An Uplifting Surprise ....

Last week when I was in Melaka, I took off alone to visit my parents' graves. I needed time out on my own. I was feeling so hurt and embittered. Having to control and conceal it made it so overwhelmingly depressing. Who safer to talk to but the dead? You can rest assured that they would not be telling anybody about it.

I sat between their tombstones with my late brother's grave behind me. It was like being encircled by the three people who had provided security, protection and love. I could just pour out everything that was bottled up inside me while the tears flowed freely. The graveyard was, as usual, a quiet and peaceful place for me. Being a weekend, there was no busy traffic along the road or passers-by. The graveyard was empty as usual too, at that hour.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I was startled when I sensed a shadow flying above. I looked up and saw a hornbill. I was amazed in wonder. A hornbill? You could not miss identifying it by its beak. It was not exactly a small bird! It perched itself among the trees at the end of the graveyard opposite to where I was sitting. I looked up again and a whole flock of hornbills flew and perched among the same trees. A flock of twenty or more birds. I was puzzled. Where did they come from? Why here at the graveyard? It was a rare sighting. I had never seen a flock of them flying freely in the sky and at a close range. And never in Melaka or the graveyard. WOW !!! What sheer luck!! They were a sight to behold. They were not of the large, deep black with prominent bright yellow beak hornbill species of Sarawak. They looked something like the photo below ...

 
It was a smaller version and greyish with white edges at the wings and tail and a light coloured yellowish beak. It was amazing. Hornbills in Peringgit. Why did they stop here at the graveyard? Maybe they were migrating.

I went nearer to the trees to have a closer look. They did not take off. It was as if they were there to look out for me. I did not have my handphone with me !!!! I stood near one of closest tree and one of the birds flew a branch down as if to confirm my sighting. They were not making much noise like the little birds when they gathered. They were just perching on the branches for a break. They were just there for me.

I was so down and they uplifted my emotions. I took it as a gift from Allah to cheer me up. It made my day after a few days of being in the doldrums where I felt so trapped with no way out. I forgot my problems totally. I accepted my fate with grace and faith that somehow, things would work out by themselves. I gave a happy smile and sang my heart out. I went to a tap nearby and washed my puffy face as I was meeting up with my sisters for breakfast. No point letting them worried about me when they saw my miserable face.

I felt good. I felt so blessed. As if the birds were a consolation for me. HE did not forget me and HE never left me on my own. Alhamdulillah. SubhanAllah. Take it in stride. Face it with grace and patience. Persevere. Make the best of the situation. HE had pulled you out of the doldrums. Life was just facing a little hiccup. He would never let you walk alone. Thank you, Allah, for your small mercies.

Cameron Highlands Trip - Lavender Garden

This was also new to us. We checked out of the apartment and started for KL via Simpang Pulai. Along the way we stopped at Lavender Garden just out of curiosity and to see what it was about. I had smelled fresh lavender in Manchester as Ismahan had a few pots of it. I also tried picking fresh strawberries for Ikram. When the others tasted it - it was absolutely much delicious and crunchy and juicy compared to those packed ones that my sister in-law bought. The fruits were much smaller than the packed version. Ikram totally enjoyed it when he got it that night when he arrived after work to join us in KL. I picked about 30 fruits which cost me rm23. Every 200 gm was rm10.

Entrance fee was rm10 per adult and rm7 for kids under 12. We tried the lavender flavoured ice-cream. Home made of course. It had a strong lavender smell that my dear brother in-law commented that it smelled like Fabuloso !!! My mind immediately conjured the image of the floor detergent !!!
I enjoyed the flowers. The did sold the flowers but you had to pick and cut them yourself. So you would have freshly cut flowers. There were some vegetables from the farm like pumpkins, sweet potatoes and chillies. I forgot to take photos of the lavender flowers !!! And some species had no smell while there was one that smelled when you gave it a slight squeeze of the flowers.

Home made lavender ice-cream - rm5 per cone

Lovers' locks ....

30 strawberries for rm23 - fresh, juicy and sweet

It was a worthwhile and enjoyable holiday as we were with like-minded people. For my sister in-law and family it was a different side of CH as they usually just went where tourists always visited. For me and the guys, CH was so familiar as I have a sister who lives here. Thus, we usually go for holidays here. Now they are asking where for the next trip .... hmmm ... KK?

Cameron Highlands Trip - Robinson's Fall - Parit Falls

The last time I went to Robinson's Falls was way back in the late 80's on a college trip. I used to go there during the school holidays when I visited Kak Haj whether alone or with friends. I loved the trekking down the waterfall for a picnic and swim. Thus, it was a surprise and disappointing that the trek was totally changed and uncared for with fallen tree trunks and overgrown growth along the way. The ledges along the trek was getting narrower due to erosion and loose soil that one had to be very careful not to slip and fall into the ravine below. Some of us almost slipped as it was quite slippery due to the rain the night before. Kak Haj tagged along as she herself, being a resident of CH, had not been there since the 90's. You can no longer swim in the waterfall or go near it as the waters are polluted with pesticides over the years.

It was a trying and testing trek for me and we had to walk in a row with the able bodied ones leading and following behind me and kak Haj. We literally had to crawl under fallen tree trunks, climbed up and over them, hang on to roots to pull ourselves over or up, used trekking stick and branches to help us through. The sticks were also useful to ward off stray dogs which were actually friendly and just wanted to join us. There were too many of them to our liking and the kids were afraid of them. The dogs belonged to the 'orang asli' who had vegetable farms at the top of the fall.

Instead of trekking downwards to the picnic area, we discovered that it was now blocked by two fallen tree trunks on top of each other that it was impassable. Thus, the only way was going up or turned back. The others refused to give up and wanted to know where the trail ended. I refused to carry on and wanted to just turn back. No way they were going to allow me and they urged, encouraged and spurred me on. It was sheer madness that I could manage it as it was torturous on my legs. Look at the photos below ...

All in a single file ... 

The normal reddish brown millipede beside a size 7 shoe ... huge

The awesome cascading Robinson"s fall - no longer can one go near it

Parit Falls - full of rubbish thrown by irresponsible visitors

The blackish millipede alongside a size 7 shoe - gigantic

"Buah Ara" whatever that was in abundance here

The view from the top where there was a hut and vegetable farm

Me with a trekking stick and maneuvering under a fallen tree trunk

This would be the last time I would ever trek this way again. Parit Falls was an easy trek and we ended up at some cafes near Taman Sedia selling what else but strawberry products. There was also nasi lemak sambal strawberry.

Waffle with strawberry

Scones with homemade strawberry jam and butter

Strawberry coated with chocolate topping - the kids loved this

Strawberry sundae

Home made strawberry ice-cream with fresh strawberry and  strawberry syrup -
I loved this

After Robinson's Fall we had a picnic at the park with the food that we brought along with us. Then we continued with Parit Falls trek and ended up at the cafe above for a break as it had started to rain. We started at 9am and ended at 3pm. It was exhausting but we had a great time. We could hardly wake up for dinner but as we were hungry, all of us went for dinner. The kids never seemed to be tired !!! So we ended up at the Brinchang night market for them to get some souvenirs and supper. We had an early night as we were so tired except for the kids (ranging from ages 12 to 18).

At the end of the day, this was what we had achieved.

Cameron Highlands - Mossy Forest

This was a new place that none of us had been to. Searched on the internet did not reveal any surprises. Syafiq was doing driver's duty. Just his luck !!!! Nobody warned us about the road up to Gunung Brinchang! It was narrow with deep potholes and deep grains on the road. It was so winding and narrow that an incoming car would need sheer expertise to pass through or to make way. We had to honk at every turn and corner. We were just lucky as it was a weekday morning. (We left Alor Setar at 5am to make it up there by 11am.) If we had known, we would have left the car and took a hired 4wd or bigger car to go up. Poor cars ... but we did arrived to the top of Gunung Brinchang. It was cold and so refreshing. Syafiq was sweating and stressed out. He proclaimed that he would not drive the car down ...

Trekking into the mountains were no longer allowed. One needed a permit and guide to go trekking. They had built stairs and walkways so that one could walk through the mountains up to the peak. It was steep at some areas and I literally had to hang on the rails to pull myself up. It was worth it. Here are some photos taken ...

The peak of Gunung Brinchang/Mossy Forest - the viewing tower

Gigantic ferns

The view from the viewing tower

How steep the steps were ...

Notice on the right of the photo - a signage which points Pahang / Perak border

Entrance fee was rm10 per adult and rm5 per child under twelve. It was worth the torturous journey up for the car. After that we stopped at Boh Tea Plantation (Sg Palas) on the way down. They had closed the road up to the factory. Even the factory had glass screen up and a guide to explain the process. It used to be opened and one could watch up close the whole process of tea making. Now the trail was only up to the Boh Tea cafe with a viewing deck. The view was as usual breathtakingly beautiful.

Strawberry cheesecake, strawberry tarts, green tea tiramisu cake and banana carrot cake with
Gunung Cantik tea - very yummy as it was cold

Tea plantation as far as the eyes can see ...

 Overall for the first day of our visit, we managed more than seven thousand steps. All of us went off to sleep after dinner  ... we were flat out since we had started the day at 5 am.

Ten floors of 4.9km .... my poor legs ....

Cameron Highlands Revisited

It had been some years since I visited Cameron Highlands (CH). This time around I planned it not to be the usual touristry visit of the popular places in CH. I invited my sister in-law and her family of five plus another niece with my own family of four which made it a group of ten. I had an itinerary made of an outdoor excursion with trekking and hiking involved. I knew my legs would be a hindrance but I needed to do this before I could not do it at all.

Despite the weather as it was the rainy weather up there, we managed to go through the itinerary as planned. Alhamdulillah. It was step by painful step for me. The teenagers took it in their stride. My sister could manage it much better than I did.

We went through Gunung Brinchang - Mossy Forest - Puncak Gunung Irau - Boh Tea Plantation - Robinson's Falls - Parit Falls - Sungai Pauh campsite.

Please note that the trails were uphill and downhill. No straight even path. It was a strain on my poor knees and back but I did it !!! This trip will be broken into a few posts so as to do justice on each trail.