Escape to Penang, Wednesday.

Penang Full of Surprises.

Wednesday was our extra day and we were determined to get the most out of relaxing, so it was a lazy breakfast and a swim in the pool before heading off. The plan was to take bus 101 in the opposite direction and get off at the butterfly farm. We visited this last year and it undergoing renovations so we were keen to go back and see how it looked today. Make sure that you tell the bus driver that you want to go to the butterfly farm as they now only turn up that road if there are passengers heading there. Also be prepared to walk a little way from where the driver drops you off. This also means if you are taking the bus back when you have finished, you are better to walk all the way back down to the roundabout.

It is a magical feeling when these butterflies decide to land on you..
Ruth inspecting a passenger.

I really enjoy visiting the butterfly farms in Malaysia because there are so many bright coloured butterflies. When you walk around with them among the plants they are so pretty and with such a concentration provide lots of photo opportunities. The Penang Butterfly farm actually does a lot to educate people about these creatures. One of the victims of deforestation is the butterfly, with more forests disappearing they are loosing their natural habitat. I had never given this a thought until today.

A Leopard Lacewing, one of the 7 most colourful butterflies in the world

Fascinating to watch feeding.

Caterpillars of the butterflies above.

I am not sure what is going on but I did feel sorry for the host plant here.

An interesting butterfly with bright green wings. 

This is quite common and can often be sen in the jungle when we are out walking.
Also known as the Paper Kite.

This is a striking butterfly with stunning blue colouring and stripes on its body.

When this guy has his wings up they look like brown leaves, 

but when he drops them down they have this stunning blue.

The common birdwing this is a large butterfly and
sometimes they seem like small birds  as flutter in the jungle.

After we had spent a few hours with the butterflies we made our way back down to catch bus 101 and headed to The Spice Garden. This is an interesting place to stroll and learn about spice plants. It is in a reasonable compact area with a great canopy. 

We found our way to The Tree Monkey Cafe which is in a great setting. The food here is good as well and we enjoyed chatting with the friendly staff. We would definitely recommend this as a great place to eat. So we will head back there next time.

All said and done we do enjoy Penang, it offers so many different interesting things to do and it is an easy weekend destination from KL. I get the feeling that we might have to return here during the next year.

Escape to Penang, Tuesday.

Sunset and the new filter does manage to take out that damaging light
from around the sun to accentuate the sky.

We were lucky enough to have an extra day in our weekend and we decided it was time for another escape. Penang, courtesy of Firefly's RM 0.00 seats ,only pay taxes promotion, was the chosen destination. Monday evening found us relaxing at The Lone Pine  resort, on Batu Ferringhi. Because we had saved on airfares we treated ourselves to a deluxe room with a bath tub on the balcony. Once again on a special deal through Agoda. I would say it was totally worth it, this place on the beach was amazing with great service.

Golden sunsets, a great way to celebrate the end of another day and the ideal time to plane for the next one.

We have just purchased new ND Grad filter arrangements for our cameras so, besides relaxing, we planned to get out and play with the filters. Relaxing, in the bath tub on the balcony, we hatched our plan for the next couple of days.

Tuesday after breakfast and a dip in the pool we would catch the 101 bus outside the hotel and take it all the way to the Ferry landing. Then we would meander through Georgetown looking for the interesting murals we had been hearing about. Of course we would take advantage of any photo opportunities that presented themselves.  We do enjoy Georgetown, which is really undergoing loads of renovation and still keeping its heritage site status.  It is laid back and fun, with lots of fun things to see along, with a number of interesting shops and restaurants.

We were entertained by a film crew during the late afternoon,
This lucky guy got to mind the balloons.

Tuesday arrived and it went to plan....

These work horses are seen throughout Malaysia they are built for work.
They often have a Mercedes nose with a wooden cab,
 this one has a wooden cab, even the drivers seat is basic.
Mr Chen tells me they carry up to about 35 tons but they only meant to carry  about 15 -17 tons.

VW Heaven! We stumbled on this workshop in George Town,
We recognised these from the good old days.
Inside there was a 1958 Austin A35 .
An old uncle ,who was blown away by the fact that we dropped by.

We happened to look up and see this yard with a number of VWs lined up outside. Being naturally curious, we wandered over to have a closer look at some of the beetles. Beyond the roadside and locked behind a gate was treasure trove of  VW cars and parts. An old uncle popped his head out to check up on us.  We ended up spending a bit time chatting with him. He did not have much English  but he told he was the mechanic who looks after these cars and the ones on the roadside belonged to his clients, not for sale!! He had every part you could think of and an obvious passion for these cars. Apparently a number of them drive down from Thailand and find their way to him. He hinted that Thailand was a good place to find old VWs. So the love of the beetle lives on in Malaysia. 

Ruth searching for the murals we had been reading about.
This street looked right ,but it could have been any of the streets in Georgetown.
BY the way the guy on the bicycle was doing his rounds, collecting cardboard for recycling.

Mural number one stumbled on to by accident.
The motorbike is real, the guy sitting on it happens to be the mural.
Can you spot where he is in the photo above?
We nearly didn't.

Photo mural number 2,  found !
Ruth needed to give these two kids
a helping hand.

Take a queue number please!
I stepped back to get  a laugh out of these people.

We see shop houses all through Asia.
A few years ago I was fascinated by them.
Lately I have been less excited,
In George town each one seems to tell its own story.
There are lots to get excited about with them.

This mosque in Georgetown is stunningly refreshing.
It is clean and white  set alongside the aging buildings and narrow streets. 

This is, Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi, the site of the oldest Chinese Clan  building in Penang.
The temple is surrounded by some quaint Chinese houses and this is very the centre of this Clan community.

We ended our day in Georgetown with a very late lunch at the  Swiss Eidelweis Cafe.
Sepia function gives this great little cafe the right atmosphere ,it is like stepping back in time.

It was hot and Ruth was starting to get a little short, with me being somewhat snappy in reply. We have learned this is a sure sign that it is time to chill out in a cafe. We happened to find a delightful cafe, the Swiss Eidelweis Cafe. It is in a shophouse, from the street one can never be sure what they will discover on the inside of these places. We were seeking cool and refreshing, so in we went. Remember these places are all one room wide and often go back a long way. This cafe has an enormous Swiss clock that dominates the front of the shop area, the photo shows Ruth sitting front of it, as a reflection in the mirror. There was lots of wood grain finish and a delightful counter bar area, to one side, in the centre of the ground floor. Beyond the counter was a courtyard garden area, these Chinese buildings often include such areas. Then more cafe, followed by clean toilets. There were a number of photos and points of interest throughout. On the bar area were three photos,  Debbie Turner,  who was in the Sound of Music, Bob Hope American comedian popular with allied troops during WW2 and Marlin Brando. A touch of nostalgia to encourage discussion over some very nicely presented food.

It was two revived tourists who made their way back The Lone Pine after what had been an interesting day spent exploring Georgetown. Each time we have come into this area of Penang we have explored different lanes and found many interesting places. We will go back because it is a place that has captured our imagination. 

Wednesday's plan? Well that is another story!

Discovering Cameron Highlands

The view on the water bottle almost matches the on in the camera.

We needed to escape the city! After a month of work and getting through the challenges of each week it was time to escape. So on Monday morning we packed our suitcase, loaded our cameras into the car and left town.  This MAE weekend we had decided on getting out and exploring the Hill station of Cameron Highlands. It is about 3 hours drive away from KL and is very popular during weekends and public holidays. We felt we would have an advantage going there on a quiet Monday, Tuesday.

Tea plantation with jungle backdrop in the cooling highlands.

First thing to know about Cameron Highlands is that for just over half the drive it is on a narrow winding road that climbs into the hills. Actually it is like the a cross between the Kopu –Hikuai and the 309 on the Coromandel. As narrow as the 309 and as steep and winding but sealed like the Kopu Hikuai. Also because it is in Malaysia you could easily double the length of the climb. The drive is scenic for passengers with lots of different things to see. The Orang Asli (The true natives of the forests of Malaysia) have numerous stalls and simple homes on the side of the road. However the driver must keep alert for crazy drivers who think that the road is an expressway.

View from below the Cameron Valley Tea ,Tea-house. Spectacular!

Apparently the Highlands were developed during British colonial times as an escape from the humid tropical lowlands. Up in the hills the air is cooler and more pleasant. It was also discovered to be a good environment for growing tea, so there is a thriving tea industry taking place up in this area. We had pictured tea plantations growing on terraced hillsides with a backdrop of jungles.  But the picture we had of the tea bushes was a little different to how the real thing looked.

Market gardeners are abundant on the side of the road to BOH Tea..

For a start the rows seemed to run in a range of directions up and down and even across the hills. There were no visible terraces. The bushes all had flat tops. They looked like low hedges that had recently had the tops cut back, only the next hedge was less than 50 cm away. We took a diversion to the BOH Tea plantation, hoping to enjoy tea and scones at the Teashop and to find out more about tea. Sadly it is closed on Mondays. However the drive up the Boh valley was scenic and more than worth it. Next time we will head up there on a Tuesday. As we drove back down the valley to the main road we noticed that there is lots of interesting market garden activities taking place. These grow on terraced slopes and make use of every usable corner of land. Eventually we found the Cameron Valley Tea Shop, which overlooks Cameron valley tea plantation. The tea plantation grows right up to the base of the tea shop. It is worth a stop and serves a range of simple food. The views are worth stopping for.

The BOH Tea Lady!

Shrek takes a little tea stop.

From here we made our way to Strawberry Park Resort our hill top accommodation. It was a little out of town so it was said to be quiet. We rolled on up and were pleasantly surprised. This resort is surrounded by beautiful gardens, with a number of interesting flowers. Of course along with these were birds and insects. The rooms were large with an enormous bathroom. When we agreed to take the room, and they realised that we had a Malaysian work permit, we were offered a special local promotion. This made the room very reasonable.  Once booked in we took a wander around and enjoyed the opportunities to play with our cameras. We arrived back in time for dinner. I would have to say the Smokey Bear Restaurant option is worth trying. We had a great evening outside in the cool air enjoying smoked Salmon and Lamb.  With not too many people staying we had top quality service from the friendly staff.  I couldn't fault this as a place to relax and enjoy the cool of the Highlands.

The Hibiscus flowers on the road to Strawberry Park Resort.

Sun flowers that grow in the gardens of Strawberry Park.

Tuesday morning we decided that we should get in a decent walk in the Jungle. We made our way to the Gunung Berembum trails. It was an interesting walk, through a mixture of rain forest. It is interesting to note that the trails here are easy to follow, however they are not clearly marked and it is sometimes hard to tell which trail you are actually on. We did have a tourist map but that did not really give a clear indication. The outcome was we had an interesting 4 hours trek in some very interesting jungle. Mostly it was uphill until we turned around and headed back downhill.  

These fungi greww in a number of mossy corners along the jungle trails.

One of the many blooms of wild orchids along the trail.

Cicadas! These guys were very active and the noise from them was intense.

Notice the bright red eyes on this fly. 

Once down to the base of the hill we had an interesting walk back to the car. Cameron Highlands certainly had plenty to keep  us busy for a couple of days, and there is still quite a bit to see, so I think we will back to explore this area some more before we leave Malaysia.

We did see this sign on numerous occasions!

Our drive back down and back to KL was pleasant and passed reasonably quickly. This makes it an escape that is quite achievable from home for and overnight stay.