The Strawberry Park Resort Family Getaway Day 2 Part 1

Misty 18degree C Morning

"Switch off the aircond Papa", said Ryan.
"Cold Papa, but where is the aircond?!", Nadia added.
I told the kids that the "aircond" is natural and it comes from under the sliding door and that window's gap.
Day 2 started off beautifully with the kids and wifey having good rest while i spent the better part of the night writing yesterday's entry. Today is no difference and my write-up is fresh off the mind just like the hot scones that was prepared upon order (read about it below).
Breakfast was buffet style at Jim Thompson Terrace with a good spread of local and western fare. The setting was simple and the food was good. Two days here and i am still impressed by the quality of the food being served. This is truly not a place that cook up an average edible/passable fare!

The popular counter was the omelette and roti paratha kiosk where the uncle preparing the food was a performer in his own right. I believe he saw me with my dSLR and started to make some high-flying roti paratha/roti canai. I was told later by Mr. Ming that he (Ming),had to climb up to remove some stuck dough from the terrace's ceiling - no thanks to Uncle.

flying dough

He believed he could (make them) fly

He truly enjoyed his vocation and upon second time seeing me returning to his kiosk, he told me he will "set the place on fire". I did not know he really meant it literally but it was a heck of a fire storm that he cooked up!

I hope his eyebrow was not collateral damage

With breakfast done (and i had my rolled oats with fruit mix, on milk - totally resisted everything else. OK, maybe not that Nasi Lemak), we headed off to Sg Palas BOH Plantation. We had Uncle Mohan, one of the Park's adventure consultant to bring us into the tea plantation. It is Saturday and S.Sergeant (R) Maniam figured that it is best we leave the car nearby at the Butterfly Farm and Uncle Mohan will drive us 9km into the tea plantation.

Uncle Mohan is from Cameron Highland itself and has been acting as an outdoor consultant for ages. He shared with us that the tea trees in Sg Palas plantation has been in existence since 1929 - the year BOH started operation under the first plantation manager/owner J.A. Russell.

All first timer at the plantation and plant.

I was told that the trees are pruned once every three years to waist height and harvested once every 3 months. However, the harvesting activities has since been modernised from using skilled hands to pluck the tea leaves, to improved shear and now, motorized machine operated by two person. The harvesting yield went from a couple of kilogram (hand plucked) to 25kg (improvised shear) and now, 250kg using the motorized machine. Commercialization perhaps drives the demand and supply cycle in order for them to stay ahead of the curve. However, the process of making tea leaves did not change over the 80 years.

25kg yield vs 250kg yield. Soon, we will all be obsolete too.

The aroma of tea leaves being process was thick in the air. It is like someone brewed a huge pot of black tea. The processing plant allow visitor to visit and see for themselves the processes in making tea. I truly appreciate that simple cuppa now that i saw it. I shall reserve this for another post and a story for another day.

We spent a good 2 hours plus at the Tea Centre and purchased a few boxes of Boh Green Tea and specific Sungai Palas Boh tea leaf meant as afternoon tea. We usually see the "Songket" range or the usual Boh Tea. Photo to follow in the Boh Tea post ;-). Stay tuned to Tristupe.com.

Scenic landscape with great weather

We then went to Butterfly Farm. At RM5 adult and RM3 kids entrance fee, it is pretty steep for a small tour. However, this is a place not to be missed as it offers a good opportunity to educate the kids with nature's gift. Sad to say, a major development is coming up next to this place.

nice.

Ryan showed no fear for these gentle creatures, not much could be said about Nadia. :) But all is good as they get to see it first time and up close.

"Can i bring her home?"

Nadia said that the butterfly will eat up Koko.

The butterfly farm have other animals such as varieties of snakes, geckos, insects and flowers. Worth a trip if you have an hour or two to kill and if paying the entrance fee doesn't bother you.

After the farm, we took a drive towards Blue Valley - the place where flowers you find in the florist come from. Unfortunately, as it started drizzling, we cancelled the plan and headed to Kampung Raja - the place where most of your vegetables you eat come from.

RM5 for 3 items. Any 3.

We got a week's supply of fresh vegetable, including three butterhead which cost us less than RM2. You will be paying RM4.99 in KL. Looked like lunch on Monday has been sorted.
The traffic back to Tanah Rata was slow with the usual weekend/holiday crowd parking by the side of the road near Kea Farm. Took us nearly 30minutes to move just 2km. That gave us opportunity to have a few things to eat while stuck in traffic.

Sweet corn - RM2.50. Please ask them not to dip it in salt and margarine. 

Butterfly dream

Showing her Hello Kitty bag bought in Thailand

Huge. A box for RM6.

Sweeet!

Still jam, so continue to cam whore

I love the 20mm!

Huge local orange. RM7/kg. 1kg gives you 3 fruits.

Bliss

Speaking of lunch, we headed back to Strawberry Park Resort for the afternoon meal. The lunch will be shared in a separate posting later. It was that good. Come back for The Strawberry Park Resort Family Getaway Day 2, Part 2 soon!


*The family trip is courtesy of Strawberry Park Resort, Cameron Highland. Our family would like to record our utmost gratitude to the management and staffs for the hospitality given. We would also like to thank Rouge Communication, Petaling Jaya for the opportunity to be here.