CNY 4th Day 06 Feb 2011

06 Feb 2011 (Sun):

Our last morning in Ipoh before we head up to Cameron Highlands in the afternoon. After breakfast, we went across to the Polo Club for some horse riding or so we thought. Daddy saw an advert in the hotel's lobby on this. But alas, there was riding classes going on that morning, hence its not open to the public for horse riding. Nevertheless, we were still allowed in on the grounds for a look look see see.

Then we proceeded into Giant supermart to buy a container of milk formula as i only brought less than half container up this trip. Also brought a pair of sandals for myself & a pair of shoes each for the kids.

Upon reaching Brinchang, Cameron, which took us about 1hr 15mins, we stopped for lunch. We took the new route, Simpang Pulai, which is less winding & the road is wider.


We had our lunch at OK Tuck Restaurant, located at Brinchang. This is one of the recommended place to eat. We ordered spare ribs, hotplate tofu, shrimps omelette & stir fry mushrooms, spent RM71.80 in all.
The kids got themselves a lollipop each after lunch & then we proceeded to check in at the below hotel.

Yes, the Ye Olde Smokehouse @ Tanah Rata. Yah, the English experience. Cool. But we experience a major hiccup here. You see, when we did the booking via Agoda.com, we indicated as 2 adults. We wanted to have the children sharing the same room as us. Usually, most hotels would accomodate this kind of arrangement with no problem. But not Smokehouse.

When we checked in, the staff ( small reception area) informed us that all rooms are designed for only 2 people, regardless of adult or children. They CANNOT accomodate 2children of only 3 & 5 years in the same room as the adults. Isnt this RIDICULOUS???

I argue the fact that the kids are still young & normally, most hotels do not have this problem. Well, they claimed that this is their resort policy. Upon seeking the management's help, the manager came up to us to offer another suggestion.

We paid USD114 per night. So what she can do is to give us another room, we pay another USD114 but the rooms cannot be adjoining. So means to say, we have to split. Another suggestion, we upgrade to the family suite at the same price of USD114. The manager also claims that usually the family suite cost RM800.

Let's do a little calculation here: USD114 ~ RM350 (approx). So apart from what we have paid Agoda @ USD114 ~ RM350 for a Superior room, we got to pay ANOTHER RM350 for a family suite = RM700 for that room alone. So its only a RM100 discount afterall. The most expensive room we ever stayed.

You may asked. Why do we not scoped around for other hotels? We really intended to do that cos paying RM700 for 1 night is too much. But we have also thought of the CNY period & we're sure those other hotels wouldnt come cheap either & there might not be rooms avaialble as well.

So we got no choice but to pay ( with a broken heart) that RM350 & checked into the family suite. Well, what a room! ** i found that the layout/design tof this room is weird. In front of the 2 single beds you see in the below photo is actually a cupboard, separating the living area. Funny! **

Fast forward slightly. (since i lumped all Smokehouse photos together) We had breakfast the next day & they served only English breakfast. 2 types of meal to choose from:

Light breakfast consisting of a selection of juices or fresh fruits, a choice of cereals (cornflakes) or porridge (quacker oats), toasts & croissant or muffins with marmalade & strawbeery preserve, coffer or tea, costing RM26.

Traditional English breakfast consisting of the above mention but with additional country eggs with bacon & sausages, costing RM39. So with eggs, bacon & sausage, you got to pay additional RM13. How's that for a choice? You decide.

(Back to today's post). After a little wash up, we went out into the town areas to have a look. Knowing that BOH will be closed tomorrow, we came upon Bharat Plantations instead. And we stopped for a little snack, strawberry flavoured tea, 1 carrot cake & 1 brownie @ RM20.

Then we went around Tanah Rata's pasar malam & looked at their market place.

For dinner, we had ours at a Hongkong Restaurant, ordered fried rice & noodles, costing RM40+. Then we retired for the night.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmU2WBl3M-Q

Cameron Valley Bharat Valley

Remember to look at 05 Feb's post to keep track.

CNY 3rd Day 05 Feb 2011

05 Feb 2011 (Sat):

Up at 830am, well rested though i still feel lazy. Hehe. We had our breakfast at the hotel before setting off to The Lost World.

We arrived at The Lost World at about 930am but just look at crowd. The theme park opened at 10am. Admission fees: RM38/adult & RM32/child, 12 years old & below. Children below 90cm free though. However, for guest staying at Heritage Hotel, we got a discount @ RM34/adult & RM30/child. We paid for 2 adults & 1 child. Rachel? Well, she got it FOC as she is just slightly above 90cm but we kept quiet lah.

They did not allow the customers to bring outside food & drinks. The security did a very tough check on all bags brought in. One customer queue-ing in front of me got his food confisicated & a RM2 summon. I find it ridiculous but rules are rules.

After about an hour inside the children's pool, we went over to played some rides & games. Both kids got a fur toy. Per token = RM2. Depending on the type of games played, some games could cost more than RM2, meaning at least 3 or 5 tokens were needed. Tokens were not included as part of the admission fees paid.

This was the petting zoo. We saw many small creatures such as racoons, rabbits, pocupines, peacocks,birds, goats, sheep, etc.

After more walking, more games & more water fun, we stopped for lunch inside the Rainforest Cafe. Nothing much of interest. Maybe Maggie mee special? Haha.

Some ice cream treat for the kids & we watched a lion dance performance. By 5pm, yes 5pm, the kids were worn out & we went back to our hotel for a bath & some rest. Well, just a little rest.

Soon we went out again for dinner. Remember i mentioned about the Lou Wong Tauge Chicken? Well, i waited ard for a table while hubby parked his car. To my disappointment, the waiter announced to those standing around waiting for tables that there was no more chicken. Only left tauge & noodles. Haiz....there goes my hope of trying this recommended dish.

Nevertheless, we tried some other restaurants, coffee shops, cafes but all were equally crowded. We saw Hainanese Chicken Rice & decided to have that for our dinner. We were able to find some empty tables when hubby spotted a open air roadside food stalls (something like our Singapore's Smith Street) selling all varities of food.

We hopped over where we decided to have tze char. We ordered salt eggs crab, stingray, can't remember what else. Cost: RM140+. We then walked around the nearby stores as we wanted to buy a longevity peach made of sugar for praying. Nope, no chance. We suspected it could be Ipoh people were mostly Cantonese so they may not use longevity peach for praying, hence no production.

So its back to the hotel for a good night rest. Opps...look at the time. Its close to 11pm.

Enjoy the below videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUV2uQ3bb-Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSKI3sEdVPY

Water fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DaKLknulg0

Carousel ride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhpvAyowI1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBMH6Ix8r1E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqH7Z5laybc

Lion dance performance. Short clips.

** Do stop by 04 Feb 2011's post so as to keep track. **

CNY 2nd Day 04 Feb 2011

04 Feb 2011 (Fri):

It was a last min decision to make this trip up to Ipoh before our 2 nights stay up in Cameron Highlands. And so we search the internet for available rooms. Luck has it for we managed to get 2 nights @ Heritage Hotel via Agoda.com

We were supposed to set off at 6am as hubby feared that there wld be traffic jams along the causeway but as usual, we overslept. It was around 7.30am by the time we left our home.

After lunch at Nilai, we proceeded along the highway towards Ipoh, Perak. Why Nilai? You wonder. I read on some internet forums that going towards Nilai/Shah Alam/Ipoh direction is faster & you don't have to go through KL & get hit by jams. But when we turn into Nilai, there were no such signage or directions. So in order not to get lost & waste more time, we turned out up on the highway again. Safer. :)

By the time we reached Ipoh, its already in the late afternoon. We checked into our hotel & got sme rest.

We got a view of the Perak Turf Club for we were given a room on the 8th floor. Heritage hotel is located in the city centre, just 10 mins drive from The Lost world of Tambun. That's where we will be heading the next day. And being the Chinese New Year period, we were given a welcome gift bag consisting of a packet of peanuts, 2 mandarin oranges, 2 packets of chrysanthemum drinks & a packet of cookies.

We drove along the roads & noticed all the shops are still closed. Being only the 2nd day of CNY, we got no choice but to have our dinner at 1 cafe which was opened for business, Delight Cafe. RM73.35 for a 5 course dinner but we were allowed to choose our own food.

Then later in the evening, after we finished some shopping at The Store, we saw that there is a night market (pasar malam) nearby. And who could have thought of it but to see the famous Lou Wong Tauge Chicken right there & then. But look at crowd, there were no seats at all, not to mention those standing around waiting for tables.

Okay, so we decided to come back the next evening to try our luck. The kids got some watch & i bought one too as my old one died.

Back to the hotel for a good night sleep as it will be a full day tomorrow.

** Be sure to check back the post for 1st day of the CNY so that you will be able to keep track**