Honey Bee Farm @ Cameron Highlands

(Part 2 of Leisure Tour)

This is the right place should you want to have a closer look of buzzing flying insects!

Housed in hundreds of boxes located at various locations within this apiary (Ee Feng Gu, 玉蜂谷), you will catch glimpses of tiny honey bees busy at work although a safe distance is ensured to prevent any touch or taste (if you dare).

Close up look of the simple, wooden "house!

This bigger-than-life-sized bee needs a new paint job. For a moment, she (a queen bee i guess) does look like she suffers from a bad sunburnt on her nose!

I have never stepped into the bee maze which is supposedly the biggest maze in Malaysia!!! Attempts were made to go in except the door to the maze was forever in the "locked" position.

Honey bees scrambling to squeeze through the narrow gap to deposit the nectar! Certain boxes seem to be more popular - maybe prettier queen bees?

A small exhibition area that was too boring to attract much attention. A live show in a glass enclosure filled with bees sounds more exciting!

Another picture showing the close proximity for some of the bee boxes.

Please refer to the wall behind the cheerful bee! Multiple bee products (honey, bee pollen, royal jelly etc) for sale, which wasn't a surprise anyway. The apiary needs to earn their upkeep since an admission charge was not imposed.

The Teo family could not resist and bought one kilogram of pure honey! Benefits of honey consumption are well-documented but the sales assistant surprised us by saying that a drop of pure honey in the eye can cure conjunctivitis! Any one dares to try?

Freaky adorable dog at the counter!! Heard it is fierce so don't try to touch it!

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First Part of the Leisure Tour can be found HERE.

Pau Hei Kopitiam (包囍咖啡店) @ Brinchang, Cameron Highlands

Although an entry had been posted over a year ago on this well-hidden kopitiam (包囍咖啡店) in Cameron Highlands, change is usually inevitable - for the better... or for worse.

With my parents joining me this time, i took the opportunity to try other dishes i missed out in the last trip.

When you compare the pictures between now and then, nothing has changed much, in terms of outlook; same layout, same tables, same chairs, same bosses.

Our first order was a cup of hot coffee!!! We were expecting a temperature from 18 to 19 degrees celcius but it was lower than 15 degrees celcius! Brrrrrrrr...... The bane of old age!

Wanton mee was the official first meal in Cameron Highlands and even if it was not as memorable as Oldies and Goodies, it was still comfort food appropriate for the chilly weather.

Have you ever heard complaints from Hongkongers that wanton mee should have only wanton (dumplings) and noodles (obvious from the name)?

In Pau Hei, they took it a step further...... by eliminating the wanton!! When i asked the lady boss, her reply was that they used the kind of noodles for wanton mee!! =_=!!!.

Fishball noodles also used mee kia what...

The above was the soup accompanying the wanton-less noodles. Saltish was what i will describe it and we actually requested plain water for dilution! As you can see, bobbing in the soup was not wanton but ingredients for yong tau foo! And every single one was delicious!

This soft bun by the name of pillow bread had a fluffy fragrant bite and due to its multiple wraps, the tau sar filling was evenly distributed in every chomp!

Dad had this to warm his stomach and from what i deduce, he was impressed enough to have it again the following day! I bet the same wanton soup was used!

UFO buns can be found in Singapore but the version in Pau Hei looked too flat and a bit too dry for my liking.

The insides were another story altogether; warm, moist, buttery and creamy!

Guess what lies within the shimmering aluminimum cover?

Lo Mai Kai (糯米鸡)! Deemed the best i ever had in November 2009, the rice was a tad too disappointing this time. It should be due to the lack of mushroom, resulting in rice that tasted too ordinary.

Alex loved the cantonese style chee cheong fun then. I cannot help comparing it to my favourite sweet sauce chee cheong fun in Yishun! My choice? Sweet Sauce.

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Location

Price

Wanton Mee - RM3.50

Dad's Noodles - RM3.50

Pillow Bread - RM1.00

Lo Mai Kai - RM2.80

Chee Cheong Fun - RM3.80

Additional Information

There is a market (pasar) right outside the kopitiam where locals shop! If you are unsure on Pau Hei's location, politely ask the locals.

They should must know where the pasar is.

Rose Centre @ Cameron Highlands

(Part 1 of Leisure Tour)

Over the weekend, i was up in Cameron Highlands (henceforth known as CH) with my parents as part of a promised trip that was unfortunately postponed due to the Chicken Pox virus.

A torturous nine-hour bus ride finally ended at Brinchang town and after checking in to Kavy Hotel, the sleepy three-member Teo family signed up for a Leisure Tour with Titiwangsa Tours at RM25 per person.

It's not my first time in CH and tours like this don't change much over the years. With father strongly objecting to a self-drive trip (and it's a two nights trip), tour packages do help in easy commuting to the various attractions in the highlands.

We shall begin this pictorial post with Rose Centre; my favourite attraction!

The job of the local tour agency is to drive you to Rose Centre so be prepared to pay an additional RM5 for entry. Initially i thought this was a scam but having been to CH a few times, it's the norm to pay!

True to its name, Rose Centre has loads of sweet scented roses!

White Color

Red with Streaks of White

Light Pink

Yellow

Orange

Bloody Red! I cannot find any black rose leh!

Besides facing an overdose of roses, you can also find various spots where you can take advantage of ageing structures like the one above.

This plant will be able to adapt well in Pandora (as in the Avatar movie) if the bubble-like buds are able to glow at night!

My mom called this the cobra flower. From this angle, it looked almost like a cobra that was about to strike!

A passageway lined with flowers and structures that provided a visual breather from flowers.

Depending on your imagination, this cluster of cactus can either be deemed horrific (eewwww snakes) or pornographic (so long~~~~~)! Hahaha.

Amitabha.... Pots of lotus-like cactus to purify that dirty mind of yours! Mine has always been innocent... contrary to popular belief.

Rose Centre is huge and climbing stairs is necessary to see what this place has to offer.

Another bunch of flowers.

This is so cute! Like bu dao weng (不倒翁). I try searching for the English term for this but cannot find any!!! Weird!! And no, it's not humpty dumpty hor!

Another flight of stairs with no protection from the weather! Thank god it was quite cold when the Teo family visited.

It was worth the effort as we were rewarded with a splendid view! It was not as majestic as Zhangjiajie but i am easily satisfied.

Father Teo surrounded by beds of purplish flowers of various shades!

Who can resist sunflowers!? In a conversation i had with the tour guide, we both agreed that since the environment in CH is conducive for sunflowers, landowners should consider planting a big area filled with them. It will definitely attract a lot of tourists!

After a long walk up, it's time to return. It wasn't tiring as the weather was at a cool 18 degree celcius!

The shoe house; a great place to hide when it starts to rain in the great outdoors!

Nothing's perfect! However, its ugly existence is necessary to clear the rainwater before it's too heavy for the translucent plastic roofs.

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Additional Information

The tour guides will usually give you 40 minutes and i can tell from experience that it's not enough! An hour will be better for you to relax and slowly explore the area.