More Strawberries

There were just too many photos to post in the main entry, so I thought I create another one. This would just be photos, hopefully .....

This was actually outside the main gift store, just after the boys had their fries. This led to the mushroom and fresh flower stalls.

Idlan was squeamish when he saw bees on the television monitor.Irfan and my LX-3. He does take a mean photo, and he were to keep this up, I might have to get him his own flickr account!The gift shop. Very important.Taking a breatherIdlan needed some fuelExploringMore stalls to be seenFresh corn. Apparently from Cameron Highlands. Not Genting.Don't really know what this was, but nice none the less.Then, there were pot of flowersPlenty of themThat was one huge pumpkin!I snapped plenty more, and you can see them in my PhotoBlog here.

Done with Strawberries

Just arrived from the downhill drive from Gohtong. Had a nice time over there, and managed to get the stock of fireworks as well - they stock plenty of them high quality hand thrown 'pop-pop' poppers that were my boys favorite, and my maids' scourge since they were the ones needing to do the sweeping after! We virtually cleared the stock from the stall!

All together, we managed to collect something like 400 grams of strawberries. Mainly it was Irfan's effort as Idlan was too picky - pun intended. After stopping for lunch - the boys had some nice hot spicy fries and unfortunately I couldn't join them being Ramadhan - we headed to buy some fresh vegetables and flowers within the compound of the farm. They were certainly fresh and since we arrived in the morning, the produce had only just arrived. The corn cobs certainly looked great.

Irfan also picked up photography with my LX-3 and was happy snapping away. At least from now on, I would get my photos taken. Not just me taking photos of others. On the way down, Anita stopped to buy some fish-head curry for iftar. Sadly, I was never into fish-head, unless it was prepared in a broth, Japanese style!

Now that I was home, it was time to get the photos sorted. I took something like 200 snaps. I could have taken more, but the place was getting too crowded by the time we were about to leave. More details of the farm can be read on my previous visits here and here. The farm website can be surfed here. More photo of the trip can be seen here as well at my photoblog.

Arriving at Colmar

After a couple of trips to Colmar in the last few months, we decided to actually stay there one of these weekends and since I will be in Yangon next weekend, we decided to head up there yesterday.

We called the evening before to book a room, but was told to just head up there and talk to the reception as there were plenty of rooms still available and the room rate differs depending on the occupancy. Hmmm! That might be a sign that maybe the place was not as popular as we thought it was.

Staying the night, we were spoilt for choice in terms of which type of room to take. It was mainly a toss up between the family suite - two bedroom with king-sized beds or a one-bedroom suite - one room, a lounge and pantry. We went for the suit instead and it was cheaper the cheaper option as it turned out.

After settling into the room - which was well-kept but was showing its age - it was time to explore the resort. Pity. It turned out that the Japanese and Botanical Gardens were closed for renovations. A vital piece of information I thought in deciding sheathed to come or not! We were left to stay inside the resort - went to the swimming pool, had some food and other activities such as arts before going to the rabbit farm again.

Dinner was disappointing as we opted for the buffet and it turned out that we were a bit too early. The grills were not yet ready and there were not much selection for the kids. We were also not allowed to order ala carte there. Luckily the restaurant manager understood and did not charge the kids for the buffet. We went to our room to order room service.

There were still hive of activities late on at the resort. We went for a stroll after 9pm, had some desert, walk up the towers to get a better view. There were street magicians and fire eater putting up a show there. The games rooms were still open and were packed. There were also a show - a rather lame one by a Russian dance troupe - appropriately called the Russian Roulette. You can't get anymore tacky than that.

It was 3am when I wrote this entry as we were woken up by Idlan as he had a high fever. He was not back to sleep after some paracetamol. He nay have caught a cough from the maids. Luckily it was right after his assessment. It looked like we would beheading back home a bit earlier than planned tomorrow morning, all depending on how he felt first thing.

As I was yet to get the photos looked at, I thought I would sort my entries into a few headings later - the good, the bad and the photos. Watch this space. I need some sleep now.

Genting, here we come!

The Genting Highland Hotel - the first hotel there, before the now bigger First World was builtGohtong to Genting took us 20 minutes. I did not want to drive too fast for fear of the passengers throwing up. Even on a weekday - a Thursday with the public school open - the place was full of people. We parked at the First World Hotel - touted to be the biggest hotel in the world - we did not stay there, so I can’t comment. There was a multi-story shopping plaza there, complete with an indoor theme park, shows, casino and ‘Snow-world’ at the hotel. Hence the first order of business was lunch. They have them all - McD, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and if you feel like it, there were also mamak stalls, hotel buffet etc. There were plenty of choice when it come to food. But for Moslem, be careful and read the signs carefully. Some of the shops were non-halal.

There was also a multiplex cinema and bowling alley if you were into them. There were rows of gift shops, and this was only at one single hotel. I wonder what the other hotels were like. There was an auditorium at the plaza doing nightly shows, and sometimes concerts. There were certainly plenty of things to do there, even if you were not there for the gambling - Moslems were not allowed into the casinos. 

After lunch, I went around looking for informations about the rides. They do day passes there, but it was rather confusing since there were so many kinds of them - there were he ones for indoor rides, outdoors only and also the one that was good for the whole place. Since it was past 3 pm by the time we bought the tickets, we decided only to stay indoors. Since we did not plan the trip up properly, the boys were not really properly dressed. There were not even wearing shoes - hence Snow-World was out of the question.

We took the ferris wheel, gondolas, skytrains etc. Idlan went on the bumper cars. Unfortunately due to height restrictions, Irfan was not able to. There were also other family rides but the boys were too grumpy to go on them. It was almost 6pm by the time we left. The kids were exhausted. Puan Anita was exhausted. I was knackered. It was a grand day out however. We sure will pack up proper shoes and jackets the net time we go up there, because Idlan and Irfan wanted to have fun in the snow!

Strawberries at Gohtong

Idlan recovered sufficiently from a mini asthma attack he had the evening before. The weather was unfortunately rather gloomy, threatening to rain. There went our plan for Sunway Lagoon out of the window. Instead, why not take a drive up to Gohtong for a touch of strawberry picking. One of my friend Faz went there a couple of months back and had plenty to say about the place. I decided to gve it a go. Oh boy, was it not a hit with my boys especially Irfan?

The drive up was painless enough even though our new maid was prone to car sick. The boys could not stop chatting and they must be thinking I was kidding when I said they will be able to pick up the strawberries themselves. To reach there, I just took the Karak Highway, paid my RM5 toll and took the turn up towards Genting. A good 10 minutes climb and we reached Gohtong Jaya, a small township almost halfway up Genting. That was also the downhill terminal for the cable car ride up to Genting. They were closed for servicing for the month though, and will be opened again in time for Raya.

My parents-in-law used to drive up there once a month for a spot of fish head curry. Therefore it was not a town alien to us. However, the last time I was there was a good 2 years ago, well before the farm was opened. Right at the edge of the township, near the turn for the cable car station, you will see a sign for a left turn towards ‘Genting Strawberry Leisure Farm’. The farm was right in front of some apartment building and a sport complex. There were no designated parking however, so you can either park further down at the Gohtong shops or by the side of the road.

Strawberry picking - a rapidly acquired skill!Idlan happy with his lot - all 500g of them

Entrance was free, but you obviously had to pay for strawberries you picked. It wet us back RM8 per 100g, but the fruits were really fresh. The boys were given a pair of scissors and a rattan basket, and off they went. The strawberry were grown hydroponically, and arranged in neat rows with the fruits coming down waist high, just nice for children to scissor off the stalk and pick them up. After 15 minutes running around, the boys finally gave up and wanted to take the strawberry home. They took it to cashier and got them weigh. Before I knew it, RM100 was gone. They picked up more than 1 kg of strawberries in the end!

Entering the stalls and stands with our pickings.... orchids .......... cacti ........... and fresh green vegetables.Everything was clean and organised, and strawberry was not the only attractions at the farm. There were also cactus, orchids and fresh vegetables. Right at the very end were a warehouse full of mushrooms, grown in stacks of bottles - another attraction to the farm. There were also shops and stalls selling gifts, food and local produce. Since it was not a public holiday, we were free to mingle without a big crowd. After done with the shopping, we went to a chocolate factory right round the corner. It was hardly a factory - a converted shoplot which sells chocolates, complete with demonstration of how the chocolates was prepared. Another RM100 later and off we went.

Lastly the mushroom farm ........ with mushroom grown in bottles We then had a quick drive to the cable car station - that was when we found out that it was closed for maintenance. Puan Anita then had this crazy idea that we should drive up to Genting …. Which will be the subject of the next entry …….