The next morning after breakfast, we packed up and said goodbye to the hotel apartment. The strawberries needed to be finished off as it was getting mushy. I can still remember the smell and the taste of the berries. We headed off with both vehicles in a convoy, but we stopped at the Kea Valley Farm complex where fresh produce was sold. Because of the traffic, I had to drop them off while pointing out an empty parking spot for Atok. Then, I spent nearly 30 minutes driving in a traffic jame down the mountain back towards Brinchang and forced a u-turn to head back to Kea Valley. I met up with Irfan who was waiting for me up front at the complex. Because we had no idea where the others were, we waited for them at the junction where we would be able to spot them emerging from the […]

Immediately after the tea plantation foray, we headed out towards another type of farm. There were many strawberry farms here. We selected one on the phone map but the horrible traffic jam pushed us towards another direction. The farm we stumbled across while navigating the twisting roads on the hillside was quite an impressive one. More than a strawberry farm, it was a full on orchard that sold everything from roses to herbs to unidentifiable (to me) local wild flowers. To pick the berries, we had to pay for plastic containers. Only with the containers were we allowed to pass through the inner gate, and climb up the stairs to a higher level where the strawberry greenhouses were. Check out the pictures below. Photo Gallery The fragrance of the greenhouses was unforgettable. We left with two containers of strawberries and three jars of strawberry jams. I never thought I would […]

The next day after breakfast at the hotel, we set out for one of the nearby tea plantations. Following the phone map, we headed south. Ain wanted to see the Boh plantation, but we shall see. Atok and Opah holed up at the visitors’ building of the plantation where there was a cafe while Irfan, Ain and I headed down to the plantation after purchasing tickets. One thing was certain: the view was spectacular. Here are some of the photos of our time there. Most of them can be clicked on for a larger view.

It was two days after we arrived at my hometown… The next day Atok lead the way towards Simpang Pulai with his car. After that, I took the lead en route to Cameron Highlands. Our handheld maps informed us that although it was only about 75 klicks from there to Brinchang, it would take us over three hours to get there. Surely the devices calculated wrongly. Perhaps, the data it had access to was in error. Unfortunately, the map was correct. When we turned into the junction towards Brinchang, a jam had begun. We also caught sight of the structure that Irfan photographed with my phone. I was at awe at the climate-controlled farm on the hillside. I thought it was the only one of its kind. Little did I know dozens and dozens of such farms pepper the landscape on either side of the jammed up road en route […]