Cameron Highlands - Is It As Warm As Rumoured?

It was eons (fine, at least 8 years) since i last stepped into this realm situated at 5,000 ft (1,500 m) above sea level and it was with great anticipation (strawberries strawberries strawberries!!!!!!!!!!) when i boarded the bus to Cameron Highlands at 10.30pm last Thursday.

Cameron Highlands should be bestowed the Strawberry Zone!!

With only 3 to 4 hours sleep in the luxurious Konsortium Snoozer bus (free upgrade!!) due to a constant accumulation of pee in the limited capacity bladder and the 20 over movies available for leisure viewing, we finally reached Brinchang at 8am!

The town of Brinchang

Yes, a sleep-deprived 9 and a half hours!! Luckily the cool weather did a great job in refreshing my mind and body!

Unquestionably, the weather was still as comforting as before! But I can't say the same for the hot months of June or July hor.

Since the hotel check in at Rosa Passadena will start only from 2pm, we signed up for the countryside tour at RM25 a pax. This tour included visits to Rose Centre (an additional RM5), Butterfly Garden (an additional RM5), Tea Plantation, Strawberry Farm, Chinese Temple and Bee Farm.

Good news!

The first three were FUN!!

Rose centre was a big area full of flowers!! We could have spent more than an hour there!! Butterfly garden was not just butterflies! There were also insects and snakes! PLUS, you can take pictures with the insects at no additional cost! Tea plantation (BOH) was boring but I had a relaxing time at the cafe; slowly sipping a cup of hot tea and looking dreamily at the expansive scenary right in front of me!

Rose Centre

Butterfly Garden

Tea Plantation

Bad news!

The last three were BORING!!

The strawberry farm allowed only a disappointing section (3 rows to be exact) of unripe strawberries for public; the Chinese temple was so uninteresting i really don't know what to type here; the bee farm was just a garden with a lot of bee boxes. FULL STOP.

Chinese Temple

Bee Farm

To dilute my disappointment with the strawberry farm, we decided to heed the advice of a fellow traveller from Hong Kong and walked to a supposedly big strawberry farm near our hotel.

LOOK! 

Rows after rows of strawberries!!

Columns of fresh vegetables!!

Loads of mini cacti at RM10 for 6!!!

With such good weather and in such a laid back environment, it was a really relaxing and stress-free vacation!

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More Info

Brinchang is one of the 3 bigger towns in Cameron Highlands but has the highest concentration of hotels. I did not choose resorts because when night falls, you will be clueless on what to do! It will not be easy to walk to the towns in darkness and with only 50 cabs available, you will be equally helpless!

The pasar malam is located at Brinchang itself but do not expect too much! It is not that big and the stalls do not differ too much on the products for sale. However, it should be a good beneficial walk after a heavy steamboat dinner!

Tanah Rata is the main administrative town for Cameron Highlands and it has a bus terminal connecting other parts of Malaysia.

Love Affair

I admit having a love affair.

Remember the first time we met in year 2001? In Hougang Plaza, at a dowdy stall that looked suspiciously illegal? When I first looked at you, I cannot help but commented how beautiful you were.

The moment my mouth touched you, I blamed myself. Why I didn’t meet up with you sooner?!

Was God playing a love game with us?

Yes, I do love you very much, Ayam Penyet!!

Munch Munch Munch!!

What were all of you thinking of? Hahahaha.

Ayam Penyet is an Indonesian dish directly translated to “Chicken Smashed”. Despite the cruel word used for the name, it is a dish that’s better than the famous Hainanese chicken rice we have in Singapore! Except for the rice that is.

 

First, I would like to thank Ms Hannah Lim, who was so so kind to pack a box of Ayam Penyet from the Science canteen in NUS (University). And that indirectly, gave me a chance to blog about this dish. Now, look at the picture. 

A healthy, vibrant dish with meat (chicken), vegetables (tofu, lettuce, baby tomatoes) and rice. The visual should be sufficient to elevate your appetite. Too bad smell cannot be recorded or else you might have attempted to eat the picture straight from your monitor screen.

Now my internal review:

For me, the skin for Ayam Penyet is a big determiner of whether it is good. In this case, the skin was still crispy despite a one hour wait in the sealed box (my lunch hour was 1pm and I got it around 11.45am) and the strong turmeric flavour was felt in every single bite!

The meat was a bit dry (due to the wait) but still succulent enough to feel the smoothness! The baby tomatoes were so cute I had to eat them. They were sweet and of course, very healthy!

The typical chilli for ayam penyet must have “chilli power” and it usually elicits two kinds of statement: “So nice, I wana more more more more!!” or “CCB, why so bloody hot?!?!?! WATER!!”

Unfortunately, I belong to the latter. Hence, I will always request for nasi lemak chilli, which is sweeter and not as hot! 

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A fabulous meal that will no doubt be even better if you eat it fresh and hot from the frying pot! At $4 a portion, it will be well worth your money.

Location Map:

Please click HERE, select Faculty of Science which will bring you to an information page, click Faculty of Science under “Location”, click the “+” on the map for zooming!

A gentle reminder that canteens are sometimes closed during the holidays.

Office Pantry

For some, the pantry is just a long table at a small corner of the whole office; you will be GLAD to find a few packets of 3 in 1 coffee-mix and at most, a toaster oven that is only BIG enough for two pieces of bread.  

For bigger corporations, most likely the pantry is a room and maybe a much bigger one than yours. In this case, there's a pretty high chance to see a water sink, water dispenser, a fridge, a microwave oven PLUS a few tables and chairs.

Wait, isn't that the kitchen? 

In my work place, i have the luxury of a fairly big pantry serving almost 30 staff members and in my Starhub days, the pantry was big! With so many users for the pantry, it is inevitable that things (usually food and drinks) are sometimes "LOST".

The usual defence to this "theft" is to write your name or paste a post-it note (with your name) on the item. BUT, when it happens again and again, you know you have to do something more extreme!

 

Although i regret to inform you that there's always a joker amongst the thieves!

If you meet the joker, please resign to your fate.

SERIOUSLY

Seafood Paradise (Again) @ Defu Lane

It was yet again another trip to this restaurant that seemed to be permanently etched on our minds (at least for Alex and I) whenever we crave for butter crabs, mantou and mee goreng!!!

I was not that impressed with the food in my first post 1 year back on this eatery. However, my last trip (less than) 2 months ago changed my biased perception utterly.

Just a short review on some notable items!

Mee Goreng

At S$8 for small, the real thing was anything but small. The rich spicy noodles was good enough to make your stomach crave for more! With so many squids, fish and prawns, the price was really a big steal!

Wasabi Prawns

Just a warning; this small dish was not that economical at S$16 for 6 prawns that will absolutely not be deemed as big. However, it will be worth a try for first timers.

Besides the crunchy exterior with a fresh moist interior, each prawn was heavily soaked in a mixture of wasabi and mayonnaise! Rest assured, the wasabi was not very "choking". In a way, it reminded me of the salad prawns usually reserved for Chinese weddings... without the wasabi.

Butter Crab

For the past 3 times i ate this dish, i revised my rating higher EVERY SINGLE TIME. This time, we ordered a small crab at 700 grams PLUS 12 pieces of mantou!!

Though it was still not as thick as Mellben's butter crabs, there was a unique taste (maybe a combination of curry leaves, pepper, chilli, sugar) that made you want to lick the plate dry! Highly recommended with mantou!!!

At $38 per kg, the crab was not that small (psst.... i suspect the shell was super light) but all crabs should taste the same so long they are fresh! What matters most is the gravy they come with!

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Total damage was S$66.15 for 4 of us and it was just the right amount of food! No service charge was added to our bill although the service was very attentive. No additional charge as well for plain water.

Please refer to their official website HERE for more information on menu, opening hours and how to get there.

Nutella Ice Cream @ Island Cremery

Like many people, i love ice-cream!

Whether they are from Swensen, Hagen Dazs, Udders, Island Creamery, Scoops or even Macdonalds and street stalls don't matter to me! Be realistic, no vomit or beer flavour lah.

If not for my ballooning waistline, i would pamper myself every meal with a scoop of this frozen sugar-filled dessert.

My favourite?

Nutella ice cream from Island Creamery!!!

La Petite Cuisine (French Food) @ Serene Centre

First and foremost, i am so full!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most common review on internet about the above mentioned small eatery at Serene Centre was that it is correctly named; the portions were really petite. Due to these scary reviews, i decided to order 'slightly' more.

2 Entrées, 2 Mains, 1 Dessert, plus 2 Soups (4 entrées!!) for 3 pax.

Boy did i ENJOY REGRET it! That served as a very important lesson that we should never believe EVERYTHING on the internet.

More on the petite eating house below!

Food

For such limited space (cooking and seating), they provide quite an extensive menu. Items include:

Soup De Masion
(btw, it means Soup of the House)

Both our Onion and Potato & Leek tasted really light yet flavourful. This is one key advantage that Western soups have over Asian, which always tend to be rich and complicated.

Onion soup

Potato and Leek soup

Escargots in Croissant With Salad

Land snails are never considered part and parcel of my normal grazing habit although it was not my first time trying it. Truthfully, the escargots were nothing to scream about. The croissant, however, was the highlight with the unique, tangy sauce smeared all over it.

Ravioli of Prawns & Foie Gras

Before i tried this, i have no idea what it is. My first thought was that it is some kind of pasta. I know i am not tat far from the truth, but i didn't know it comes in pouches, like xiaolongbao!

On one hand, the dish was an eye-opener for me (it was good too!). On the other hand, i could not enjoy it much due to its Foie Gras content (click HERE for more information!!). Guilt factor...

Confit de Canard with Gratin

First look: crispy skin!! Yes, i know it was fats fried to a cackling... but so nice okay!?!?! The gratin was delicious; sliced, cooked in and smeared with creamy butter. Unfortunately, the duck meat was rather gamey.

Tarte Tatin

Translated literally as an upside-down apple tart, the caramelised butter with the flaky pastry made a very good match. Regrettably, the slices of apple decreased the marks of almost perfect dish; they seemed drained of all flavours except bitterness.

The bitter apple

Price

Economically priced for French cuisine. My damage totalled $69 and tap water (with lemon pulp) is provided FOC.

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In all, i enjoyed my food trip but i miscalculated the portions, resulting in a fullness not experienced for quite a while. Service was quite good and the chef (a French man) was a really humourous guy! He demanded cheekily that i should pay him money for taking pictures of his food. wahahaa.

La Petite Cuisine is located at 10 Jalan Serene, #01-05, Serene Centre (very near to Adam Road Food Centre). 

Bon Appetit.

Another Two Saviors (for my China Trip)

Further to my post HERE, there were two other kind of biscuits (one strawberry, one milk) that saved my thundering stomach back in Hunan, China.

They were good enough for me to bring back 5 boxes each from China. Crunchy, thick, full of flavour and not sweet at all! Plus, as usual with environmental-never-friendly China, each comes with individual packing!

The only shortcoming; half of them were spoilt!!!

Soft, chewy and absolutely yucky!!