the partial bar

Road Trip : Cameron Highlands (Day 3)

shani — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:41:50 +0000

Day 3 started off ironically not on the morning of the 3rd day but instead, the evening of Day 2 because that will be the last evening that we will spent in Cameron Highlands in that lovely chalet of ours. Girlfriend tried to snap a picture of that last evening but couldn’t and so i went and took things over and resulted in this.

Nothing explains better about the word evening than this picture. It drizzled that night but cold enough to restrict our movements even under the comforts of the warm 3 layer comforters. Hit the sack at about 2100hrs but only really fell asleep at midnight, there’s always a thing about cold weather, it makes you sleepy. Encouraging hibernation i supposed.

I was told that Cameron Highlands has one of the best views of sun ups and sun downs and have been wanting to see it on the first morning we spent there itself but couldn’t find the determination to step out from the bed into the cold air but there was no choice on the 3rd day. It is now or never. It’s either i caught Cameron Highlands on a bad day streak or just what i’ve found out about Cameron Highlands is false. The sunrise is not as distinct that described.

0600hrs my phone alarm rang and we rushed out dragging the comforters with us onto the highest elevated land there is within the vicinity of the chalet and it was under and roof right in front of one of the suites but it was early and nobody in their right mind would wake up that morning, just sat there and hope.

This sight of the sun rising from the silhouettes of the hills should be breath taking but that morning, the clouds got the better of it. Blocking out completely the chance for the sun to shine, allowing only its rays to illuminate through them. I caught Cameron Highlands on a bad day streak but i should have seen it coming, what are the odds of visiting a hill valley and encountered a flood capable heavy rain and with very little clear blue skies throughout the visit.

But nonetheless, the view of the skies brighten up as the sun rises was rare. We stayed for about 45minutes in the cold before deciding to head back into our chalet to prepare ourselves for the journey back home which we are very reluctant to do. Checked out at approximately 0915hrs, we left for Tanah Rata for breakfast before the long winding road downhill. Wanting to taste the lovely scones of T-Cafe for the last time but it was too early, wanted to eat Marrybrown that we wanted on our first morning there but it was early too and we just walked around and landed into a mamak called Restoran 14 which indeed gives quite a good and crispy Roti Telur despite the i wouldn’t called it weird but eccentric attitudes of the workers there.

3 days there and we have not captured the other moments of landmark areas of Cameron Highlands, promised to buy my girlfriend flowers but didn’t because i guess it wasn’t the season.

There was very little choices around and not as the rumors had it, 100 roses for RM10.00. A dozen of roses costs RM8.00 from a stall we enquired, not hand bouquet packaged, just stalks of roses. Done with the supposedly mass purchase of fresh flowers, we head on over to the Boh Tea Plantation Estate and i would suggest that if you are driving anything about a sedan, try to refrain from going into the one in Sg. Palas. You will know why later.

The roads aren’t really visitor friendly, the width is about 1½ Forbidden’s and plenty of blind spots, meaning sharp bends with no view of oncoming traffic at all, blocked by protruding hillsides. Honking is necessary when you are reaching one such corner to alert oncoming cars that there’s another on the opposite direction, tedious but amazing scenic drive.

Just to prove a point on the road. There will be sections that the road actually narrows down to about one car’s size and a slight loss of control will cause you to go tumbling down the tea plantation fields and wait be harvested the next climate. You know, before you actually turned into the estate, there’s a signboard which states something like “Panoramic View of Boh’s Tea Plantation – 2 KM” which i total ignored because i have no idea how long is 2KM. I just kept on driving and driving until a point i realized this is not right.

But of course you will have no qualms in doing so but not much of a point because basically thereonafter, everything you see will be pretty much the same.

This is the panoramic view of the tea plantation that i conveniently missed. First time seeing it, amazing.

Girlfriend was so hyped about seeing people plucking tea leaves from the fields, she snapped this picture of a man looking really “wtf” while i was waiting for 2 huge school buses to passed by a one car width road and then she went on a tea leaves plucking spree.

FUN FACTS : Do you know that tea leaves was discovered by the Chinese first before everyone else in the world by ACCIDENT =O it was said when one of the leaves fell into the Emperor’s cup of water.

Done with playing Country Spirit, head on downhill and you’ll pass by the town of Tringkap and this is where the famous Rose Valley is located. We thought it was free but was not. RM4.00 for adult and RM2.00 for children.

As expected, there weren’t many roses because they weren’t in season but enough to caused nonstop sneezing to my girlfriend who plucked out one petal from a rose and sniffing it at point blank distance. Oh yeah, those roses you get from florist, amateurs. They smell nothing like the ones here, of a different species i supposed but they smell way nicer. Very pungent. You know those nonsense you bought from conventional supermarkets which bears the flavour “Rose”, they smell exactly just like that. To be more precise, those “Sirap Bandung” cordial you see on shelves, 98%! Sweet.

Honestly, i see this everywhere in Cameron Highlands but i don’t know what family does it belongs to. I don’t think it belongs to the Rose family eventhough you find it in the Rose Valley because roses don’t have those long antlers like thingy hanging out from the middle.

right… then you have different kinds or roses….

… and more roses.

I always thought that black roses are genetically altered roses but it turns out that they exists naturally. Black roses are actually very old red roses, they are so old that the color red turns very dark maroon’ish making them looked like black.

Green roses, the most unappealing of them all. They are some sort like those roses who don’t quite make it in the family and NO, they are not premature roses that are still growing. This is their end, they looked like this and will die like this. Interesting :hmmm:

Ever wondered why Malaysia picked Hibiscus to be their national flower ^{i hope they are still is} i did and always thought it’s stupid. Now, i know i was wrong. Those hibiscus you see in town are lame ass kinds. Those in Cameron Highlands are as huge as your 21″ rims ^{ok, i’m exaggerating} but they are really huge and pretty. For once, hibiscus looks pretty. So don’t ever say Malaysia’s national flower sucks! I love Malaysia a lot.

At the end of the flower park you will see random flowers started growing including this one recognizable Gerbera ^{just because i bought it before for my girlfriend =P} and green grapes but we don’t eat locally grown grapes because they are sour as shi-

THIS, is my favorite shot of the bunch and there’s no need for an explanation of why it is and if you don’t like it, you’re just dumb.

Now for some statistics of the trip.

Traveling Time : ≤ 6 hours.
Distance (from Kuala Lumpur) : ≤ 267km via Rawang exit
Distance (Simpang Pulai – Brinchang) : ≤ 84km

It’s significantly shorter in distance if you exit via the Jalan Duta toll exit compared to the Rawang toll exit but more in toll payment.

Traveling Distance (Back & FRO) : ≤ 534kms
Toll Costs (Rawang Exit & Jalan Duta Exit) : RM21.80 / RM24.80
Chalet Costs : RM360.00 (2 nights)
Foodstuffs : ≤ RM50.00
Fuel Costs (Back & FRO) : ≤ RM110.00 @ 110kmph
Entertainment Costs : RM20.00

Total Costs for Road Trip = RM586.60 which i only incurred about RM406.60 after deduction of the rental of the chalet for the 2nd night.

P/S : Watch out for the review entry i will be making for Bala’s Chalet coming up this coming week.

Road Trip : Cameron Highlands (Day 2)

shani — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:45:23 +0000

WARNING : This is going to be a long post filled with pictures. Not easy summarizing 12 hours into one entry. 56kers beware.

We woke up exceptionally early that morning and when i said early, it’s early in OUR world. Not in yours cause yours is just ungodly hours. Tonnes of stuff in the itinerary of the day

visit a Strawberry Farm;
pluck strawberries;
visit a flower farm;
probably buy some flowers;
eat scones;
buy soveniers.

…well, it’s actually just 4 items but hey, don’t be an ass and point it out!

When we were doing the research on which place to book for night, we found out that coincidentally the place that we booked ^{Bala’s Chalet} actually serves one of the best scones and English tea around the clock in Cameron Highlands and i planned to treat my girlfriend as breakfast but i almost went into an epileptic shock when i saw the price, RM22.50 for 2 scones, the usual butter and strawberry jam and a pot of tea. Decided to pissed it off, we head over to Tanah Rata in search of a cheaper alternative breakfast which is about more or less 5 minutes away from our chalet and Tanah Rata is REALLY REALLY small. from the head to the end, 15 minutes and thereafter, the town of Ringlet.

I don’t know why but people in Cameron Highlands are really slow, maybe it’s because of the weather and the fact there is no point rushing because it only takes what, 5 minutes to travel from one town to the other and there will never be traffic congestions. I’m actually all out for this, it makes life worth living, for once in my freaking life, i had my window winded down and wished everyone morning and one of them actually honked back

Drove to Tanah Rata and found myself a parking space behind the Cameron Highlands bus station, got down from my car and spotted this mean machine, Hummer H3. You don’t need to find words to describe it, its presence just tells it all T__T anyway, it’s 0940hrs and not much shops are opened for business save for a few including 2 mamaks but really, all the way up to Cameron Highlands to eat Roti Telur?

Found ourselves Marrybrown but it’s not opened until at least 1000hrs and so we sat on the swing that was nicely decorated just outside the restaurant and waited. The swing belongs to Marrybrown and it seems to be that those are their chairs if you wished to be seated outside instead, very very nice. 15 minutes then feels like forever because we were hungry, girlfriend started walking around, exploring and that is when she discovered a restaurant, T Cafe (soon to be known as Lord’s Cafe), looking through the huge ass menu that was in a white board form pasted on the wall.

This cafe is located directly above the Marrybrown restaurant and you will find its entrance next to it as well, a small little stairways leading up. Opens at 1000hrs too. It is through my girlfriend’s adventurous and sense of curiosity, she found that this place actually sells scones and it is very reasonably priced, RM2.50 for the Cream Scone and RM2.80 for the Strawberry Fruit Scone ^{girlfriend, big fan of strawberry} needless to say, she was delighted. Planned to get a main from Marrybrown before we proceed to have scones for dessert but decided what the hell, just have everything here since they had like a huge arrays of food selections anyway. Most importantly, cheap XD

The temperature that morning was about say err… 18 ~ 21°C and what would be more desirable than a cup of hawt cocoa to start of the day =D

Don’t remember how much it was per cup but if i am not mistaken, it’s RM1.90. Girlfriend ordered both the Cream and Strawberry Fruit Scone whereas I, ordered the Beef Burger.

This is the Strawberry Fruit Scone which T Cafe claimed that they are the only ones with the recipe and no one else is serving this which i sorta believed because Cameron Highlands is not big at all. It’s your normal cream scone with added nutmeg and of course chunks and bits of strawberry fruits, bad nutmeg

This is the conventional Cream Scone, served with butter and fresh cream as well and i have to give it to them, it is indeed the best scone that i have ever tasted although i’ve only eaten from Winter Warmers. Highly recommended if you ever step foot in Tanah Rata.

Beef Burger, homemade beef patty with fries and coleslaw. Who the hell would order a beef burger when you are so high up on the mountains *rolleyes* RM7.80 and not a very good burger i have to say. You know, we haven’t heard of the T Cafe and so the other day, my girlfriend went and googled up this place and apparently it is a very famous place in Cameron Highlands, famous for its scones. Well, i have read comments that their Chinese cuisine can go down the drain. So, thank goodness that my girlfriend wandered far enough to stumbled upon this place otherwise, we would have killed ourselves when my girlfriend made this discovery a day later.

Gf : eh bi, you know right, in Tanah Rata there is this place called T Cafe, famous for its scones and only RM2.50. Highly recommended by everyone.
Me : REALLY?! *hmmm* very familiar the name. OH SHI- o_O it is the one next to Marrybrown. We walked passed by it thinking it was a pariah place
Gf : OMG~~~~~
Me : ZOMG!!!!!!
Gf : *slaps*

~The End~

Done with breakfast, we then proceed to our first objectives, Strawberry Farm. We came across this one pretty secluded located strawberry farm, it’s pretty dodgy in nature because it doesn’t just appear next to the road like all other farms around Brinchang. You had to turned into a small road from the main road and then from that small road into an alley. Remember that map i drew showing how stupid we were missing 2 petrol stations that was a stone throw away on the previous entry? Follow exactly the yellow arrow route and then you will see the signboard, Big Red Strawberry Farm so it was named.

Because it is located on top of a hill, you have to carefully navigate your way up a very narrow road before you reached the allocated free parking spots provided but once you reached there, the road is pretty much wide enough for you to drift your brains out with a 4×4. Being first time visiting Cameron Highlands, we were quite blur to everything. We don’t know which farm provides strawberry plucking and which not. We walked throughout the that farm until the end and we saw many many strawberry plants.

There was nothing that indicate that this place has such activities and we see nobody doing so. We proceed deeper and then we reached the vegetable plantation area.

FUN FACTS : I’ve never seen a parsley plant before and i think they grow particular well under the strawberry plants because we visited a few strawberry farms and they all shared the same orientation and they look really good as well, resembles a bonsai if you may.

These are Butterheads, one of the aristocrats of the salad world. You could find these selling at a price around RM6.00 each in local supermarkets.

Red leaf lettuce, these are the most fouled taste salad ever. Bitter and gory.

Finally, yours truly, Romaine lettuce. Girlfriend’s favourite.

After that, everything just sorta repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself, repeats itself. Oh btw, nearby the entrance you will have this Bangladeshi farm worker selling the farm’s produce namely, the lettuces. 3 for RM5.00, you can mix them up or you can just get 3 of a kind, they don’t care. Feeling really sad, girlfriend walked out disappointed because she walked in here with high hopes of being able to pluck fresh strawberries so i comforted her that i am sure that we will find one that’s decent.

To be really honest, this Big Red Strawberry Farm is one cool place. Other than planting vegetables and strawberries, they plant flowers too, beautiful ones. They are all placed very near to the entrance of the farm, just before the cafe^{yes, they have their own cafe}

I mean, really. Can you find a flower that’s half this pretty, even if you went to a florist i can guarantee you that they can’t.

Seriously, i was never a flower person except for that one damned Gardenia that i will probably not be able to see until the day i die UNLESS i traveled abroad. This flower really caught my attention. Does anyone in the world knows what flower is this, it’s so pretty that i think they should be allowed to remained bloomed for all eternity.

Lavenders, you’ve heard about their names on body lotions, shampoos, air fresheners and even a bakery named after them but have you ever seen them, alive. I did, for the very first time a week ago and they are just so calming and they really do smell exactly the same like how those commercialized body wash and what not which adopted their fragrance, only that the plant doesn’t command such an intense scent.

Click HERE to see another angle of the lovely Lavenders

This is a dedication shot by my girlfriend to me, she said it resembles that Gardenia that i so longed for. I thank you and nice shot!

What is Cameron Highlands without a few cactus hanging around eh?

Solely because this strawberry farm is located just behind the Cactus Valley which is why they have quite a supply of different cactus varies in sizes and shapes and this one my friend, looked like nothing i’ve seen before. Probably a cross between a rose and a cactus, for rose lovers who cannot go through the pain of watching their beautiful roses wilted away day by day.

Just like that T Cafe girlfriend did a search on the Big Red Strawberry Farm and only came to realized that it is too very well known and they allowed visitors to pluck strawberries.

Left that place and stopped by a few miserable so-called strawberry farm which doesn’t looked at all like one before we came to this one, Kok Lim Strawberry Farm. RM20.00 for 500grams of strawberries and 2 person is allowed to go into the farm.

Upon payment, you will be led by one of the workers all the way to the end of the shop then down a small series of stairs then you will come before this very cutely done wooden “bridge?” but no fear really, it’s even sturdier than your own feet. Crossed and you will find yourself in paradise, or some would considered it as one.

I trust that the strawberries are not in season when we were there because most of them are really green, unripe just like this one

… and very seldom that you will come across one that looks like this

but when you do, just bite it and screw with the RM20.00 for 500grams rule.

Just look at how rewarding, sweet and juicy this strawberry is. Sitting there, just waiting to be picked out and savored T____T

Because the farm is located on a gradual elevated piece of land so the plants are planted very near to each other leaving only very little space for one to walk through.

Hasn’t been really kind to me this terrain.

Just look at how blardy steep it is and how small the stairs are, it’s like they don’t want you to walked down, they want you to roll down or just fall. Although i almost died a few times while walking up and down, i find it quite a fun and challenging experience. I mean, farms are supposed to be like this. The purpose of plucking those strawberries yourself is so that you work, enabling you to live the life one of a farmer.

If i want a 10 feet wide beautifully paved road for to walked on, armed with a pair of scissors so that i could easily cut the strawberries i want, i might as well go to Jusco and grab a box of strawberries from the shelves. Way more cost effective.

For those who have no idea at all how strawberries grows ^{like me -.-} this is it, it all started with a flower blooming. As the flower grows, that middle yellowish green thingy will grow as well and eventually grows as huge as your ordinary size of a strawberry. Once it is there, just wait for it to ripe and swallow on.

To avoid any unnecessary trouble, the worker went on a collecting spree himself and collected the best strawberries around and offered it to us so that we don’t continue walking around the farm and increasing the chance of us dying in the farm. Just look at how pro they are but my girlfriend isn’t very weak herself

Quite a lovely bunch she had here in the box here eh? RM20.00 for 500grams plus the at least 250grams that she ate while wandering the farm unsupervised

If in the event that you are too lazy to go work and would just want to enjoy the fruits, they do sell strawberries that are readily packed and also milkshakes, ice blends and what not.

RM3.50, strawberry ice blended and you can imagine the amount of strawberries that are used judging from the color of the thing. A glass of Teh Ais costs RM2.80 at PappaRich

Pretty much done with the day’s activities and so we headed back and while we were chilling in the chalet, we saw this family came in a Toyota Innova and we overheard their conversation because they were talking as if they were at their backyard, surprisingly it was the sound of the man’s mom. You see, there is a very steep road leading up to the Family Suite which i don’t think any car other than a 4×4 can tackle

The right one, i would give that steepness about near 60 degrees and the condition and surface of the road isn’t really meant for cars. Just to show that i wasn’t exaggerating. Walking up proves difficult.

So this old lady was speaking in Cantonese and all we heard is this “chan siong hui la” meaning just rev the damn Innova up that road. The sons blindly obeyed and guessed what happened. We didn’t know that he was rational enough to do this stunt until my girlfriend and i heard a very loud and rough engine revving sound and all of a sudden, from our chalet window we saw the head of the Innova -.- half way up and he braked. At the very moment he wanted to accelerate again, his car loses grip entirely on the ground and it just slide downwards, brakes didn’t worked, obviously. When i saw it slide down i thought someone is going to die but all survived.

Realizing it was a stupid idea, the son parked the car at where it was and walked up with the rest of the family the son told the mom that he shouldn’t have take his own sweet time going up the steep road and because he did that, the car slide down. I feel like going up to him and give him 2 slaps right at the face and asked him 2 questions:

If you want to do it, at least do it without the loads in the car. What’s with the whole family yo~
If you think that it’s the acceleration method that failed you, why don’t you try the 2nd time and this time, rev all the way up?

Stupid son, he could’ve single handedly killed his family by listening to his mom.

That is roughly what happens on Day 2 and here are some pictures of the pasar malam that i mentioned on my first entry.

Favourite stall, fried mushrooms – 2 for RM5.00

… and girlfriend’s favourite lekor

With that, dinner is served!

End of Day 2

Road Trip : Cameron Highlands (Day 1)

shani — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:46:21 +0000

Gaaawwwwwwd~!

Just done editing the .raw scripts of the photos from Day 1 and i must say, photo editing doesn’t get more tedious than this anyway, as promised.

The whole Cameron Highland road trip was actually quite half-assed during the decision making ^{well, not exactly because we always wanted to go there} our plans were initially Genting Highlands because my girlfriend missed all the thrill rides fun and the only place we can find one of those are there unless we are ready to settle for something unless ie. the locally made Russian Space Station in Times Square but that’s a little bit too “clean” if you get what i mean couldn’t get a cheap room in Genting because that’s what people do, go to Genting because it IS the cheapest form of holiday available and so the next best alternative is, Cameron Highlands. Like i said, Cameron Highlands was a place that we wanted to go since lightyears ago but never had the determination to nail that coffin, we finally did last week.

Weighing between comfort and price, we tried our best to chose the mediator and we came to the conclusion of this place called “Bala’s Chalet”. I’ll do a full review of this place sometime later right after i’m done with the Cameron Highlands entries but all i can say is that this chalet is not too bad at all and actually, loving it.

We booked a Monday, leaving very early and stayed a night and return home late the next day so that we will have 2 full days but only pay a night’s rent. Left Kuala Lumpur at about 0600hrs and i am supposed to take the Jalan Duta toll exit into North South Expressway (E1) but instead, i took a very unnecessary detour route through Rawang but nonetheless, i managed to get to the exit.

Girlfriend sleeping with her pillow and comforter from home while i’m doing 110kmph on the super boring straight expressway and the only thing that kept me entertained was watching the dark skies turning bright going through a phase of deep blue, the Mp3s that was repeating itself and the sight of Alza and Forte in disguised on board trucks which has already been already officially launched few days ago.

P/S : I really want to refrain myself from doing this but i cannot, i don’t understand why Perodua wants a new name for their MPV. Since abbreviations are the “in” thing to have now^{SE, GTi G, S, J whatever}why not just have their MPV named as Myvi SLE which stands for “Super Long Edition” because to me, it does look like an elongated version of Myvi itself and the SLE abbreviation should give owners something to brag about.

2 hours later, proper soil.

As we already know that there are now 2 roads leading up to Cameron Highlands, the Tapah route being the old and winding one while the newer Simpang Pulai route is the easier to tackle one but 2 times the length. Being my first time i took the advice of many, the easy route i have picked. Stopped by the Tapah R&R to do the obvious, rest and eat because it will be the last stop before going on the hill road.

Got the meal from Dunkin` Donuts which seems to be quite worth the value. Any sandwiches of your choice with a cup of hawt coffee^{just what i needed} and any donut of your choice costs only about RM9.80. Seen here is the Turkey Ham and Roast Chicken Breast Sandwich with the 2 names of the donuts which i cannot remember. Walked over to the petrol kiosk and stock up on some snacks because really, we brought nothing with us other than the necessities, one electric kettle and 4 cup noodles.

Stupid drivers are everywhere, they don’t just hang out in one particular town only and this chap right here who drives the Iswara which bears a Penang registration number is no exception. Must be either color blind or just blind did whatever we need to do there and left for Simpang Pulai which is about an hour drive away. You know, when i saw the Simpang Pulai exit road sign with the word “Cameron Highlands” underneath, i felt like i am so blessed like i’ve never before blessed. I was quite wrong. Did everything a poor man would if he wants to go to Cameron Highlands, paid the RM21.80 toll, turned right as was instructed by the road sign but i guess, a poor man would’ve been more observant that after the first right turn, take another right turn on the next traffic light junction then you will be on your way to Cameron Highlands.

At this point, you will most probably know that i didn’t make that turn and as a result, i went straight and had lotsa fun in the town of Kinta i went so deep that if i drove for another 5 minutes, i’ll be reaching Lumut. Lost, went into petrol kiosks and asked for directions and apparently none of them are very helpful, all of their directions just led to me taking a stroll around Kinta for for blardy 64kms!! That’s about a good one hour.

But i think of all the persons i asked, hated that BHP guy most, he gave me directions that was so detailed and convincing that you’ll believe that his parents drew the town map. Followed exactly his directions and guess where i landed at, at the airport -.- i mean, WTF yo~, you want me to take a plane to Cameron Highlands or are you a really confused man?

The most farktup thing is not that he gave me the direction to the airport, it is the fact that because in order to follow exactly his directions, i had to make a very sharp u-turn and i scratched my car’s lower right side bumper. I really feel like going back and do this to him —-> pissed off, i told my girlfriend that i’m driving all the way out of town, right where i started when i entered Simpang Pulai and see where it takes us. Girlfriend suggested to me to stop by the McDonalds for directions and thank goodness she was of great help, compared to all the previous heroes of course. She asked us to go all the way straight and we’ll reached this shop called “Ria Monda” and then exactly opposite it, that’s the turning to Cameron Highlands. So afraid that we’ll be shi- on again, we asked her how far is it from here, she told us “dekat je” we trust her and we were rewarded just that it’s not really “dekat je”. It’s about a freaking 3 to 4kms before we saw the road sign stating turn left to Cameron Highlands. She must be traveling at Rempit speed i think AND coincidentally this part of the song was playing on my Mp3

I shi- you not! effing epic.

That Simpang Pulai route is one weird route, you have to pass by a rather large chunk of industrial park before you can start seeing things like this and if i can have a few seconds of your time, do enlarge this picture and take a look, my girlfriend freaking 1337 skills captured a bird in the frame -.- and this is about as winding as the road can be. Pretty smooth drive though, WAYYYYY smoother than the ones up Genting.

You will be driving through terrains like this for about 2 and half hours before you start reaching the first town in Cameron Highlands that is not where the resorts and hotels are located, it’s about another 30 minutes drive passing through various towns which you must visit on your way down before you hit Brinchang and that’s where the holiday begins. Reached our chalet at about 1330hrs and so glad that the drive is finally over.

It’s a quite large piece of land located on top of a small hill so basically this is what you see from there and because it was a weekday, the occupants were little so we were given an option to upgrade to the Deluxe from a Superior as the difference in price is only RM40.00. Nothing much to shout about the Deluxe except that it’s a little bit more better decorated, larger in space and private. Girlfriend decided to extend our one night stay into 2 and so we picked the Superior one.

We chose the corner room because it’s slightly larger compared to the rest. This is the walkway that connects all the Superior rooms together.

… and this is what you will see if you stand outside the room and look straight ahead. Whatever it is, more details of the chalet when i’m done with the road trip entries and you won’t be disappointed with this place.

Went out about an hour later to see the rest of the town to find dinner and to also pumped in fuel because the fuel signal lighted up as soon as i reached the chalet. This is the best part of the whole story of Day 1

There is only one road to go to the Brinchang town but it splits to 2 at a junction. If you follow the red arrow route all the way, you’ll pass by 2 petrol kiosks but if you diverted yourself into the yellow arrow route then you will definitely miss it. When we came that time, we took the red arrow route and so we know that nearby there were 2 petrol kiosks but little did we know that when we went out an hour later to search for food, i brilliantly took the yellow arrow route detour and i have no idea where is where because it was my first day and first time there but if any of us were to take a brief look to the right, we would’ve seen the Petronas petrol kiosk but NO! We Did Not because we were more interested in the Pasar Malam spot that was on the left side, we locked our eyes there and continued driving down that direction.

By then, the odometer of the fuel is already displaying “—” which means it’s too low for the odometer to detect and as we are driving down the direction we are heading, we are going further away from the petrol kiosks. We saw the petrol kiosks but we don’t know which town it was at, we just kept on driving and driving, passing so many towns right up until where we reached the junction whereby if you turn left, you will go downhill to the town of Ipoh and right, to Blue Valley.

Being the smart ass i always was, i took the left turn hoping that the petrol kiosks were there but none of us remember that it was so far down. Luckily, my girlfriend stopped me to asked this person who was buying durians from this seller who was operating his stall next to the road -.- and she told us in the most primitive way possible, she said “barat” means west and we gave her the blur look, then she told us “Brinchang” both of us almost broke down and died that instance and at the same time felt glad that we didn’t continue down the road otherwise for freaking sure we will be stuck halfway to nowhere.

The odometer was already displaying “—” when we left Brinchang and now we have to drive uphill for about 20kms. We were really doubtful as to whether we could reach there in time before Forbidden really dies off in need of fuel supply. Thank goodness, it did. We found the Petronas station and realized how stupid we were. It’s like me at Cheras drove all the way to Subang took look for a petrol kiosk and then to find that the nearest one was actually in Cheras, drives all the way back there again to pump in the midst of the odometer displaying “—” when i left Cheras.

But really, you have no idea how freaky it was at the time.

Roads like this with barely any cars passing by and it’s getting really dark. It would be really miserably if we did get stuck got my tank pumped full and head over to the pasar malam to see if there’s anything we could salvage back to our chalet. Quite a cool pasar malam i must say, they have everything we have down here and on top of that they have things that we don’t have down here and the price are all no different at all from what you get down here as well.

Dinner is served. I bought Radish Cake stirred fried Char Kuey Teow style, no stranger and girlfriend only bought Kebab -.- and 2 boxes of fried mushrooms, those are “Kam Cham Gu” and “Shittake”. 2 for RM5.00

Ate at the garden of the chalet and trust me, you would want to do that every single day.

I never did know that Cameron Highlands could rain heavily but on the same day, that night we went out again to the pasar malam and it rained like hell. The weather was already cold in the night and the heavy rain didn’t really help make the situation better and for a fact that we were all wet because of the rain…….

Slept real early that night.

End of Day 1.

Conquered

shani — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:32:46 +0000

Just came back from my 2nd Anniversary celebration trip with my girlfriend to Cameron Highlands. Took enormous amount of pictures up to 4GB+, plenty of conversions and editing to do.

Those who think that the 1.3 cannot conquer hills, screw you. With a decent amount of fuel consumption too, mind you!

Anyway, entries regarding the room that we’re staying, the food we ate, the trip experience and what not will follow suit just as soon as i get everything in order. Stuffs are so messed up that i need some time to reorganized.

Tonnes

shani — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:54:41 +0000

Loads of stuffs happened over the past week and i no time to update in details every single one so i’m just going to pick a few and just put it here for the sake of updating.

Played a game of “Vocable” with my girlfriend in Summit’s Starbucks, a localized version of “Scrabble” which my sister used to have but lost in transit when we moved from house to house. I, of course introduced it to my girlfriend and somehow she got addicted and everytime when we have a drink there, she’d pull out the board and start the game. The only difference is, our rules.

Everything in the dictionary obviously, allowed. 1337 words like “wry” are also allowed which you can spot some on the board. Nonsensical words like “Nolegz” are also allowed ^{what the hell is a “nolegz” o_O?} According to my girlfriend, “nolegz” means, without a leg. Oh btw, the “Z” was added by none other than me -.- abbreviations are also forcefully allowed after careful consideration “^{JWM” stands for J.W. Marriot} Hokkien maybe if you can form.

Apparently, our rule is no rule. Even words that are technically, logically and practically spelled wrong is allowed ^{NOTE : “kare”;”care”} but i mean what the heck right, as long as we had fun that should be the point.

Great news!! I’m going to be RM17,000.00 richer by tomorrow morning because my SIM card number has been chosen to be one of the lucky winners to win the weekly/monthly prize. I’m going to do exactly what i was told to do, pick up the phone, called that DiGi registered cellphone number, collect my prize and hire myself some slaves to do house chores. I am so excited and probably lose sleep over it tonight… oh damn but i have classes tomorrow, how T___T

Girlfriend bought me a gift for our 2nd anniversary and also graduation but i’ll most probably ignore the latter because she had already bought me one earlier this year. I would love to show how beautiful, exquisite and luxurious it looks but i don’t have enough pictures just yet! Will reveal when everything is complete.

Trip is coming up this Monday, the delayed 2nd anniversary celebration due to my girlfriend’s final examinations and we’re going somewhere pretty far this time =O more details to come.

And The Truth Shall Set You Free

shani — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:30:49 +0000

What is a “pronoun”, a pronoun simply refers to a noun that is very pro in what he is doing. Geddit, geddit =D^{yes, i am lame}

Ok, back to business.

Previously, i made several entries regarding my college’s graduation convocation and in the final entry, i stated this

“I think that the best way to protest is to have the whole class boycotting the convocation night and only when we get what we want….” Integrity¹

… and today, i was told that someone actually planned to carry this whole “boycotting” at a large scale inviting people to join in the fray and she did in fact got a few to agree with her. Of course, that didn’t pleased the college’s administrative department and certainly not me. Because of what i posted in my blog and subsequently the act of this student publicly announced that she is going to boycott the convocation ceremony is really making me look bad because it would seem that i was the troll who asked her or at least inciting a coup d’etat against the college. Not true, i am not a troll and also i didn’t incite anyone.

Just to clarify the whole thing, one line of words will be sufficient, i have absolutely NO idea who this student is and i have made no contact whatsoever with her be it during or not during classes. Therefore, whatever that is doing or going to do, she is doing at her own free will. Well, she could be influenced by others by definitely not me but whatever it is, this is getting violent and out of hand. I mean, ripping somebody’s head off… c`mon, you got to be kidding me.

Moving on…

I believed that i have wronged the college for publishing misleading contents regarding the convocation that is coming up this 8th December 2009. Honestly, i haven’t been fair to the college.

“…Foto Prime’s Graduation Package is RM388.00, for one robe and one photo with NO frame. If you want to have the photo taken that night to be framed, another RM120.00 is to be paid.” Integrity¹
There is no dispute as to the price of the photography package, RM388.00 but there are few things that i need to add. RM388.00 doesn’t only gives you ONE graduation robe and ONE photo without frame as how i was told by one of the Foto Prime staffs when they came over to collect deposits. Clearly, i was misinformed. RM388.00 actually consists of :-

Robe Rental
3 Photos of the Convocation Ceremony(4R, 5R, 8R – waxed)
1 Group Photo (12″ – waxed)
4 Individual Portraits (1 – 8R; 3 – 4R)
4 Copies of the Individual Portrait (passport size)
1 CD (contains soft copies of the photos)
1 DVD recording of the entire function

Having the items listed down, RM388.00 doesn’t only include ONE robe and ONE photo without frame. I know some of you actually included the RM200.00 as costs giving a total of RM588.00 which is stupid, the RM200.00 is a deposit for the robe rental which will be returned as soon as you returned the robe. I find it reasonable to do so because if people would abscond with your pet cat, why not a robe.

With that being said and done, i have came across too comparisons are being made to BAC in relation to the graduation packages and it turns out that BAC is indeed way cheaper than ATC but not without its costs. BAC is charging only RM150.00 per pax BUT the only thing they have in the package is this :-

Robe Rental
1 Individual Photo On Stage (8R)
1 Group Photo (12″)
High-Tea

You must be wandering now “WOW, RM150.00 for photos and the price is inclusive of food” but of course a distinction has to be made, BAC is offering high tea whereas ATC is organizing a dinner. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the costs for dinner is relatively higher than of a high tea. Furthermore, the locality has to be taken into account. One is at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the other, Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara. Really now, tell me the parking rates in Suria KLCC is cheaper than the ones in Solaris, Mont Kiara.

Talking about “Let The Facts Speak For Itself” as what was the album named. Seriously, what facts? What is in tune except for the fact that both are convocation ceremonies.

So, i don’t really think it’s fair to force ATC to subscribe to a price that is quoted for something lower and demand to receive something of a much higher value. Ask yourself people, will your drive a Perodua into a BMW service centre and asked them why is that your car handles differently from a standard E90 320i?

You know, if you don’t complain paying RM120.00 per pax for Jogoya’s buffet dinner, why should RM180.00 this be a problem to you. You get food and on top of that, entertainment. Best of all, this is tax free so no government or service charges -.-

I know i stressed that i won’t be attending the convocation ceremony because on how it was excessively priced but now knowing that the price although is priced above average, it is not without its reasons and to be honest, if i am free on that day itself, i would actually go now but sadly i have agreed to follow my dad to Frankfurt on the 8th and will only be returning on the 11th.

Now go forth, be fruitful and multiply!

Love At First Sight

shani — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:11:06 +0000

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I do, now.

Break

shani — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:16:54 +0000

Over the past few days, my blog has been registering for more than over 600+ unique visitors not because my site was listed number one when Albert Einstein googled for the definition of “blog” but rather because somehow i believed that there’s this plastic bag out there how has been telling everyone about my blog about the “Shout At Me In Class” campaign commotion because from the statistics given, there has been a sudden surge in the entries relating to that incident.

Thank goodness that it is over now and my blog returned to its original self because really, if i wanted traffic, i would’ve pasted my damn url all over the world with tags like “bloggie updated” or shi- like “come read my blog to see why i am sad” crap. I wanted my site to be discreetly known because from the very beginning, i already know that my blog isn’t for everyone but somehow people just keep on coming and then when they find something they do not agree or don’t like, they summoned a monkey to do a dog’s job.

Just glad that shi- is over because it gives me headache every time i login into my dashboard and see 600+ unique visitors -.-

Btw, reviewed the Osram Night Breaker. Click the link or alternatively, it’s there listed under “Partially Reviewed” on the right side bar.

2 Times In A Row

shani — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:41:57 +0000

I know i’m being a bitch by blogging about this but you got to admit it, life’s a bitch and if i don’t blog about this, i feel that i have deprive my ancestors of good humor. We all know about the “Come, Shout At Me” campaign that’s been happening lately. Yesterday night, there was an extension.

Chan Yen Hui showed up at my seat and started shouting at me like a rational and reasonable person would during the class’s short break, with other people still in the classroom. Just like the first time. Blabbed tonnes of stuffs but basically, it’s a repetition of what she had commented earlier on one of my entry and the reason why she did i think is because she wanted to find answers. These are amongst the things :-

I think it’s time to ask your mom/dad to teach you how to respect human beings! you have all rights to voice your opinions but do respect people. I think this is the minimum thing a person should have. and you don’t have one, I don’t know what to call you? person? animal? alliens? Actually, it’s shame to have such classmate!!!”

Obviously, i was rather bored because i’ve read all of it and her voice is just, mind drilling.

Questions after questions like how a lawyer would cross examined a witness on stand. There is this one part where she asked me “What kind of person am i” which i answered her “I don’t know” and then she just went “See, you admit to the whole class that you don’t know what kinda of person are you” and i just went “err.. you don’t have to repeat what i just said to the whole class” in my mind.

Have you seen those lawyer movies where the lawyer somehow manipulated the accused to spill something which the accused did not intend to spill and then the lawyer will then went on to concur “Your Honor, the accused has admitted that he is an ass” kind of stuffs? I bet she was practicing that “speech” probably for the whole night before she finally walked up to me and presented that.

You know what, her basis for coming up and shouting at me is this line :-

“…the last time i saw the existence of this paper was during my Part 2 revision period whereby a person who goes by the name Chan Yen Hui, don’t really care if i got her surname wrong because i have very little respect for human beings.”

Merely stating the truth that bears her name and at the same time expressing my personal views on human beings warrant for such an outcome T___T i wonder what will happen if i really did insult her =O most probably blogging this from Heaven right now with Gawd giggling beside me.

What’s interesting is that, she pointed her finger right at me and actually WARNED me :rofl: to not try to be farney. Honestly, champion! All of a sudden, being farney is a crime. I am supposed from today onwards go to class, unhappy =( otherwise who knows, what will happened to me. After all, i did get a serious warning with a finger pointed right at my face *shivers*

But i think the best part of the whole entertainment was that when she asked me “why am i here” so i am expecting that she is questioning my education capabilities so i replied “write a letter to the UoL and then ask them to have my LLB qualification revoked” *ROFL* she replied “i not that free” -.- impliedly hopefully she understands in that way, i can then get lost from the class.

Up until a point where i really cannot stand her voice shouting at my ear, i just waved her and asked her to go back. She did but i guess she felt insulted or something like that because when she reached her table about 4 rows back, she started shouting from that far back but this time, hitting on my friends -.- obviously, one of my friend got pissed, turned back, looked at her and asked her “are you insulting us?” she kept quiet *LOL* reminds me of few years ago, i followed my mom to the morning market and there’s this 2 auntie who are quarreling, about what i don’t know and subsequently, one walked off and when she reached the end of that market street, she yelled from there profanities against the other one. Good grief.
Moral of the story : Don’t take more than what you can handle.

Well, all show has to come to and end but yesterday it ended with a bang. After Chan Yen Hui finished with her blabbing, there this clown who was seated behind, last row started clapping. I’m not sure who this clown is but i’m guessing from his oddly shaped body, he must be none other than the justice and fairness loving, Mr. Michael Wong. Anyway, talking about this clown. To be honest, there’s nothing he has done that’s worth my admiration so far but yesterday, he did one thing that earned it. It is the fact that he published a statement apologizing for dragging my parents into something which my parents have nothing to do with it ^{(obviously after the latest entry i’ve made)}.

This is what i call an adult, someone worth respecting but if there’s one thing that they don’t know about me is that i take insults as compliments. I wasn’t exactly the good boy who says thank you for every thing people do for me. In fact, i prefer people addressed me as the jerk or something of equivalent level.

Oh wells, the life of a CLP student who is expressing his views on his own personal blog for his own personal pleasure reading but somehow outsiders decided to drop by and then interpret it that it’s ALL about them, even to those who has no connection at all, think it’s them. I am amused.

Anyway, i must state this before i end the entry. What i just blogged about is the real happening that happened to me last night so i hope that doesn’t amount to insulting. I added my views on things that happened to me so i hope that’s allowed because the persons who came and shouted at me clearly states that i am free to express my views so as long as i don’t make fun of people’s name and about the respect element, like i’ve said previously. If you are looking for respect, go somewhere else but then again, with them adopting such a WIIIIIIIIIIIDEEEEEEEE intepretation as to what amounts to “insults”, i’m guessing that i’ll most probably get shouting again anytime soon.

I have a request though, before you come shouting at me, do you mind sending me an email as to who, what time, where and when it will take place. My faint heart really couldn’t take much surprises anymore.

Thank you.

Persevere

shani — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:59:42 +0000

Earlier today, i was approached by one Jeff Sia who came angrily and mind you, i did not rape his pet rabbit nor did i kill his parents. He was acting on someone else’s behalf demanding an explanation and an apology i supposed ^{(did not expressed)}. This was the line of words he was biting on; Integrity

“… but what caught my attention was this person who goes by the name “Shandy Yeoh”. If you noticed, she signed “Alexis” instead of Shandy or Yeoh or anything else. Well, you can argue that that could be her Chinese name but what type of heroic parent would named their daughter “Shandy Yeoh Alexis” o_O?”

They say that this amounted to an insult against this girl who goes by the name Shandy Yeoh, preferred to be known as Alexis Yeoh, i think. To be honest, i have no idea how in the world did they interpreted this line into becoming an offensive one but if they insist, i have nothing to say. This just goes to show how narrow minded an individual can get. Furthermore, why would one signed a different name from his mother given name. If that is the case, does that mean that the signor does not respect the mother given name. If so, why should others show respect to it?

“Your name sounded like a cheap whore’s cover name”, THIS is an insult.

In fact, i’ve written a roughly a page long things that i wanted to comment on the things that Jeff Sia did to me and intended to published it but what is the point of having it published, would i feel bigger and stronger like how Mr. Michael Wong did, he commented on this same issue on his Facebook account although he never mentioned who it was referring to but if someone with his level of intelligence can come up with something so retarded, i am sure there’s practically nobody cannot relate that the comment is pointed towards me.

I could published that damn one page long entry and have this argument going for a year but the purpose would be empty. At the end, everything boils down to this one thing

He dragged my parents into by saying that my mom did not teach me about what is it about respect that i should have but that question should be asked back to him, is it right to drag parents into something that they never started it?

Note the difference between these 2:

Michael Wong is so ill figured that even a leprechaun would look like Brad Pitt compared to him.

AND

Michael Wong’s parents are so ugly that they gave birth to a son that not even a leprechaun can compare in terms of looks.

Little difference in words used, huge effects. Not very bright in choosing his words. Although i don’t hate him but i don’t like him either so it’s best if he don’t step his foot into someone elses business unless he is famous for such acts OR he could do so by doing it directly and not some elementary stuffs like what he did in Facebook. We adults don’t do things this way.

I cracked a few heads during my secondary school years with plastic chairs and i could’ve done that earlier but i don’t want trouble. Jeff Sia is relatively larger in size but trust me, i’ve taken out someone even larger than him during my secondary school years with SMK La Salle when i was threaten. We became best friends the next day.

I will write what i want, do what i want and nobody is going or can do shi- about it, that is fact number one. Fact number two is, if you cannot handle the contents of my blog like a matured adult who probably brags about owning a LLb degree then stop coming here. This is not a blogsite which speaks gospel truth, you don’t need to come here to get a life. Don’t come and read my entries and then bitch about it, that’s something you will do when you’re 99 years old waiting for your death to come, sipping your tea with your friends in the old folks’ home.

I find it watching videos like this on youtube.com is actually way more rewarding than wasting time constructing comments to try to change the way you fagheads thinks. Watch.

Remember this fagheads, if you are looking for respect, don’t come here. This is not the place for you.

Now, go sleep. This is nothing to lose sleep over.