My Birthday Weekend in the Highlands

25 January 2008 Friday

My Birthday Weekend was spent in the highlands - Camerons- to be specific. :) Alan took the Friday off and carted me away to The Lakehouse. We left Sri Tiara at around 1230pm and got to the small town Tapah approx 2hours later. We ate to live at KFC and then went searching for a very sweeeeeeet jumbu-apple Alan had bought there before, on his way up to Penang.

It was a taxing and painful and winding journey up to The Lakehouse, which was ironically quite near (30 mins drive?) the foot of the mountain. What a quaint and cosy little place it was! We were greeted warmly and presented a welcome drink of iced ginger and sugar syrup and then led to our room.

I slept off my motion sicknes in 1/2 hour and Alan busied himself in the meanwhile taking photos of the room and the view from our window. Then, we went upwards in search of recreation and a late late luncheon.

We drove into a small town Tanah Rata where we had a un-delectable lunch. I had the saltiest noodle soup ever and Alan had fried kuay teow which was oily and unappetising. Then we walked around the area and ventured into small shops in search of things to see/ do / buy. hahahaa

T-cafe was next. As it came highly recommended in online reviews, we were itching to try the "World's Best Apple Pie", as exclaimed by some hungry Americans. However, the apple pie that was served was dry and the apples inside, tasteless. The vanilla ice-cream that accompanied it , however, was its saving grace. Very creamy and probably home-made. Ahhhhh What I loved most was the strawberry tea that came in a tea-bag. Very fragant and delicious! It gave us the extra omph to explore our surroundings more.

We drove in search of strawberry farms in which they allowed self-picking. Raju Strawberry Farm did not seduce us as its strawberries were very small and unripe. Kea Farm, which also came highly recommended online, did not even allow us to enter the gardens to take photos, let alone pluck strawberries. Disappointed, we bought a punnet of berries at a low RM10 for our happy consumption later in the evening. We bought some magnets to add to our collection and also some strawberry items for TK.

Then we went to a Bee Farm but it started to trickle before we met any bees. So we headed back to The Lakehouse for a short rest...

Dinner was at Hong Kong Restaurant and we happily tucked into the steamboat served. At an amazingly affordable price (RM12/head) we were treated to a fantastic feast. Vege, eggs, meat, prawns etc.. The best part was the weather - perfect for steamboat-dining, which explains the plentiful eateries serving the same cuisine.

Alan was careful to drive back to our hotel s-l-o-w-l-y that night, lest we incur the wrath of upset bellies.

26 January (my Birthday)

the ginnah was the first to msg me to wish me a Happy Birthday. The msg came in at 12midnight sharp. apparently she had started thinking of what to type from 2330 when on the bus going home. hahahaha.. Thanks ahhh ginnah!!!! :)

We woke up late and were treated to a lovely breakfast in the romantically-set restaurant in the hotel. I swear the pancakes are the fluffiest I've ever come across. We also had an asparragus and salmon omelette each.

Then, after the meal settled, we decided to explore Boh Tea Plantation, to catch a glimpse of the fragant fields of tea plants. The road was trecherous and most of the time single-laned. Alan carefully honked our arrival at every bend, just in case we got in the way of on-coming traffic.

The Boh Tea plantation was very beautiful. Imagine a serene, tranquil environment, overlooking lush greenery, the sun casting its spell...We went for a short tour in the factory and discovered the different processes of making tea - withering, rolling, drying, fermentating and sorting. Then, as true Singaporeans, we of course hit the Boh Tea shoppe and bought tonnes and tonnes of tea leaves as though they are not available in Singapore. hahaha.

A few minutes later, we found ourselves seated in the cafe and taking in the wonders of Nature (ok ok, it's alittle man-made, but use your imagination oK?) Our enjoyment of our lukewarm hot chocolate, chicken and mushroom pie and a fresh strawberry tart surpassed our pleasure of being surrounded by such Natural Beauty. ;) Having been in concrete jungles Singapore / KL for so long, the feelings' amazing!

Next, we went strawberry picking in EQ farm. The closest we have ever come to natural strawberries is those in their punnets in Cold Storage freezers and therefore we were awed by the many potted strawberry plants hanging from the heavens and tempting us. Our task : Pick a minimun of 1/2 kg of the reddest, sweetest, freshest strawberries from their stalks. Don't pluck the fruit by the fruit or risk damaging the very sensitive flesh.
We went all out in search of the ripest, sweetest, biggest fruits and had a field day plucking them from their vines. ahahhaha. My first experience. Fun! :) According to the reviews online, the Multicrop Central Market is a must-visit. We stopped by without any hope of spending too much money there as it looked pretty small and cramped. We were wrong, of course. There were many cute figurines just perfect for our balconey to dress up the area. And into the shopping- cart they went! My lonely duck ornament sitting in the balconey now has company!!! We also bought 3 rock melons which tasted like the sweetest nectar from heavens!

Although the sun was soon setting, a bee farm beckoned next. Tens of sunflowers lined the aisle all nodding their warm greetings to us in the soft breeze. A friendly elderly Uncle was very hospitable and explain to us painstakingly the process of honey-making and showed us his bee farm. Alan risked his life, much to my trepidation, just to capture some digitals of the yellow-blacks.
We bought some honey (we are fans) for ourselves and our family members - goh hui, we bought you a piece of honey soap for sensitive skin! :) Then it was back to the Lakehouse for a scrumptious dinner.

Our 4-course meal was served to us in the restaurant under candle-light. Alan's wild mushroom soup lost to my tomato in gin one, in terms of taste. Our entrees were very tasteful and tasty - caeser salad with salmon and delicious prawn and mango salad. (by the way, the mango in cameron highlands taste like durian / jackfruit!) The main course soon arrived - a beef fillet each with garlic / black pepper / green pepper corn sauce. Yum! Just when we were too stuffed to contemplate dessert the most magical moment manifested -
The Indian waiters all appeared from the kitchen with a huge strawberry cheesecake in hand, belting our their rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song. hahaha. And whilst the other diners looked on in surprise, Alan emerged with a HUGE bouquet of 50 pink and red roses!!! Ahhhhh How well-planned! hahahaha. Truly a perfect celebration of my first birthday as a Mrs. :) *blush*

27 January 2008
We roused late and went down for breakfast. Thereafter, even before our food had settled, we trotted down the short slope and headed for the 'stretch' of 2 shops opposite our hotel for some 'last-minute- shopping'. hahaha. (I believe we have indeed caused a soar in the economy of this part of Malaysia at least.)

We bought a lovely green plant to add to our collection and some fruits and dried plum to help me combat my motion sickness for the return journey. I also bought afew 'ai xin guo'- love fruits? They are supposed to taste like kiwis. We shall try them tonight.

The journey back to KL commenced at around 1230pm and we arrived at 3+pm, making good time and going at top speed. The speedometer had read 160km/hr at one point. Ahhhhh..fast cars, fancy melons? haha We stopped by the one and only waterfall and beseeched the macheks to move so that we take some photos.. then we zoomed off again.

We fetched Jay Jay from Robin's at 5+pm and then had dinner at Robson's again. To make up for the dismal lunch (of maggie mee), we ordered fried hokkien mee for two, drunken prawns and mushrooms with fish maw. The total bill? Rm70!

Now how I wish every weekend was a celebration of some sort! hahahahaa Thanks Laogong, I had a lovely time. *muacks* Thanks too to all those who dropped me an sms - all 19 of you. And the tonnes of facebook posts of birthday greetings from my ex-students. I LOVE YOU ALL LAH! heeeee