Rounding Malaysia - Day 7

We had a blast at Malacca Botanical Resort riding on the Buggy Rides. The park itself is kinda quiet and bare. We had the park to ourselves during the 30 minutes ride. And Anuar finished with a bang when he knocked down a potted plant as we turned in to return the buggy!

Rounding Malaysia - Day 6 (a.m.)

The second day at Cameron Highlands saw us shopping for more cacti, visiting the butterfly garden and stopping by the Parit Falls.

Further down was Kuala Woh Recreational Park, about 13km from Tapah town, along Jalan Tapah-Cameron Highlands, the recreation park is reached before Lata Iskandar if one is travelling from Tapah town.

The main attraction in the park is the shallow water of the Batang Padang River. Visitors are particularly drawn to the hot water that flows between the cracks of the rock. The park was undergoing renovations to provide a proper pool for visitors to soak their feet in.

Rajah Brooke butterflies thrive in their natural habitat and was flitting everywhere around us.

The descending journey brought us the narrow winding roads and as we did a tight U-turn, we came across Hutan Lipur Lata Iskandar. The falls are visible from the road, and there is a big sign welcoming the visitors to stop for souvenirs or grab a bite at the few food stalls. Provided they can cram their cars along the narrow lane and still provide space for all manners of vehicles doing a U-turn on the only lane available.

Wading pools and picturesque cascades make a good photo composition. Unfortunately we were on the run and could only dip our feet awhile.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 6 (p.m.)

We reached Malacca just after sunset and decided to spend a night to rest. After dinner, Anis wanted to visit the Night Zoo at Ayer Keroh. At RM7 per entry, I felt that the visit was not worth the money.

Since I could not persuade the rest to take the tram ride, we set on foot to see the animals. The zoo was poorly lit and we could hardly see the path, let alone the animals in their enclosures.

With 45 minutes left to closing time and barely covering half the zoo, they finally agreed to board the tram. On the tram, the zoo attendant rattled away scant details of each animal in barely audible tone. Within 15 minutes we reached the exit and called it a night.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 5

Next day saw us exploring Cameron Highlands, going to the strawberry farm, shopping for cactus, visiting the Butterfly Park, tea plantation.

There were too many places to cover so we decided to stay for another night since the hotel rates dropped drastically from the first night.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 4 (p.m.)

After that 'almost there' anti-climax, Din took over the wheels and we headed southwards towards Cameron Highlands. Wheezing by via highway soon brought us ascending the hills. We caught the beautiful sunset amongst the trees, but as the surrounding black of night engulfed us, the situation turned to fright when the driver realized the tank was close to empty. Tempers rose and finger pointing ensued. It was still a long way up and there’s no turning back either. We were in the middle of nowhere, with the closest petrol station nowhere in sight.

It was the longest hour ever and everybody was holding their breaths thinking of ways to minimize fuel consumption. Thank god the temperature was cold outside, so turning off the air-con was not a big deal. Taking in the breeze in the dark of the night, the thought of the car stalling in the middle of the narrow, winding road was a chilling thought.

As we finally made the climb and reached the first hotel, we parked the car and took a breather. It was freezing cold as we headed for the hotel lobby. This had to be the worst time for a holiday – Christmas day with no prior hotel reservations. It was super peak period and hotel rates are up by 250%. By now we had two problems – we still had no petrol, and we had no place to stay for the night. The hotel had a superior room available but no way was I forking out RM600 for a double-bed room each for just a couple of hours sleep. Another query at a nearby hotel also was not to our favour as all their rooms were taken. Along the way we saw a billboard for Hotel Titiwangsa and decided to call up for any available room. There was a family room available and resigned to the cut throat rates, we asked to have the room reserved.

So we continued our search for petrol and this time to add to our woes, the traffic was inching its way in the direction we were heading. This had to be a nightmare, not a holiday. The tank was already in the red and we were thinking of various Plan B. Thankfully, after the jam, which was caused by rampant parking by visitors to the Pasar Malam at Tanah Rata, we reached a Petronas station. Although it was quite late, almost 10pm, there were people walking and cars parking everywhere. We grabbed burgers to go at a roadside stall near Petronas and huddled in the warmth of the car.

With one problem solved, next mission was to find the hotel we had called earlier. It was located among many other newer, nicer hotels, but since we asked to reserve the room, we had to honour our words.

There is no need for air-conditioned rooms in Cameron Highlands as the weather is so cold even with windows closed. The room was comfortable enough for the four of us with a king-sized bed and two single beds. I believed the room was an add-on as it sits on the top fourth floor with creaking wooden floor boards, and walls of gypsum board that sounded hollow when tapped.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 4 (a.m.)

We checked out after breakfast to head to Perlis which was at the northern tip of Malaysia. We decided to forgo Penang cos that will have to be a holiday destination on its own. Traffic was light with scenic views of vast paddy fields and sugar cane plantations.

We had wanted to cross the border at Perlis to enter Thailand. Somehow our driver got cold feet and had us believe that Perlis’ Padang Besar is similar to Thailand’s Padang Besar. After all that travelling, we were that close to crossing the border, yet we had to settle down for Perlis’ Padang Besar. The atmosphere is not unlike Pasar Payang, Kuala Terengganu.

There were the usual labels – Adidas, Nike, Umbro for sports wear, shoes, jackets. Ladies wear and children’s t-shirts are good buys. Knick knacks galore for the picking – brooches, bracelets, key chains, toys. Then there’s the preserved fruits of all colours and sizes.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 3

We checked-out after breakfast and headed on to Kedah. Our target destination is HPA town, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani. We wanted to sample everything HPA – the hotel, restaurants.

Again using technology, we tracked down El Zahraa Inn, and even managed to get a parking spot in front of the inn.

As the name suggests, El Zahraa Inn is Arabian inspired. The room is spacious enough to accommodate the four of us.

Since it wasn’t check-in time yet, we had lunch at Radix Organic Restaurant next door. Next, we walked down the shops and found RFC (Radix Fried Chicken) but it was closed for Friday prayers.

The inn is newly opened since last year with a Middle Eastern concept. Our room comes with a king-sized bed, wifi, flat screen tv, small fridge, air-con, standing fan, walk-in wardrobe, shower
with multi shower heads.

After Asar we went to the nearby mall – Kedah Mall where The Fokkers II was showing but could not agree to watch the movie. Instead we decided to venture Starbucks, where two freshly brewed
coffee, a pie and a cake, and the kids’ iced blended coffee came to a whopping RM70, more than enough for a hearty lunch for four. On the way back to the inn, we stopped by RFC to grab takeaway chicken.

It was raining the whole day so we went to nearby Radix Oriental Restaurant for dinner. The food was quite nice but took a long time preparing.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 2

The journey from Kemaman to Perak was an uneventful 6-hour drive, only stopping by at Sepah, Genting, close to Maghrib, for McDonald’s takeaway and a bag of roasted chestnuts. With the help of iPhone google map, we managed to zoom in to our accommodation – Hotel Seri Malaysia at record time.

After checking in, we went out to get dinner – take away from the make-shift stalls at Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh.

Rounding Malaysia - Day 1

After performing our Hajj, Din told me he wanted to ‘explore’ Malaysia to look for business ideas. Since we’re putting up in Johore, we will make our way northwards, all the way to Perlis.

As Anuar can only join us a few days later, Anis took off earlier to Kemaman to be with her friends who were back for their semester breaks.

Anuar reached our JB home around 6pm and we set out after Maghrib, reaching Kemaman just after 1am. We had a quick supper at Briyani Bistro, then checked-in at the newly opened Pok Eng Tin hotel, a stone’s throw from our previous rented house.

Next day, we picked up Anis who came by bus two days earlier and bunked in with her bff, Diyana.I managed to arrange an impromptu lunch with the ex-Protubian girls at Secret Recipe’s latest outlet which was a few doors away from Protube – a very convenient location for the meet, indeed.

We also managed to dropped by to check out newly delivered babies and their moms – Umie and Ninie who just gave birth to fifth daughter and fourth child/first son respectively.

After lunch, we began our long drive to Perak.