I've gotten my pre-valentine treat at Cameron Highlands, a place where flowers bloom and strawberry business thrive. 'Strawberry business' in my dictionary is not limited to strawberries growing in soil, but it also refers to merchandises that LOOK like strawberries, e.g. strawberry-shaped pillows, magnets, pencils that has strawberry prints, strawberry fondue, strawberry clothings, tea-infused strawberries, etc... Travesty! Gosh, they are everywhere in the whole of Camerons. Urrrgghhh....!
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| Don't let this 'beautiful' fruit trick you |
I hate strawberries and I am not kidding. The Malaysian breeds are rarely sweet, in fact they are super sour. This fruit is only beautiful skin-deep. Before you know it, they are grown with white-fluffy fungus, Rhizopus nigricans, with post-harvest 'leak' (I learnt this in my Ph.D. years of fungal res.). The only piece of strawberries I can consume are processed strawberries - in the form of jams and ice-cream. Nahhh, not even whip-cream on strawberry can change my mind abt this fruit.
What made my impression of strawberries worse - the hideous English:
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| Haiyoor...England so worse! |
The main objective (omg, too much of scientific research makes me so
skema lately) of this trip was to hike up two hills (thus,
Double hill) where lies the most amazing stretches of tea plantation:
Sg. Palas BOH tea plantation and
HABU tea plantation. The former is at Brinchang, while the latter is after Ringlet. And of course, to spend time with Fong away from the buzzling city :). If you didn't know, I have been very stressful at work lately. I need some kinda time-out.
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| Flowers, yes, flowers are more my type |
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| These are definitely not lavender, but they are so pretty! |
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| Bharat tea plantation, off-Brinchang. |
After
checking in to Equatorial, we headed to Tanah Rata for lunch. During my Ph.D.
years, I spent 5 days living in Tanah Rata to study the pesticide
levels of produces here, hence I thought I was pretty familiar of Tanah Rata. But
that was 2007. There wasn't Starbucks then; I was surprised to see the coffee
outlet being out-of-place in a tea-dominant area and teh tarik stalls! Hah, I spot
only kwai lows and backpackers patronizing Starbucks at that time...See!
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| I do not know, but I feel that this Starbucks is kinda out-of-place |
Wasting
no time, we head to Lord's Cafe to filled up our stomachs before the hike. Back then, this place was called T-cafe. infamously known for their classic scones & jam and creamy (strawberry?!) cakes. Pies here is a must-try too. I ordered scones, while Fong shared his strawberry mousse cake with me. It was disappointing to know that they do not serve main entrees anymore here. Wonder why.
Lord's cafe lived up to its name as it does have a Christian feel in
here. Loads of posters and encouraging verses from the Bible hung on the four
walls of the cafe. Books/magazines are ample, contributed by backpackers
stopping for a meal.
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| At Lord's cafe |
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| Finished scones. |
After that quick brunch, we make the foothill of Sg. Palas BOH plantation,
Brinchang. The primary reason we don't want to drive up was because I've
experience a literal heart attack the last time I came up here with my Kelisa
with my ex-classmates. Was driving up to Sg. Palas with my Kelisa, and yet, I was
pressured to passed those huge busses and other vehicles coming down. The gap
between me and the edge of the ridge were mere inches!! I remembered I was
being honked and honked and honked and was compelled to brave through the horrendous
traffic flow. And that was with a tiny
weany Kelisa we're talking
about; imagine going up with a Honda City! Historically I doubt there were any
car that fell over the edge before, but it takes a heart of a lion to get up
there. I was a squishy insect that time.
Nevertheless, a hike is lots better cause:
1. It's mere 2 km
2. It's cooling!
3. The view was fantastic
4. We both love exercising, Fong's from Menglembu. A tar-road
hike-up = Kledang hill.
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This
is why we didn't want to drive up to Sg. Palas. Traffic in standstill for
a moment. The road up/down fits 1 car and 1 car only. Don't fall off the
edge!
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| Rest for a while |
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| Check point no.1 - white roses decorating the guard post |
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| He doesn't mind a pose. Plantation worker harvesting tea |
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| Ethical spraying: Good agricultural practices by BOH. FYI, you'll need 7 days after spraying pesticides before you harvest your produce. |
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| An old smoke house bellowing ...well, smoke. Well, it's a rare sight (my first), cause in Malaysia you don't see fireplaces working on a sunny afternoon! |
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| Arriving at destination. Sg Palas BOH plantation |
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| A short break and hydrate before we hike down before night comes. |
Early
in the morning, even after finding out that Whitney Houston has passed
(was shocked!), we were still enthusiastic and getting ready to do the next hike at
Habu. But first, I can't help but to play a game of pool after spotting four(!)
pool tables at the hotel's lobby.
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| When you see pool, you play pool. |
Alright, so we reached Ringlet and just after Ringlet, is another older BOH plantation - Habu. Habu is a little complicated and roads towards Habu is kinda hidden amongst the intensive agriculture. You have to drive up to Habu....and the hike starts from Habu tea house to Malaysian Nature Society (MNS: check point 1). I've done this before in May 2011, so this route is pretty familiar. Probably 1.5 km. You can go another 4km to the peak of Habu, but time does not permit.
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| At Habu tea house. |
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| Habu plantation as backdrop. |
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| Was wondering what the white spots were. Zooming in showed hardworking plantation workers doing their tea-thing. Harvesting? |
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| MNS check point 1. This place is filled with tall trees forming a shadowy canopy, giving the divine sunlight a slight penetration. |
On the way back from MNS, we spot two millipede doing their thing. They were bergolek-golek in proximity with each other. My take was that they were having sex. Ohh, I mean, mating.
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Huge millipede. There were a pair (but not another was not photographed). Yes, mating.
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We arrived at KL in the evening and were blessed to have each other, sharing the same passion. Bought like tonnes of vege and flowers, til today also still cannot finish. As my boss would say: Objectives were met.
