Joanne
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My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/01 14:21
A group of 4 people.
Well, I sent an email to Bala's Chalet to book a room for 4. I asked a lot of questions and they replied in a short time. But I was still in hesitation the day before the trip, as there were so many bad critics about their service.
Well, I told myself that, let's give them a chance. We couldn't make it to the CH on Thursday, because there was no bus after 17.00 and I called the Bala and inform them about out delay. They said no pproblem
So we took a bus from KL to CH on Friday. Guess what, the driver asked if we were the guests from Bala's chalet, and he gave us a brochure. Then we were offered to join the tour package, I agreed and paid RM50 for deposite. RM55 for each person ( including package 1 a half day trip and package 2 the adventurous trip)
After that, when we arrived, a man from Bala came to us and he reccomended the Hong Kong Restaurant for steamboat. Its very good! And after the meal, he fetched us back to Bala. The staff asked us to choose a room out of the 3 categories(RM180,220, and 250). I was attracted by the bath tub in second room so I chose it. Later I found out that there is a small notes "Long shower is out of service "
Its ok, the room was nice too. But I saw some stains on the mattress though And there is one best word to describe the hotel, really "COSY" and the old British design is really amazing... They subscribe to Astro, but we could not change the channel, it is controlled by the hotel. Most of the time were Kid's channel and travel channel.
At night, we had a bottle of red wine(RM75) at the small restaurant of the Bala, with fireplace and it was actually warm The chalet was VERY quiet, I could even hear the sound of the mosquitoes:-D
Ok, the next morning, we had the breakfast at Bala, the price of the meals or drinks in Bala is very expensive, RM10+ for 2 cheese toasts. The other morning we had 3 toasts and a cup of tea RM12+
The tour guide was waiting for us. We were brought to the cactus valley(RM4), rose garden(RM3), tea plantation(free and had our lunch) and strawberry farm(free).
In the afternoon we continued with our adventurous trip as the sky was clear. We got into a land rover with the best engine ever 4 of us at the back holding tightly to whatever we could grab on We were heading to the Gunung Brinchang! A few KMs and I saw some were actually walking up... Up to the top, there is a tower! We climbed up and the scene is HUGE to me, and the wind blowing on my face was so cold
Time for the Mossy Forest walk, uhuh I didn't know that it is included in the package! Oh my God, I was wearing a pair of Nike sport shoes! No choice, I had to WALK in BAREFOOT! Wow, the soil/mud was so cold and most of the time, my legs were in the mud:-D It was like a free massage! The forest is so silent, no insect as its too cold, no snakes, nothing! We saw manyh different kinds of Pitcher plants/Nepenthes. the tour guide described in details. We saw the 'tongkat ali' plant too And the plant which people use to make the medicine and keep themselve away from the mosquitoes or insects.
It was a one-hour jungle trekking and I wish we could go further!
After that, we continued the previous package to the Butterfly farm. Not much of a surprise but we played with the scorpions and other insects. Just took them out from their cage. Ok we were hungry and we skipped the Honey Bee Farm. It was 16.00 so we had our dinner at Brinchang, a chinese restaurant opposite to the Pasar Malam.
Then the tour guide fetched us back to the Bala... Guess what?? No water! Oh no... the mud on my legs! There were too many tourists at CH, so the water supply wasn't up to the expected level. It wasn't only Bala, but all the places in CH. Ok, Bala has their own water supply but I had to use the public toilet.
At 19.00 a staff asked if we want to go to the Pasar Malam, he offered free transport And he even gave me his HP# in case if we could not get any taxi at the town. The Pasar Malam is not a small one, it was so crowded! And I bought a LOT of food back to the hotel:-D It was like a food party!
The last day, we bought the bus tickets to KL from Bala's Chalet. There is a souvenir shop at the hotel and we bought some postcards. We posted them(RM0.60 or RM0.70, and RM0.50 for the stamps. The staff would send to the post office. 5 days later, it arrived in London.
Our bus tickets are 16.30, the staff fetched us to the bus stop at 13.30 for free, again. And we spent some time at the town
Overall, the services of the staff were good, not many guests at the hotel and the staffs knew us well. There is an Indian man( a bit fat ), he is very good. And I like the interior design of the hotel and the decorations! Also, the Mossy Forest is an unforgettable trip for me, also the Pasar Malam!
I hope to go there again! See ya CH!
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WC
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/01 16:20
either u look like KWAI LOU (foreigner..in cantonese..) or they simply change their mind to serve locals in good ways.... 
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guazi
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/01 23:04
Are you Malaysian, Joan??
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Joanne
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/02 01:01
3 of them are Norwegian guys and I'm a Chinese from Pahang. So the nationality does matter?
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angie
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/02 12:34
Well, if you read the thread about Bala's experience you might wanna believe that they treat caucasian better than locals... I'm not sure anyway 
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Joanne
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/02 15:51
so maybe next time i will ask my local friends to go along with me
and i hope it wont be too much different:-P
Everyone should be treated as equal
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WC
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/04 19:39
too bad not everybody 'thinks' like u lah.....
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Joanne
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/05 01:51
hehe yeah, everyone is different
if i was going to CH again with my friends, I would stay at the same hotel and we'll see...
Anyway, I like CH very much! wonderful weather and forest! And also, friendly people
Cool~~
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WC
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/06 00:35
anyway, i do hope in future, u'all will come back to CH as ur vacation getaway 
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David
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/13 11:25
The account from Joanne does give me some peace of mind. I've wrote in to Bala as well as Strawberry Park to enquire about their rooms. Only Bala's replied me promptly within a day. I wrote in to Strawberry park once again a week later and till now (3 weeks), I've yet to receive any replies.
Hmmm..... now if you ask me, seems like at least Bala is doing something right. As I've not booked my room yet, looks like Bala is the choice then.
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neo
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/14 07:54
Hi David,
I would suggest that you try EQ. Based on my personal experience, it is a great place to stay in.
Cheers and good luck.
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David
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/14 09:17
Hi neo,
EQ is my 2nd choice if SP does not have any rooms. I've still awaiting a reply from SP. Also, SP is currently haveing a great promotion of lower rates + cash vouchers to use. Factoring that in, it is very much cheaper as compared to EQ.
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WC
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/14 18:14
the choice is yours to choose...so choose wisely..
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Joanne
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/15 05:32
i hope everyone is good
David, when are you going to CH?
yeah Balas is very fast in replying emails.
you will like their interior design, try to look around and you will notice a lot of valuable antiques:-D
anyway the choice is yours, the reason why i didnt choose EQ is that, its nothing different from a city hotel, isnt it. although it is beautiful and grand, but we wanted to experience something different. oh it would be great if i could find a farm to stay:-P
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Joanne
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Re:My experience, oh my God, its too long:-P sorry~~ - 2004/10/15 05:35
here is something out of CH...
im going to penang and langkawi from 09-12 until 16-12 this year, could anyone share your experience with me on the hotels and car rental.
sorry i took the opportunity i this forum!
mail me ok
a million thanks!
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