.....times of refreshing.....

I guess when in Cameron Highlands, the place to visit or must visit are the hilly tea plantations. No matter what, I realised once you see the awesome, spectacular and refreshing views of the cool plantations at the hills, all your stress will gradually melt or rather froze away. And, not forgetting of having a cup of freshly brewed tea there while enjoying the view. There are a few places to enjoy this there and to my knowledge, there was this Cameron Valley by the roadside while travelling from Tanah Rata to Ringlet or the Boh Plantations.

I went to the Boh Plantations in Brinchang and getting there is not easy as you needed to go through a winding and narrow hilly road which is meant for one vehicle. This means, you have to give way to the opposing vehicle and horn regularly when turning.

It was raining when we reached there. Temperature was 18 C.

Love the climate there!

A landscape view from afar

Getting close and personal to the tea leaves

Another close shot

Getting ready to climb up to the cafe and factory

Some bonsai to take note while on the way up

Looking down from where we have hike so far

Boh Tea Centre

A view of the tea plantations from the top

More views

I simply love the scenery ...it's was so breathtaking and relaxing.

In fact this was the first time I got so close to the plantations

Snap another pix before I move on

Inside the factory, an exhibit of an old tea maker

Here we are ...at the teashop

Caught a pix of this giant moth

One of  the quarters there

This was certainly one of the best trips in CH. I have never got so close to the tea plantations as well as witnessed such nice sceneries, though I seen them before but not as close as this trip. And, it was also deep inside from the main roads, where I don't think I know how to get here if not because of some 'local' tour guides in my bro in law. haha...

By the way, had an American breakfast with super 'kao' gourmet coffee before the trip.


Have a great week!

I had usher duties on Christmas day and woke up quiet early and reaches church 30 minutes earlier. It was almost half full by then when I reached. I was very surprise that the church was fully packed this year till no more seats for the latecomers. In fact, after the service started one hour ago, there are still folks coming in. I guess most of them are definitely not regulars but JB folks who came home and joined their family for the worship. I almost had to stand in the entire service at the back till some of church-goers decided to leave early where I can managed to get a seat at those temporary chairs. hahaha... It was a great experience and glad I served on such a special day.

Pasta for my wifey

Fish and chips for my little princess

Lamp Chop for me

Chicken Chop for my kid

And, an hawaiian pizza to share . The pizza was crispy and delicious!

A glimpse of La Pasta restaurant

Another view

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Merry Christmas!!! 

Well, my vacation seems pass so fast and a week has already over and I am back in Singapore now. Five days seems very short despite I took weeks to plan for this vacation, though it's just in Malaysia. That's also a reminder to me that time is precious! haha... Anyway, glad to be back and I miss my morning coffees here. hahah..

Anyway, it's quite a pleasant vacation as I was in KL to bring my kids to Kidzania last Tuesday. They really enjoyed themselves there and so do my wifey and I. I shall blogged about it later. We went to Cameron Highlands on Wednesday and it's really been a decade more since I last went uphill there. There are really a lot of changes in a decade and I beginning to like this place even more. To me, its so much better than Genting. Cameron is so happening now with lots of cafes and there's even a Starbucks there at Tanah Rata.

And, it's even better where my sis in law;s friend has a relative there as well as a plantation, so voila, we got a free local tour guide!! Before going around, after a winding journey, we were brought to the plantation and took a land rover to cruise to the top of a hill which was full of plantations and vegetables. That was my first time and it seems dangerous as those non-tar and narrow paths can be quite steep, but then nothing can stop a land rover..hahha...

The hill of plantations !

Vegetables!!

On top of a hill 'in a mountain '.... We took a land rover all the way up and got  a great view of all the plantations there !

At the hill, an orchard of flowers

I don't what this flower is called but thats what they planted there. On a good day, I heard one stalk can fetch RM5. And imagine there are so many there!!

Other plantations

Yours truly selfie with my little princess

These 'moss' that sticked to the mountain side. I always read in hiking blogs that when you reached a certain level of height, you will see some mossy forests, which is like a fairy forest .Stuffs like these will sticked to the trees and hills.

Before that, we were at the well known Lata Kinjang where we stop for a while.

The winding road with lots of stalls there.

Nature is indeed beautiful!

Family portrait

We stayed overnight and left on Thursday. It seems a 2 days, 1 night trip is not sufficient where 3 days/2 nights is better. I shall blog more  about this trip in my next post.

So, the end of the year is around the corner, did you set any goals or resolutions for 2014 which you have achieve or did not meet it? I think I set quite a lot of goals but I did achieve a few. Though the new year resolutions sounds childish to some especially us, working adults, I think it's not a bad thing as we needed to plan some objectives within a certain time frame and achieve it. Of course, on the way, we can adjust our goals and re-visit them.

For me, some goals which I met that I think it's not too personal to mention here are consistently make it a habit to work out during weeknights , take on duties for my church, lost some weights, registered for a run, did some regular savings, reduce my visits to doc (haha...) and etc.

Well, I did have some goals which I didn't meet and it's back to the drawing board. I guess I will reduce the goals that I set for 2015 and ensure that I can achieve most of them. :)

Btw, had a nice platter at Breeks in JB City Square. At RM39.90, I think that's affordable as it's really a lot!


Have a good weekend!! :)

1.  I thought running a 10KM marathon last Sunday and working out regularly makes me an Iron Man. I was wrong as nature dealt me a gentle blow where I was down with a mild flu over the weekend. Anyway, feeling better now and managed to ran a short 3KM on a beautiful and breezy Sunday evening.

2.  I was asked to act in a skit by my Christian boss in my company's Christmas gathering... alamak... I am a shy guy and can't even act. but now I am asked to be a shepherd in a Christmas story where I need to utter a few lines. Oh no ... :P

3. On running, like those avid runners, I thought of planning my runs for 2015. I was not certain if I can do a half-marathon in the short period of time like March or April but my colleague seems all set to go for half or full marathon. Aiyo... why so ambitious ? It's ok...I guess I go for some 10KM runs before I go for the half-marathon. hahha.... Probably, I plan for the first 6 months and decide on the other 6 months. hahaha... I am talking like a runner now. :D

4. Vacation has started and I will blogged about the places I went when I am back. Except KL where my kids wanted to visit Kidzania, we will adopt a wait and see attitude on where to go after that. Anyway, definitely will be driving to somewhere after KL. Somehow, I was always in the city every Xmas except last year.

5. Woke up early on last Sunday morning to attend church services at 8am after I skipped last week's services. I am glad to be back as well as seeing my Pastor, who was away too for his leaves. The Sunday service served as a backup service for me if I was unable to attend the main Saturday service. Anyway, there will be no more Sunday morning services in 2015 and I have to attend another church if I missed the Saturday's service. On the other hand, I think it's good they scrap the Sunday service since attendance is very low.

Meanwhile, had a ginger onion fried beef with rice on a cold Saturday night, with hot soup. What a relieve for my mild flu.:)


Have a good week!

Chicken Ciabatta with fries

Strong and 'kao' Americano

Have a good weekend and enjoy your movies!

OK, a short post for today!:)

And so, that's it. Everything has a beginning and I attempted my first international marathon, though not a full or half marathon, but it's still great and an achievement on a beautiful Sunday morning. The 10km marathon is just nice for me at this moment and it was simply awesome! The experience was great when I thought back on the run especially the moment when I felt tired but kept going on!

Singapore city in the wee hours

 I gotta wake up at 5.15am and it was difficult for me to sleep at 9+ on last Saturday night as I used to watch football matches and slept past midnights on Saturdays. Luckily I managed to catch some sleep and reached the starting point at Esplanade 30 minutes early. The run started at 7.15am, while the full and half marathons already started much earlier.

Massive lot of folks doing the 10K, which has the most runners at 20,000 compared to other categories.

 The first 5KM run was routine for me as I used to run at this distance almost daily but once I reached around 6KM+ , I felt numbness again in my left feet  and I took a short breather near a water point and walk for around 500 meters. Thanks to the compression socks which I wore for this run where the numbness goes away quite fast and after I regained back my strength shortly, it was non-stop till the finish line. The last 2KM was tough as I really felt tired as well as I never run such distance before but I told myself to challenge my limit as I already 'make' it. I am already nearing the end of the run, so, why not I tried to complete a 10 KM. And, I am glad I managed to struggle the last 2KM till the finishing line.  I felt really good!!

Yours truly posing after hydrating with 100 plus and mineral water

Folks completed their run and resting at the carnival held at the Padang. Behind was the high court building.

The Stamford hotel at the back at around 8am+. It was a beautiful morning.

 Since I am not driving, I took the 30 mins train back home and together with other runners, we really 'wet' the trains. hahha ...

Recuperate myself with double-boiled eggs, steamed kaya toasts and kopi

My precious medal!

I will go for more runs in the near future and probably train for half marathon. It's really fun and great! Lots of positive vibes. :)