Assalamualikum w.b.t
It was a long weekend during Chinese New Year that fell on Thursday and Friday that my family and I decided to go for a 3 days 2 nights trip to Cameron Highland, Pahang.
And I believe it was a bad time to go for a holiday because the traffic was super duper massive! Imagine how bad it was as we started driving as early as 8.30 am and reached Tanah Rata only after 11 pm, mashaAllah!
From Seremban to Kuala Sepetang and Kuala Sepetang to Tanah Rata would normally take about 8 hours but last week we took more than 12 hours! That 12 hours for the driving only, after minus few stops we had..imagine!
And so one tips for you, never ever ever go up to Cameron Highland during holiday like this (not a school holiday but a long weekend holiday). The traffic get even nastier as you read through this entry.
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| This was at the Rawang R&R where there was no room for even one more car and due to tak tahan punya pasal, most of the cars including us just stop at the emergency lane panjat bukit tu haa and do whatever it is supposed to be done gagaga! |
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| Finally entering Ipoh's border after a loooong 6 hours |
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| There were lots of cars and it was a slow driving in the tunnel |
Every time we went to Cameron, we'll definitely make a stop at Mee Udang Mak Jah, Kg. Menteri, Kuala Sepetang, Taiping. Taiping is actually a bit far off from Simpang Pulai exit to Cameron but this is the best mee udang our family ever tasted so an hour addition to the journey was worth it.
Other than enjoying mee udang, mama like to buy fresh seafood at the nearby Jeti (in a Chinese village) which is 5 minutes from Mak Jah restaurant. These fresh from the sea prawns, crabs and fishes will be cooked for the nights we spend in Cameron.
But sadly, this year there wasn't any catches because those fishermen were celebrating Chinese New Year.
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| Look at the back there, the crowds were huge and at this moment actually mama and my brother-in-law were looking at Menteri Besar of Perak, Datuk Seri Diraja Dr. Zambry bin Abdul Kadir who were coincidentally eating there |
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| Semangkuk mee udang Mak Jah with 5 huge prawns but if you want more prawns, order for a special mee udang, gout weyh makan banyak-banyak! |
After the delicious meal we stopped for prayer and refreshed ourselves, and then continued our journey to Tanah Rata via Simpang Pulai highway. And this was when nightmare begins...
Once we arrived in Tanah Rata, the traffic started to stand still. It was not a slow driving but instead a completely 10 to 15 minutes stand still. It was almost 10 pm, we were tired and we were running out of patience so my family finally decided to stop at a restaurant to have our late dinner.
According to one of the auntie there, the heavy traffic was due to the night market at the center of Tanah Rata. Back in those days, 2 years ago, night market was only on weekend but now it is every night starting from about 6 pm.
And since it was CNY, the cold night weather in Cameron has been contaminated with toxic carbon monoxide huwaaa!
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| Beautiful night view in Brinchang where most of the farms were lit with hundreds of lights, unfortunately this picture didn't do any justice. Bad photographer, sorry! |
Around 11 pm we finally arrived at Mardi, where we stayed for this trip. Other hotels and apartments were fully booked but luckily my brother-in-law has a friend in Mardi and gave us a stay in the
Mardi Agro Technology Park, Cameron Higland, Tanah Rata.
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| Our homestay was on top of the hill and surrounded by vegetables farm |
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| Waking up in the morning to this! SubhanAllah! |
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| All these while we have been stayed in this apartment, which own by my mama's employer but it was fully booked this time around |
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| Those were 'catches' from Jeti Kuala Sepetang |
That Friday morning we started with the first place which was, the Mardi itself. Since we stayed there so we got free admission but for the rest of the outside visitors, you gonna need to pay adult: RM5 and child: RM3, for more info visit
Mardi Agro Technology Park, Cameron Higland.
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| There were house of vegetables, flowers, strawberries, rabbits and many more |
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| My dear nephew feeding the rabbits with carrots that we bought at the market |
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| Let's just focus on that signboard behind me ya.. |
Next, we headed to the strawberry farm but first, we went to get the best sweet corn at the market nearby and fried broccoli and mushrooms. Ohh and the traffic was hectic, so we parked our cars along the road like everybody else. (Some of the pictures were from the earlier visit)
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| There were also strawberries, everywhere was selling strawberries and vegetables actually, all were rather the same. |
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| The best jagung rebus ever! We've been here many times before and this is the best sweet corn there. |
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| Jagung madu yang murah lagi manis! |
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Varies types of fresh flowers, geram!
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| Never tasted the cakes here but they looks delicious |
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| Gain some experience picking your own strawberry |
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| This is where strawberry comes from |
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| Hasil tangkapan Naufal with Tok Wan |
After we had enough with strawberries, it was time for tea and so we off to
Boh Tea Plantation, Sungei Palas, Cameron Highland. A new thing I enjoyed was the tea bush walk where we took a closer look on tea plants and took family picture, of course!
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| Long queue for foods. Yeah, CNY |
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| And finally, its tea time! |
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And last but not least, shopping time!
Most of the products sold here are cheaper and some will not be available elsewhere |
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| Yeah, that's my bored nephew who in his mind only have RABBITS, yup! |
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| SunhanAllah.. breathtaking view |
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| Going back down the way we came, much more easier since no climbing hehe |
By 5.30 pm we took our move and ready for the next place but before that we pray at a
surau situated just next to the parking area.
The labor workers there mostly originated from India and Bangladesh and some of them are Muslim so that's why there's musollah, how convenient for Muslim visitors like us.. Alhamdulillah.
So next was the Butterfly Garden! There weren't just butterflies but also other insects like scorpion and spider, and also snake and rabbit (Naufal's favourite). And they were doing a project in extending the garden by planting vegetables and flowers therefore it was not that small as I visited last 2 years.
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| Not supposed to touch the butterfly but well, Naufal kannn |
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| Unlike in the Mardi, here the rabbits were mostly babies and very friendly well maybe because they were hungry but sorry no more carrots! |
Ohh I forgot to tell you that there this new shopping mall which again I forgot its name but there was where we parked our car and from the mall we walked to the butterfly farm. It looked big from outside, the mall, but actually wasn't much in there except for mini fun park for children.
By the time we make our moved, it was already Maghrib time and we decided to straight away go to the night market. Well after all, we need to pass the market to get to our home.
And of course, it was massive traffic, congested and most importantly... the road was filled with unethical, impatience and unreasonable drivers! Astaghfirullahal a'zim..
We were driving that night, queuing along the way to the night market and suddenly the 2 lanes road became 3. And I was so pissed off, I told my husband not to give way to the rude drivers.
When I had an eye contact with one of the passenger of the rude car, I did a hand gesture by pointing my forefinger to my head showing "don't you ever think of others?" then that 'lady' was shocked and make a 'face'. So again.. Astaghfirullahal a'zim.. to be in Cameron Highland during pack season requires patience, a great one!
Well finally we arrived, Alhamdulillah..
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| We parked exactly in front of this Balai Kraftangan Brinchang |
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| Too many people so pictures at the night market so no place to take decent pictures sorry |
The next day was our final day and we make one more visit to the Agrotechnology because my mom need to buy even more plants gaahhh.. And yes, for my nephews to see their rabbits. So I took the time to shopping for foods.
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| Interesting right? |
Due to the bad traffic yesterday my sister was frustrated since she didn't get a chance to go to her favourite cactus farm so on the way back to Seremban through Tapah, we make a few more stops to satisfy everyone's frustration, haha ayat tak boleh tahan kann!
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| Other than brand Boh, there's also Cameron Valley Tea House by Bharat Group.If you used Tapah to come to Cameron then you'll see this first before reach Brinchang |
Going down to Ringlet, there where few more cactus/flower farm by the road and here the prices were cheaper if to compare with Brinchang and Tanah Rata.
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| My sis finally bought the cactus yeay! Each small cactus cost RM2 and big RM6. I bought 3 small ones and they are still alive up til now hihi! |
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| I bought strawberry filling biscuits at Mardi at price of RM5 per box and here it was 3 boxes for RM10, rugi! |
After everyone were happy it was time to go home, sobs sobs. So down we went through Tapah and it felt sooooo far due to jalan yang lengkang lengkok!
And last but not least, the
Latar Iskandar.. I can't remember when was the one and last time I visit this beautiful waterfall but one thing for sure, the water was ice cold.
We stuck for awhile near Latar Iskandar because too many cars parked by the road and a bus didn't managed to get through the small road so I took picture.
And with that, it was the end of our short vacation in Cameron Highland. Hope the next time we go there, no more 'jam' issue, hopefully.
Til then, Assalamualaikum..
