RuehYinn a.n.d. Juleen a.t. blueepinkk.com

Photos photos photos…

This is a very tough question dear… Where are we going for honeymoon?

On a beautiful island?

Countryside perhaps?

Or big city?

Maybe we’ll just end up at Langkawi… hahaha

Not bad right?  You get all the luxurious services so close to here without getting out of the country…

30/01/09

The next morning I woke up pretty earlier. I grabbed RY to accompany me to the nearby mini market to get some eggs for making sandwich. Some of my cell members are still sleeping. Gosh, apparently they played till 3:30 am…

Guess who are these two people under the duvet?

Me choosing the eggs for the breakfast…

Left over from the breakfast, shortly after…hehe

After breakfast before checking out, we had to pose for group photos…

The Guys (Jarance, Kevin, SeanBein, Lex, RuehYinn)

The Girls (Sophie, Jolene, Jenli, Alicia, Juleen)

Without wasting much time, we headed to the Cameron Valley by Bharat Plantation. There are many other tea plantations in Cameron but Cameron Valley by Bharat Plantation has the best view where you can sit down by the side of the cafe and enjoy the beautiful view of tea plantation.

Again the guys outside the Cameron Valley..

Before we sit down to enjoy the tea, our first mission is to take pictures. The view is just too irresistible not to take picture!

The tea valley…

Photos, photos, and more photos…

RuehYinn and myself…

The 1st group…

and the 2nd group…

and lastly, Jolene and I…

Then not to forget to enjoy a cup of tea after visiting the tea plantation, overlooking the tea valley and feeling the soft breeze of cool air… ahhhhh, how I wish KL weather’s is like that!

After visiting the tea plantation, we dropped by another strawberry park (the one we so intent to go originally) called Strawberry Moment along the way downhill…

Rows and rows of strawberry plants

They also grow hydroponic vegetables at the farm, very very fresh!!

Jolene and Alicia enjoying picking strawberries…

Jarance and Sophie…

Everyone is allowed to pick the strawberry for free but not the strawberries though. For every 500g of strawberries you pick you have to pay RM20 which I think is quite reasonable for once in a lifetime experience. RuehYinn and I weren’t interested to pick the strawberries, however, we went to the cafe to taste the Tea and Scones. yummy… you have to try the scones here with the fresh strawberry jam and cream.

I love pastries so I had to try them!

Put some butter on the scones…

Lex enjoying his strawberry waffles…

We stayed at Strawberry Moment for few hours, paid for our strawberries and vegetables and left for the last destination. This destination is recommended by Jarance and it was so interesting that RuehYinn and I decided to post it on the next post…

At the mean time, RuehYinn is currently busy editing the Cameron Highland’s photo album. We would like to invite you to view some of our pictures in the partially completed album below:-

Cameron Highland Picture Album

29/01/09

It’s been ages since the last time I visited Cameron Highlands. I remembered I was in primary school time and I went with my family to Cameron Highlands… staying at some resort, somewhere near Strawberry Park… ahh, nevermind, I vaguely remember the detail anymore!

This time we went to Cameron Highland with our cell group S3. There were 10 of  us!! The sad thing about it is this was going to be our last trip with S3′s cell group since we have multiplied. Jolene, RuehYinn and myself will moved to a new cell group under S8. This trip just came timely before we officially attend our first cell group meeting in 2009. It would be remembered as the sweetest gathering between 3 of us and the rest of the group members. We have been together since 2006 and time really flies…

We gathered at Jenli’s house at 8am and “pai nien” (english: Chinese New Year’s house visitation) at the same time. It would be my first time too to step into Jenli’s house. While waiting for other cell group members we help ourselves with Jenli’s Chinese New Year cookies and on top of that each of one us got an “ang pau” (english: red packet) from Jenli’s mum. Thank you Jenli and aunty…hehehe!

After praying for journey mercy we left before 9am…

Praying for journey mercy…

The journey was long (took us more than 3 hours) not because it was far but because the road to Cameron Highland is so winding and since it was school holiday, the road was jam packed with cars.

When we arrived at Cameron Highlands it was over 12pm, and the first thing was to check into the apartment we’ve booked few weeks earlier. We booked a 3 bedroom apartment provided by Hill View Inn. I strongly recommend this apartment if you have more than 8 people in the group. It is a huge apartment. In total, each of us only paid RM45 per pax for a night stay. The room is furnished with sofa, magazines, television, Hi – Fi and even kitchen though you have to share with another group. The apartment is located at Tanah Rata and you will not have problem looking for food, banks and even Starbucks…

The journey is slow…

Not to forget to pray for safety at Cameron Highland.. (a lot of people credited on this shot)

Since none of us had a proper breakfast other than having some CNY’s cookies at Jenli’s house, the next thing in mind is to hunt for lunch. As mentioned, you will not have problem finding places to eat. You can get Indian food, Malay food, Western food, Chinese food… you name it and you have it. Best of all, the prices are reasonable. Since it was holiday season, all the restaurant was very packed too but we’re fortunate to find a place to fill our stomach.

The group after a satisfying lunch, everyone is happy…

After lunch, we proceeded to the Kea’s Farm. Our main objective is to try the famous fried mushroom, sweet potatoes balls and fried sweet potatoes. Every packet is sold only for RM2.00 – RM3.00 depending on what you buy. Very affordable and I guarantee you, you will not have enough..

The shop that sells the best fried mushroom, sweet potatoes ball and fried sweet potates… beware of counterfeit ! People have to queue for the sweet potatoes ball I tell you.

RuehYinn with his yummy fried sweet potatoes…

After that we quickly ran back to our cars under the rain to go to our next destination, the strawberry farm. Since the road is was so overly congested to go to the strawberry farm that we wanted to go (more on Part 2), we had to detour to go to the nearest strawberry farm instead. The first strawberry farm would be the Raju’s but it was closed at 4.30pm and since it was raining, there is no strawberry plucking allowed. So if you happen to go to Cameron Highland, avoid raining season and don’t go too late. Anyway, the shop at Raju’s is still open, we took the opportunity to taste some of the  local strawberry products like:-

Strawberry Ice Cream..

Ahhh, strawberrycakes and little cupcakes… (we didn’t try them though)…

We simply can’t resist the strawberry ice cream…hehehe!

Finger licking good ya Jolene?!

Sweet picture of us…

Not satisfied we then moved to the nearby strawberry farm, the EQ Strawberry Farm. However we met with the same fate, the farm is closed and you can only see the strawberry plants from the outside and no picking on that day. Feeling a little despair (hahaha, no lah…since this is not the farm we intended to go anyway), we only get to take few pictures…

The group (without Lex) at EQ Strawberry Farm…

Another one, which turn out to be RuehYinn’s favorite…

We drove back after that since it was already late and not much attractions left. The whole journey took us more than an hour for just a 8km stretch of road. That was how bad the traffic at Cameron Highland. Therefore, the moral of the story is never never go up to Cameron Highland during peak period. The first day itself, we spent more than half of the time on the road but it was all good since we have a really good laugh in the car…

We had our own steamboat dinner in the apartment and I find it complements best with the cold weather at Cameron Highland. Seriously, if you were to open up all the windows and sliding doors, you don’t need to air-conditioner anymore in the apartment.. it was like spring weather…really nice.

The steamboat…

Eat, eat, eat…

Next we proceed to play game, thanks to our game master… Ms. Jolene, who never fail us with good card games. This time she introduced Citadels to us. It was pretty difficult to understand the rules and roles of the game initially, what more to play the game. But after we got familiar, some of us got so addicted with the game until they ended sleeping at 3.30am and one of them is RuehYinn…poor him, he woke up next morning with big panda eyes…hehehe!

The most interesting and addictive game!!!!

Come … let’s play and strategize..hehe!

One day at Cameron Highland just passby in a blink of eyes! More of Cameron Highland in the second post. Click on the following link for the partially completed album of S3′s Cameron Highland trip. I am currently editing on a few more pictures, need few more days before finish editing the whole pictures. At the mean time, please enjoy:-

Cameron Highland Trip Photo Album

Last Sunday, our cell group (remember it’s from City Harvest Church, KL.. haha) organized a sky trekking trip at Bukit Cahaya. We arrived the park as early as 8.15am. All of us were so excited that once the gate is opened, all of us rush in like nobody’s business…

Allow me to explain what is “sky trekking” for the benefit of those who do not know what is it about. Sky trekking in layman term simply means jungle trekking in the sky. Not helpful isn’t it? Hehe… Well, recall how George the Jungle and Tarzan swing from tree to another tree, that is basically what it means to sky trekking. Of course, you are neither George nor Tarzan though I have some close friends think they are (look below)…

From left: Bryan, Kevin, and Jessica’s brother

Before you are allowed to sky trek, you need to sign an indemnity form and put on harness no matter you think you are Tarzan or George.The indemnity form basically means “I (the provider) want to protect your life as much as possible but I don’t want to be responsible for your life” … hehe… which is fair I think. The instructors stationed at the Skytrex (the provider) are all very friendly and helpful…

After we put on all the harnesses, it’s time for us to pose (smile). Thousand of questions crossing my mind that time. I was wondering whether this would be the last pose with my cell group or not? Would I come back alive with all my body part intact. Yes, I am “super” afraid of height…

Next, we had the “monkey show”… (everybody look amazed)

Hahaha…no no no. This is not a monkey show. The guy in the picture is Gan, a very funny person. He was our instructor for the day. Before we were allow to sky trek, we need to know some basic skills of sky trekking. Basically your “good friends” when you are on top of the tree are the two carabiners (one long, one short) and the pulley. The rule is always have the carabiners fastened on the metal ropes with red tape and always use pulley when you are trekking horizontally. And don’t ask me anything more because I have already returned all that I learnt to Gan after the trip…

Every theory must come with practical. All of us were given a chance to practice what we have absorbed…

From left: Jarance and Alicia

and Jen Li, not sure she was excited, frighten or crazy but I am sure she was having a lot of fun …

and Andrew was getting ready to do his first “flying fox” with Jessica and Bryan pose as though they are cool with the whole challenge..hehe!

Daniel, the Batam boy moves really fast during the practice..

Here are some of the challenges you will get at Skytrex. Trust me they are scary. Your life literally depends on the net bridge (first two pictures) and the two carabiners. Look at the bottom right photo, that is out first platform. I think that is easily 20 feet high…

Juleen embarking her journey to the top. She looked really calm …

My feet on the net bridge…Could you see how high is it from the ground? The scary part of walking on the net bridge is that you leg sank onto the net first before the net grip your feet. Therefore, you seriously need to have great faith to cross over to another side…

And myself posing as if everything is okay. There is hidden fear behind that smile…

Juleen looks like a professional…

Throughout the journey, Juleen moved faster than me. I am not sure why but she is definitely good in sky trekking. Probably her light weight helps..hahaha!

Bottom: Juleen already at the next platform while I was still trailing at the back..

The highlight of sky trekking is actually the flying fox a.k.a wild rocket as some name it…

Again, Juleen has no problem completing the flying fox. She seemed as though she was enjoying it a lot…

while Jen Li making Tarzan’s roar or scream for help? Hahaha…

Juleen at the next challenge…

From front: Jolene and Jarance. Not easy, not easy…

The whole sky trekking experience took us 1 1/2 – 2 hours depending how fast you walk and swing..hehe! Too bad, I was not able to take pictures of all the challenges at the Skytrex as it was too taxing to balance your body, overcoming the fear and take nice pictures.

From left: Jolene and Jarance towards the end…

and me feeling tired..

but still can pose with my sweetheart…

Time to sit down and quench my thirst…

You cannot miss out the ice cream also after a day of hard work under the hot day…

The group getting ready to leave from Bukit Cahaya…

From left: Jen Li, Juleen and Kevin

What are you doing Andrew (2nd from left)?

My thought after this trip: This is definitely a “must have” once in a life time experience. The trip taught me to keep the tenacity and courage to go through all the challenges. There is no turning back for sky trekking once you’ve started. You either do it when you are up there or wait for rescue. Life sometimes are like that, not everything has a U – turn, i.e. you just have to look forward and move forward. It is healthy sometimes to burn the bridge behind us. I noticed it is true while we were sky trekking last weekend. Because all of us were at such a great height and not easy to turn back, we have no choice but to find courage to finish the challenge. And we did. So always tell yourself, you can do it.

Tips to sky trek at Skytrex at Bukit Cahaya: Book early, go early and dress properly. Fee is RM35 for adult. For more details of Skytrex at Bukit Cahaya, click here.

People who had the same fun:

Jamie Soon

Narrowband

Saigoheiki

Breakfast @ 7:30am

Rise and shine, we woke up at 7:30am for another exciting day. Breakfast is provided by the hotel, so no hassle for us to find food. Then we head to Jesselton Point to catch the boat to our island hopping trip. We decided to walk to Jesselton Point, so that we can save on some transportation fee. The walking trip took us only 20 minutes from our hotel. Not too bad after all…

However, the weather is unbearable hot (sweat!)…

Arrive Jessleton Point @ 9:00am

First we need to get tickets. Tickets for 2 islands was RM27/pax, and plus terminal fee total is RM 33/pax. At the jetty, you can find various packages, from 1 island to 4 islands hopping. Just find one that is suitable for you. Remember if you put in slight effort you can get cheaper deal rather than signing up with tour agent. The experience is fun too. We decided to go to Manukan Island and Sapi Island…

Then we are ready to cruise… yeahhhh

Can’t wait to get on the boat… the boat ride will take about 15 minutes.

Arrive at Manukan Island @ 10:10am

Manukan Island is the biggest island of all islands and it is the most popular island. The water is so clear that you can see all kind of colorful fishes in the water. Oh yeah, with as little as RM10, you can rent goggles and flippers to swim with the fishes, if you want..

Conservation fee to enter the island is RM3.00 for Malaysian. Foreigner have to pay slightly higher…

Wowwwww…. clear waters and sandy beaches, PERFECT!

And we did not forget to take our pictures

Isnt this photo lovely? hehe…

We were on Manukan Island for 1 1/2 hour and our next destination is Sapi Island.

Sapi Island @ 11:30pm

Sapi Island from afar…(on the left). Sapi Island is the smallest island among the all the islands. If you came from another island then you are exempted from paying the conservation fee. It is a one time fee for all the island.

Our speed boat approaching the jetty…

Beautiful view under the jetty…

Pulau Sapi at Tunku Abdul Rahman Park…

Getting cozy…. hehe

RuehYinn took this beautiful pictures of me…

Return to the mainland @ 1:00pm

We return to the city centre at 1:00pm. We were so so exhausted. The next thing on our mind was to have something to eat and drink. We were so thirsty and hungry. We ended up at Restoran Sheng Heng located at Ruang Sinsuran 2..

Fried Tuaran Mee (RM 5.00)

Tom Yam Mee (RM 6.50)

Return to our hotel @ 2:30pm

We reached the hotel at 2.30pm. RuehYinn straight jump to the bed to rest while I took a shower to cool down ourself. Then we spend some time chatting and viewing all the pictures. Without realizing, we doze of all the from 4.00pm till 9.30pm. It was already very late for us to go out. So you can imagine how EXHAUSTED WE ARE…

Apparently at Padang Merdeka, not too far away our Hotel…they have the closing Merdeka Day. Our Prime Minister and some celebrities apparently were there too. But we were just too tired to walk there. After the 15 minutes of fireworks at Padang Merdeka, we decided to off the light and sleep… ZzzZzzz…

Friday is eventually here. It is our another getaway…

Journey to KLIA @ 5.45am

The sun barely rise and we were already on our journey to KLIA Airport. Yawnnn… yeah, we were sleepy but we were very excited inside.

Our flight was scheduled at 7.30am and we need to be at the airport one (1) hour before the flight. We were fortunate to have Juleen’s mum and brother to send us to the airport. Thank you Aunty and Lin Lin .. (hehe!) We reached the airport at 6.20am.

We checked in using the self checking kiosk and in no time, we were already boarding the plane..

Onboard @ 7.30am

The whole journey took us 2 1/2 hour. By the way, this is our first trip to Sabah.  We were not too bothered to pay a premium for MAS Airline. Why? Simply because Air Asia does not provide food on board while we had nice roti jala and french toast with MAS Airline. Just for your information, they are not serving lousy roti jala and french toast. It was our first time to eat french toast sandwiched with apple sauce. Taste pretty good, really…

and the roti jala and the yogurt drink…

Interestingly both of us have never taken Air Asia before. We would love to try it one day

Arrived Kota Kinabalu @ 10.00am

We took our first breath of Kota Kinabalu’s air…(inhale)… and we found out, THERE IS NO DIFFERENT with the air at Peninsular Malaysia (haha)… Anyway on the way out, we noticed a tour services kiosk and went straight to inquire about the day packages. However, we decided not to take the package because we weren’t very convinced that is the best deal. Next, we hire a limousine for RM20 to bring us to our hotel in the heart of the city centre. RM20 wasn’t the best deal but we didn’t have much choice anyway. Only registered limousines are allowed to operate at the airport.

Arrived D’ Borneo Hotel @ 10.20am

Upon arrival the hotel, we were greeted warmly by the staffs of the hotel. Not sure they are that hospitality or simply because business are so bad that they have no choice but to give better service. One of the staff just rushed out from the building greeted us and took our luggage into the hotel. No problem with us, since we have decided on this hotel anyway..

We asked some question about the tour packages and eventually after the talk we learnt something. We learnt that we should never decide on anything hastily and most importantly NEVER sign up any tour packages at the airport. NEVER!! The airport tour agent offers us a package with RM190/pax, the hotel offers us the same package RM45/pax, and IF WE ARE TO GO ON OUR OWN, it only COST US RM24/pax! Don’t tell us that we never warn you guys…

Anyway, this is our hotel room and it’s two Twin size beds and not one Queen’s size bed. There is a need to practice abstinence (ahem!)

City Tour @ 11.30am

Before embarking on our city tour, we have to re – charge our energy. The first thing that came to our mind is Tuaran Mee at this restaurant (at Ruang Sinsuaran 3, if I am not mistaken):-

Anyway, this is a must try if you come to Kota Kinabalu. Tuaran Mee is 100 times taste better than our Wan Tan Mee at Peninsular Malaysia. These noodles are delicious…

Next was the city tour. Some of the places we visited..

Kota Kinabalu virtually has everything…They have handicraft centre, fruit stall, massage parlor, plenty of money lender (aka legal loan shark), cobbler, street tailor to those in the flesh business. How do we know? Simple… people pay money, buy condom and went upstairs. So, what they do? Baloon blowing party upstair? Whatever it is, Kota Kinabalu is definitely a lively town…

Back to Hotel @ 2.30pm

You can virtually finish walking the city centre from one end to another end in 40 minutes. Right after we reached the hotel, the sky started to pour rain. It was our time to rest…

We took some picture while in the room…

Exploring Warisan Square and Gaya Mall @ 4.30pm

After the rain, we just walked around and checked out the shops. We had our early dinner at this restaurant inside the Gaya Mall. Surprisingly, in this part of the world, we still can get reasonable Chicken Rice at RM2.80 ( ubelievable price huh….at first we were alil unsure to try, but seeing alot of people eating, we have a go) . Seriously, the chicken rice taste aren’t that bad. In fact, they taste above average. So, if you are on budget tour, make sure you check out this restaurant at the foodcourt area in Gaya Mall (located next to Warisan Square):-

Better than the Chicken Rice Shop nearby…haha!

Journey to 1Borneo @ 5.30pm

At 5:30pm we took the free shuttle to 1Borneo. There is a tour bus pick zone at Warisan Square. Just take your free ticket from… we don’t know where since we just ride without ticket. Anyway, you need it if you want to take the free ride. Just ask around how when you are in Kota Kinabalu!

1Borneo is the first and largest shopping mall in East Malaysia. They have quite a few decent brands in house such as Von Dutch, FCUK, Guess, MNG, and even Charles and Keith. Not a bad place to do some serious shopping..hehe!

Happy couple at 1Borneo:-

Back to Hotel @ 10.00pm

It is time for us to:-

1. Have supper…

2. Have some white wine from Australia (which RuehYinn specially bought back from Perth)…

3. Of course updating our blog…

4. Lastly to sleep …Oh No..it is already 4.30am! Goodnight guys….

Some of the photos taken at Sg. Congkak. I am pretty impressed with the result. Make sure to click on the picture to view the large size. Guarantee you will think RuehYinn is pretty talented in photo taking . Opinions are most welcome…

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1. The trees. Young and thin but tall…

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2. The rapid. Strong and refreshing…

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3. The wooden bridge. Dilapidated but still useful…

4. The river. The source of life…

5. The leaf. Fallen yet colorful…

I have been toying with the idea of going to Sungai Congkak for a retreat and to enhance my photo taking skill for a while now. I was supposed to go there last weekend but it was postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. However, today I was fortunate to gotten a leave and take advantage of Juleen’s break (it’s Selangor’s public holiday) to fulfill my plan…

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We started our day by bringing Juleen’s grandpa for breakfast at Kayu’s. Juleen’s grandpa enjoying his breakfast with the maid, Riti on the right…

Juleen can’t be bothered, the roti telur is more important… (hehe)

Then, we were on the road to Sungai Congkak. The whole journey took us 45 minutes, not as far as I thought…

You got to pay for parking and entrance. Remember, there is no free food in this world…

And we were greeted with two kids at the entrance who wanted their photo to be taken. Pay attention to the second boy… Initially I thought he was pointing middle finger towards me . Anyway, they are friendly and cute..

We were thrilled… If I was not mistaken, it was Juleen’s first trip into the forest. And as for me, it has been a while since I did my last jungle tracking, so I was very excited to be back into the forest again… (tarzan roarrrrr)…hehe!

Juleen at the entrance

Click! Click! … we just snap photo whenever we found a good spot.

Juleen and I

Juleen by the river. The water is crystal clear and frigging cold…

We moved on after we click click (snap photo la) from one spot to the other. Next, we crossed a wooden bridge and Juleen almost fell into the river because there was a big hole on the bridge. Moral of the lesson… never look at the back and talk while WALKING…

Our relationship got better after that experience. See how much I cherish her by holding her tightly . We never know how much it mean to us until we lose or almost lose it, in my case! Ugly experience turns into beautiful pictures (hahaha)…

As we moved deeper into the forest, we realized something is amiss. After the wooden bridge experience, we found out that almost all the facilities in the forest were not being maintained properly.

Therefore, forgive us for the rest of the post since you’ll experience some unpleasant sights and sarcasm too. Nevertheless, those unpleasant sights’ pictures turned out to be beautiful pictures. Beautiful pictures are pictures that not only has the right composition and colors but also tell stories… (self praise)

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1. Eerie washroom. We dare not go into despite wanting to pee! It does look like a haunted house to me like the one in the movie…

2. Water tank which is fully grown with weed and trees. So if you use the toilet, you know where the water comes from…

3. The changing room. Not recommended for the weak heart. Lizard might peep on you, so be mindful…

4. The BBQ pit. I am sure extra aroma for your food if you use this BBQ pit…

5. The street light with the transformer waiting to fall on someone’s head. Who knows those that are fortunate to experience it and survive may stumble into new discovery? Remember how Isaac Newton discover the Law of Gravity? Thanks to the apple!

6. I dare you to sit on the chair that has already molded. Extra layer of cushion… 100% natural hahaha

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Anyway, I am thankful to have someone that’s pleasant looking accompanying me throughout the trip . Jungle trekking is never Juleen’s cup of tea and I know she did it out of love…

And as for me, I walked back with a disappointed discontented heart. This picture of me captured just the right feeling. Eyes looking high and far showed that I was looking for more in Sg. Congkak. Walking ahead and alone showed that I have yet to give up hope on Sg. Congkak, when others do…

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Overall, Juleen and I have a good outing though it was not what we expected in the first place. Well, at least I got my retreat… I did enhanced my photo taking skills… and most important of all, I managed to spent quality time with Juleen.

Stay tune for the next post for more pleasant pictures, I promise!!

To be continued….