Jagong Mutiara CH

Did you know that you can eat sweet corn raw? I didn't till I found this stall at the pasar malam. The vendor was the only one selling sweet corn that he says can be eaten raw.
He was shucking corn and cutting them up for people to try. We tried his samples and the corn was yummy. The kernels were crunchy and when you bite into them, they ooze sweet sugary juice from each kernel.
We bought two lots to take home but with the 12-hour drive home they were a little wilted by the time we got back. Note: the corn tastes better fresh.

The next time you are in the highlands do look out for Jagon Mutiara CH and eat them on the spot.

3 Kilos Of Sweet Potatoes

Evening street market was the rage in the Cameron Highlands during the school vacation. The best part was we were right in the middle of the pasar malam, which starts at 5 pm.
We ended up buying lots of fresh produce like the sweet potatoes above. These are young sweet potatoes, which were selling at 4 Ringgit a kilo. I ended up buying 3 kilos as I happen to love eating them either steamed or grilled.
Since I had so much sweet potato, I turned half a kilo into onde onde. The sugar in the onde onde is gula melaka, which I had my cousin buy for me previously.The dish was a Christmas present from a neighbor and it worked perfectly for plating the sweets.

Butterfly Farms In Cameron Highlands

I squeezed in five hours at the two butterfly farms. The first hour was a recce trip in the evening before the farm closed. Then I got dropped off at 8.30 am the next day for four hours of unadulterated exploration of both farms. At four ringgit per entry, I wasn't complaining as it was cheap compared to the butterfly attraction at Sentosa.
The bonus was I got to meet a number of creatures that I've not had a chance to see in the wild yet. Like the Horned Frog, which is a master of disguise.

The walking leaf a ball of Pope's Pit-vipers And of course, the butterflies but they were a sorry bunch as many were in poor condition or a their last stage of life. I had to work hard to find good specimens for the camera which weren't too damaged from banging around in the enclosure. This is the Pallid Faun, which was stunning and healthy. Rajah Brooke the most plentiful as people want to see large beautiful butterflies but they were also the sorriest bunch as many were listless and dying.It was the same with the Common Birdwing. I only found no more than five that were active and feeding. Five hours gave me lots of photographs and I had to be very selective. Please go to Flickr to see more photos. Enjoy!

Buying Potted Plants

The reason we were in the Cameron Highlands was to do a little plant shopping. The choices were mind blowing but I did eventually pick my two plants. I chose two pots of Hibiscus, a gold and a lilac.

Next Stop Brinchang, Cameron Highlands

We hightailed out of Penang at 6.30 am to drive to Cameron Highlands as we needed to look for accommodations. Upon reaching the highlands we tried our luck in Brinchang at the largest hotel on the main road the Star Regency. The large building was nothing to look at and the interior was pretty grungy and run down but we found accommodations.We were lucky as we got there at 11.30 am as people were checking out. When we came back to check-in at 2 pm the desk clerk was turning away other walk-in guests. Phew!
We stumbled on this gem after we checked in and began to explore the little town of Brinchang.This place opens at around 9 am in the morning and serves roast meats and noodles all day but during lunch and dinner service the main kitchen will prepare dishes that you can order from an à la carte menu. They will even prepare dishes that are not in the menu if you ask them.
We ended up eating here during the two days that we were in town as they just served very good food at very reasonable prices. On the first night, we had steamboat and roast meats for dinner, the guy told us to order two serving of steamboat. He said it was enough to satisfy three adults and he was right. The next morning, we had wanton noodles for breakfast and tze char for dinner. The bonus, they serve damn shiok local coffee too.
Oldies and Goodies is on Jalan Angsana Tiga just behind the Star Regency, which you can't miss, it's the only tall building in town.
At the start of this roll of shop houses on Jalan Angsana Tiga is this place called Strawberry Moment, where one can indulge in everything strawberry. We dropped in for tea and found that the staff at this place are all teenagers. Not the best pastries but they get an A for presentation. For those of us who are road warriors this place has free wi-fi if you want to stay connected.