Cameron Highlands & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Us atop Gunung Brinchang in Cameron Highlands

After enduring the heat and hustle of Penang and almost bursting the buttons on our pants, we were eager to cool off in the mountains and get some much needed fresh air and exercise. Cameron Highlands was just the ticket. The highest point in Malaysia accessible by car, it is filled with lovely tea plantations, strawberry farms and hikes through the plant and insect-rich mossy forest. Unfortunately, we were surprised to learn that it's among the top vacation destination for Malaysians themselves, and as we were traveling during a local holiday, at times it proved to be less serene than we'd hoped.


We stayed at Gerard's Place in Tanah Rata. One of the friendliest owners we've encountered on our travels, Jay arranged a great day tour for us to see some of the highlights of CH. We started with the tea plantations. The tea plant is actually a tree, not a bush. Left to grow in the wild, it can reach 16m in height (though the ones pictured here have been neatly trimmed to a few inches). We were surprised to learn that the same plant is used to produce all different types of tea - black, green and oolong - based on the oxidation process and blend.


This guy was really excited about the tea. He was also the loudest person on our tour.


Too many people, too little bus. Thankfully, Joe's height got him VIP front seat treatment.


Similar to a venus flytrap, the pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant that traps its prey in a deep cavity filled with inviting nectar. Usually the insect slips on the moist sides of the plant to its impending doom. The plant then eats the insects using the chemical-rich nectars that slowly munch and swallow the skin of the prey until it dissolves completely - becoming the very juice that is once tried to drink. I wonder what would happen if you left your finger in there for a while. Coincidentally it's also the provincial plant of Newfoundland, Ashley's homeland.


Hiking in the mossy forest. This is the reason Joe always likes to hike behind Ashley.


Handpicking tea leaves


We visited the BOH tea plantation for some fresh brewed tea and delicious strawberry tarts. The BOH tea company actually invented the term "ummph" for their slogan Share the Ummph, as in, "that girl's strawberry earmuffs really add some ummph to her outfit."


Nice view to enjoy a spot of tea


The next stop on our tour was to the Taman Rama-Rama Butterfly and Insect Park. BIG time highlight. Especially this rhinoceros beetle.


This seems like a very cruel thing to do to a turtle.


The aptly named leaf insect


And equally appropriate stick insect. Incredible!


The next thing the guide showed us was this pile of leaves. We were pretty unimpressed until he pointed out the leaf frogs, which are completely camouflaged. How many can you spot? There are least 4 in there.


Our brave guide handling a scorpion. He told us they are safe to handle as long as you don't touch their backs and allow them to continue crawling by continuously moving your hands. No thanks. We guess he hasn't taken his own advice, since he's been stung so many times that he's now immune to their poison. 


The strawberry farm was a bust. There were no farms open to let us pick any fresh strawberries, so we had to settle for sub-par strawberry ice cream and muffins. And to top it off (literally), amidst fresh strawberry land, they whipped out Hershey's (fake) strawberry sauce to put on the ice cream.


Good thing they had this strawberry hat to make up for it.


Still not satisfied, we continued the search for fresh strawberries. We visited a great fruit shop by our hotel only to find out that their strawberries were imported from California. What a jip! We grabbed some dragon fruit instead and shared it with this snail.


Something delicious being made at a local food cart in town.


After a hell of a travel day (aren't they all?) to Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, Ashley bumped into this lady and her t-shirt. Hot and sweaty with her back in knots, she couldn't agree more with its sentiment. For the city and for the Yelovich.


Kuala Lumpur is a relatively new city carved out of the jungle only 160 years ago. Even though it's now an enormous Asian "cyber-city", the jungle still shows through.


But the signs of the jungle are fading fast.


As usual, we found ourselves at the mall to beat the heat and enjoy the splendors of the food court. We found a Baskin Robbins which brought out an uncomfortably eager Joe.


Taking advantage of another one of Ashley's dirty thirty bday presents (Thanks Steph!), we picked out a special Japanese restaurant in town that was so packed, we were relegated to the bar. Good sign. Their menus were meant to resemble a subway map.


And the waiters wore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfits.


Our favorite dish - incredible beef cutlet salad.


Sake it to me baby.


A visit to KL isn't complete without checking out the incredible Petronas Towers. Even in person, they don't look real. We decided to break from the budget for the evening and head to the SkyBar at the Shangri-La for the best view in town.


The rooftop pool bar was sponsored by Belvedere - this definitely called for a dirty vodka martini. Sadly we had to limit our martinis to one per person. We felt like Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids. Help me I'm poor.


But that didn't stop us from convincing the staff to give us an already-reserved table with a stunning view of the towers. We each nursed our one martini (and its measly two olives) as long as we could.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

Next up... we're off to Indonesia!