid blogger which shows some error whenever I upload more than 3 pictures at one go. So, in the end, I can only upload 3 pictures each time and I have 100 over pictures!

Well, this Cameron Highlands trip was pretty new and fun to me. The reason will have to be it being my first road trip. I went with Des, his sis and his godparents. His godparents used to drive to Malaysia and they planned this trip so as to meet up with their old friends at a government vacation house at Cameron Highlands. I chose to tag along as I have never been their before too.

Initially, I procrastinated before the trip as I was a little afraid of the long journey and carsickness on the way up to Cameron. But honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought. So let's start with the pictures...

Day 1: On the way to KL

We left Singapore at 7am and took the whole morning to drive to Kuala Lumpur. The weather was super hot and despite staying inside the car, I can feel my skin being burnt by the scorching sun!

The sky was so blue and we were so excited!

Des's companion for the trip: Pen Pen

Frankly, it was not too difficult to drive to KL. The signs are clear and even though the map that we used were not very detailed, we still managed to reach KL city by noon! We decided to stay at myhotel, a budget hotel located near KL Central.

Right after we reached, we went to park the car at a nearby hotel's basement carpark. According to Des's godparents, the traffic in KL can get so bad that you will be stucked for hours. So, we decided to travel by public transport. It was pretty accessible! We had a monorail station and a MRT station located near our hotel. We took the MRT from KL Sentral stop to KLCC.

On the way, we saw graffiti on the wall of a train station. I didn't know Malaysians were so open to this. The artist would have been caned in Singapore! lol

Their MRT had such strong air-conditioning! It's such a relief to me! Public transport is super cheap in Malaysia. Can't remember the price though but should be less than a dollar.

Tadah! KLCC

Just like Ion with the big brands on one side and the affordable ones on the others! Saw Zara and Mango and I almost went crazy! But I didn't buy anything cos after converting, the clothes were more expensive there!

We had A&W for lunch because Des insisted. Don't know what the big deal about it. I hate the float and the chicken is not as nice as KFC! But again,it's cheap! So tired from all that walking and we just want to rest!

Went outdoor to take some pictures. It was cooling after a rain.

The Petronas Towers! At least when people ask me, I can say I have "been" there before haha!

As we cannot checked in until 2pm, we went to KLCC first and then returned to the car to collect our bags and checked in.

We were told to pack light and this is Mr Kiasu and his super duper big camping bag! He was not exaggerating as his bag was so heavy that the hem tore and I laughed my ass off!

This was just drama! Compare my bag to his and you know the difference! lol

We went to our rooms and rested for an hour before another round of shopping and sightseeing. Our plan was to visit the famous Chinatown aka Petaling Street. We alighted at the right stop and walked to Central Market first, a place where they sell crafts and souvenirs.

Look so old right? I bought a batik for Mum. Then, we walked and walked and saw this...

Chinatown! According to des's godpa, this is where you can get lots of imitation. Tshirts, bags, shoes...

Honestly, I was a bit scared to come here after reading Xiaxue's entry on her bad experience here. She said the vendors are lecherous men who will whistle and tease girls. Then, you will get ripped off if you don't bargain. Well, I think she's right. The people there are mostly tourists and they do start quoting high prices for let's say, a fake lacoste polo tshirt. They will tell you it costs RM35 but after threatening to leave, they stopped you and finalised on RM18! WTH! We bought some Lacoste T-shirts anyway. Then, I was so hungry that I started searching for places to eat. Having the sharpest eyes, I caught sight of a restaurant that was located above a shop house and the signboard stated KL Hokkien Mee. Immediately, the food review from 8Days flashed across my mind! It was the Hokkien Mee that 8Days recommended before and die die, I must try them! The restaurant was called Kim Lian.

Des's sis with his godparents

The famous, super dark, fried with lard, HOKKIEN MEE!!! Must try! The kitchen is actually outdoor at the first level and the restaurant is at second level. This restaurant created a delivery system that functioned like a lift, whereby the chef will place the cooked dishes in the lift and the staff at the second level will receive it when the lift moved up!

Fried sambal kangkong. Nothing special though

Day 2: KL and Cameron Highlands

Went for breakfast at Old Town White Coffee which was located next to myhotel and went for a walk around the area. That's YMCA.

After breakfast, we roamed about and came across a back alley wet market! This is so 60s!

Chickens and chicken parts. Very dirty ok! Actually the streets of KL were very dirty too! You walked and you will see food on the ground, drains clogging with rubbish and smelling very badly!

Poor chickens waiting for their deaths! See that basket of innards? Poor chickens!

This just reminded me or the old markets in Singapore where my mum will press and choose the pork and then the butcher will chop into pieces before hanging them back on the hook! The pork was so fresh lor!

A roadside stall. Smelled bad too!

Saw the Indian provision shop. Des's godma went to get some spices and gula melaka.

Mum's favourite tibits!

That's the hotel that we stayed at.

Since we had some time left, we went to take the monorail to Berjaya Times Square even though it was only 10am. Oh, did I mention that the place beside the Monorail Station had a brothel? There were transvestites and fat Indian ladies waiting for business. Scary!

After a short shopping trip, we went back to the hotel and met up with Des's godparents' friends, Raj and Kumari.

Stopped at Dunkin Donuts for lunch and if you looked closely, you will be able to see lots of flies resting on the glass! See those black dots on the black line? The flies were huge and we tried to finish our lunch as fast as possible!

On the way uphill.

We reached the government vacation house which Raj rented. It was initially meant for Royalties or ministers to hold their meetings or spend their holidays but because it was underutilised, it was open to senior civil servants as well. Raj is a orthopedist. I was asleep most of the time during the ride as the motion sickness pill was taking effect. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see what awaited me! The house was huge and grand! It resides on the top of the hill and surrounded by gardens!

Look! This is the living room and all we see is gold and chandelier! Des was so excited!

I thought the house was going to be old. Well, it was old and maybe not as modern as our local decor but it was better than I expected! Hifi system, Astro... The chairs were arranged as though we were holding some conference.

This end of the living room was meant for chit-chatting. The door leaded to the servants' squatters. Yes, the servants live here too but of cos, we were not served like royalties.

BBQ pit as well!

Garden!

It was foggy because it was raining before we reached. What you see are the clouds!

Next the living room is the dining area. A long table and a big round table. The door leads to the kitchen.

We were shocked to see red carpet! I felt like some hollywood star man!
The hallway leads to the rooms.

The other corridor where the rooms were. See how long it was!

There was a total of four rooms and they were decorated blue, red, green and yellow respectively. What you see is the red room. When I say red, I mean everything is red! Bad thing is there's only heater and no aircon or fan so the air can get pretty still at night and all you hear is stinging silence.

Red wall, red toilet, red carpet, pink toilet bowl, pink bathtub and pink sink! I am lucky to stay in the green room! At least it was not that overwhelming.

The main door of the house with little ponds on both sides.

Big and spacious kitchen which reminded me of my grandaunt's Katong house. I think this is meant for alot of chefs and servants to whip up a feast.

Open the door at the dining room and it leads to a back garden!

We ventured and saw mountain at the other end!

Did you see it? A rainbow welcomed us!!! This is the first time I saw a rainbow that close to me! It was so clear and I can actually see both ends of the rainbow instead of just the middle part!

We were super excited and sua gu!

Taking some pictures at the garden outside our rooms!

Day 3: Cameron Highlands

Seeing such beautiful views, I decided to wake up early the next day to watch the sunrise.

Can't really the sun cos it was being blocked by the mountains. But we can see the change in the colour of the sky! Then we went back to sleep as we slept really late the night before.

Getting ready to leave the house for some sightseeing and the weather was perfect! The clouds formed a heart for us. Cute right?

We went to the front garden to take some pictures of the huge flowers! Periwinkles were so gorgeous. They came in all sorts of colours and the weather in Cameron is good for growing flowers! See how bright the flowers were!

That's the front of the house.

There was actually a bench where you can sit and take in the beautiful scenery.

Bright shiny day. Sky was blue and clear!

Huge pink hibiscus!!! Bigger than my hand ok!

Orange hibiscus!

When the scenery is nice, no matter where you stand, the pictures will turn out pretty!

Des wanted some cotton candy!

Wow, the cushions are so soft!

Mathilda: I want to try some too!

Periwinkles in an array of colours.

Then, we headed to the Sunday market for jalan jalan.

Bad traffic all because of school holidays!

You can find lots of vegetable (esp corns!), cactus, strawberry souvenirs and food here!

See the strawberry plush toys on the left? Whenever we go, there bound to be some shops selling them! I see until I feel sick man!

The egetables are fresh, I must admit. We went for steamboat the night before and they served us nine kinds of vegetables!

Cactus!

Oh, and this is the thing that kept Des, Mathilda and I busy! We were walking down the stretch of stalls when I smelled fried food and immediately I started searching for the origin. Then I saw these and I asked Des to buy some to try! It was real good! These sweet potato balls were sweet and tasty and we shared with the rest of them and they also said that they were delicious!

The purple and orange sweet potatoes.

No!!!!!!!!

Our next itinerary is to visit Boh Tea Plantation and hell, the roads to the plantation was treacherous and narrow! There was so many bends and the road can only accommodate one car and yet you have traffic coming from both sides. So, we had to keep honking, hoping that people know that our car was coming. Scary! And the Malaysians drove so fast too!

Little yellow bus!

We climbed up a road so that we can go to the pavilion for afternoon tea!

I can't remember what this is called but I know it is the gate leading to the huge fireplace? Urn? whatever!

Went for a guided trip into the factory and the Indian guide was so fierce ok. He kept insisting that we stood near to him, which obviously I was the one that he was referring to since I was standing in front. But I don't want cos his breath stinked!

There was a gay couple, a Chinese and a Caucasian standing before us and they were publicly showing their affection. Thought I might as well take a picture of them. lol

This place is over-rated! Then we went to the pavilion for tea because Raj insisted. But it was so expensive. A cup of tea using teabag and hot water costs S$4! Crazy!

But the scenery is nice!

The S$4 tea!

It was starting to drizzle outside.

You see that path? That's the place where I embarrassed myself. Raj insisted that we should walk down that path so that we can get up close to the tea leaves. But after drizzling, the path was steep and wet. Despite me taking extra care and walking slowly, I slide down the path, maybe 1m and I managed to balance myself by just sitting on my butt instead of falling flat. As I was wearing a pair black pants, I had two huge brown patches on both sides of my butts and Aunty Helen tried to help me remove it by dusting it away. The nasty Des just stood behind and laughed cos he said my butts were bouncing with every touch!

Came across a fruit stall when we went for lunch at 3pm!

Played scrabble and risk for the night. So much fun!

Since we had a really late lunch (our mealtimes were weird), we decided to stay at home for cup noodles.

Day 3: Cameron Highlands

I woke up early to make breakfast for all of them. Cooked scrambled eggs and hash browns.

Saw a blue house on the other side of the mountain. So pretty! Like Snow White's home!

That's our balconies.

There was a strawberry farm right below our house so we walked down to take a look.

This corn is common in Cameron. It's called the pearl corn as you find both white and yellow corn in it.

Strawberries: ultra mini!

Sour too!

There's a nursery too!

Chili plant or capsicum plant.

My camera suddenly became very cooperative and took such clear photos!

Mudan flower

Little Christmas trees

Some curly leaves plant. You can find most plants there at Far East Flora cos they export to Singapore.

Flowers of strawberry plants. Have you seen before?

Hibiscus! According to mum, this plant will grow well with strong sunlight and in Cameron, it can get very sunny because of the altitude!

Lime plant

I like this!

Cameron's roses!

Pitcher plant

Then we decided to go to the other town of Cameron called Ringlet and we stopped over at their library asking for directions.

The guy in red is called Nishant.

We drove down to Ringlet and the roads were so windy that Des and I had motion sickness. And we still had to go to the bee farm!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee

A bee pollinating. See how close I was to that and I was not afraid at all.

Went to lunch and on our way back, we stopped at another tea plantation again!

Some more pictures of flowers in our garden.

They were real ok!

There's actually lightings for the ponds. haha! Like Chinese Garden!

We asked the security guard to help us take group photos.

Then we continued our game of Risk. I was the eventual winner, and shared my victory with Mathilda. The guys were lousy generals!

The red ones were mine! I dominated the world!

Day 5: Cameron Highlands and JB

Time to bid farewell and head down to JB.

The famous river at Ringlet which looked so muddy!

Ringlet town

Their Orang Asli, indigenous group, selling fruits, honey or plants they get from the forest.

Saw a waterfall and decided to stop to take some pictures!

We were all wearing the fake lacoste polo t-shirt we got from Petaling Street!
Then we went to JB for some shopping before going back to Singapore! That's all!