Kong
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I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/02/24 23:50
Hello guys and girls out there in this forum, i would like to share some of the beautiful and memorable moments that i had during my visit to Cameron Highlands last week. I just came back today!!
Uncertain, curious and beaming with joy were the feelings i had when my husband drove me all the way up to Cameron Highland from KL city. I was uncertain as i was told that the entire journey might take up to 4 hours if i'm not going with a fast-driver and well, i have sorry to say i have a loose bladder. That myth has been busted by now, as i found that there are lots, i mean LOTS of rest stations along the highway.
At the end, it took us only 3 hours to reach the cameron highlands area and i was totally AMAZED by the scenery and weather exhibits by the place!!!!! It is(i suppose)the place that has the coolest weather in Malaysia, with refreshing-looking waterfalls and the Tapah route is simply worth all the nausea that was brought forth by the windy road!!There are quite fruits stalls along the road and i consider myself really fortunate to have to chance to taste a very special fruit which has the flavor of a mango, but much juicier and has a unique fragrance. It's pretty expensive by the way, we bought two of them(with the size of our fist) at the price of rm13. It helps for those who always suffer from Asthma(according to the fruit stall's owner).
My husband and i's stay at equatorial hotel was simply out of the world. Cooling breeze blowing into our room, excellent room service food and..what beats a clean room with a huge, soft bed! The location of the hotel is by itself, very strategic, Equatorial hotel prides themselves for their location at the peak of Cameron Highland and that proves to be very true. One good thing about equatorial hotel which i should mention is the food vouchers that we were given during the stay. We were staying in a superior room and so, were given an rm88 voucher per day for food and beverages, so we didn't have to worry when it comes to ordering the notoriously expensive food service food.
We stayed in Cameron Highlands for 4days and 3 nights and had 5 steamboat meals..so to be frank, we actually had steamboat meals everyday during our visit to Cameron Highlands.. There were nothing much to be done in CH though, visiting the strawberry farms, butterfly farms,night market and grab a few pots of roses..we did that in just one day.
We weren't that adventurous to opt for jungle trekking etc, so we actually spent most of our time playing board games in the hotel room, it wasn't that bad actually, we sat at the room's balcony during the play and ordered some drinks as well. So we're actually making full use of our room! (note: Never try the pegaga juice and tamarine juice if you're not the inquisitive kind of person) We bought all our board games from a supermarket which is surprisingly well stocked in Brinchang town. You can find any board games that Malaysians play there-Monopoly(or saidina),scrabble etc.)They even sell The Advanced Learners' Dicionary by Oxford!!!
Oh, back to the steamboats..i find the one served at the Lodge Hotel pretty impressive, we were served a HUGEEEEE portion of food for 2 persons at the price of rm18 per head.As a person with humongous appetite, i was totally put to shame when we left with half the ingredients still remaining in the plate. I tried the steamboat offered at the Cameron Highlands Restaurant and it wasn't up to my taste. The chicken fillet were badly sliced, and i'm 100% sure it wasn't sliced from the chicken breast part,some of them even have bones sticking together with it.(Ewww!). Mayflower was tastes pretty well, it was highly ranked in this forum, so it's somehow expected of the quality).
My dinner at the Golden Win was really notable as it's the one that i initially thought as the best steamboat restaurant in CH. It turned out that the opposite is true. I tried the assam fish as well, wasn't really that impressive, perhaps i'm not used to assam. The steamboat's nothing much to be compared to the Lodge, instead i think the latter's much better in comparison. Oh, did i mention the fresh strawberries served with whipped cream? That's really a MUST TRY. I would rank it above every dish in CH, this includes steamboat. We had it as dessert for twice and it didn't disappoint us at all. In fact, it enlightens us even more the second time we had it.
CH might be a boring place to many people, i can't help agreeing with that. However, i would say it's simply an invaluable land for couples/partners who wish to spend quiet and peaceful time together. That's why i was enjoying my stay there so much with my hub!
Post edited by: admin, at: 2008/02/25 13:41
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/02/24 23:58
I would like to apologise for some of my typing errors in my previous post. I forgot to check it before i submitted the post! I was so ashamed when i read through the post just now, as there are some major typing errors and i'm sure it'll make the post so uncomfortable to be read. I sincerely apologise for all those mistakes that i've made. Have a nice time reading my experience in CH.
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admin
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/02/25 13:45
Added some line breaks so there would be more paragraphs. Hope this is ok. I didn't touch anything else, so any speeling errors are stiil there 
Glad you enjoyed CH.
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/02/25 22:02
Oh, thanks a lot for the paragraphing! Would you mind to tell me what can do to register myself as an official forum user here? I don't seem to find any link(s) that could bring me there. By the way, there aren't any spelling errors..just typing errors basically..coz i was thinking of something else in my mind while typing that post.
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admin
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/02/27 10:17
Hello,
Basically, we open "registered" user status to frequent contributors here. All other users are free to post without registering. The downside is you can't edit your post.
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Yen Saw
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/05 01:03
Hi Kong, as per request here are the following questions, thanks for the help in advance!
When should I start booking hotel - 2008/02/06 00:33
Hi All, first i would like to thank this great forum for giving me some clues and tips staying in CH. I am living in the USA currently and would like to travel back to Malaysia for holiday coming this June with my family of 3, i am planning to stay for 3-4 days and trying to enjoy the rich fauna and flora in CH. Currently i am planning to stay in Equatorial hotel. I went to the website and found out that the giveaway package is pretty good deal of RM198 on weekday and RM268 on weekend (Superior Room). Now i have the following questions and would kindly source your advice, especially anyone who just stayed in recently
1. My family would like to go for the night market, which mean we have to do this on weekend. Does the night market really worth it?
2. Is Equtorial hotel a safe place at night time?
3. When should i start to book the hotel room? would it be too late for me to do this if i book the hotel 2 weeks before the trip, i realized it is a non-busy season around mid June.
4. I found it strange to have food credit come together with the room rental. Is that mean there is a RM88 in the package of RM198 superior room? so if i use the food credit the room rental is really only $110? That's wonderful if it is true.
Cheers!
Yen
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SinChee
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/05 09:59
To answer your questions:
1) No (in my point of view, I'm from S'pore). For they tend to sell mostly the same things which you can find during the day. Yes, if you wanted to go there to experience the atmosphere. Beside, there ain't much activity comes night time, so the night market is a good distraction.
2) Yes.
3) It may not be a school holiday period for M'sia. But it still is, for S'pore. So do expect some crowds during this time of the year.
4) No comment. I think it is a means to attracts people to patronise their eateries.
Rgds
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/05 13:48
Oh, thanks for posting your questions here! I thought it would be nice for you to do so as other people can also read and clear some of their doubts too.
Sinchee has already answered most of your questions actually, but i would just like to add a few more things.
1. I beg to differ from what singchee said as i think the night market is something quite different to a foreigner, or even a Malaysian who's been staying oversea for a very long time. I like it as it's something very authentic and special to our malaysian culture, you beg you don't find a decent pasar malam in US, do you? One of the good thing about the night market in CH is the cooling weather. I normally never consider night market as a place to spend my leisure time as it's normally very crowded and the heat will be killing me. So, i think the combination of cooling weather and the nice night market scene should always have your attention.
2. Totally agree with what Sinchee said, no where can guarantee you total safety, but i have to say EQ does seem to pamper you with a little bit more on that aspect. I noticed they actually checked all the cars going into the hotel at night.
3. To book 2 weeks before your trip shouldn't pose any problem at all, in fact i normally book mine a week before. However, if you're certain with the dates etc, why not book it earlier. You wouldn't want your highly-anticipated trip to go down the drain, i presume.
4. This F&B voucher feature is indeed very controversial and subjective. It seems worth it to me, at least. It literally means you will be paying half the price of all the food items in the hotel, because at the end of day, you'll get half of that sum of money back if you don't spend it. I find the food in EQ quite up to my taste, namely Char Kueh Tiow, Indian fried noodle and you might want to the pegaga and tamarine juice too(as i mentioned in my first post, don't do so if you're not the adventurous type). I really think you should give it a try.
I'm lazy to check back this post, so please do bear with any typing error(s) that might occur.
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/05 13:56
Sheesh..i did make a few typing errors. Arghh..should've checked
Anyway, yen saw, i just realised that you wouldn't be driving throughout your stay in CH in your initial post. I have to remind you that EQ is slightly further away from the Brinchang town(where all the activities and night markets are situated), however there IS a mini market(not opened at night, of course)and a strawberry farm near to the hotel. It might help to shed a few pounds off if you don't mind to walk a little bit, but walking to Brinchang at night is STRONGLY NOT ADVISABLE. There's a section of the road where no street light could be spotted, and it's absolutely dangerous to walk at night. I saw quite a few cabs running on the road during my last visit, so i think it'd be quite safe to assume EQ provides limo/taxi services.
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Yen Saw
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/06 00:38
Thanks a lot SinChee and Kong for the reply. I have chosen the off peak season so as to enjoy a quieter time there in CH. However, i would still give it a try on the Pasar Malam based on your recommendation Kong. Surely there is no pasar malam here in the US I will also be driving to Kea farm, planning to use the Simpang Pulai route for smoother journey. My worry was more on safety due to all the mad media about social problem in Malaysia, i guess the media exaggerated it to some extent. I am not sure if 3 days will be enough in CH, would love to visit all the attraction there (Maybe minus the strawberry farm). Glad to hear that it is very safe in EQ, i will definately give it a try. Thanks again for the feedback, and Kong, don't worry about the typo, i understand everything you wrote
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/06 15:09
I would like to give your one more suggestion(if you don't mind)
I've actually tried both the simpang pulai and the tapah route and i personally opine the tapah route is much more scenic than the simpang route. I have to admit the simpang pulai route would be a better option for unexperienced drivers, but i don't think tapah route is ''that'' dangerous. To be frank, i was just totally overwhelmed by the waterfall, which is situated beside the road along the tapah route. It's quite a strategic location and i think it is a wonderful idea to stop down(after hours spent driving on the highway) and dip your leg into the cooling waterfall stream. Besides, someone here on this forum has posted some facts of the distances between these two routes and Brinchang, tapah seems be shorter by about 20km if i'm not mistaken.b
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SinChee
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/06 16:08
Reason why I prefer going up by the Tapah route:-
1. Iskandar Waterfall. Always enjoy the dip. But water is really really cold. Enjoy the view of the waterfall.
2. Enjoy the scenic views (from lakeside onwards). Beats the views from the SP route. No questions about it.
When going up, I always planned a few stop points. I would suggest the waterfall, lakeside and Bharat Tea plantation. This is to prevent your passengers from polluting your car interior.
But I tend to choose SP, for the way down. Reason is, the road is wider and the curve is more gentle.
This is my preference and of course there will be others who will suggest otherwise.
Rgds
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Yen Saw
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/07 00:52
Well thanks again for the suggestion. I got "motion sickness" easily and definately wouldn't want to "polute" the car interior as SinChee mentioned. I guess driving up slowly may help reducing that nausea feeling? Good advice once more thank you so much!
By the way, is there any good souvenier shops around the way up or at either Brinchang, Tanah Rata, or Ringlet? What are the good souvenier anyone recommend? Thanks again!!
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Kong
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Re:I couldn't believe my eyes!! - 2008/03/07 08:10
There are quite a number of souvenier stalls around the waterwall if you take the tapah route, since you have sort of chosen the SP route, the only places to get handicrafts should be in Tanah Rata and Brinchang. I saw some nice local made clay pots and some carved decorations. Nothing much i would say, you can get those things nearly anywhere in malaysia.
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