Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The kids' first trip to Cameron Highlands :)

We had a blast escaping the city heat and tripping to Cameron Highlands last couple of weeks for some fresh cool air :) This was the first time the kids had ever been to a high-altitude area where the air is cool all the time without someone having to pay the electricity bills on aircond. Sure they won't be running amidst rows of tea bushes nor will they remember much about it a few years from now on but still, we had a blast.

I wanted to book a room at Century Pines Resort where we enjoyed staying at a couple of times before, but unfortunately the trip coincided with school holiday period so most of the hotels are fully booked. We almost gave up on the trip until we tried agoda.com and boom! An affordable, value-for-money family room at Titiwangsa Hotel in Brinchang for less than RM200 which included steamboat dinner & breakfast for 4 pax. I was sceptical at first when I read a few negative reviews about the hotel at tripadvisor.com but hey, turned out the family room was spacious, clean (including the bathroom & toilet which was super important because I can't stand icky bathrooms & toilets!) and definitely value for money :) Sorry did not have any photos though since we were so tired and immediately crashed on the bed after checking in!

That morning everybody woke up early even Khayla, who was excited because she could sense something different in the air - the way everybody bustled around packing food, diapers, milk bottles, getting them ready. As usual I've packed our clothes the night, choosing warm clothes and jackets for the kids. In order to reach Cameron Highlands before 2pm, we left home at 7.30am - quite a challenging task when you have 2 small kids! But we managed to do so, and only stopped to refuel and bought some kuih for breakfast. My mom stocked a lot of food (snacks and fruits) for the journey and even bought few packets of nasi lemak, which we had for lunch when we reached Cameron Highlands :) I told my mom she would most probably be in charge of food ration if she was posted in military coz she managed to pack enough to feed an army!

Since if was a long journey our girls were strapped in their car seats. I posted a picture of both girls sleeping serenely in the car like little angels but that was not the case for most of the journey though! 😛

As usual, she slept throughout the journey and only woke up when we reached Cameron Highlands. I quite envied her because she has the best and most comfortable seat in the car!

Unlike her sister, Khadeeja only slept for half an hour and spent the rest of the 3 hour-journey being a cranky traveller :|

Thankfully we reached Cameron Highlands by noon. As expected there was a lot of crowd of tourists still in Cameron Highlands but half of them were leaving already. Khayla woke up from her nap and the first thing she exclaimed was, 'Look! Shoobayyliiii (strawberry!)' Hehe.

Someone's so excited to see this strawberry replica!

We stopped by S Corner Kea Farm first to have lunch, stretch our legs and use the restroom. I eagerly tried their scones but was hugely disappointed because they did not serve them with fresh cream. Then we proceeded to the hotel even though it was not 2pm yet. Luckily the room was ready so the hotel staff allowed us to check in earlier :)

After checking in we took a nap since we were exhausted (especially yours truly who had stayed up doing revision and then having to entertain a fussy baby throughout the journey). The blissfully cool temperature was also conducive for the afternoon nap! *heaven*

Later in the evening we went to Bharat Tea House / Plantation for some English-inspired tea (milk tea since it was cold, and hot scones with butter and strawberry jam - yummy!).

After our very scrumptious and heartwarming tea, it was time for some photos at the tea plantation:

Khadeeja regained her cheerfulness and didn't mind being dressed in thick one-sies as the weather is cold

Our first family photo at Cameron Highlands :)

Khadeeja being so curious over tea leaves (or any leaves for that matter!)

At night, Mom and I decided to explore the Brinchang night market which was just a few hundred meters away from the hotel. It was drizzling so the weather was super cool but enjoyable. There was a lot of food hawkers selling a variety of local favourites, vendors selling souvenir shirts and other souvenirs, and even farmers selling plants and flowers like cactus, roses and other local harvests. Mom got really excited looking at all the flowers on sale but since she couldn't bring them back on flight, so she didn't buy any. We bought lots of food (I went crazy with chocolate coated strawberries - so sweet and packed with vitamin C!) before going back to the hotel at 9pm for the steamboat dinner.

The next day, after breakfast we went to Boh Tea Factory to see how tea leaves are processed.

Hubby in front of the factory building - looked so old and rundown

The inside of Boh Tea Factory - quite an old factory but most of the process are automated

And also to have some tea and more English scones at the Boh Tea House :)

Best scones so far - melt in the mouth with a slight sweet taste *swoon*

We noticed a few of the visitors making their way to the top of a look out spot on top of a hill behind the factory, so we joined them - even my mom! It was like climbing a shorter version of Broga Hills :p

One helluva of exercise carrying my 6kg+ baby up the hill!

Khayla refused to walk so my bro had to carry her down the hill :p

Back from Boh Tea Plantation, we went back to the hotel to shower, pack and check out of the hotel. Then we went to a few places namely flower nursery (which my mom loves), and the weekend market to buy some fresh harvests from Cameron Highlands farms (cheap vegetables - yummy!) and of course, more strawberries dipped in melted chocolates! I think I must have eaten dozens of strawberries because they are fresh and juicy and sweet :p

Last but not least, we made a stop at the latest attraction in Cameron Highlands - the Lavender Garden.

Crazy about purple lavenders!

Looking forward to more family trips again :)