CG Trip To Cameron Highlands.

Last weekend, my CG and I took a trip to Cameron Highlands for a 3 day 2 nights outing for some fun, fellowship and sightseeing. Trip was planned by our leaders Lazarus, Pinx and MingWei; big 姐姐s Laura and Joanne were there to look after us and we left on a happy Saturday morning. Since a picture says a thousand words, I'll let you all take a look at pics of the trip as I tell the story, save me from typing an IELTS level essay.. =p

Anyway, Day 1, Saturday, breakfast..

Guess what..? It just had to be BakKutTeh..

Then we set off.. That Handsome Hunk is Ming Wei, my driver.

We drove to Ipoh, Simpang Pulai to be exact then cut across it to start up Cameron Highlands. Trip took about 3 hours. I was having a mild cold and so had pumped myself up with Clarinase to try to prevent others from catching it too. Unfortunately, some of them caught it. Clarinase made me so unresponsive during that whole day.. Anyway, Cameron Green, Boungainvilla. Our home for 2 nights. Great place.

Looks just like any apartment from the outside..

But the outside view from the balcony was awesome/breathtaking..

The block had 3 bedrooms, 2 of which had personal bathrooms; a kitchen; a living room; and a dining area.. This is the room I shared with 3 other guys. Since there were 5 girls, they split and shared the other 2 bedrooms.. (I think they were bullying us.. =p)

Living room.. Cosy..

First night dinner menu: Steamboat.
Seems like it was a must for anyone coming to cool places like Cameron, Frasers or even Genting.. Lazarus proposed less quantity and more variety. Glad he said that. We still ended up with leftovers eventhough the quantity was already greatly decreased.. Great dinner.

Look at all the happy faces. =] Except me, the photographer of course..

After the steamboat dinner, we gathered in the living room for a small "service" of our own since we would miss church on the next day. I was doing the sharing and I talked about realising and noticing and giving thanks for the "left hand of God at work".

That's me. I just had to take a picture of myself since I was getting rather annoyed at not being in a lot of photographs taken.. =p

We had free time after the "service"..

And the poor wash up crew.. Sis and Lazarus..

The next day, the guys got up early to spend some Quality time with God. Lazarus who got up at 8am and entered the bathroom woke all the guys up. After he was done, Ming Wei went into the bathroom. So I snoozed until he came out then it was my turn to get ready. And lastly, Danny. And even after our personal devotions with God, the girls were still in dreamland and we were getting hungry. So Ming Wei started playing his guitar, I started singing. Or rather, screaming out those Hillsongs/Planet Shakers songs in high key. That got the girls up. And we had our breakfast soon.. =p
After breakfast, we began our sightseeing by going to Parit Falls.

Here was where we parked and started to use our legs.

Crossed a bridge.. (I'm the photographer again..) >=[

Nice place.. All flora, quiet and peaceful.. Love places like that.. Gives me space to think..

Second bridge. This one overlooking the falls. But we couldn't see anything from up there.

That's Parit Falls. Behind the guy trying to look cool, below the bridge.

There. A close up.

From above. Not as clean as the falls in Sarawak where people go to bathe though..

Then someone got hungry, someone wanted to go eat icecream pancakes, so to humor someone, we went to go try out this so called "good" pancakes. I tell you, it WAS GOOD! Wow, miss it already. The owner and his wife were both deaf people. But they were so homely and so nice, made us feel so welcome.

Next up, Bala's Chalet..

And the English Tea Garden that was for the Chalet guests to use. We just snuck in to take pictures.. =p

The teahouse.

Does that bird remind you of someone? =p

Great plants they have.. Must be the cool weather.. I can never get results like this back home..

Gotta love the quaint antique style homes they have.

After the tea garden, we went to the smokehouse. It's supposedly an English-left-behind artifact which is now preserved for all to see and enjoy.

Amazed at the variety of plants and flowers they had.

Building structure.. (I'm not much of an antique lover, but I know how to appreciate fine art when I see them)

They speak for themselves. =)

She so totally ruined what could have been a nice picture.. Nice one Pinx.. =p

Group photo. =D

Someone's getting bored. XD

Another group photo. The best one of all, if I say so myself..

Next up, the strawberry farm.

It was right beside cactus valley.

Never knew that tomato plants could grow so high..

And there were grapes growing above us. Literally above us wherever we walked..

Did I mention I love watching fish swim? I can stare at them for hours and feel so refreshed after that.

That is one BIG cactus. *Must be the fertilizer or some growth potion or something..*

We couldn't resist..

Now there were 2 bored fellas. ;p

Couldn't resist either. =D

Strawberries on the left; Hydroponic vegetables on the right; Grapes on top. =]

I don't remember what that was, but it looks cool.

Our final stop of the day, 'BOH' tea centre. Sungai Palas.

We had to pass a great many tea plantations along the way though a long narrow winding road.

As above.

A close up.

Even after parking, we still had to climb up to the tea centre. That dirt trail was pretty dangerous. Luckily no injuries occured.

Group photo at the top.

More bored people.

After the tea centre, we went back home for some rest and recreation before dinner. Most slept, but some energy filled youngsters turned on the TV. We visited the pasar malam for dinner. CharKueyTeow, fried sotong, steamed corn, fried veggies/mushrooms, asam laksa, Ramli burgers etc were on our menu that night. We bought our stuff and drove back to the apartment to feast together. Then, after dinner was a free for all. Some of us played, some of us fellowshipped, some of us watched TV, and some of us disappeared and were never seen again until the very next day. =p
I stayed up to watch a few episodes of CSI and House since I love those series and don't have Astro at home. It was 3am when I turned off the TV.

Day 3. Again, the guys were up before the girls. But this time, Joanne was there with us before Danny got up. I made some kind of soup with the leftover fishballs and beancurd from the steamboat and cooked "yee mee" for some of them. We packed, loaded the cars and after force turning off the TV, we left for the morning market. Some people wanted fresh veggies.

Look at the amount of stuff sold..

We came down from Cameron to a HOT CALM BURNING afternoon in Ipoh. Went to Kong Hee for late lunch. Ipoh "Sar Hor Fun" is just the best. =p Then someone wanted "Yim Kok Kai" (Salted chicken), so I took the advantage of getting one myself, for I had never tried it before, although I was born in Ipoh.. It was rather disappointing to find that it wasn't anything special and unknowingly, I had already figured out that secret to salted chicken 2 years ago in Russia. =p

It was a great trip.
God's blessing was there.
I'm sure everyone had fun.
Good night people. =]