Sunday, September 28, 2008

Boh Tea Plantations

One of my stops in Cameron Highlands was their tea plantations which belong to 'Boh'. I just found out recently that BOH stands for 'Best Of Highland'... Anyway, this tea centre i visited in Sungei Palas is a relatively new one, so everything was still spick and span.



They have a guided tour once every 30 minutes, which relays to tourists how the tea leaves are harvested and processed, followed by their segregation to different classes of tea.



There is a very modern feel to the design of this place. It has a open concept, which is nice because the air there was really fresh. We travelled through winding roads, weaving across the tea plantations just to come here, but the journey along the way was scenic, with endless tea bushes stretching miles and miles away.




This a teahouse just beside the factory, perched precariously on the cliff overlooking the rolling hills. They sell, you guessed it, BOH tea to go with scones and cakes.



And these 2 photos were taken at the end of the teahouse. It may scare those who are afraid of heights, but it is very calming to see things so green.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Top 10 Formula One Crashes

In conjunction with the first night race, Singapore Grand Prix 2008, i present you this video. Don't worry, no one died in these accidents.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Food Experience in Cameron Highlands

This is T-Cafe... prior to visiting, i've done a certain amount of research on where to eat while in Cameron Highlands. T-Cafe comes out top of the list by people in various forums. I decided to give it a try while i was there. Their most famous dish, the Strawberry Fruity Scone was pretty good. I love scones, i always have... i was so excited to see the scone that i forgot to take a picture for my blog... gahhh.... so here's just a photo of the restaurant, which has a colonial feel to it.

Cameron Highlands is renowned for its steamboats. After all, in the cool weather, having a bowl of hot steamboat soup is absolutely heaven.

Here are the meat and vegetable that went along with our steamboat... they had jellyfish and cuttlefish... pretty unconventional for a steamboat session, in my opinion.

Balls and tofus! haha... oh i've forgotten to mention that this restaurant is called 'Highland Restaurant', the leading steamboat restaurant in Cameron Highlands. While we were having dinner there, a huge crowd went in after us, and according to my mom, they were the contestants from Project Superstar Malaysia... i don't watch much Malaysian TV, so i'll have her word for it...haha...

Noodles ! Thank god Agent LL was not around, or he would've wiped out he whole plate in an instant.... sob...


Here's a pic of the steamboat. It is actually a Charcoal Steamboat, hence the towering furnace on top, which releases the smoke. There's no fire at the bottom of the pot, it relies on the heat from the burning charcoal in the furnace. It was surprising for me to see the soup boiling sideways, instead of bottom-up, as is the norm.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Pluck-Your-Own-Strawberry

My first destination upon reaching Cameron Highlands ( after having tea and sandwiches, that is) was a strawberry farm. When i last visited Cameron Highlands 16 years ago, and my parents several decades ago, strawberries were not really the main draw there. Now, it can be found at every corner in Cameron Highlands.

The strawberry farm we went to ( which was right at our hotel's doorstep) was the 'Pluck-Your-Own' type. Look at my parents go.... it's like treasure hunting....haha....


At the end of the day, we managed to get two plate loads of red, juicy strawberries. We didn't really know how to pick the best ones, so it was roughly based on instincts. No matter what, it still beats the feeling of buying pre-packed ones from the supermarket!


Oh yeahhhh! They looked so red they were almost fake! We did this just for the experience. On the day that we left, my mother bought more which were sold in the markets...


Thursday, September 11, 2008

QQ's Pet Hotel


Ehhh, what's mummy doing? She's gently coming my hair and making sure i look tidy. She normally doesn't do it at this time of the day. What's going on? I smell something fishy going...

Hey! My food, my toy and my hanky! She's packed my luggage? Are we going on a vacation? Or is she bringing me to stay over somewhere?


Arrrghhhh, she put me in this cursed car again! Everytime i come in here means i'm going to see the vets. I hate them cos they always put me on this ice cold table, and poke me with needles. Plus the place smells bad too! I must fight back with all i've got.....


Hehe...i'm here! Hey, this place doesn't look half bad... It has a large running area and lots of food stocked up...


What is this? I thought i was going to stay in that room just now? Not this tiny little cell!!! *sob*..... lemme out! Lemme out!


Sunday, September 07, 2008

Cool Malaysia

From the title, i don't mean that Malaysia is getting 'hip'. At least not with all the hanky-panky going on in Malaysian politics. I wonder when Hollywood will be getting the rights to make the saga into a blockbuster. Actually, what i meant from the word 'cool' is really the literal meaning... it was really cool during my visit back to Malaysia...well except for the 2nd day i was home. It was burning hot like a furnace, but later i realised it was because a storm was brewing...the rain reigned for a full day the following day.
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Hmmm...this photo was taken while i was travelling along the East Coast Highway, from the direction of Kuantan towards Kuala Lumpur. If your first instinct tells you this is the haze from forest fires, then you're wrong. It was actually a very misty day... really nice. I hardly get to see this anywhere in Malaysia, let alone a highway.


Wow... Sunrise Heaven? Nah, this was actually the view from my hotel bedroom in Cameron Highlands ( more of CH stories to come next time). It felt like we were actually staying above the clouds.

Hmm...perhaps i was right. We were 5,300 feet above sea level... and look at the temperature gauge that says '17.7 deg C'.... fantastic... it was pretty chilly but a good change from Singapore weather, nevertheless.

And this is Genting Highlands, drenched from heavy rain. Look at the heavy downpour coming down.

Even First World Hotel with its array of colours didn't stand out amidst all the fog. I think the weather was around 20-ish degrees... it was warm indoors, but whenever i walked towards any exit i could feel the cold winds seeping in.

26.1 Deg C it says here...but this was the temperature inside our hotel in Awana which is situated mid-hill near the Cable Car station. It was the perfect mix...not too cold and not too warm for me. Right now, it's back to hot old Singapore weather for me =(