I received text from syauQi while he was away for work “i balik ni, ade cuti 4 hari…nak pegi mane2 tak sblum bulan puasa” Wahhh dgn lajunye i jawab NAK. I suggested Cameron Highland. We were not sure where to stay though, our number one criteria is always “accessible to food at anytime” and number 2 is spacious room. I tweeted around to ask for suggestion, few suggested the YTL CameronHighland Resort. Mom stayed there before, mmg tak deny room cantek tp food jauh and their room service food tak sedap tapi mahal yg amat. Not worth the price. If mahal tp sedap boleh lah nk consider..tp since mom said tak sedap..so we had to strike CameronHighland Resort of the list.
Some suggested Strawberry Park , i didnt google on it sebab dlm kepala dh kate taknk. Reason? I went with my family to cameron and stayed there when i was small…so dlm kepala dah saiko, wuish hotel lame sure tak bes. Boleh tak kepala saiko diri sendiri mcm tu padahal im sure they have done refurbishment bagai. Oh talking of going there when i small (somewhere around 8 years old tak silap)…i had little memories of the place. When i was in form 3, went to Outward Bound School to be the Course Assistant, i was under an instructor who’s hometown is in cameron highland. I actually asked him “eh u have to travel down everyday ah to go to school?” ye lah dulu pegi still kecik mane lah perasan situ adalah sebuah “perkampungan” yg besar…tot mcm genting kan. Skali he answered “Why, i really look uneducated ah? cam budak tak pegi sekolah ke?” hihihi, Oppsss, may bad.
Nway, back to our accommodation. My cousin been there couple of times and stayed at Century Pine, Tanah Rata. She said food not a problem, walking distance and depan hotel ade playground, just ideal for the kids. Called them up and made reservation for Deluxe Garden. Love the idea where we have courtyard for the kids to run about. We travelled up via Simpang Pulai. We were told by many jalan from Simpang Pulai is better, wider road. Tapi sebab dah berzaman tak naik via Tapah we couldnt do any comparison. Syauqi pulak mmg his first time to Cameron so he was wondering as well, wondering what people meant by wider roads coz for him its was rather narrow. We left KL quite late actually, reached our hotel at about 330pm. Syauqi went in to check-in while we waited in the car. He came back and asked me “you, ade Pahang suite, nak tak? 2 bedroom” i asked “ade courtyard tak?”. “ade” replied syauqi. So apa lagi, i pun jawab “if u nak bayar, i okay je” hihih
Somehow this 2 bedroom suite was not shown in their website. However the Pahang suite is only available for one night, dah ade org booked for the following day. We were not sure weather we wanted to stay for a night or 2 nights. We were given the option of staying in Pahang suite for a night and if we decide to stay for another night, we can move to Perak suite, also 2 bedroom but on the first floor, thus no courtyard. We agreed to that.
This was the room we stayed, it has a kitchenette as well. Sape yg rajin masak tu boleh lah masak.
The kids love it coz they were not disconnected to their Disney Junior channel. The room has astro with their 613.
I always love the private courtyard idea, where we can open the door all day and kids and go in and out within my sight
hArith fooling around
the courtyard was quite big
If you wish to have the normal room with courtyard, you may take the deluxe garden. But for deluxe garden, the courtyard wont be a private one, you will share with your “neighbours”. It looks good enough for me though.
After check-in, rest for 15 mins or so and off we went for late lunch at the hotel cafe. Then nk gi jalan kedai nearby, cousin told me it was walking distance. Yes, i dont deny it. It was walking distance…tapi to go with 4 kids,hmm. We were heading to the shops already when syauqi asked me “you tau ke nk gi kedai mane” Of coz lah tak kan, i pun first time dtg sini. But i had in mind already, wanted to go to T-Cafe as suggested by my friend and cousin. Skali syauqi bising, “tak tau tempat tapi nk pegi dgn budak2, stroller lagi.Memang lah kak Jaja boleh pegi jalan kaki, die 2 anak, …dah besar” . Ha kan tak pasal2 kena marah…haha. So kami patah balik hotel and decided to take the car and pegi tea plantation. We went to Bharat tea planation. Ade 2 by the way. One is if you naik from Simpang Pulai, it is before Brinchang. And the other one is if u naik from Tapah, before Tanah Rata. My mom told me to go to the one near Brinchang. We actually went to a different one, not the one mom suggested. We went to Bharat tea plantation instead of Boh tea (mom suggested), tak jumpe yg my mom went. But anyhow, the kids love the tea plantation, they were running up and down. Uzair, who is so famous of malas-nak-jalan-dukung-me-or-i-will-just-baring-on-the-ground was the happiest among all…lari naik and down the hill.
kids going up and down the hill,
uzair
elder 2 going up
it was difficult to get picture of athirAh, naik sama2, tapi bila turun, she went down a different trail
dad playing hide and seek with son
Boo!!!
someone refused to go home and ended up running up the hill again
the dad had to go and get him
Next stop was the strawberry farm. We wanted the kids to experience strawberry picking. They have lots of farm, we were clueless which one to go. Thus we just turn to the next signage of strawberry farm that we saw. It turned out to be a disappointment. The trees were fruitless. It was already 6-ish pm, decided to head back to the hotel. Walked to the playground opposite of the hotel for the kids to burn their remaining energy. About 30 minutes there, and we returned back to the room. While i shower the kids, syauQi went to get us some food and at the same time survey the place wheater it is 4 children friendly or not. We spend the night in the room to watch Malaysia vs Singapore.
Next morning, we decided to extend our stay. Moved all our belonging to the Perak Suite after we had our buffet breakfast. We enquire at the hotel reception on strawberry farm, she told us few of major farms. We passed by Raju’s farm (one of the name mentioned by the receptionist) and decided to stop over. Again, it was a disappointment. Was told it was not the season for strawberry picking. They had few ready picked pack of strawberries for sale though. The man told us “it’s not season, but even if it is the season, it will be cheaper if u buy the ready pack, its only RM35 while self picked will be RM55” (alar sbb die takde tuk kami self-pick, dan2 kate self-pick mahal) We decided to mend our disappointment by buying the strawberry and cream from their little cafe.
(pic by phone)
We stop at few other places, tried luck at other strawberry park hoping for strawberry picking for the kids and the bee farm (didnt go in though coz of the steps we had to walk, not convenient with the kids). We had our lunch at a restaurant located beside the De La Ferns Hotel (the hotel is between Tanah Rata and Brinchang). I had yummy strawberry waffles and kids ordered strawberry milkshake. Yes over here, everything was about strawberry. Tapi kami tertipu actually, i saw them blend the strawberry milkshake, they didn’t put any fresh strawberry in it, instead they used the hersyes’ strawberry syrup. Lucky thing it taste yummy. Tak lah rase artificial sgt. Syauqi had lamb chop. It was nice, we actually came again the next day for it. The kids had fried rice.
While having our meals, i tweeted bout us in Cameron and our disappointment of the strawberry farm, Neeza replied to my tweet, suggested to us to go to Opah strawbery Farm. Neeza was at Cameron Highland a week before us. Opah Farm is at Kampung Taman Sedia, opposite the kindergarten. You will passed by a surau, then the kindergarten. I think this was the only Muslim strawberry farm we came across. Thanks to Neeza. Most farm is at the hill slope, not convenient for us with kids. Opah farm was just ideal, park our car near the entrance and we can start picking 😀 1kg of strawberries was RM35.
the pack above is approximately 500gram
Elder 2 were so happy picking strawberries, i had to stop them coz i doubt it we can finish so much of strawberries.
Then we went to the T-Cafe as suggested by others. Their scones were yummy, the next day i even tapau 10 strawberry scones home, 3 i gave to
yaya yg mengidam strawberry scones. Stated at the wall, you can only get strawberry scone at T-Cafe. Dont know how far is it true, but through out my stay i didn’t come across other places that sells strawberry scones. Eating at T-cafe felt so homey. Other foods just so so je. But i would love to go there again for their scones! They have the usual scones with butter and cream as well. T-Cafe is at Tanah Rata, shop above Marry Brown, you have to go by the side of Marry Brown and u will see steps going up. I’m not sure if they have rename the shop because they have at the menu book written The Lord Cafe.
felt so cosy, like eating at home.
(pic by phone)
Went back to the hotel as kids were already tired hoping in and out of the car. My mission to search for the Boh plantation that my mom meant was a failure. Rested in the room before we continue our next mission; the night market at Brinchang. We went at about 5-ish hoping less traffic and easier to get for car park. We bought lotsa of food for dinner at the night market. Mom told us to buy some vegetables but we decided to buy it the next day before we leave back to KL. I was rather surprised (and impressed) that despite all kind of strawberries souvenir (i.e ballon, ball, bag) hanging everywhere at the night market, none of my kids asked for it. All kinds of food ade, somehow they are very fond of deep fried, crab, prawn sume deep fried.
Oh one funny thing, the corn (jagung rebus) was RM3 each, BUT here in taman tun night market, jagung rebus cameron is only rm2!!! We were shocked to hear it was RM3, told the makcik, RM3?? kt KL RM2!. The makcik kate lain, x same, in which i replied “sama makcik, jagung cameron / mutiara. Rupe pun sama, RM2. if jagung yg biasa RM1.70 cik” she kept saying “lain dik, rase dulu” Dok suruh rase dulu tapi tak pulak kasi sample kt kami 😛 We decided not to buy it. Went to other stalls, all selling it for RM3 each. macam rase tertipu if we beli…but kids already asked for it coz jagung mmg one of the compulsory food to buy whenever we go night market. Told syauqi to go to the car with elder 2 first coz he had lots to carry while i and younger two hunt for the jagung. After walking from one end to another, i found a stall selling for RM2. “auntie, why others sellling for RM3, auntie je sell for RM2” “others buy from people, i plant myself mahh”
Hand were full, didnt bring our camera along to take photos of the night market scene. After few minutes babywear Uzair, he felt asleep in it smpai kepala terlentok.
(photo by phone)
this was how i carried younger 2 to hunt for jagung rebus
(photo by phone)
There was an empty space dedicated for car park for the night market. It was RM3 per entry.
Had our dinner and later i tweet about our day picking strawberries, few friends requested to tapau for them. It was of coz a good news for the elder 2, more strawberry picking for tomorrow! 😀
The next day, took our own sweet time waking up. Buffet breakfast wasnt that great, so we syauQi said, if miss breakfast we can get something else outside. Pack the bags while waited for syauQi to get up. We still managed to get some bites at the buffet. Remember i mention before,
uZAir and his tantrum.. we knew the prime suspect of such behaviour is the maid, coz maid tolerate his behaviour and give whatever he wants (i caught maid giving him a spoonful of sugar!!!) Through out our trip, he showed no tantrum and sat all by himself every meal. If kat rumah kena suap lah, dok atas riba lah.
can even give us a smile while eating by himself!
We checked out after breakfast, head to Opah farm again to buy total of 9 boxes of strawberries. Then head to Kea Farm to buy vegetables. It was saturday, traffic was terrible. We all waited in the car while syauqi did the marketing coz we didnt get a proper parking space and also too hassle to bring all for marketing. I insist on searching for the tea plantation that my mom mention. With great determination (chewahh…haha) we found it. Signboard wasnt visible enough. The view was magnificent. Tapi the road was very2 narrow, with our big car…hah mmg payah. If only we found the way the day before, with less traffic we could enjoy the view better. We didnt get down because no parking lot unless we park way down and walk up. So we view from the car. View was superb, masyaAllah. From the junction, stated 2.5 km (tak ingat, 2. somthing km) but jalan beliku2, donno lah how ppl walk in. jln beliku2 naik turun…mau semput. Where is this Boh Plantation Sungai Palas? If you are from Brinchang, after Kea Market, you will pass Equatorial Hotel, go further up till u see a Bee Farm. The junction is exactly opposite the Bee Farm. Its written Sungai Palas. Jalan sgt berliku and narrow, if ade car dtg from opposite direction mmg payah. But if tak pegi mmg rugi, sangat cantek! MasyaAllah. Sorry we dont have a photo of it, perhaps a solid reason to go there again…hihi
So got what i wanted, time to head home. We decided to balik via Tapah, so we know what people meant by Jalan Tapah narrow compared to Simpang Pulai. Before that singgah T-Cafe to take away scones. Ni pun cam cuak2 nk bgtau syauQi to stop tapau, tapi kang kempunan jenuh pulak…hihi.
On the way down, we passed by the other Bharat Tea Plantation. View was much better than the other Bharat we went BUT the other Bharat is more children friendly where kids can run about. The Bharat (on the way down to Tapah) is more steep for the kids. And it was raining earlier in the morning, making it more slippery for the kids. Uzair was asleep in the car, syauQi stayed with him and uWais while i brought the elder 2.
I was sooo happy that finally i manage to get shots of this gal.
and yayyy more shots of my gal
like the hat? that’s from
okinokiyo . get a customade hat for ur lil one 😀
That was our last stop, felt like having a tea here with scone but uzair was a sleep in the car..so dare not say it to En suami, hihi.
Balik via Tapah, mmg jalan berliku2, it is not so much of wider or narrow road but more on winding road, berliku2. Overall it was a good trip. I can now strike Cameron off from my places i wish to go. Eh chop but i want more of the scones..so noo, can’t strike that off. hihih
Thanks to the husband for bringing us. And i think im getting a hang of it, packing for all of us at the very last minute. I packed the bag just before we left. Same thing happen for our Avillion PD trip, syauQi surprised me and gave me an hour to pack the bag. This time around i had 2 hours to do so. Wanted to pack the night before but ended up falling asleep while putting the kids to sleep..opps. So bangun pagi tu baru pack. And when i look at athirAh walking around…it reminds me of myself, when i was younger, going for a family trip. 4 siblings with parents. Looking at athirah, it makes me feel like i am my mom. Just like before, bringing all of us for holiday. Yes we survived bringing 4 kids, age 4 years below for a 2 nights trip without any extra hand. Alhamdulillah. Syauqi said, no one can understand us, coz if yg ade 4 anak pun the age wont be the same like our kids. So if a person say “oh senang je gi situ” , yes it may be senang for them but not for us. Byk consideration we need to do, but most importantly…tempat to accessible to food…hihi
Oh,before gi cameron, i was telling the kids, Papa bringing us to cameron, it is cold up there. Sampai sane, hArith asked me “mommy where’s the snow?” me “there’s no snow up here hArith” . “but u said it is cold up here” awww, pitty him, i gave him false hope.
nway, looking back at the photos, i have a kind of feeling that i cant put it into words, the feeling that it was a success, the two of us manage to handle 4 lil ones for a trip. with no extra help, no major chaos, alhamdulillah. the photo below makes my heart leap 😉
this only happen the first minute they get their food, all well seated. the longest 1 minute for us…hihi. (pic by phone)
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