Thaipusam Camland Getaway

So it all started when we had the itch to head up to Camland once more. And it's not as if the last time we were up there was with the Klangites years back, but rather we did head up there last May. And that stay at the Strawberry Suites was so darn good that we were missing it much sooner than expected. And thus it was that the plan for a Camland getaway early this year.

As we wouldn't be able to stay back in the Strawberry Suites anytime soon and while still waiting for confirmation from others to find out who could make it, we decided to go ahead with bookings first. Chose to head to familiar places, thus we aimed for Parkview Apartments once more.

Unfortunately for us this trip we were sick just the day before heading up to Camland. Ugh. With the flu and cough that can only be described as...juicy.

Of course, we've learned that not all apartments would be the same as 'Ward's apartment. At least the place was clean, there's a telly with A/V ports so that we could plug in a Wii for Guitar Hero, a mahjong table for games and a stove for us to boil water.

'Course, we were supposed to make a list of things that weren't working, like:
- nonfunctioning toaster and electric kettles
- no hot water in bathrooms other than master bedroom

We think those were the essential bits. Stuff like cobwebby curtains and a stack of old bedroom slippers from bygone years we can forgive. Must say that from our previous trips up staying in the apartments here gave us a rather...low expectation of amenities.

Nevertheless, after a stop to iPoh for curry mee brunch and once settled in Parkview Apartments, we headed out for tea at the T Cafe. Their claims to try their Strawberry Scones could not be put to the test because they ran out before we arrived. Still, the normal scones, the meat pie, the cakes, this is definitely a good place to chill.

Trips this time...suffice to say that we didn't plan for much. Asides from us not taking the initiative to look for places to go (it's Camlands and we were happy enough to just chill in the apartments all day long playing games), suggestions for trekking were quickly shot down by us as we were not looking to spend a couple of hours trekking this time. Whatmore while being sick.

So the only main excursion for us this trip was up to the Boh Plantation, easily identified as There-That-Other-Boh-Plantation-Not-The-Sungai-Palas-One-But-At-The-Other-End-Of-Cameron-One. The road up was narrow and filled with blind corners where esteban had to honk at every turn, and once there there was a heckuva climb up stairs to the top, but the view was gorgeous. Not to mention that we could walk between the tea bushes to take photos!

Speaking of blind corners, Camland does have some spectacular things. Like Self-Plucking Strawberries, where we all speculated that all you needed to do at that farm was to hold out a basket and all the strawberries would just pluck themselves and jump right in. Now Blind Corners? However did they lose their sight and why must we honk at them?

Asides from T Cafe, another foodspot that was highlighted was the Highlands Restaurant, for charcoal steamboat dinner. Located in Brinchang 'New Town', we had to make a few turns around to find this place but the food was good! For our entertainment, we took quite a number of videos here - to be played backwards on the Wii later that night. Much laughter watching veggies jump from the steamboat into the waiting chopsticks of lad while Lemon regurtitated fishballs, dipped them in chilli sauce and dumped them into the steamboat.

Esteban had to leave after steamboat dinner on the second night, which left lad, Lemon, Tough T, and us to finish up the remains of the Absolute over our poker game. The thing about playing poker, though...if money isn't involved, it just isn't the same that we play using poker chips. Loser just had to down some vodka.

Our trip ended with us all leaving on Thaipusam, dropping by iPoh once more for lunch (what was it, hor hee?), ice cream soda, and salted chicken from Au Kheng Lim before heading back home.