Taking a break

Much awaited. Finally arrived. And now... it is gone.

Well, at least, I have a relaxing break (minus the drive which is quite long).

Our family took a trip to Cameron Highlands over the weekends, and to celebrate Gracia's second birthday. The drive was really killing at one point, especially the way up to the resort which requires me to do so many turns. Anyhow, I am very thankful that we made it without any accident or landslide.

We taken some shots using my good-old-faithful Olympus digital camera. Here are some shots.

Here we are.... evidence that we did go to the Rose centre. Not a fantastic place, I must say....




perhaps, I am not that much of a "rose-lover"? But some of the flowers were quite pretty. Like this one...



Quite a big garden actually...



Not forgetting to pose?



Ah, that's Gracia. She is not good at posing for the camera. It is better to take candid shots on her.... will try again later.



Theophilus is better at posing (when he is not up to nonsense).

One last look at the roses...



Verdict: I won't go there again. Not for the entrance fee vs experience value.

Second stop: Strawberry farm....



Here is how the flowers look like....



and here is the "forbidden fruit" - yes, we are told NOT to pluck them.





Verdict: You should not buy strawberry from strawberry farm! Suprisingly, it is cheaper just down the road. All the talk about "fresher" while in the farm - I don't buy that. I bought mine at the road-side stalls and taste better than those samples provided by the farm. No, I won't go back to the farm.

Next stop: Butterfly garden.

Well.... not just about butterfly. By now, I am quite used to paying enterance fees. But, I am pleasantly suprise. Much much to my suprise.

The attraction of the butterfly garden for our family are NOT the butterflies (honestly, I think the Singapore Zoo's Fragile Forrest has just as much as a good view too). The thing that really caught us by suprise is the enthusaism of a keeper there.

Theophilus gets the best out of this trip. The keeper took out



Yes, the Rhino-bettle. This little fellow looks fierce, but he eats fruits! A vegeterian!



More bettles...



Even, Gracia is not spare of the fun...



I guess, she is "talking" to it... there is some communication down there... just hard for me to decifer...

Theophilus get to handle the lizard...




Or even have a scorpion on his head! Yup, I think he is brave.



Handle a frog...



Well.... now, the butterfly part...




Verdict: Super value for money. Theophilus gave it a top-vote and vouch to go there again without objections. I think it is highly due to the keeper who was there and he matched his enthusiasm on insects and reptiles. But much much better value compared to the rose garden or the strawberry farm.

We went to the bee-farm. No shots taken. Short tour.

Next stop: Tea leaves plantation.




A short tour on BOH tea center and I get to eat at the caferia.... I think it is one of the most relaxing place to just sip tea...



Yan took a very relaxing shot...



I take a relaxing shot....



Theophilus took a relaxing shot too....



That's all for the tour.

Verdict: Not too bad a place to drink tea. Considering the education-tour around the factory and the scenic caferia. Worth the effort. But not against the hours of drive to reach Cameron from Singapore. Yet, I think this is one of the more memorable stops of our trip.

In the night, we celebrated Gracia's birthday with... a slice of cake. Yup, we don't take too much cake after the last overdoze during Yan's birthday.



And just before we left Cameron on Sunday (Gracia's birthday) back to Singapore...



All dressed up ready to go. Yup, she threw up twice on the way down from Cameron Highlands even though I was driving very very slowly. She couldn't sleep and was singing along the way.

By the way, my Dopod gave me problem during this trip. I couldn't use my SIM card when I was up on Cameron Highlands, was OK along the way. And could only recover it when I am back home after switching SIM card with Yan on my old N70.