~minors n’ MAJORS~

I visited Cameron once more last weekend. This time to visit the places I missed out during my first visit there during the CSSUPM Annual Camp back in September.

I went with a few of my lab-mates this time and the trip was a 3 days,2 night trip.

Introducing: my lab-mates

 

~Left to right: PeyYee, CheeHong, Cystale, Darren, JinPing (not my lab-mate)~

 

Day 1:

 

We used the Sg Pulai way up the Highlands which was a far better journey uphill if compared with the first trip up using the Tapah road. We sang to the music in CheeHong’s car while travelling up the hills. I guessed it must have been that which helped me to prevent my dizziness on the journey up-hill.

The weather wasn’t really good though during the journey up-hill as drizzling rain seemed to come and go.

~Rain rain… Go away~

 

~This may happen to you if you speed on the highlands…Lucky the car didn’t skid on the other side of the mountain… by which the fall will certainly be a long… And possibly fatal one…~

~One of the better hotels there – Equatorial hotel~

But since it was the holiday season and most of the hotels were full, we only to manage to find room at a small hotel in Brinchang town…

~The view from the hotel~

And by small I really mean that its small

~This is Chua Gin Hotel in Brinchang town~

~Its so small that the T.V. is small~

It was amazing that all 6 of us could fit into this room…

We arrived late in the evening and the first thing to find was dinner… There was quite a number of steamboat stalls just below where we stayed at… And we opt for a newly opened one… Called Restaurant Mountain House.

Apparently it was too newly opened that it didn’t really have enough staff and we ended up have to self service on certain chores which include topping up the soup base and also to get new plates from the nearby shelves.

The steamboat there also seemed to be so-so only…

~The usual eggs and noodles~

 

~The bulk of vegetables~

~Even more vegetables~

 

~The double soup base~

~The plate of meat and seafood was quite ‘small’ IMHO~

 

I didn’t managed to go and did a survey on the better areas to eat at before going there so we ended up in this place… Do read up on the other reviews which could be found online to find better food.

 

We went for a short walk around the hotel area after dinner and spotted this signboard… Apparently the show sells ‘organs’

 

We also managed to visit the Friday and Saturday pasar malam which was just a stone throw away… There were loads of fried food for sales which was ‘ok’… What really got my attention was the strawberry ice-cream on sale there… RM1 for a stick but it was really worth the price…

Along side those items, many of the hawkers also sells fresh vegetables from the highlands at super cheap price…

Another amusing thing I came upon was this…

We were buying food from one of the stalls who accepts the money and keep it in this container box…

~Look closer… It doesn’t really look like a container if you have a closer look… Yup… Its a printer~

 

There isn’t really any nightlife in Cameron and most of us were tired so we just stayed in the room for the rest of the night, playing…

~Jutawan… The Malaysian version of Monopoly~

Day 2

Following the planning on the first day, we woke up at around 5am

The misty look in the morning…

It was really foggy…

 

Our destination: The tip of Brinchang mountain…

The height: 6666m above sea level

The reason: To see the sunrise

The things we know beforehand: It will be a tough ride uphill

Before going on the trip, I’ve read about the tough ride uphill… Even though the mountain is one of the few accessible by cars… But going uphill isn’t easy at all… Braving slopes as steep as 45 degrees and moving for 9km along a one way road where a mistake could easily bring you tumbling down the mountain…And we were braving this stunt in the dark some more… This challenge is really not for the inexperienced.

Our journey uphill… And the dark photos I took

~This looks a bit like we were speeding at the mountainside ala Need For Speed style… The road was really only large enough for a car to pass thru at a time at some points~

 

We had to stop quite a number a time to: Remove large branches from the middle of the road… And to check which road was it to go… There was two fork along the road uphill which we stopped to and got down to look at the signs clearly…

And eventually and thank God at that, we arrived at the peak… A station or some sort… Which we thought was the peak… It wasn’t until a while after arriving that we noticed the symbolic iron tower which many other reviews noted on their hilltop experience.

~The station on the peak of the mountain~

 

We climbed up the tower, with every step the temperature seemed to have gotten lower… I was really shivering in my sweater…

But once we saw what was awaiting us at the top of the tower… All our chills seemed to have melted away…

Dawn is arriving…

 

I took a lot of photos here… But most of the photos aren’t really nice… Since after a while the chills came back and I was shivering once more… Couldn’t really hold the camera properly… Can’t even feel what’s in my bag with my bare hands… Note to others… It may be a good idea to bring gloves up with you…

 

~This looks like where the Monkey King will have reside at~

 

It was truly mystical being up at the mountain top… Truly amazing… The only downside may be that there was quite a lot of clouds about and that really kinda spoil the sunrise… After a while all we could see was clouds… And the surroundings became misty…

~There was no editing in this photo… This was how misty it was up there… Or is it foggy???~

 

~The fog/mist made it look kinda scary at times ~

 

~Really look like somewhere outside Malaysia~

 

 

~We could finally see how the roads look like…. We could see how it look like while we were going up since it was dark~

 

~One particular sign which we missed up on our way uphill was the ‘hon’ sign… Its a good idea to honk before turning a turn where you can’t see the other side… So if there are cars on the other side… They can hear you coming~

 

~Seems like a scene out of the movies… I felt like Frodo Baggins on his journey to destroy the ONE RING… It won’t surprise me if the Ringwraiths suddenly jump out of the trees or a headless horseman suddenly rode by~

 

 

~The sights that we couldn’t see on your journey up~

 

~Its tea plantation everywhere~

 

~At times 2 cars can pass side by side~

 

 

~Photos of the nearby Sg. Palas tea plantation~

On our way downhill, we stopped by the tea plantation at Sg Palas. The plantation only open at 9am so we lingered at the entrance… Taking shots of almost everything that we can shoot at

~Notice that the plantation does not open on Monday~

 

~In the dark you might not know which way is which but when you arrived at this fork, to get to the peak, turn left… The right road leads to the plantation.~

 

 

~Its so green everywhere~

 

~Really big and green… And I’m fat…~

 

~Paparazzi shot from far far away~

 

~Are those clouds, mist or fog???~

 

~The mansions up here look like haunted mansions hidden behind the mist/clouds/fog~

 

~We passed by this Primary School on our way towards the observation point at Sg. Palas~

 

~The observation point~

 

~The entrance… Boh Tea Center, Sg Palas~

 

~When I take the photo it will look like this~

 

~When I’m not taking the photo it looks like this… Zzz… I guess I better stick with being the photographer and not the model~

 

~There was a cafe the the observation point… Where you can sit down and enjoy a cup of tea which looking down at the vast tea plantation at the vast Sg Palas Boh tea plantation…~

 

~The scones here was not that satisfying though~

There was a tour into the factory which process the tea leaves… But there wasn’t really anything to note in there…

 

~Going downhill~

 

On the way back to the small hotel… We stopped by the Butterfly farm nearby Equatorial Hotel. There wasn’t really much to be awed at this farm… But we do noticed certain unique organisms…

 

~The ‘Raja Brooke’… On the hand ya… Not the guy~

 

~This is NOT a leaf…~

 

~And this IS a frog~

There are snakes, scorpions, some farm animals, so beetles etc on display… But the farm really wasn’t worth it… And it charges RM5 for entry some more…

After lunch and a short rest at the hotel… We left for the Cactus farm and the Big Strawberry Farm… (The one which I visited before this)

There was really a lot of flowers for me to take shots at..

 

~Love taking photos of these babies~

There really isn’t any night life in Cameron so we revisited the night market once more after dinner… There was a shop which sells really sweet strawberries so be sure to try to strawberries on display if they allow you to…

We also had dinner at one of the more famous restaurant… I forgot the name though… All I know that its in the town area in front of the Multipurpose hall…

The food there was great… But I love the chili paste the most… Hot and spicy and enough ‘oomph’…

The night passed by with another monopoly game… By which I lost really really unfairly…

 

Day 3

Everyone woke quite late this morning… Possibly due to the tiredness the night before… Last few stops for this trip will be to have breakfast, then proceed to Kimanis Strawberry farm and then Kea Farm and finally the Ee Fen Gu bee farm.

We had breakfast at a small food stall behind our hotel… Food was so and so… Nothing much different compared with other stalls…

~The view in front of the stall~

 

We went to Kimanis farm because someone recommended the strawberries there… But it must have been quite a lousy season for the strawberries there since most of the ones I tasted there was sour…

Kea farm is one big farm… With a lot of stalls to visit… Albeit like the pasar malam… Apparently it was too much of a tourist attraction that the road there was jammed up for quite a while… Therefore, if you are interested in visiting Cameron… Don’t visit during the weekends or you’ll find yourself trapped in all sorts of traffic jam…

Ee Fen Gu bee farm was our last stop… We stopped by here to help a senior buy the honey here… Do be aware though, there aren’t really any large sign boards showing where this farm is… But it is a bit further down Kea farm…

I spent quite some time trying to capture the photo of a bee doing its work and followed a particular one for a few minutes before I lost sight of it… And without any photo… Darn…

Another note is that the bee farm is currently undergoing renovations…

My 2nd trip to Cameron doesn’t really have the excitement of my 1st visit but I finally managed to visit some of the popular areas… But still even after my 2nd trip here… Fact remains the same… Cameron is only suitable for those who like to travel around to look at nature etc… And not for those who like to shop… Cuz apart from vegetables, strawberries and a few other items… You can hardly find anything else to buy….

Still… I love the mystical look of the Highlands…