cameron highlands trip

we had a nice time in cameron highlands. the air there was cool and fresh (esp. in the morning). i thought after all the development, it wouldn’t be that col, but luckily tanah rata (where we stayed) does not have too much development… yet.

as i blog here, i went to cameron highlands for a SSVP session. we arrived at cameron on 16 sept. friday afternoon. we had some difficulty locating the *IJ barre centre in tanah rata (picture top), as all of us (38 of us), either haven’t been there before or had been there once several years back. apparently, from our last visit, we can see the centre when we were at the main road but now there was an apartment (prima apartment) constructed right in front of the centre, thus blocking the barre centre’s building completely.
(*IJ stands for ‘infant sisters‘ and ‘barre‘ is the name of their founder. this cente was owned and run by the IJ sisters).

the centre seems to be very popular with groups of people having session. while we were there we saw a small group from MARA institute using the centre. then on saturdayafternoon a large group of malay children about the age of 12 checked in. i suppose many like to use the centre because it is not expensive.
(picture on right: beautiful flowers growing right in front of the centre’s entrance).

the centre consists of a few room on the 1st floor, and several dormitories on the 2nd and 3rd floor. some dorms have 10 double decker beds, some have 12 or 15. the common toilet and bathroom are clean and spacious (5 each).

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the first day (friday) was a social day where we had introduction and ice-breakers. the best part was after dinner, where we had karaoke singing. any volunteers were welcome to sing, and after singing, they were entitled to a lucky dip. only 12 persons volunteer… and of course i was one of them. i sang an oldie ‘dream dream dream’. unlucky me did not get a prize at the lucky dip but never mind, i had a lot of fun during the karaoke session. the crowd sing along with the participants too especially during chorus time and we also made fun of each other all in the name of jest.

the whole saturday we had input from our facilitator, martin jalleh (picture right). he gave us a very inspiring session where he told us to dare to soar high like the eagle. there was never a dull moment during all his talk as every 15mins or so, he will made us laugh. yes, his talk were filled with so much humour and jokes. we laughed and laughed so much that we hope his talk would not end but continue on.

in the evening, before dinner time, when we had some free time, i and another 3 friends went to town to walk around. there were already a few stalls set up for the ‘pasar malam’. i ended up buying a t-shirt though i promise myself not to buy one since i already have more than hundred! well i was tempted to buy it because it was a ‘glow in the dark’ t-shirt. since i do not have this kind of t-shirt before, i felt it’s ok to buy one. believe it or not, the t-shirt i bought in cameron highlands when i was there 4 years ago, i still have it (and still wear it), and here i am buying another one. oh, i also bought a souvenir key-chain. ah, the souvenir key-chain is one item i would not miss buying wherever i go. i love collecting key-chains from the various places i visit.

on sunday, when we checked out from the barre centre, it was touring time for us. first we went to the brinchang market. while my mum and sis went to shop for all the veggies, i went to shop for souvenirs… and t-shirts, but thank god i did not manage to buy any t-shirts. haha. i bought dried flowers. they are so lovely and only RM5 for 12 stalks. i can give away 1 stalk each to friends.

after shopping here, we went to the strawberry farm. wahh! must walk up hill to reach the farm. luckily it is a short route. try the strawberry milk shake (at RM5.00), and found it to be very yummy indeed.

the next stop was at the bee farm. i love this place because of the beautiful garden, filled with so many lovely, colourful flowers. they also have giant size cute bee ‘models’ here and there in the garden. my only complain here was that i had to climb up and down stairs. heh. old bones already lah. so tired after climbing up.
(picture top: lovely colourful garden in the bee farm).
the bee farm was our last stop… well, in cameron highlands that is, because we did stop at ipoh for some shopping of ipoh’s products like the chicken biscuits, pomeloes at a shop call ‘soon ann’. we reached penang about 9.00pm.
(NOTE: all the other pictures that i took will be up soon in my onlne album. will put up the url here when they are up).

UPDATED: the pictures are up. click here!