Fun in the hills (for seniors)

Fun in the hills
Monday August 25, 2008
By George Lee

Life can be lived with gusto, even in one’s senior years.

WHO says seniors have to sit in one corner alone and stare at the “lost” horizon day in, day out, and miss out on all the fun? Given the opportunity, we love to get around and socialise.

I look forward to the weekly fellowship on Saturdays. Seniors with cars often bring one or two new friends along. Those without transport wait for the van – driven by volunteers – to pick them up.

The tea plantations of Cameron Highlands are a big draw for tourists.

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After a breakfast, we socialise, exercise, sing and dance or do whatever it takes to get the old self ticking again.

All too soon, it’s time for lunch, which is about 12.30pm, and then it’s “bye till we meet again next week”.

Those who are active and mobile look forward to outdoor activities and visits. Then there are much-awaited yearly trips to Cameron Highlands to savour the cool outdoors and enjoy the scrumptious seafood.

Our last trip there a few months ago was a huge success. We had fun sightseeing, playing games, shopping and feasting.

With the new highway, it was not necessary to leave Penang late in the night and spend hours travelling uphill from the Tapah exit. Now it’s an early start at 6am from Penang Island. We headed to Butterworth for breakfast, and had lunch later along the way.

Have your pick of fresh strawberries from the farm.

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Shortly after Ipoh, we took the Simpang Pulai exit and headed for the hills. From there the drive up was smooth and pleasant. The road is less winding and wider than the old route from Tapah.

The half-way stop provided the opportunity to stretch our legs and, for some, the much-needed toilet break and tea. That’s the beauty of it. Organised by seniors for seniors, all our needs were looked into.

We had a great time together. The weather was pleasantly cool. We did lots of shopping, too. Seniors may be slow in some things but when it comes to shopping and getting the best bargains, we are at our most active. During that time, nothing else matters. One nearly missed the bus home.

One is never too old to learn new things. We visited a tea plantation and saw how tea was harvested, processed and packed, and we were served tea with cakes and scones.

We sampled the honey from the bee farm, and bought freshly harvested vegetables and strawberries from the farms that we visited.

Life can be as interesting as we make of it. There’s really no time to sit and mope at home. If you’re feeling bored and lonely, you are most welcome to our weekly fellowship.

Senior is a fortnightly page dedicated to senior citizens. We welcome real-life stories happy, sad, inspiring, heartwarming from readers who are 55 and above. E-mail them to startwo@thestar.com.my. -- The Star.