Blooming Cameron

It was an overnight trip to Cameron Highlands. The last time I went, was still a toddler. I still remember going uphill with my maternal family. Us kids would play ping-pong, pluck monkey-cups (some plant) and just chase around in the rented bungalow. The Hainanese housekeeper would spoil us with 4 delicious meals a day. It was fun!

Now, decades later, I don't even remember where the bungalow was. But it's OK, we booked ourselves a room at the Strawberry Park Resort. We only checked in at about 10pm! Why? Coz we spent the entire afternoon and night in Ringlet!



My parents and I visited a relative's flower farm. All that was planted is chrysanthemum. I don't even know that there were these many species of chrysanthemum.



We were given half a dozen bouquet of chrysanthemum. Many of these are still not available in Malaysian markets yet. The mini type of chrysanthemum is especially planted to be exported to Japan.



A very vibrant colored chrysanthemum. I don't know what it's name though.



I like this very much. This is called the Viking. I was told that the Chinese don't really fancy this kind. Wanna guess the reason why?



This is the factory where all the staff handle the flowers: from plucking to sterilizing and from deleafing to packing. However, this factory is not open to general public :P



The next morning after breakfast, we drove ourselves to Mt Brinchang. The Sg Palas Boh Tea Center is about 30 minutes drive from our resort. The view and breeze was amazing! I could spend the entire morning reading and drinking (tea!) there.



The route to the center is narrow and winding. Be careful and try going before the sun gets hotter in the afternoon.



Ahhh...



Many hectars of tea...

Trip to HK & China

My parents, Gan and I went for Chinese New Year holiday. Initially, we booked ourselves on a tour to Egypt. No thanks to the economy downturn, many did not pay and the tour was canceled in the end. With less than 2 weeks away from Chinese New Year, dad decided to join the crowd and booked us a tour to Hong Kong and China!

We left for Hong Kong on the first day of the new year. We spent 2 nights in Hong Kong, 1 night in Shenzhen, 2 nights in Zhuhai where we crossed to Macau and the last night in Guangzhou. It is our first time experiencing the new year in China. It is definitely something different as we normally visits cold winter places like Europe. These are a few shots of the trip.



With Kelly Chen in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I'm not that fat la, haha. I guarded my handbag with the trenchcoat over it :D



The view from Victoria's Peak.



At Repulse Bay. Jackie Chan's pad is in white on top of the hill behind me.



Windows of the World, Shenzhen.



Miniatures at Splendid China Village.



A very nice chandelier in Sands, Macau.



In front of Babylon Hotel, Macau.



St Paul's Ruin, Macau. We had 2 portugese egg tarts each after this shot *yumz*



Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Hall, Guangzhou.



Shopping at the famous street in Guangzhou, Siong Ha Kau Lou.

A weekend that was

We were back in Ipoh for a wedding dinner. We reached in the morning and hung out at my grandma's place. For lunch, we drove over to Menglembu.



We dined at East Ocean Restaurant. We had a total of 5 dishes, in which I forgotten to snap photos. Anyway, seen here from left is my nephew, cousin-in-law, pretty Annie and Eddy. After lunch, we checked into Hotel Excelsior. We had to as all the rooms in my grandma's house are occupied :/

The wedding dinner held at Oversea Restaurant, which is just opposite the hotel. It's pretty convenient for us.



Seen here are all my cousins: Christina, Annie and Jared. The one standing beside me is Nicholas. Tina is only 13+ but she's already much taller than all of us! Except for Gan :P





With my leng leng Annie Lee :)



With Florence, Elson and my yima.



Yima and popo. Popo is hitting 80 next year. Doesn't she look young? Perhaps good genes will pass down to granddaughters too :D



Yima, mom and popo. A mother and her 2 daughters :)



Finally, there's us, hehe :D

Kuching Escapade

I'm back! December is month of R&R. If it wasn't for hubby's leave cancellation, we'd be enjoying our month-long break.

Anyway, we were in Kuching during the past weekend for a 2-night stay. I last went there 14 years ago. Not much changed except for more housing projects and shopping complexes.



We stayed at the new 360 hotel. It's only RM147 nett a night including breakfast for 2. The room is spacious and had a great view of the city.



On our first day, we joined a local tour to Cultural Village. This shot looks a little like a volcano on the edge of erupting.



Gan, standing in front of Rumah Cina in the village. Nothing fancy about this house.



Me, by Rumah Melayu. In this house, there was a man dressed in baju melayu performing a dance.



Rumah Orang Ulu. I never heard of Ulu tribe before, I think. Have I?



Gan went into the Ulu house and this is how it looks like.



Then there's a pedestrian bridge made of bamboo.



A moment later, there were cultural show for all visitors. The show lasted for about 30 minutes. It was OK.



Then there's a famous cats statues, in front of Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza Hotel. Though we stayed in 360 Hotel, but we had breakfast in Crown Plaza for free. Why so? :P



On our last night in Kuching, we had dinner in my uncle's house. We had seafood 9 tai kwai (9 dishes) for dinner. We only managed to squeeze 7 dishes on the dining table. We had to place the 2 other on another table.



Seen here are Gan and my little cousins: Joel, Julia and Daniel.



Everyone digged into the scrumptious meals. Seen here are Daniel, yi ma, popo and Uncle Albert. It's been awhile since my last 9 tai kwai. In the end, everyone was stuffed! Great way to end a short trip with family :)

Honeymoon in Bali - Part II

continued from Part I



We continued touring on the third day. Wayan took us to Tegalalang for its famous rice terrace. As there are hilly areas in Bali, you can find many rice terraces across the island.



We were driven to Kintamani for lunch later. This restaurant has a magnificent view of the Mount Batur volcano. This volcano last erupted in the 90s.



We treated ourselves with scrumptious buffet whilst enjoying the beautiful view of the volcano. It was really a relaxing moment. A mouthful of food and a sight to look at, splendid! The buffet for 2 costs about RM50.



After lunch, we descended from Kintamani to Tirka Empul temple.



This temple is a sacred place that offers cleansing baths and rituals. Devotees come here to cleanse their sins away.



After a number of Balinese meals, my husband finally needed a break. For dinner, we headed to Kuta. It's time for western food, Hard Rock Cafe!



There were many Malaysians(I think) dining there. I don't see many caucasians. Perhaps they'll be there later at night.



I ordered the Honey Citrus Grilled Chicken Salad. I haven't eaten a light meal for days when I was there. It was time for something light, especially for dinner. In it, there's cranberries, capsicum, lettuce, nuts, cheese and other goodies.



Gan had the Pork Burger. To my surprise, he didn't even finish half of the patty. He said the pork had an acquired taste and he couldn't eat another bite. I think the way they slaughter pigs is different from ours.

The bill came upto about RM120. After dinner, we headed back to The Westin for our much needed rest. Because of the pork scare, we didn't try the Babi Guling during our stay in Bali.



The next day, we started our journey after our big buffet breakfast. Wayan drove slightly over an hour to Taman Ayun temple. Nothing much to see there, so we continued our journey again.



We stopped over in Pacung for lunch. This restaurant yet again, has a maginificent view. This time, overlooking rice terrace.



I ordered the Ayam Panggang with rice. It wasn't anything to shout about. It's basically grilled chicken with 2 satay sticks, crackers and some vegetables.



Gan had the Nasi Goreng. We paid about RM40 for the lunch.



We finally reached Bedugul about an hour later. This place housed the Lake Bratan temple. Look at the misty mountain across the lake. It is much better looking in real life! It was quiet, holy and the breeze was cooling.



This is another side of the previous photo. This temple is well maintained and clean. Totally a must-see spot for tourists.



We left for Tanah Lot after spending over an hour in Bedugul. It was really sunny when we reached Tanah Lot. We didn't stay long as it was too early for sunset. So we quickly leave for our hotel.



And we managed to catch the sunset on our last night in Bali :)