Whenever people asked, I am forever proud to say that I grew up in Cameron Highlands. Then I waited for people to gasp and say 'Wow! You grew up there. So nice!!' Cameron is a place that holds dear in my heart. All those greens, misty and cold weather, flowers, etc, etc were once part of my life. They were so common at that time that no one in Cameron would give them a second look or even a second thought. It was a sad day when my parents decided to quit Cameron for good, almost 13 years ago. Although I do visit Cameron once in a while all these years, it is not the same as staying there.
I was all excited when we made a trip to Cameron again last week with the kids. I was eager to show my kids the place that mummy stayed, the school that mummy went to, etc, etc. It was a 3 days, 2 nights trip and I have booked ourselves at the Strawberry Park Resort.
We travelled to Cameron through the Simpang Pulai route. Once reached the highlands, the first stop we made was to the KC Kwang and Sons grape and tomatoes farm. We were happy and excited to see those grapes dangling from the branches though we did not get to taste the grapes.
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| Grapes at the KC Kwang and Sons Farm |
Then we visited their vegetables and tomatoes packing facility. It was an eye opener. The tomatoes packing machine 'cleverly' brushed and cleaned the exterior of each of the tomatoes, and then sorted them according to the different ripeness of each fruit. While such facility is common in developed countries like Japan and Taiwan, I have never thought that it is available here in Cameron. It is a good experience not just for kids, but for adults as well.
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| Tomatoes having their exterior cleaned |
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Tomatoes sorted to different ripeness
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Another well worth experience is to taste the freshly harvested corn raw. The corns are organic and can be eaten straightaway without rinsing. I was at first sceptical to eat the corn raw but after the first bite, I was impressed. It was very juicy and sweet. The kids love to eat them too. And needless to say, we bought a big box of it to bring back to KL.
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| Raw organic pearl corn |
It was about noon when we left the grapes farm and we decided to stop for lunch at the Watercress Valley, which is situated between Kea Farm and Tringkap. The restaurant overlook the watercress farm and the wind was blowing soft and cool while we enjoyed our lunch. The menu selection was not that great but we did not have any complains. Vegetables were fresh and that's what we were looking for. The price was reasonable for a tourist spot.
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| Water Crest Valley for Lunch |
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| View from Water Crest Valley |
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Watercress farms
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After lunch, we checked ourselves at the hotel. Strawberry Park has recently renovated their rooms and apartments. It was clean and comfortable. Wifi however, is only available at the hotel lobby with a charge. I find that staying in Brinchang or Tanah Rata would be more convenient than other places as they are close to the sightseeing places as well as restaurants and night market.
After rest, we were eager for some action again. We went to the farmer's market at Kea Farm. Bought sweaters with Cameron's logo for the kids at RM20 each. They were warm and comfortable and I would say the price is very reasonable too. The kids looked like dolls wearing the sweaters with the hood. Other than that, we did not buy anything as we decided to only buy the fresh produce on the way back, on the last day.
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| Fresh produced sold at farmer's market |
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| Fresh produced sold at farmer's market |
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| Fresh produced sold at farmer's market |
After that, we visited the cactus farm as well as the mushroom farms at S Corner. The place was small but sufficient for us to see what we have got to see. Some places are not measured by how large they are, but how much we gained from it.
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| Flower at Cactus Farm |
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| At Cactus Farm |
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| At Cactus Farm |
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| At Cactus Farm |
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| Different varieties of mushroom |
It was dinner time by the time we went back to the hotel. We had the conventional charcoal steamboat for dinner in Brinchang. It was priced at RM18 per pax and one kid eats for free. Since we have 3 kids with us, we were charged an adult price for the 3 of them. Sure there are other restaurants that charge as low as RM9.90 per pax. But one need to see the quantity of food served. As the saying goes, you get what you paid. One may have to order extra food and ended up paying more for all the extras. RM18 per pax is reasonable for the quantity of food served and were enough for all of us. The food of course, cannot be compared to those that we have in KL. For the price, we had chicken, fish, pork, some sea produce, mi hun and noodles, eggs, variety of chicken, fish and pork balls as well as variety of fresh vegetables. The highlight of the steamboat is the vegetables of course. They were very fresh and added to the sweetness of the steamboat broth. It was really nice to have gather around a pot of hot broth in such cold weather.
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| Charcoal steam boat |
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| Charcoal steam boat |
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. It was very cold at night and we did not feel like taking a walk out door. Plus, all of us were tired from all the travelling of the day. The kids fell asleep almost immediately once their heads touched the pillow. The girls snuggled up comfortably and warmly beside their grandmother and my little boy had a mattress all on his own and slept spread eagle as if he owns the earth. It was the ending to a perfect day.
Continue to Day Two
Continue to Day Three
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