A Short Break

Went on a short 3 day-2 night trip to Cameron Highlands with some church friends. Booked 2 apartments at the Equatorial as there were 10 of us. This is the first time hubby and I have gone on a trip without our kids. CoolTeen and SweetTeen went over to their grandparents' place for a bit of pampering from grandpa and grandma.

Fried bitter gourd with salted egg-yolk
at Old Frenz Restaurant in Tringkap

On the first day, we left KL around 8.30am and arrived at Cameron Highlands via the new Simpang Pulai route in time for lunch. We ate at the Old Frenz Restaurant in Tringkap. Food was ok but the service was rather slow.


Checked into the apartments. Hubby and I stayed at the 3-bedroom apartment with 4 others. Since it was a 3-bedroom apartment, we had expected a kitchenette but besides the bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, there was the living room with a sofa set, a tiny TV, a small fridge and a dining table with an electric kettle. So whenever we needed to wash a cup or cutlery we had to enter a bedroom to go to the adjoining bathroom, which was rather inconvenient. Other than that, the apartment was comfortable and most importantly...clean.

The charming OMF bungalow owned by the
Lutheran Mission, built in 1933

Had dinner in Brinchang and visited the pasar malam. The weather is not as cold as it used to be a few years back and I didn't need to wear a sweater at all. Most of the friends in our group have not been to Cameron Highlands in a number of years so it was fun to show them around as hubby is quite familiar with the towns, having been born in Tanah Rata himself.

Tried the strawberry strudel at
Strawberry Moments Cafe in Brinchang

The next morning we went to the local market in Brinchang and had breakfast at a coffee shop. My friends bought pau, kuih and siew mai from the market since the coffee shop had limited choice of food available. 

View of the tea plantation from the viewing
point near the Tea Shop

The smell of fresh tea leaves was just heavenly
at the tea factory

In the afternoon we visited the Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation. It was a real challenge to drive through the very narrow, winding road to the plantation and then having to climb up some steep steps to the Boh Tea Shop located on top of a small hill. The view from the top is splendid and the air is chilly with a cool breeze blowing constantly, so the journey was well worth it.


Had steamboat dinner at the Chinese restaurant in Equatorial. Although a little pricey at RM48++, it is an all-you-can-eat kind of buffet. There was a large selection of raw food for the steamboat as well as a section for dessert, but the section which was our favourite was where 2 chefs with a hot wok each would pan-fry (with a choice of 4 kinds of seasoning) anything that is laid out on the buffet tables...and I mean anything. We got them to fry prawns, meat, mushrooms, eggs and even noodles!

The next morning we visited the morning market near our apartments and bought vegetables before checking out and heading for home.

So many species of cactus available at the
cactus farm

I just had to buy some to replace the cactus
on my kitchen window sill that have recently died

It certainly is different not having the kids with us but I suppose a mother's heart is always with her children and I find myself thinking about them even in the midst of all my activities. I'm really appreciative of modern technology that allows me to phone my children every night and see them face to face through video-call. My children can never understand how life was like back in the days before the invention of the mobile phone. My daughter once asked, "How would anyone be able to contact you when you weren't at home?" I told her that they couldn't. How the world has changed in the last decade or so.