We've been longing to go for holidays, to ease out the stress and backache from hectic lifestyle. But we're not in the position to spend a fortune for vacation, so there we go.. to a nearby Cameron Highlands - for a 3 days 2 nights getaway. So... there we go.. to the never ending tea sessions!
We departed from KL around 9am in the morning, the journey took approximately 3.5 hours. We decided to take the new highway with better road condition - exits at Simpang Pulai. Our first impression upon reaching Cameron Highlands was... it's NOT cold here! it's not even cooling... it was HOT! We took brunch at Cameron Valley Tea House - had our FIRST scone and tea here. It was yummy... and the tea plantation view was great.
We then headed to check in our pre-booked hotel - Century Pines Resort at Tanah Rata. We were quite satisfied with the hotel, just that I thought the facilities were a little old and smelly. Of cause, there was no air-cond in the room, presumed that weather in Cameron is always cold, or at least cooling. We both love the room's private garden, outside of the balcony. It was small grass area with table and chairs for us to enjoy the quietness and serene environment. Love that.
After resting, shower and short nap.. we headed out to munch lunch. Maybe it was pass noon, the weather started to cool down a little. Our hotel was located in Tanah Rata, a walk away we can find food. And most importantly, there was this cafe I really wanted to visit - T Cafe, located just nearby our hotel. I heard their scones are homemade and perfect. The cafe is just on top of Marrybrown restaurant, convenient. Maybe we visited the cafe at an odd timing, about 3pm. There was nobody in and for seconds I thought I brought Wilson to the wrong place. But whadeva, just went ahead and ordered.. scones, lasso yogurt drink, vegetarian lasagna, mushroom pie.. apparently these are all the favourites here. It sure didn't disappoint us, the food is great~ Ah, we had our SECOND scone here:
After the sumptuous lunch, we strolled around Tanah Rata.. because it was raining quite heavily. So we walked and walked... and chat and chat... suddenly.. yikes! There was a snake cruising on the floor! Oh well.. that's our expression, me (left) wilson (right):
After exploring Tanah Rata, we drove down to Brinchang for a walk at the local "pasar malam" or night market. We saw people selling fresh vegetable, strawberries, food, souvenirs and misc items. Initially we wanted to buy the local delicacies from the night market to "picnic" in our private garden, but the rain started to pour then. So we dismissed that plan and headed off to a nearby chinese restaurant for dinner. We ordered simple dishes but there was this vegetable we haven't tried in KL. It's called the "dragon-beard" vege, yummy and funny looking, like this:
We then headed back to hotel armed with tit-bits bought from the night market. Had a quiet evening watching television and munching the tit-bits. Not to forget a loooong.. shower dip in the bath tub! What a perfect way to rest our tangled muscles.
The next morning, we woke up feeling all fresh! As early as 7am, we headed to have breakfast at the hotel cafeteria. Not bad, simple and nice. Then we started to the destination in my pre-defined itinerary - BOH Tea Plantation! Ok, to be honest... initially we planned to hike at Mossy Forest, a place where it is said to look similar to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movie backdrops! But we didn't make it there, the road signs were not clear enough so too bad, next time maybe..
Anyhow we did reach the newly renovated BOH tea plantation at Sg. Palas. The scenery and fresh air were really memorable. Just that the journey to the BOH Tea Plantation is quite an adventure with roads that are narrow and winding. Wilson gave a honk or two while negotiating a corner to let oncoming traffic know there is a car coming. Put these adventures aside, the view of green rolling hills, with the neat regular rows of tea plants, is truly breathtaking and refreshing!
We did not have tea there at BOH tea center, the place was quite packed and we were not too hungry. So we decided to make a move and headed to our next destination - Time Tunnel Museum! It was a small container housing loads of olden time stuff which had been long forgotten. I found so much of my lost childhood memories here, kudos to the effort to put these valuable stuff together :)
After spending some nostalgic time there, we moved on.. this time I just made a wild suggestion to visit the nurseries selling tonnes of flowers and cactus. Just for fun, and some photo shooting! Aww, I was so awed by the vibrant colours!
Right now it was past noon, our stomachs were growling. We then made our ways to the famous "Smokeshouse" for lunch a.k.a another tea time! The smokeshouse is so beautiful. I've always wanted to visit such old colonial type of building, with smoking chimneys. Now I see it, and it was really as beautiful as it is on photos. The scones and tea were just great! Ah, we had our THIRD scones!
We went back to hotel for a rest after lunch. After hot shower and some rest we headed out again, this time not sure where to go.. but somehow we just hopped onto the car and weeeee~ We came across vegetables plantation next to the road and somehow it interest Wilson so we hopped down the car and took a closer look. We usually didn't have chance to see the BIG cauliflowers and tomatoes up close and personal, lovely :)
It was almost 8pm when our stomach started growling, we went with the plan to have steamboats. We opted for the steamboat restaurant nearby hotel, at the Tanah Rata town.
We went back to hotel for a rest after lunch. After hot shower and some rest we headed out again, this time not sure where to go.. but somehow we just hopped onto the car and weeeee~ We came across vegetables plantation next to the road and somehow it interest Wilson so we hopped down the car and took a closer look. We usually didn't have chance to see the BIG cauliflowers and tomatoes up close and personal, lovely :)
It was almost 8pm when our stomach started growling, we went with the plan to have steamboats. We opted for the steamboat restaurant nearby hotel, at the Tanah Rata town.
After dinner, we called it a day. Not too hectic, just nice for us to enjoy the getaway.
The next day is the last day for the getaway. We started off the day with the breakfast at hotel again. We then packed and checked out from the hotel and get ready to finalize our trip. First we dropped by the agricultural institute MARDI next to our hotel. Not a very recommended place, as there was not much to see here. Anyway I did enjoy the little garden here with all the vege and fruits we normally don't see it ON the ground, alive:
After hopping up the car, I told Wilson.. "Can we take a peep at Bala's Chalet?" He looked at me curiously and answered, "Alright, since you really want to see it!" I didn't know why I want to see the chalet so much, maybe because it also has a chimney :P And we made it there, took some pictures and blah. Not bad, the chalet looked cool, just another colonial building which used to be an English school, now converted to chalet.
We then moved on to hunt some cheap vegetables to buy for our moms. Finally settled to buy at KEA farm.. we bought so much that our hands were just enough to carry them! The vegetables were just so cheap and tempting! Ah, call me aunty :P
Last but not least, my lovely boyfriend said he wanted to get me some roses. So we went to the Rose Valley at Tringkap. I've been here a couple of times, it has never change much :) Perhaps it's only me getting older each time..
We didn't get to buy roses here, weird though as they do not sell pink roses which are my favourite. Because of this, we made a few more stops at shops on the roadside to check luck. Until the very last stop (the name of the shop is "Last Stop") we finally made the purchase. 2 dozens of roses and sunflowers for RM12. Cheap though!
That concluded our short getaway. We headed home then. This time round, we didn't visit the very famous Cactus Valley nor Butterfly Farm but it was alright. We've been here some years ago and this time was not truly meant for visiting places. We opted for a simpler and leisure getaway. Yeap, we truly enjoyed it much! Well.. maybe a lil "ekhem" to the overdosed of scones there.. but still a LOVABLE trip! Yay~
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