Cameron Delights

I've given the thought that a little excursion up to the hills won't hurt before I headed home for the rather made up Maal Hijrah break. Cameron Highlands is always a good two hour away from the blistering Seri Iskandar at the heart of Perak, so Amir - my neighbour-room mate during last semester - and Wani, his coursemate, agreed to bring me up there and chill.

We stayed at Amir's uncle's place. Cik Ti'e and his wife, Cik Mah have called Cameron Highlands their home for decades, and they were more than glad (it seems) to have us around. The loving couple had no children, so they were very happy to attend guests, usually relatives and relatives' friends, to their flat in Tanah Rata.

The jovial Cik Ti'e is also known as Khairi Pendek. 'Cakap je nama Khairi Pendek, semua orang kat Cameron Highlands ni tahu siapa,' and he was right all along. As the name suggests, Cik Ti'e is a little man, but very high in spirit. He is loud for a man of his size. He's enjoyably talkative, and excessively friendly.

Cik Mah, on the other hand, is very warm and motherly. Her height surpasses slightly of Cik Ti'e's, talks with a distinctive Perak dialect, as she hailed from Kampar. Her way of dressing when going out reminds me a lot of Opah when she was in Paris - wool cardigan over a blouse, long skirt and a scarf tied backwards. Cik Mah basically agrees with everything Cik Tie says or does, obedient in nature and pretty much lovely in her own way.

Together, they made our day. Cik Ti'e and Cik Mah really knew how to kick everything in Cameron Highlands in style. I never really expected a visit to the highlands would be a feast to my taste buds, well, it did quite excessively this time. We were served with abundant chicken curry upon our arrival, alongside fresh Cameron Highlands vegetables, ikan pekasam and of course, Cameron Highlands tea.

Practically we got everything free more than what we actually bought. Buy one packet of strawberries, we got the other three free. Buy three sweet corns and we get a plastic bag full of other sweet corns. The vendors knew Cik Ti'e well, and by the time we left Kea Farm we were all loaded with fruits and vegetables for our steamboat dinner.

At Sungai Palas, we were treated by one (or more than one) of Cik Ti'e's former student, with tea. And yes, there was a lot of tea drinking when I was up there - it was awesome drinking free tea overlooking the splendid view of the vast tea plantations after a downpour. It was a breeze of soothing feelings.

They brought us everywhere even to the extent of Orang Asli settlements at Sungai Ruil. We walked around Tanah Rata, visited Amir's other aunt at Brinchang and the strawberry farm nearby, visited the Ye Olde Smokehouse and even visited my last place of stay (ten years ago). They promised a picnic atop of Gunung Brinchang - even jogging, a visit to the rose gardens, cactus farms, and even butterfly farms for our next visit as the time is quite limited.

We were bloated right after dinner. Dinner that night was a combination of everything fresh from the farms. Cik Ti'e, who is fond of cooking but not really a big eater, prepared a whole periuk of steamboat loaded with vegetables and seafood. Beforehand there was steamed corn spread with margarine, alongside a crystal guava and Boh's Vanilla tea I got from Sungai Palas.

Simply said, I was not even for a minute felt hungry up there.

'Makan ramai-ramai macam ni seronok, kan?' uttered Cik Mah, for quite a number of times whenever we have a meal together. It might signify something else, but from what I know the couple was really happy to have people around. I can really see it through the amount of food they prepared for us - it was really a lot.

The couple led a very simple life. Both walk to work from their flat situated on the slopes on a sloppy hill. They led a quality life up there and looked content. Their house has no heater, and yes, bathing means splashing a whole block of ice that just got unfrozen - it was superbly cold even at 1pm! But they were healthy - and why not? Everyday is a breath of fresh air, supplies of fresh water, meals of everything fresh, and get around places just by foot. And they were pretty much happy, so it sums everything up.

I like this excursion a lot. Amir drives our manual rental car like a pro as he is familiar with the roads, and the journey descending to Ipoh with the Simpang Pulai route just took us a good 1 hour and a half. At Medan Gopeng of course it was hot once again as I bid farewell to Amir and Wani before I board my bus to KL with two flower bouquets in my hands.

My last visit was in 1999, so pretty much I didn't exactly know for sure except for the dizzy road leading up to the highlands from Tapah - and I didn't like that. I still have my part of acrophobia anyway. It is amazing, however, to know that Cameron Highlands is at large still peaceful.

Temperatures are rising throughout the day and uncontrolled developments spoil the mood, but the authentic simplicity and serenity of the people and nature toppled everything up with the charming colonial era Tudor houses still stood unchallenged alongside their ugly plagiarized and rather confused newly-built cousins - gargantuan resorts and buildings of no aesthetic taste.

As I didn't bring my camera along, it's clever to stick to the idea that this will not be my last visit at least for the first half of the year. It is quite near to me nowadays, so why not?

It's back to the assignments now, hmph.

Pictures are from Wani's phone - a SonyEricsson K800i that I always trust when taking phone pictures.