Camerons... in search of sweet corn

Yep. You read it right, but since we went on a new year so... i consider it like a first time also lah..

Anyway this time around we stayed at different hotel, and did different things.

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

It started out dark, like literally dark cos we left KL around 9PM. Point to point on highway was a breeze, we made it to SimpangPulai at around 10.30PM. This is the second time we are climbing the Camerons road at night, and as we remembered it from last trip it wasnt so bad. BUT... last time we had a 'guide'. There was this car in front of us who seems familiar with road and was driving through effortlessly. So we just followed that car and the drive up was pretty fast and easy. We were hoping the same this time, but unfortunately there was none. Except for this one Honda. This one was familiar with every nooks and corner. Too familiar, and drove very fast... sampai kitorang takleh catch up... so poor us..

Anyway. Now that we were being left alone to navigate ourselves, I noticed a few things. The roads are quite okay overall; however there are no street lights, and there are no visible reflectors on the 1st half of the road. But once we were already halfway, (i'm guessing its at Perak/Pahang border) it was better, there were reflectors both on the lines and sides so it wasnt so bad. However, once reached into Camerons, its back to dark, reflectorless road. You know, just like a normal jalan kampung.

Having said all that, we still managed to reach Brinchang around midnight. Headed straight towards the hotel which according to the receptions is just before Atrium Village. The hotel was just along the mainroad so it wasnt too difficult to spot it..

Hotel Dela Fern

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

Since this is an impromptu trip, we obviously hadnt booked in advance. So there were no more Deluxe room available, whats left was only Deluxe Quad - 2 queen size beds at RM348. We decided to go for this one rather than the RM699 Suite at Century Pines or RM600 Suite at casa Dela Rossa.

I didnt expect much given the so-so price, but was pleasantly surprised when I was shown the room. Room rates not as expensive as Casa Dela Rosa, but room quality almost as good.

What you get:
Flat screen TV - Toshiba Regza, no less.
There is a desk convertable to workspace (Note: next time rizal needs to do work there is a table there for him)
Wifi available at RM5 per hour. It says unsecured and I tried to curi2 but cannot get in, signal is not strong enuff from our room.
Bathroom equipped with Bath. This room has no balcony, only a window.
Yang lain2 tu sama la, just like any other 5 star hotels... iron and board already in closet... hair dryer available. My only complain is that there were no Hot water. Dont know if its because they have full occupancy but nevertheless I had to shower with air suam2...

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

The room came with breakfast for 4, and I thought the food was range was quite good, and whats great is that they top up their food even it was already nearly 10.

Okay. Since we dont really have any specific plan for the day, so we decided to just hang around the hotel for a bit before checking out at 11.

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

Once checked out, we headed towards Ringlet. I dont exactly remember why, but I am glad we did. Rizal took me to this lake - which technically is actually just a part of the river, but was big and calm enough to look like a lake.

Beautiful huh..?

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

After the serene time at the lake, we headed up towards Tanah Rata again. On the way, at Habu, I saw a big Boh Plantation signage and suggested to Rizal to go in. I thought it is not far from the mainroad, but nay, it was quite far inside, infact further than the one at Sungai Palas. As we drove inside it started to drizzle.

What surprises me when I got out of the car was the coldness. With it being not too far from Ringlet I wasnt expecting to be cold. But cold it was, complete with mist and fog.

See?? takyah pun travel to 4 seasons countries...

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

From Cameron Highlands 10.01.01

We spend about half hour or so there, drink Boh tea of course, and then head back towards the main road.

Drove all the way back towards Brinchang to take the Simpang Pulai road, and to stop over at Brinchang to buy the corns I was craving for, and to get a bit of veggie. It was truly excruciating though, cos the traffic jam was maddd.... it started just after Brinchang town itself and it was crawling all the way to the market area... took us TWO hours just for that!

Anyway in the end, I was glad I get to eat the sweet corn (it is truly truly yummy... sapa2 yang pergi camerons, you have to try it.. ) . It is so cheap to... imagine satu longgok of about 10-12 pieces was only RM10.. they sell the cooked ones as well.. you know, the typical jagung bakar and rebus.

So that was it for our short Cameron trip on the new year. It was a sad sad thing to see the temperature meter climbs from 18C to 19C... then to 20C... and finally 25Cy when we reached Simpang Pulai .. .which means tata titi tutu Cameron Highland.. see you next time...

last word- one day, if I am rich , memang nak beli a piece of land there and build a small cute house :)

Cameron Highland Take Three

Last weekend we went up to Cameron Highlands, just to relax since it was a long weekend. The trip wasnt really a planned one, it was just something we thought about on saturday. At first we were going to go on saturday night itself, but it was pouring heavily and it was already getting late, so we decided to go on the following morning instead.
It was a good decision, as on sunday morning, the sky is clear and the day was beautiful.
We started our journey around 11 (at Jalan Duta) and made a short pitstop at Tapah R&R. While there we decided to take the old route to Cameron Highland, so that we could stop by at the waterfalls to eat. Mama Cheras made us bekal of yummy meehon goreng, so picnic was definitely a good idea.
Arrived at Lata Iskandar waterfalls at around .... noon. I did not pack myself swimwear, so that was quite a bummer. Anyway, we walked up the stairs to the highest point possible, and had our lunch. The waterfalls was just heavenly and irresistable, so just went in the water with my jeans and tshirt!
After about an hour or so there, the sky started to look grey so we made a move back to the car to continue our climb to Tanah Rata.
The old road is a lot more windy, and has lots of sharp turns compared to the Simpang Pulai route, and half way through I started to feel dizzy. After what seemed like gazillion years, we finally reached Ringlet. At Ringlet Rizal made a stop by the roadside - I went down, and threw up. So no more jalan lama for me.
After I threw up, I felt a lot better, maybe because there was nothing left in my stomach. From Ringlet it was quite a short distance to Tanah Rata (or was it because I felt better?) anyway we were in Tanah Rata in no time. Once there, we started to look for place to stay. The past two times we were in Camerons we stayed at Century Pines, but this time around since we have time and all, we decided to also checkout other places. Went to Heritage hotel, which is on top of the hills, near Convent School, and asked the reception to rates, and asked if we could view the room. The staff was friendly and very nice and one of them showed us the room. The room is quite okay, basic and of a standard size, but toilet has no bathtub. Rate quoted to us was RM 328 for the triplet room, which include breakfast for three. We decided to go look at others, and said our thank yous to the nice girl who showed us the room.
Next we went to the hotel in Tanah Rata which was called CoolPoint. We had looked at their room the last time we came, and I remember that I didnt like it as it was quite dampish, so we headed towards Brinchang. On our way to Brinchang, just about 300 metres from Tanah Rata town, we saw the sign to Bala's Chalet. While we were in Tanah Rata we were talking about this place, cos Rizal saw good reviews of it in Escapade magazine. This hotel is a really nice place, with old building structure, I think the building is more than 100 years or so, and decoration inside it was really nice too.From the reviews I read, this place is apparently serves one of the best scones in town. Anyway, we asked to look at the room from this one guy - presumably Mr Bala itself, and he showed us the room which is located on a separate building than the main building. The room is quite small, and the toilet is also quite small - with only a sink and a loo, and no shower room. It is a nice place, very simple, and the rate is not too bad at RM220 for three (no breakfast). However, since the room is a bit small, a We knew what Century Pines looked like, so no need to check it out, went around and on the hand, Rizal needed to do work, so it was not suitable for us for this time. Maybe next time.
Continuing the search, we then stopped at Casa DeLa Rosa.

I remember coming here before, but as I remember it, it was very expensive, but we just decided to have a look. The girl at the counter is very nice, I think her name is Sanghita, and she kindly showed us the room for three. The room is conviniently located just on the driveway, and it is huge. It has a raised platform for the Big Bed area complete with a cute curtain. The bathroom is also very big, And it has a bathtub. However, again, this room has no working/study table for Rizal to do his work. The rate for three is RM406 (for that huge room) and include breakfast for three.
Still with time, we decided to check out other places in Brinchang town before deciding, In the meantime, while on the way to Brinchang we called Century Pines (luckily Akmal has the door access card which had the numbers printed there) to ask if the room had study table. Unfortunately, Century Pines only had rooms with single beds. We could request to add an additional bed, but it was at an additional RM60. Total up, it came up to RM 328 (RM268 + RM60).
Upon hearing that Century Pines had very few rooms left, we decided that to make the bookings soon since it seem like the rooms are going quite fast. We called back Casa De La Rosa to ask them to hold the room for us. We also thought since Casa Dela Rosa has wifi, it would be ideal
We then went back to Casa De La Rosa, and requested to look at the other room that has a study table. The other room that was available is the Supreme or something like that, with the Golf Club view. This room is also very spacious, and fitted with a King Size bed, and a huge balcony. Between the two, we decided to take the lower ground room, since its easier to access and we could park the car right in front.
Once checked in, we washed up a bit, pray and then we went out again to Brinchang town. At Brinchang, the traffic was slow, as there is pasar malam there. There were lots of things there, from fresh vegetables, fruits and stalls selling food. We felt that the price at the Pasar Malam is cheaper than the prices at the shops, so bought most of our vegetables from the pasar malam. The pasar malam also sells corn in a cup, i bought one, and the corn is just so delicious! very sweet and fresh! Another thing that surprised me was that they also have goreng stuff like udang goreng, ketam goreng and sotong goreng, and they are all going for just RM5! yummy. We also bought honey, bought a variety, the honeycomb type for RM15, Honey tua for RM10 per small bottle and RM25 for the big bottle of Honey muda?.
Once done with our shopping, we were going to Tanah Rata for dinner, but the traffic was bad, it was almost not moving that we decided to jalan2 to the other side of Brinchang first. Nothing much to see, since most shops are closed, so we just make a round and headed back towards Brinchang town. Traffic was flowing better this time, so thats good. About 10 minutes later we were already in Tanah Rata. Decided to eat at the gerai2 after seeing the steamboat place was quite empty. We wanted to order yong tay foo, but the guy told us that it would take about 1 and half hour before we could get our order, cos there are lots of other waiting. Decided to just order from the shop (gerai Hjh Halijah) instead, I ordered sup ayam, but after awhile, they said that they dont have soup ayam, but they have tomyam. So I said okay, the service was quite slow, maybe they are not prepared for the kind of crowd. My tomyam was surprisingly nice, so thats good.
After dinner, we walked for a bit, then we head back to the hotel to eat my Ketam and Udang goreng bought from pasar malam. At Casa Dela Rosa they have lepak place, where there is a hut near a small garden.


No more activities for the night except some tv and then zzzz.

DAY TWO
Woke up around 9AM, and went for breakfast. It was quite disappointing, most food almost finished, and it was not replenished. It was only 9.30AM and there were more people coming in for breakfast, so I thought the hotel could do a better job at it, since they can be considered as 5star.
After breakfast, I took a bath, which was great. After that we packed up, to start our jalan2 session. Unfortunately it had started dizzling, and the traffic leading to Mount Brinchang was really jammed. Took us nearly one and half hour just to past the shops selling vegetables. Went past, and stopped at the Cameron Valley Tea Shop. Compared to Boh Tea, this place has a lot of catching up to do, but considering that this was easier to access, I guess lot of people still dont stopping here.
It was raining all the way our journey down, and the traffic was also quite slow. We took the Simpang Pulai route this time.