Thousands visit Buki Larut (Maxwell Hill) to view tulips

Thousands visit hill to view tulips
Friday February 3, 2006
Story and picture by Raslan Baharom

TAIPING: Blooming tulips on Bukit Larut have been drawing thousands of holidaymakers to the hill this past week.

A local resident, SJK (C) Pokok Assam teacher Mary Ng, 40, who accompanied a group of relatives from Kuala Lumpur to the hill yesterday said she was impressed by the blooms.

“The tulips are beautiful and I feel proud that we can grow tulips here.

“Now, there is no need to go overseas to see such flowers,” she said while admiring the tulips at Cendana Hut, the tulip-growing site, which is about 1,128m above sea level.

Another visitor Nor Rashid Osman, from Selangor, said he had come to Bukit Larut after reading newspaper reports on the tulip-growing project.

But Nor Rashid, 36, who was accompanied by his wife Zalina Mohd Nayan, 32, and their children Noratikah, eight and Noralia Akmal, seven, said more could be done to draw visitors.

“The tulip-growing project is a good start to draw visitors to the hill but I hope the authorities explore growing other highland crops such as strawberries as is being done in Cameron Highlands,” said Nor Rashid.

Despite the hill’s rich flora and fauna, Nor Rashid said he was unable to get in touch with anyone who could organise outings into the jungle.

He said he was also given the run-around when he wanted to book the jeep service to go up the hill.

“I came here on Tuesday afternoon and was told that I should come back at 8.30am the following day to book the jeep service to make the journey up the hill,” he said.

A spokesman from the Larut Matang and Selama district office, which runs the jeep service, said seven jeeps were used to ferry passengers up the hill.

“The jeeps had carried more than 300 visitors daily and in the past eight days, more than 2,400 people had gone up the hill,” he said.

He also said all of the accommodation facilities on the hill were fully booked throughout the week. -- The Star.

PRETTY PETALS: A group of visitors admiring the lovely purple blooms at the tulip-growing site at Cendana Hut in Bukit Larut.

Fraser's Hill as the other highlands alternative

The weather must have been pretty hot to cause a forest fire along the new Simpang Pulai-Cameron Highlands road. It was quickly dealt with by the firefighters. It took them about 2 hours to douse it. No harm done.

Usually during the February month of Chinese New Year it was when the climate around Malaysia gets the hottest. Right, this would be a good time to go to some highlands to get oneself cooled down and escape from the heat of the tropics.

Fortunately this year the heat was somewhat tamed down with frequent rain.

This time around, my family decided to go to the other highland, the Fraser's Hill for a change. It is smaller than Cameron Highlands, but no less the interesting. One still could find some interesting activities, like jungle trekking, archery, golf, visiting the Jeriau Waterfalls or go boating at Allan's Waters. Or one could bring along your own games and activities like what my family members did by bringing their own Mahjong set and VCD/DVD together with the portable player.

And me? Well, I'm not about sitting around the Silverpark Apartments gauging myself with Chinese New Year tidbits and watching videos. So I went around exploring Fraser's Hills on my own.

I hope to put up some write up about other highlands in Malaysia, and hopefully the information would be helpful to others who might want to try an alternative to Camerons.

Ok. Enough of blogging and time to gauge myself with leftover CNY tidbits. That's the problem with buying CNY stuffs for visiting guests but in the end have to finish it all off later before it expires!

Hulu Langat Park Confusion

Park confusion
Tuesday January 31, 2006

Logging at the fringes of a proposed park had villagers up in arms, writes Hilary Chiew.

SELANGOR folks, particularly the conservation-minded populace, were overjoyed when an area the size of Perlis was declared the State Heritage Park last August.

The momentous event formed part of the state’s celebration of attaining developed status. As much as 107,000ha of forested areas in the districts of Hulu Langat, Gombak and Hulu Selangor, will make up the park to be managed by the newly set-up State Park Corporation.

However, uncertainty over the park surfaced two days after the declaration by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Logging was reported by villagers living adjacent to the Hulu Langat Forest Reserve.

The Selangor Government then clarified that the Aug 27 event was merely to announce the establishment of the park. It said the process of gazetting the park area was still underway. This means the recommended park boundaries have yet to be determined and approved.

In his letter published by an English daily on Sept 16, Farush Khan from the Selangor press secretariat wrote that logging licence for the 334ha forest was approved in 2001, before the park was conceived. He further explained that the compartment approved for logging was within the production forest parcel of the reserve.

Of the 13,843ha reserve, 9,545.7ha is designated as production forest while the remaining 4,297.8ha is protected to serve 10 ecological and recreational functions.

If the public was confused, it is understandable. Media reports have implied that the park was already gazetted. Some newspapers have even quoted Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo as saying that the park has been gazetted under the State Park Enactment.

It doesn’t help when in an apparent knee-jerk reaction to the villagers’ complaint, the state issued a stop-work order with Mohd Khir proclaiming that no logging would be allowed in the heritage park.

Selangor Forestry Department director Nik Mohamed Shah Nik Mohamed said the stop-work order in September was subsequently lifted as the logging company Fungsi Mewah Sdn Bhd has a valid licence to operate from Aug 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006. He said logging activities were postponed until recently because of the rainy season.

The logging has triggered a fresh round of protest from villagers affected by lorries hauling logs on the only access road into their villages. Besides damaging the road, the lorries are a hazard to motorists, pedestrians and houses that lie just next to the road.

After visiting the site, Mohd Khir again issued a stop-work order pending investigation into the logging method which he claimed was damaging the environment. But the order was not complied with.

“More machineries were brought into the forest. We could hear trees falling in the jungle,” said Abdul Shukor Abdul Kadir, who chairs the committee formed to address the problem. He claimed that the next morning, more logs were taken out from the jungle.

Nik Mohamed Shah, however, said the loggers were clearing logs felled before the issuance of the order.

“Actual logging has not begun. The loggers were felling trees to make the logging trail to gain access to the selected trees. This is the most tricky aspect in the logging process,” he explained, referring to the scale of erosion brought by clear-felling.

Nik Mohamed Shah said initial investigations showed that the contractor has carried out work “according to specification.” He added however, that the rainy spell could have worsen the condition. He said the department would continue assessing the situation and would press charges if licensing conditions have been breached.

Mohamed Khir told a press conference after the weekly executive council meeting on Jan 18 that a decision was made to revoke the licence. Taking the weather into consideration, the logger has been given between two and four weeks to remove the remaining 300 tonnes of logs.

Angry villagers, however, are not satisfied that their village road continued to be used by the lorries. Attempts to engage the contractor Sim Swee Hin Sdn Bhd to discuss compensation claims was snubbed by the representative at the worksite on the grounds that the authority has sanctioned the log transportation.

Villagers are also suspicious that the amount taken out has exceeded the 300 tonnes as they observed more than 50 lorry-loads exiting the log yard over the weekend of Jan 21 to 22. Each lorry has a 20-tonne capacity.

Dismissing the speculations, Nik Mohamed Shah said the contractor has been instructed to reduce the load per trip thus resulting in more trips, adding that the licensor has agreed to repair the road.

He said in accordance to normal licensing procedure, the logging company is being given a grace period after its licence has expired to facilitate clearance of logs.

Questions on the status of the park faxed to the State Park Corporation director Haji Mohamad Nik went unanswered. It is learnt that the corporation has been directed to complete boundary demarcation by March.

The park was conceptualised in 1998 when the forested areas along the eastern side of Selangor were identified as Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Approximately 76% of the recommended areas lie above 300m and 9.5% above 1,000m.

Nik Mohamed Shah said the department has identified 90% of the 13 Forest Reserves which fall within the recommended park boundaries to be gazetted as park areas. A big portion of the land is above 1,000m and forms a 437 sq km watershed.

The highland is regarded as the “water tower” of the Klang Valley as it is the source of three main rivers – the Kelang, Selangor and Langat – that feed five major dams and 23 water intakes in the state, and account for 98% of its water supplies.

Inclusion of these highlands as part of the park would improve the country’s montane forest representation in its Protected Area landscape.

WWF Malaysia senior programme officer (Protected Areas) Surin Suksuwan said at the moment the whole of the Main Range is left out of national and state parks.

“It is also important to protect more areas above 300m in light of the tremendous pressure on lowland forests (between 0 and 300m),” he said. -- The Star.

45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six

45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six
Thursday January 26, 2006
By Roslina Mohamad

KUANTAN: Almost 45% of orang asli pupils who studied at primary schools in Pahang failed to continue at secondary level.

State Health, Social Welfare and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Ishak Muhammad said the figure was alarming and measures should be taken to reduce the number.

He said that records showed the number of orang asli studying in Year Six from 2000 until 2004 was 5,168.

“However, only 2,864 or 55.5% of them continued their studies in Form One.

“Another 2,304 pupils or 44.5% dropped out of school,” he said, adding that the situation was largely due to the attitude and way of life of the community.

Ishak said that boredom and laziness had been identified as the two main causes of the high dropout rate by a local research group.

He said the other reasons cited in their study were that they were not interested to learn, fed up of getting scolded by teachers and preferred to help their parents at work.

Ishak said that concerted efforts were needed from all parties to educate and create awareness on the importance of education among indigenous people.

Among the programmes earmarked were motivational courses for heads of families and women folk, tuition, educational aid, transportation and accommodation for those in remote areas, and scholarships, he added.

Ishak said the Education Ministry had built hostels for orang asli students in SK Betau, SK Kuala Koyan and SK Permatang Keledang in Kuala Lipis, SM Tengku Kudin and SM Koyan in Raub, and SM Sultan Ahmad Shah in Cameron Highlands.

“A total of 156 orang asli received federal scholarships last year, while in 2004, 151 of them enjoyed similar benefits,” he said.

Currently, there are 11,852 orang asli families in Pahang of which 5,936 are listed as hardcore poor and 3,347 as poor. -- The Star.

Cameron Highlands Lake Rehab

It's about time they did something about the Cameron Highlands' Sultan Abu Bakar Lake. The silting has pretty much made the lake an eyesore. I still remember way back about 10 years ago, when the lake was still beautiful. Now all it resembles is a mud pie.

The lake is part of a dam used by Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) for generating electricity at the Jor and Woh power stations located downstream generating about 250 megawatts of electricity. TNB has decided to engage contractors to desilt the lake by dredging and removing the silt and sediment, according to CH TNB general manager, Mohd Safian Ismail.

It is estimated to take a couple of years to finish the job. Probably by end of 2007. But when I asked the Lakehouse manager, he said probably it will take 3 years or more. But given the terrible state of the lake and the few times they tried to remove the silt, probably would not be cleared at all, the manager opinioned.

However the silt is the result of overdevelopment in the Cameron Highlands. With the silt and mud washed down from the river from development upstream, the Department of Environment has recommended TNB to build rubbish and silt traps, in which TNB will implement it soon. Otherwise all the desilting effort would be wasted as more silt and sediment get washed down to be trapped at the lake nullifying the effort of cleaning up the lake.

Not cheap to do it too, for it cost about RM150 million to rehabilitate the lake.

Well, let's hope TNB would go all the way to clean up the lake. It would be such a shame especially with the government call for 'Love Our River' campaign and the effort was done half heartedly.

Truly a wet time in Cameron Highlands

It's was such a wet season to go up Cameron Highlands, but there was a pattern to it. Much like the weather in good old KL. You will have good bright beautiful sunshine in the mornings, gets rather gloomy and cloudy by afternoon, then the downpours starts and goes on for awhile. Depending on your luck, the rain can be short duration or long winded with mild to heavy drizzle.

My trip up there on the New Year's Eve was not so much different from the description above. The climate weather had beautiful clear blue skies in the mornings, pefect for nice peaceful jungle walk, strolling and taking the wonderfully fresh morning forest air and having a good workout. AH, feels good to breath in the cool air! Even with sun shining ever so brightly (it is quite hot actually), the jungle canopy blocks out the strong sunlight and filters through with beautiful sunbeams. The air was crisp and the sound of running waters by the Parit trail adds to the ambience!

On the recommendation of Strawberry Park Resort Hotel Tour Manager, I tried out the Arcadia / Jungle Walk #3 too. It leads all the way to Gunung Beremban some 198km! Way too much walking for me! I just walk about 15 minutes or so before turning back around. Now this trail is what I call jungle trekking! No paved path, pure earth with tree roots to clamber over. There was much moss growth along the path and tree trunks.

Beautiful!

Once I compiled and edit my photos I will post it up on the Cameron Highlands photo gallery page.

On another note, the Strawberry Park Resort Hotel Tour Manager, mentioned that the recent heavy rain and has caused a landslide on the access road to Gunung Brinchang. Three cars that went up there could not return and as far as he knows, the road was not fixed so the cars still remained stucked up there at Gunung Brinchang!

Now that's a thought, because I wanted to drive up there again. According to the manager, the recent heavy rain and the pounding weight of vehicles might have caused the weakened road to collapse.

Pretty unfortunate for the visitors who went up there and had to leave their cars behind!

I had collected much material during this trip, so will post more info later as I compile and edit my photos. So do keep a lookout for page additions and blogs.

Till then, cheers and hoorays for the New Year 2006 and may your dreams come true in the new year!

Happy New Year!

Cameron Highlands Road Reopened After Minor Landslide

It was reported in the Star Newspaper (19-Dec-2005) that continuous rain for the past two days has caused a minor landslide at the 42nd kilometer Tapah-Cameron Highlands road.

The landslide area could not be travelled and was closed for 4 hours from 10am of Sunday 18-Dec. It was fully reopened at 2pm according to Batang Padang OCPD Superintendent Md Zukir Md Isa. The debris was cleared by Public Works Department workers and Fire & Rescue Department personnel.

So for those you who plan to go up Cameron Highlands during this rainy season do be extra careful!

Today, the Star newspaper reported that 4 states (Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu) were hit by floods. Many roads were cut off due to heavy flooding, and motorist had to wait till the flood waters subsided before continuing their journey.

So I guess more rain is to be expected during this wet monsoon season.

It's Christmas Time! -//- Kellie's Castle

Highlander Newsletter, Issue #05002
-- Take a quick detour to Kellie's Castle from Simpang Pulai

Greetings, readers of Highlander Newsletter!

It is half way through the month of December, and Christmas is around the corner. Many of the shopping malls has done up elaborate Christmas decoration making it a must visit place to go just to admire their incredible decoration!

And some people are already taking their long annual leave trying to clear off their outstanding leaves as their company does not allow them to carry forward to next year. With much free time in their hands, well shopping malls seems like a good place to spend their time (and money too!).

Churches are busy preparing their Christmas presentations about the birth of Christ, the true meaning of Christmas. Carols are practiced often several times a week, to be ready for a Christmas Carol Singing in the shopping malls and in the church.

Phew, a very busy, busy month indeed!

And as for Cameron Highlands? Well you won't get so much elaborate decoration, but you would be able to see Christmas trees on some of the larger hotel establishments.

And the atmosphere would not be as frenzied as that in KL. In fact, it would be more of a quiet affair. After all, going up to Cameron Highlands is to relax and unwind from all the hectic work schedule, right?

Felt that Cameron Highlands was not as cold as before? Should try it now. With the monsoon season still hanging around, sure would make it really a nice cold place to go!

Kellie's Castle

During a recent outstation trip up north, I decided to drop by Kellie's Castle as I had some time to spare on my return journey home. On my many trips to Cameron Highland, I had noticed a sign to Kellie's Castle when I was using the Simpang Pulai way to Cameron Highlands.

Well, my curiosity pique, I made a trip there. So come have a look at Kellie's Castle. If it intrigues you, you might just want to make a quick detour before proceeding to Cameron Highlands!

• How about a visit to Kellie's Castle?
  
• I've also made some Kellie's Castle photo slideshow, perhaps it might pique your interest too?
  

And lastly but not least, wishing all you visitors of Cameron-Highland-Destination.com a joyful Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Best wishes,

Jan.

P.S.: As informed, my newsletter will be irregular, so you might receive this newsletter as a surprised! Nope, I won’t send you too many newsletters in a month lest I’ll be complained upon. You will receive one every now and then, and hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised…

P.P.S.: Oh, by the way, do me a favour and pass along the joy of Christmas by passing along this newsletter for Christmas well wishes and also to whomever might be just about a little tad intrigue about Kellie's Castle!


The back issues are at the following URL...
http://www.cameron-highland-destination.com/Highlander_Newsletter-backissues.html

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East Coast Monsoon, Colder Highlands Weather.

With the early arrival of north-east monsoon season around 25th October instead of the usual in November, the east coast was pretty much inundated with heavy rain causing extensive flooding on the east coast.

Looking for sun, sand, sea and beach on the east coast? Forget it!

November to January is not a good time to go for stroll by the seaside. You will probably end up indoors more than having fun frolicking in the sunshine. And sure enough the hotel occupancy rate will drop during this period. At some time many years ago, in order to entice visitors during the monsoon period, hotels issued a challenge that should there be a continuous 24 hour rain during your stay, you will be given a free day replacement stay.

Well, read the challenge carefully, 24 hours continuous rain? Well it is possible but does not always happen despite the monsoon. More likely the rain will start and stop and start repeatedly. Well, I don't see the offer nowadays anymore.

However, there's a six day Monsoon Cup yachting race going on right now from the 29th Nov – 4th Dec at Pulau Duyong, probably somewhere on the Terengganu coast. The seas are pretty rough but they seem to like the strong winds. They even commented that it is the ideal condition for the race! Talk about crazy!

Thankfully the west coast, though wet, does not experience the heavy rain like the east coast. Sure makes the weather around KL pretty cool.

And what of Cameron Highlands? Well, for those who complained that it is not as cold as before should make a trip to the highlands. Now is the best time to experience the cold climate weather of Cameron Highlands!

October had the heaviest rainfall, and gradually the amount of rainfall will reduce till January. Bring along your raincoat or umbrellas because you just never know when it will rain!

And for all you jungle trekkers and backpackers out there, prepare to get wet!

For those who like geography, here's a quick refresher about the overall Malaysian climate weather. Normally there are two monsoon season, namely the north-east South China Sea monsoon and south-west Sumatran monsoon. The north-east monsoon usually starts in November and ends in January, while the south-west monsoon starts in May and ends in July. And there is of course the inter-monsoon rain which is just as heavy but not long lasting.

With the mountain range stretching out like a spine from north to south, most of the north-east monsoon never quite crosses over to the west coast. Still it does get pretty wet and cool in the Klang Valley. And yes, it gets quite cold in the highlands!

Beautiful Photo Scenery of Cameron Highlands

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? No doubt Cameron Highlands has many opportunities to snap those memorable moments. With its lush greenery, and cool climate, definitely a place where one must simply not forget to bring a camera! And if you forget to bring one? Well there is still that cheap disposable camera which you could get from any tourist shop. Still the best is to bring your own camera to get that perfect moment of you and the cool highlands hills!

If you are like me, it is very easy to snap lots of pictures and use up all those negative films or even quickly fill up those digital memory cards. So do get one big size card as you can affordably purchase. A moment gone cannot be so easily recaptured again! Unless of course you got photographic memory (but you can’t show it to your friends and family!). :)

So come on over to the Photo Gallery and have a look at some of the photo scenery. I will be adding more pages as time may permit what with work and all.

Say, if you like my website, how about sharing it with others and forward this mail?

If you not already in my mailing list, head on over to this page to sign up for the email newsletter or even subscribe to RSS feeds.

Till I get the chance again

Au revoir!

Jan.

Links:

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Ramadan Bazaar

It's been 10 days into the fasting Ramadan month, and there's just so many food bazaars going around town! I'm not too sure whether it is the same in Cameron Highlands or not. But is liken to their night market food section! I'm pretty sure all around Malaysia there will be many food stalls set up all around to cater for the breaking of fast for Muslims doing their fast.

Food, food, glorious food, aren't we gluttons when it comes to food? Plenty of choices around. Not only that, it is highlighted in the local newspaper. It is crowded and the queue is just so long, especially for popular dishes!

Fortunately for me, one of the bazaars located in Section 14, PJ, is just around the corner from where I work. To get a good whiff at the wonderful aroma, all I need do is just open my office window. From my vantage point, I get to gauge which are the more popular stalls, and thus plan my food buying spree.

The crowd gets really heavy from 5 o'clock onwards, as many offices begin to close shop for the day. For some of the popular stalls, you will need to go there early or else be ready to be disappointed when it is all sold out! I think it is very disappointing if after queuing for a long while, and it just got sold out when it is about to be your turn to make your purchase! Too bad, try again another day.

Still got some time to try out the various food offerings as the bazaars will go on till 2nd of November, the last day of "puasa" fasting month. After that, it is a celebration of completing the Ramadan with the Hari Raya Puasa holidays. That's when almost the whole of Malaysian people will be on the move for the "balik kampong" phenomena where outstation folks will go back to their hometown to be reunited with their family members and have big celebration! Traffic on the highway will get into a snarl as the whole Malaysia becomes one big traffic jam!

Till then, enjoy your "makan" (eating)!

---

If you are around Petaling Jaya, these are some of the areas having the Ramadan Bazaar:

AREA                 Stalls
Section 17/1A        = 100
Section 14/27        = 100
Subang               =  40
Desa Mentari         =  20
SS8, Sg Way          =  80
Damansara Damai      =  60
  (Vista Biz Centre)
Jln Othman           =  20
Kg Baiduri, 51A      =  40
SD 13/2              =  60
Sect 6, Kota D'msara =  50
Kg Sg Kayu Ara       =  50
Sect 7 Kota D'msara  =  50
D'msara Damai        =  50
   (Idaman Apt)
SS6/1, Kelana Jaya   = 200
PJS 8                =  20
Pelangi Damansara    =  50
Taman Medan          = 150
PJS 6/8 Kg Lindungan =  50
Taman Sri Manja      =  50
Kg Taman Dato' Harun =  26

Water Woes in Cameron Highlands

The irony of it all! October being the rainiest period in Cameron Highlands, and guess what? Water shortage! Just came across an article in the Sunday Times, where a group of motor bikers went for a trip to Cameron Highlands. Despite the rain, the group of intrepid bikers went up the winding slippery road.

Upon checking in the hotel, they were informed that the hotel swimming pool was closed due to water shortage. It seems several other hotels including the 5-stars hotels are facing the similar problem.

How could this be despite the rain? It seems “excessive development was the cause for the water shortage” as explained by one hotel manager. “Excessive development” indeed; the many times that I visited Cameron Highlands, I never failed to see some form of construction activities going on here and there. I don’t quite understand the logic for the ongoing construction of buildings; isn’t there sufficient buildings already?

Granted that upgrading of the old roads should make it more safe for travelers to use, but plastering the hillside with cement reinforcement does makes it unsightly and makes it out of place with the surrounding tropical jungle.

Much of the appeal for visiting good old Cameron Highlands besides its cool climate weather, is its greenery and lush tropical jungle stretches. Imagine if all this were to be replaced with concrete jungle instead; I may as well stay put in Kuala Lumpur.

Development of an area by frenetic construction does not always equate with progress if the preservation of environment is not taken into account as well.

Here’s hoping the authorities would come to their senses and limit the amount of construction. Already the Sultan Abu Bakar Lake opposite the Lakehouse Hotel is one of the casualties not to mention the lessening cooling climate weather. And now with the addition of water shortage woes, the powers to be should take note because ultimately tourist will shy away and where will this lead to?

Buka Puasa Time!

Ramadan sure brings out the appetite in you! With fasting month for the Muslims means that many food stalls are set up to cater for the breaking of fast. Yep, whether in Cameron Highlands or anywhere else in Malaysia, we will get a good variety of goodies for a yummy feast!

Now, these stalls aren’t just for the Muslims only, even for us non-Muslims, we get to savour these mouth watering foods as well.

Ramadan is the period where the Muslims do their obligatory duty to fast. Fasting is not just abstaining from food only, drinking water is also not allowed, no smoking and a few more other rules among others. Of course there exception for people who cannot fulfill the fast, such as sick or traveling people where fasting will aggravate their hardship. But they must replace the missed fasting on another day.

Fasting starts from sunrise and ends by sunset. As the time draws near to break the fast, starting by about 4 o’clock, the traders start setting up their food stalls. Smoke rising from the charcoal grill can be seen from afar! Fortunately there’s no haze about, so you can’t blame it on the grill! But the area does take on a hazy look, but this haze smells good!


The kinds of selection available would surely make Alain Bourdain want to come here and try them out! We got the usual assortment of curry chicken, beef rendang, that goes with white rice. Ikan bakar, nasi lemak, roti chanai, murtabak, satay, kuih-muih, otak-otak, etc. The list goes on…

Definitely spoilt for choice here!

And the aroma… Just breathe it in and smell it, smoke and all! Just can’t stop yourself from drooling! Excuse me; pass me the tissue please…


Before the office closes for the day, the people already start to come out to pick out their selection before there is not much choice left. And yes, the ever popular popiah store, the queue is so long! And long queue means it must be tasty, right? Every year I see this same stall with its ever long queue. Just my colleague luck, she wanted to try some one day, so she wait patiently in the queue. When it was her turn to take her order, it was all sold out! Just too bad.

Ikan bakar (translated literally: burn fish!), just about everybody’s favourite. Choice of seafood can be stingray, squid, or fish; marinated with spices and sauce, placed on a banana leaf then cook over a steel hot plate. Sizzling away, while you wait for your turn to take the order. Mmm… just can’t wait to take it back home and ‘makan’ (eat)! This is good and should not be missed!

Satay, yeay! What is it about food grilled over charcoal fire that makes it so yummy? These are diced chicken or beef pierced on a bamboo stick and grilled over charcoal fire. Order as many or as few sticks as you wish in any combination. Though the meat is marinated, the satay sauce is what makes or breaks its savoury taste.

And after a main meal, it’s time for dessert! Assortment of kuih-muih (cakes) to try, or how about apam balik, which is something like pancake with nuts & corn added? I like this, and can be very filling.

And after that, wash it all down with crushed sugar cane juice. Ugh, I think after Ramadan is over, I will need to go on a diet!

Wet Month for a trip to Cameron Highlands

October month being the wettest month in Cameron Highlands, it means the incident of potential landslide occurrence will be more frequent. The roadworks (JKR) department will be very busy working hard to clear the road should there be any landslide occurrence.

If you are driving up, well, you could give a call to the hotel which you plan to stay and ask them how is the condition of the route to Cameron Highlands. As there are now two ways to go up, IMHO, the newer road from Simpang Pulai would be the better choice with the sheer hillside well reinforced with unsightly concrete reinforcement and the jungle cleared away from the main road. The chances of landslide might be less on this new route.

Oh, and don't forget to bring along your brolly as the Brits would say it and well, have a hot cup of tea in the shops and chill out (as though it is not cold enough already!) while waiting out for the rain to stop!

Working on my new PC

Everything grinds to a halt when your PC is down these days. Yeah, haven't been able to work on my Cameron Highlands webpage for the past few weeks. With my new PC up and running, purring away like a cat (actually, sounds more like the washing machine as what my wife says, boy the cooling fan sure is noisy!), hope to work on my articles and improve some of the pages.

Come back and check often for updates. Or, if you have not done so already, sign up for the email newsletter or subscribe to my RSS feed!