The Apartment Stay at Cameron Highlands
On the 28th of June, we went up the Cameron Highlands to have one night stay at an apartment at Brinchang.
The whole idea to have an extended family gathering was suggested by my niece one month ago. I readily accepted it as it was never done before.
I was entrusted to do the booking of apartment. A friend had recommended me to take an apartment unit at Hillville Rest House situated right at the middle of Brinchang town. I thought it was convenient to stay there too. After an enquiry by phone call on 5.6.08, I made the payment of RM200 for one night’s stay through Internet transaction and a copy of the statement was faxed to the person in charged of the apartments for confirmation.
We started the journey from Bukit Mertajam in the morning to meet my niece and her family at the Bukit Merah Rest & Service Area at around 9.00am. For this trip, my niece’s husband (my nephew in law) was well equipped with high tech equipments like Global Positioning System (GPS) and a set of walkie-talkies to ensure we reach our destination without sweat.
At around 12 noon, we reached Tringkap to have our lunch as we were informed earlier that it would be more expensive to take it at Brinchang where the cut throat business was rampant. Restoran Tringkap was the restaurant recommended by a friend who traveled extensively up the Cameron Highlands. The village chicken, fresh Highlands vegetables and Egg Foo Yong were among the dishes we ordered for lunch.
While eating was in progress, a heavy down pour seemed to upset our programmes completely. We decided to check in our apartment after lunch hoping that the rain would stop soon. My other nephew and nieces from Kuala Lumpur met us at the apartment. As the rain persisted and showed no sign of stopping, we had to proceed with our visit to the Buddhist temple at Brinchang and the Boh Tea Shop at Fairlie estate.
The twin children of my niece were the happiest members in our group. They were running up and down joyously inside the shrine hall of the temple. The elders were having their prayers aspiring to have better luck bestow upon them.
Next, we drove to the Boh Tea Shop at Fairlie estate for a tea break. The journey to the Boh Tea Shop was quite an adventure. The road leading uphill to the Tea Shop was quite narrow and winding. It could only allow a car to pass by. At any sharp turning, we had to give a honk or two to give a warning to the oncoming traffic that our cars were coming. Along the way, we could see the view of green rolling hills, with the neat regular rows of tea plants, which gave a relaxing feeling to all of us.
When we reached the Tea Shop, it was already past 4 o’clock in the evening. By then the guided tour for the visit to the adjacent tea factory was already closed for the day. After releasing the pressure in the toilets, all of us sat down to sip hot tea while at the same time enjoying the beautiful scenery around the shop.
The whole idea to have an extended family gathering was suggested by my niece one month ago. I readily accepted it as it was never done before.
I was entrusted to do the booking of apartment. A friend had recommended me to take an apartment unit at Hillville Rest House situated right at the middle of Brinchang town. I thought it was convenient to stay there too. After an enquiry by phone call on 5.6.08, I made the payment of RM200 for one night’s stay through Internet transaction and a copy of the statement was faxed to the person in charged of the apartments for confirmation.
We started the journey from Bukit Mertajam in the morning to meet my niece and her family at the Bukit Merah Rest & Service Area at around 9.00am. For this trip, my niece’s husband (my nephew in law) was well equipped with high tech equipments like Global Positioning System (GPS) and a set of walkie-talkies to ensure we reach our destination without sweat.
At around 12 noon, we reached Tringkap to have our lunch as we were informed earlier that it would be more expensive to take it at Brinchang where the cut throat business was rampant. Restoran Tringkap was the restaurant recommended by a friend who traveled extensively up the Cameron Highlands. The village chicken, fresh Highlands vegetables and Egg Foo Yong were among the dishes we ordered for lunch.
While eating was in progress, a heavy down pour seemed to upset our programmes completely. We decided to check in our apartment after lunch hoping that the rain would stop soon. My other nephew and nieces from Kuala Lumpur met us at the apartment. As the rain persisted and showed no sign of stopping, we had to proceed with our visit to the Buddhist temple at Brinchang and the Boh Tea Shop at Fairlie estate.
The twin children of my niece were the happiest members in our group. They were running up and down joyously inside the shrine hall of the temple. The elders were having their prayers aspiring to have better luck bestow upon them.
Next, we drove to the Boh Tea Shop at Fairlie estate for a tea break. The journey to the Boh Tea Shop was quite an adventure. The road leading uphill to the Tea Shop was quite narrow and winding. It could only allow a car to pass by. At any sharp turning, we had to give a honk or two to give a warning to the oncoming traffic that our cars were coming. Along the way, we could see the view of green rolling hills, with the neat regular rows of tea plants, which gave a relaxing feeling to all of us.
When we reached the Tea Shop, it was already past 4 o’clock in the evening. By then the guided tour for the visit to the adjacent tea factory was already closed for the day. After releasing the pressure in the toilets, all of us sat down to sip hot tea while at the same time enjoying the beautiful scenery around the shop.
In the evening, we adjourned to the nearby Country Lodge Restaurant for steamboat. Steamboat is a Chinese dish which is very popular among the tourists staying in this cooler night time climate at Cameron Highlands. The hot meal can warm up a chilled body.
The apartment we stayed left much to be desired. In the first place, the pipe water turned out to be “Milo drink”. When complained, was told to be of the God’s will after a heavy down pour. I wondered why a water filter system could not be installed to improve the quality of the water supply. The hot water system was in equally bad condition. It had to be serviced every time the tenants moved in before it could be of service to the occupants. Luckily we did not ask for the extension of another day. If not, all of us had to survive those two days at Cameron Highlands "without taking water and without taking bath".
Next morning, on our way home, we went round to various stalls along the road, buying some fresh vegetables, flowers, strawberry and local products.
This apartment stay, I hope, will be the beginning of many more to come for my extended family members.
2 comments:
Same thought with uncle,I hope that we will have another trip, and more family members can gather together.Places to visit is not important, but the feeling of the gathering is much more important.Uncle, how about we plan a trip on this coming year-end again?
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