Come On Cameron! ~daytrip cheapthrills~

Me & my colleagues (or half ex colleagues :P) had been loOonging to go for a trip, since trip paling jauh kami pernah pergi hanyalah pergi makan lunch, lol. The last time I went Cameron was last year, but only for Mount Irau hike, so tak sempat nak ber feeling-feeling di tea farm, hehe.

Initially it just me & Candase' random plan. Few days later I met Angelene, & I remember about our canceled Sekinchan trip, then I think, why not make this group trip 1 shot lah, because I hate it when people keep on saying want to do something again & again but never is really doing it. So this time, I said to everyone who available, Come ON! hehe

Due to berry berry busy work schedule, we never really discuss what we gonna do in Cameron, how or what, the rough plan is just looking for the best scone & drink tea, lol.

So on Saturday morning 6 am (29/1-/16), 4 of us hop on the car & to the Cameron we go~! It's quite a silly decision to go Cameron on Deepavali day itself (& no public holiday!) but wth, since most of us are free on this weekend, we don't care we just go :P

We started our journey around 7.00 am plus the ding dong here & there, beli breakfast lah, isi minyak lah, pam tayar lah (petrol station semua ramai orangg).

It's my first time driving to Cameron, but fortunately I just went to Frasers Hill 2 weeks ago, so at least tak lah terkejut sangat nak drive jalan berbukit & bengkang bengkok ni. Since we memang just google & go, so going up we use the old road; Tapah. It's a quite small road & have to be extra careful, but it's a nice to drive during the day since the scenery is more kampung & foresty :). We reach Cameron around 10-ish in the morning. Sejuk? tak sangat haha.

Cameron Valley Tea
Our first stop is Cameron Valley Tea plantation, the place is packed with people! So we actually just made a toilet stop & peep a bit at tea farm & say later lah kita jalan kat tea farm~

Ok, honestly I hate driving when in town, since Angelene had her comfy sleep along the journey before, so I ask her to switch with me, my driving task is done here, tehehe.

fresh view in the morning~

Lord's Cafe
2nd stop, oh I wanted to go to the scone's cafe that I saw on Zati's instagram few weeks ago, so to the scone breakfast (again) we go! It's call Lord's Cafe, everything is cheap here (food price around RM2-5), & loovee the ambiance, macam cafe dulu-dulu & yg best tak ramai orang, hehe :) & yes the scone is gooOood, we even tapau a few.

we're here for breakfast~

Cake Shop
3rd stop, Candase want to find this hiden bakery that she heard from friends. When we at the area, we all so happy because memang no people in here, escape from the traffic jam (yes in Cameron) phew~! But we feel a bit lost, is this a bakery? or a furniture shop? or a delivery place? & only 1 blueberry cheesecake display at the counter. There's no proper place for us to sit & eat, just this gigantic table set, so since we already there, we bought a slice cake for our cake tasting sesh. Cake price RM5, taste? It's alright, for me macam old bakery style.

Ok this is actually how the cake looks like :)

The Smokehouse
4th stop! I don't really focus during their discussion in car, haha, so blur blur dah so many people in Cameron macam kenduri, but dunno who suggest we were looking for the Smokehouse. We arrived & noooobody is hereee & this place is beautifullll~ macam dalam cerita mat salleh doulu-doulu, hehe. It's so funny I even shout "Shut up & take my money now!" They have beautiful Garden & you free to take photos as much as you want! Even the staff are friendly & willing to take our picture.

Since tempat tu cantik sangat, kami pun masuk lah dalam Smokehouse tu without even look at the menu price, konon nak lunch, tapi hahaha 1 meal cost RM80, tiba-tiba semua orang krik krik, patut la kat sini ada mat salleh & foreigner je, lol! Luckly they have heavy breakfast set (+-RM40/each), so we ordered 2 meal which were the salmon sandwich with fries & mash potato & sausages for sharing.  It was alright & quite filling & just enjoying the ambiance. But we were still questioning about the menu price of RM20 scone & the RM20 latte, how absurd,hahaha!

Lesson of the day, please see the menu 1st before you sit (we expect it's a TGIF restaurant price, didn't expect that expensive, lol) When we get back to the car, I said to the girls, "I take back my word for that Shut up & take my money, hahaha" But anyway, the garden is so beautiful, we glad that we make a stop here & we all just laugh about it :))


Strawberry Coffee
5th stop! We actually wanted to go to the BOH tea farm, we have not really walk & explore the tea farm yet!! But oh the traffic jam is killing us, waze shows it took an hour & more from Tanah Rata & it started to rain. Candase took over the wheel this time, but really lah bad jam, so 1/3 from the way, we decided to make a u-turn & there incident where we got block by 2 stupid busses & 1 of the bus driver was shouting at us because we can't move (d'uh), but it so funny, we all were like, aiyoo why so angry?? It's Deepavali lahhh! hahaha

*random stuff during traffic jam, lol

We change our plan to stop over at 1 this place we saw got Strawberry coffee; since we all start to feel mengantuk already & so so curious what Strawberry coffee is this?? lol.We park exactly infront of the sayur entrance (bus block few car park spot, again, pffttt) lol! The Strawberry coffee is ok for a cheapthrills, since it's cheap why not? we ordered with a set of roti bakar. The coffee honestly taste like 3 in 1 coffee with strawberry syrup, but since we are in Cameron, it taste extra fun over the chit-chat during the rainy days, hehe.

 

feeling-feeling kampung cafe

view from our "kampung" window

After the coffee, we decided to do our vegetable shopping! everything here are cheap & fresh :-) We even eat the boiled sweet potato, emm so yummy during rainy days~

*I think this place in in Kok Lim Farm, it's where there Time Tunnel museum is, but we didn't have enough time to visit, huhu.


Random stop *can't remember place name, lol*
6th stop, I always wanted to go to Cameron to buy roses for no reason, but funny how I can't found 1, so since it still raining, we make a quick stop at this 1 place, they all wait in car & I make a quick run to check on the roses. Then I found out they are not selling any roses & ask me to try at the night market. I say sorry to the rest for waiting, but they all so nice & say "like that let's go to the pasar malam lah", hihi yay~

Pasar Malam
7th stop; the pasar malam thrills! This is the most makcik moment we ever had, the plan suppose to be; I buy rose & then we chow! But end up me & Angelene bought 2 pasu pokok each & I bought 3 bouquet of flowers & we smell so many goood foood & deciced to tapau everything & have dinner in the car, hahaha!

Random stop *I slept in the car, lol*
8th stop: After we filled our tummy with all the oily goreng but oh so good food, we decided to fuel up petrol & leave Cameron. We passed by this another town & Candase say she bought tea somewhere here before, so we really determine to find parking despites the sesakness, har har!


The Initial plan is to leave Cameron by 5 pm (to avoid driving down at night), but cause of the bad traffic & sOo many distractions (girls, haha), we end up leaving Cameron at 9 pm, lol!

Candase drive back down. I insist them to use the other way, which is the Simpang Pulai exit, cause honestly this morning driving up using Tapah road is a bit tiring for me, so I don't want to risk the girls, infact it still drizling & yes Simpang Pulai's road is bigger & safer! It's very beautiful at night as you can see a lot's of farm's canopy light up with beautiful lights.

It was a long drive at night, but we keep ourself awake while we on the hills area, we were making jokes & start talking about silly stuff. We even make fun of these 3 motorcyclist infront of our car, we felt very lonely when they droves away & leaves us after an hour later, haha.

Going back home was smooth journey, a bit tiring, but I'm glad we go back on the same day, since I'm sure the next day Sunday traffic gonna be very baddd.

We reach PJ at 12.30 am, send back all the girls & I drove back home to Ampang. Phew it was tiring, but I feel so happyyyy we really enjoy the trip & forgot to really walk at the tea farm, hahah! I shall go again next time just to really walk at the tea farm & check out the blue valley, lavender farm & perhaps to Irau again. How can people say Cameron is boring?? I looove itt~ Perhaps should go on weekday to avoid the crowd & just chill & have a slow trip.

Anyway, these girls are fun to be with during trips, I told Angelene I laugh until I got a headache today layan all the bimboness, lol. Hope for more adventures with you guys! Till then, thankiuUuus ^_^

~Here's a senget picture of us. Till then~

Trip to Langtang (Nepal) - 15 Days trip & preparation

#langtangketerlentang

Alhamdulillah, it wasn't a terlentang-much trip for me, hahah! huwee~ With a proper training, Insyallah, boleh buat hike in Nepal ni. The experiences & the view is amaaazing~ although kami pergi masa hujung monsoon, which is rare period for people to hike in Nepal. Even porter kate tough & bahaya sebenarnya season ni. *there's 1 time we heard a loud noise, kami semua tanya porter, alamak guruh nak hujan ke? you know what porter reply? "no, I think it's a landslide" * hmm hmm hmm kau memang mengucap panjang-panjang*

So almost a year ago, I tweet this (as usual my monologue crappy rant to less than 30 followers, kofkof)

Who would've thought? I am not an avid traveler if compare to others, & dah la jenis tak reti travel beramai-ramai, jadi semua benda solely rely on my own plan & ape yang aku mampu dengan dana yang tak seberapa banyak ini.. hehe..

Aku ni dok bercerita kat Fatt, aku teringin nak pi Nepal tapi takde sape sudi nak ajak aku, sebab aku belum reti lagi la pegi negara atas-atas ni, antara kawasan yang masih baru dalam peta aku, hehe. Tak sangke pulak Fatt nak repeat & ajak aku join trip dia.

Mula-mula memang excited, semua serba "OK" tapi bila dah beli tiket flight (masa tu tangah plan CNY Bangkok trip, tapi paksa diri beli) barulah reality hits! Macamana nak mintak cuti panjang kat boss ni? Macamana nak bagitau ayah ni? Aku lebih takut 2 benda ni daripada stamina aku sebenarnya, stamina at least boleh dilatih. Ahhh aku tolak tepi dululah soalan2 tu, sebab ada masa lebih kurang 6 bulan untuk difikirkan #kateoptimistik #eheh


Persediaan fizikal; aku buat ikut kemampuan diri, the key is to make sure maintain your training routine.

• Aku weekday memang kerja tak nampak matahari, so I only have weekends to do my physical training. At least to go for a run, I normally run 6 - 10 km per session.

• Aku tak ramai kawan hike, so my alternative is to find people in Couchsurfing by myself, banyak kali jugak la aku dapat repeat Bukit Tabur dari situ. Is Bukit Tabur is a good place to training? for me yes, sebab ape, Tabur ni starting dah pacak, & kelebihan lain adalah sebab kawan-kawan couchsurfing ni macam-macam bangsa every week, mat salleh lah, middle east lah, local pun ada, tapi yang bagusnya, foreigner ni stamina diorang memang lain macam. Malam tadi depa kalau pi minum-minum pun esok diorang masih laju T_T *pernah ditinggalkan sorang-sorang kat 1 area tu, hahaha sabo je lah.

• 2 weeks before to Nepal, a friend trained aku untuk naik ke Nuang buat pertama kalinya, mak ai azabnyeee aku dah balik Nepal pun aku terasa seram dengan azab Nuang, tapi semangat nak cuba Nuang lagi sekali tu memang masih ade! haha! *mase turun Nuang aku tahap mengesot, mental nak mampos~ But memang, a very good training. Kalau tiap-tiap minggu ko training Nuang, aku rasa Nepal tu boleh berlari dah, hahah!

• Besides that, 3 weeks before trip aku hari-hari naik tangga office ke tingkat 8 (ok maybe tak banyak mana) but at least a way untuk aku curi2 prep stamina.

Challenging sikit nak stamina prep untuk trip ni, sebab ada masa sebulan je lepas puasa, jadi gap puasa tu aku hanya mampu untuk skipping masa malam. 4th day raya je, terus cepat-cepat paksa diri get back on track, run or hike.

Jaga Pemakanan ;
3 days before ke Nepal, apa lagi kita carb load makan banyak-banyak lah *sampai mengah sebab aku dah lama tak makan full portion, hahaha. *the best part about my 7 days hike, I can eat the whole Cadbury bar chocolate as muchhh as I wantttt without worrying the calories~ weeee~

Penting jaga karbo, protein, fibre & sugar.
Kat gunung tak banyak option makanan sangat, jadi kenalah creative sikit:
Protein: breakfast make sure makan telur 1 biji (eh,dah tak kategori vegan dah la ni? haha).
Karbo: nasi & potato.
Fibre: I bring a lots of oat biscuits, kurma & nuts from home.
Sugar: besides gula-gula & chocolate, aku akan tapau air lemon sebelum hike sebagai ganti air 100plus (kat gunung coke 1 botol RM16, taknaklah oi~ T_T)
Caffeine: Yess kopi! Oh ini tambahan before start hike, sangat penting bagi avid coffee drinker macam aku & tahukah anda, caffeine akan boost extra energy, selain gula?

Makan sangat penting, kereta kalau takde minyak, macamana nak jalan kan. Imagine berapa ribu calories guna 1 hari, average hike 1 hari took 4 - 8 hours a day.


So 18 Ogos 2016, trip pun bermula, kali ni kita travel dengan Fatt & Ayu, 3 girls #charliesangelkolumpo lah acah-acahnya :D :D :D

Memandangkan kami bertiga memang busy, trip ni agak redah jugak la. we all rough research je & kelebihan Fatt dia penah ke Annapurna, aku pun dapat la baca sikit-skit 2 minggu sebelum je (keje punya busy, huhu sorry semuaaa tak pernah sebusy ini T_T laptop aku pulak dok repair-repair-repair kan T_T).

Decision nak panjat trail mana hanyalah diconfirmkan masa dah touch down kat Nepal, kami pilih Langtang sebab bergantung kepada amount hari kami kat sini & Annapurna is of course our last choice, sebab Fatt dah penah buat. Bagi aku ok je mana-mana pun, yang penting dapat merasa jejak Himalaya pun dah bersyukur :)

To complete Langtang Trail itself took 7 days solid untuk hike. Masa perjalanan dari Kathmandu ke starting pint (Syaprubesi), roughly ambil masa 1 hari naik bas. Jadi total day for the trekking package itself is consider as 9 days.

Route Langtang Trail kami mengikut checkpoint by day:

Day 1 -  Syaprubesi > Sharpagaun
Day 2 -  Sharpagaun > Thangsyap
Day 3 -  Thangsyap > Langtang
Day 4 -  Langtang > Kyanjin Gompa
Day 5 -  Kyanjin Gompa > Thangsyap
Day 6 -  Thangsyap > Sharpagaun
Day 7 -  Sharpagaun > Syaprubesi


Our rough itinerary during the trip :

Day 1 - arrive Kathmandu late evening, survey trekking package (18/8/2016)

Day 2 - settle permit & beli barang-barang hike (dekat Nepal lebih murah & berkualiti)

Day 3 - Bus to Syaprubesi

Day 4 - Start hiking

Day 7 - Reach Kyanjin Gompa peak

Day 10 - Completed 7 days trekking, back to Syaprubesi, direct van to Kathmandu

Day 11 - From Kathmandu, took morning bus to Pokhara

Day 12 - rest & chill at Pokhara

Day 13 - Bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu

Day 14 - Spend all you moneyyy at Kathmandu, hahah

Day 15 - Last stroll at Kathmandu town, to the airport by noon, back to KL (1/9/2016)



Cukup ke 15 hari tu? hahaha kalau lah aku ni banyak duit, nak suruh panjat Annapurna minggu depan tu pun aku sanggup, view dia Subhanallah~ And sebenarnya kalau ada banyak hari lebih, dari Kyanjin Gompa (our final peak), boleh saty beberapa hari & proceed ke atas lagi untuk tengok view glacier, which aku rasa sikit rugi tak buat, tapi takpe, alam ini besar banyak lagi boleh di explore :))

Aku paling rindukan kehidupan simple life, yang serba ringkas, orang-orang kampung, the simple food (I were vegan for 7 days, wow wee~ ok ada cheat sikit makan serunding & tuna dalam tin, haha), takde electricity at night, totally no wifi for 7 days (pinjam telepon orang kampung nak call ayah kat mesia, haha), tido dalam sleeping bag, hihi. Tiap-tiap pagi bangun gosok gigi, guna air gunung yang melt dari glacier, dengan view HD :D I try to wake up early every day so I can see the mountain yang ada snow, sebab by 10 am kabus dah tutup habis...  Hmm.. I miss the mountain now.

Kalau rajin aku update la secara detail cerita Nepal ni, hahahah~

Till then terimekaseh gais! #teamkitamenang