Hello dears! For these June hols, I went off for a 2D1N trip to good ol' Cameron Highlands. You might say it was extremely short and only to pfft! Cameron Highlands, but I did love it very much - it was a very enjoyable, relaxing trip. I chose to go to CH because, well, I've never been there before. No, never. And I wanted to go. I went with my parents only as this was a very last-minute thing and my sister couldn't take leave.
We went up Cameron Highlands via the new road, which is wider and not so windy as the old road. My mommy, from whom Jamie Tan inherited her motion sickness, drove us up so she wouldn't have the time to think about feeling sick. Driving up I got so excited about the beautiful mountainous view that I got my parents to stop at the side of the road so I could take pictures.
It was starting from here when I became inseparable from my camera - the only time I didn't have it with me from that moment on was at night, when we were in bed. I took 193 photos in those two days, and only about 35 of them have people in the pictures. Yes, I was hanging out of car windows and dashing across streets to take pics of the view and of flowers and ferns. All with my four-year-old plain old digital camera. Oh, I would kill for a DSLR, I would. (Btw, I'm not gonna post all the pics here, and prob not on fb, 'cause like I said, they're all of plants and mountains and if you wanna see them you can just ask me.)
We wanted to stay at a nice cottage-y, English-y place, but some were too run-down and the ones like The Lakehouse (I want to go there with my soulmate one day if I ever find him) are crazy ex. So we ended up staying at the Equatorial, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The hotel was right at Kea Farm road, where the stalls where everyone buys vege and all are, and right next to a strawberry farm where they sell killer strawberry milkshakes. The room was nice (we paid extra for a balcony and fan) and on the second highest floor. Absolutely killing view, and how nice it was to stand on the balcony and snap pictures while a cold wind whips at your face, and early in the morning you can see all the mountains shrouded in mist. Another reason why I loved the place was because of the flowers there! On the evening of our first day I dragged the parents on a photo op mission.
Can you believe that this is a hibiscus?
Ooberly huge beetle. My dad picked it up. Ew.
Lazy to rotate... The path going down to nowhere.
This is me balancing precariously off the path going down to nowhere. Another step, I'd fall.
Pods!
Looks like I'm trying to suck it up my nostril, eh?
Yes, as you can see, I was wearing shorts and a tank top. This doesn't mean it wasn't cold. It was, deliciously. But how can you enjoy delightfully cold weather if you cover yourself up? I'd rather freeze.
We had tea and scones at the Cameronian Inn, where they claim to have the best in town. The scones, which I had with jam and butter and clotted cream, certainly were the best I'd ever tasted.
I wanted to go jungle trekking at this relatively-safe-if-you-go-without-a-guide half-hour trail, but it rained. 'parently it does that a lot up there. So basically on the first day we went to have a look at Kea Farm, had tea and scones, frolicked around Equatorial's compounds, went to Bandar Tanah Rata, took a walk in the wonderful cold breeze, and watched TV. :D Night.
I wasn't cold during the night even though we left the balcony door open to let the freezing cold air drift in, but boy was I chilly at 7.30 a.m. the next morning. Wasn't so brave today. Put on jeans and a shirt to go see Boh Tea Plantation.
The plantation, or the drive there, took my breath away. The whole plantation is mountainous and hilly and valley like. It was... gorgeous. I love mountains. I love hillery. I love it all. Now I understand Bilbo Baggins when he said, "I want to see mountains again." It was breathtaking. Pictures won't do to describe it, but they're better than words.
The teahouse of the Boh plantation. The tea there was so good, I had it without sugar.
Can't get away from flowers in CH
All of this, remember, is tea.
Look at the sky, friends!
We took more pics, actually. This is just one.
Glory.
After that, we had to get back and checkout already. After becoming hotel-less, we went and bought all the stuff we wanted at the Kea stalls. Then, I took one last picture at Eq Hotel and we took off.
Oh, but wait! I forgot the Jeeps! The LandRovers! My dad loves them. He likes these kinda guy stuffs. He says these machines were left over from the British times. Anyway, it's safe to say we saw about forty of them during our stay. No exaggeration, Cameron Highlands is full of them. And we only went around the town areas. There must be at least a hundred all together in the place! And almost all of them are branded with the letters CH. Like this one.
For Cameron Highlands, of course. But... dad, me.
See those letters CH?
Uh-huh?
You know what are they for?
(plays along) What?
It's to show they all belong to my daughter. Cheng Hwee.
-__________-
My dad has a lot in common with Mr. Elvin, didn't you know?
All in all, a lovely trip. I would love, love, love to retire in a place with mountains and scenery like this. And that's all I'm going to say.
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