Yamaha JMC Graduation Concert 2011 - Banana's Cha Cha ensemble

姐姐 had been at Yamaha music school since Jan 2008 from Music Kids program. So it had been 3 years, going on 4 years, how time flies! After 5 weeks of hard work, they performed a pretty good Banana's Cha Cha ensemble. Click here for the video we took of their Banana's Cha Cha ensemble performance: http://youtu.be/hHnA-oKxQNo

At the concert:

The girls with flower headbands and wristlets

Finally a lady-like pose for us

My favorite photo, serene amidst the action around her

Class photo with Ms Tan

With her teacher Ms Tan

They say Ginny is so funny with the twisties

With 弟弟's teacher, Ms Sherlyn

Recap the moments during extra classes to prepare for concert:

弟弟 at the back of the class as he wants to watch 姐姐's performance

Playing with flower garland lei.
This eventually ended up on the tamborines instead

Just know that after performance, the children go to the stage to get their graduation certificate. But the certificate has a blank with no name! Like a blank check... Why couldn't they at least print the child's name on it? And I don't remember teacher mention they will be wearing graduation robe, so luckily 姐姐's dress falls around her knees. Otherwise would look a little funny if she's wearing a mini skirt or if the boy's shorts are covered. Some of the children's performance is singing and dancing, but JMC is about learning to play isn't it? I hope 弟弟 get to play for his graduation concert next time. I mean, we could watch their dancing at their kindy concert and I want to watch 弟弟 perform his playing on stage next time.

It will be another year before they will take the first exam. Heard that only JMC have graduation concert so do not need to worry about concert at every level.

Shopping mall mini escapades

Just shopping around at some of the malls in Penang. Everywhere's with Christmas decorations and everyone's shopping, shopping, shopping :)

Straits Quay with cousins

At Popular Mega Bookfair, with Astro 小太阳 mascot

Decorative merry-go-round at Queensbay Mall

Fireplace at Queensbay Mall

Just happen to meet one of the Chipmunks walking with Chupa Chups mascot, at Jusco Queensbay

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

Her other loose top incisor had been officially removed after dinner (again 爸爸 is the "dentist" in the house). She complaint of pain while eating and 爸爸 just pull it off gently as it's too loose. There's a little blood and now officially she doesn't have two front teeth. She didn't want to have ANY PHOTO taken of her as she is missing two front teeth now :) This Christmas song "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" just spoke of her mood now.

Even though still sore from the missing tooth, she still take up my offer of a sundae cone. In the next morning, Tooth Fairy gave her RM1 for her tooth under her pillow. She was awake in the morning but she didn't realize how the RM1 got there. That's the magic of Tooth Fairy :D

http://www.simplyteeth.com/

This particular tooth caused some problem as there was gum inflammation a couple of months ago but was healed after we put on Medigel for her for a few days. Didn't manage to get a dentist appointment and since the inflammation got better before the appointment we just skipped it (Dr Tan is soooo busy).

Fish and chips, anyone?

I have to keep reminding myself don't mention anything to our children if we have no intention to bring them. After visiting Popular Mega Bookfair at Straits Quay, I just casually asked if anyone wants to try fish and chips? Didn't expect anyone voting in favour as it's not even dinner time yet. To my surprise 姐姐 said she wants. Even when I told her, I was just joking and we intend to bring them to kopitiam. 弟弟 say he will belanja if we give him money. Wahaha....

So we ended up for early dinner at Blue Reef for fish and chips. We sit outside to enjoy the by-the-sea alfresco dining experience. Might as well as the children do make a ruckus and we didn't disturb the other diners.

The fish and chips tasted pretty good, RM16 for the mahi-mahi type. We also tried seafood platter with garoupa but the children preferred mahi-mahi, somehow they don't like the smoother texture of garoupa but they like the tougher texture mahi-mahi **strange tastebud** The fish and chips portion is quite large, with 2 big fish fillets, loaded with chips, and tangy salad. Taste good with tartar sauce. But none of us like the seafood platter much as we're not so into seafood, so 爸爸 get to polish off most of the calamari rings, prawns and garoupa.

姐姐 suddenly remembered she had missing teeth and wasn't in the mood for photos.

Penang Turf Club Horse Show 2011

Fun time for the children at the Penang Turf Club Horse Show 2011. We missed the carnival last year, so we made plans to attend it this year. Entrance is free, it means no parking fees charged for the public (think the usual days they charge RM6 for parking). We went after lunch, sun is shining brightly so we hope not too big a crowd as most people are afraid of hot sun. It is indeed very 晒 ok.

The best activity the children liked is the pony ride. It's RM3 per child and they enjoyed it so much. Not a big crowd at the time we went unlike complaint of long long queue last year. The carriage ride is fun too, but it's only a short ride around the Turf Club roundabout. So much for RM4/person. But can't expect a former race horse to pull a big carriage too long right? Feeding carrots to the horse is RM2/pack. So much for our 养马记 while the Turf Club is still in George Town. There's news that Penang Turf Club will be moving to mainland in the future, and the current site will be used for development. Hope the new developer maintain this bit of greenery in the midst of George Town.

Pony ride - the black horse is display outside :)

Off with another lower incisor!

Oh, how brave our girl is! She didn't wince at all when this particular tooth became so loose that 爸爸 had to manually tug at it. There's a little blood and she maintained calm all the while. We can see the new permanent tooth is erupting and visible, unlike the upper incisor. Lucky it's after her birthday :0) Now, patiently awaiting for the next upper incisor to make its exit.

Reference to http://www.simplyteeth.com/

Being a little vain (which girl isn't?), she keep asking when her upper incisor will grow. It's also a little difficult to eat food as she's got 2 teeth gone -one on upper jaw, one on lower jaw - and one more loose tooth. Her solution for eating rice: She drizzle the rice with a lot of soup (she say "make her own porridge"). Tapi pizza, biscuits memang can eat no matter what.

In order to help her handle funny remarks from others, she is taught to say "That's my milk teeth and the permanent teeth will grow back".

Cuti-cuti Malaysia at Cameron Highlands

We chose to travel on the 1st weekday of school holiday to coincide with Yamaha school holiday week. Luckily not a whole lot of traffic. Last year, we had cancelled our trip to Cameron Highlands thinking the rainy season would not be fun. Later we found out it rains most days in Cameron Highlands and it doesn't matter when we go. We started our journey early and stopped at Ipoh for breakfast at Kedai Makanan Nam Heong. 姐姐 was already full and barely touched the egg tarts but 弟弟 ate with gusto. However it seemed the white coffee is a tad sweet for my liking this time. We tapao more egg tarts and char siew puffs for our trip.

This is the first time for 爸爸 and I going up Cameron Highlands after many years. We're taking the Simpang Pulai exit after our breakfast. As we're going from Ipoh town, we didn't see the signs leading to Cameron Highlands. Luckily we have GPS. If travelling from North-South Highway, perhaps the road sign is there. There seems to be more vehicles travelling down from Cameron Highlands than going up on this Monday. It was raining lightly somewhat, and misty at the valleys. Here's why valleys are misty: http://www.rcn27.dial.pipex.com/cloudsrus/mistnfog.html. The turning branching to Blue Valley and Cameron Highlands is quite sharp, so have to be extra careful and slow there.

First stop - Watercress Valley
As our apartment is not ready yet (check-in time is 3pm), we went for lunch and quick tour. We came here for fresh watercress dishes upon recommendation of our good friend. There's set dishes and ala carte'. We ordered Set A with 3 dishes & soup (RM48) and additional dish of "3-type mushroom stir-fry". 姐姐 loved all the food and soup, 弟弟 liked the egg . The drinks are watercress inspired, like honey watercress (RM4/glass). In addition to cooked dishes, folks can buy fresh watercress too. They plant other types of veggies too but looks like visitors not able to go where the vegetables are. However the dining area has good view of the watercress "ponds". P/S: Parking is right by the roadside.

Watercress Valley

Next stop - Rose Valley
Both children declared this place is their favorite place. Girls will be girls, but 弟弟 always want to follow 姐姐 and her interests :) Please be careful as the lanes are really narrow, and some area on the ground is wet and slippery from the rain/watering of plants. And remember to watch out for thorns on the rose bushes. Don't worry if it rains here as there's roof covering. Entrance fees is RM4/adult and RM2/child. Parking also right outside along the road. We bought children's gloves from the vendor outside (RM5/pair), later just realized they sell it cheaper at the markets (RM4.50 or less depends on your bargaining skills).

Flowers hanging from the swing is called 高跟鞋花， the red wooly flower is 毛毛虫花

EQ Strawberry Farm
We came here because it's the nearest and most convenient as we're staying at Equatorial apartment. Pick your own strawberry is RM20/500g (one tray). Just for the fun of it. We came after 5pm and we're the last ones there. Like everyone said, it's cheaper to buy from the markets, and the strawberry picking is just for experience.

Dinner and Brinchang night market
We went for dinner at Brinchang. We chose OK Tuck Restaurant, having their steamboat for two and additional plate of fried yee mee (RM35 - steamboat for two, total bill RM51). The amount of food is too huge for us with 2 adults and 2 children. The children didn't like the steamboat, we ordered chicken soup and herbal soup for the steamboat. The steamboat is so-so, veggies are fresh of course. We didn't finish the food. Now when travelling with children, learn to order less so the adults don't have to choke on the additional food that children didn't finish.

After dinner, we went shopping at Brinchang night market. During school holidays, they have night market here daily from 6pm to 10pm. It wasn't very packed, maybe due to light rain. One side is more of veggie stalls, the other side is more of food, fruits and knick-knacks. As it's cold in the apartment and I forgot my bedroom slippers, I bought a pair of Angry Bird slippers (RM10/pair). We also bought the so-called "apple guava" to try (RM8/2 fruits in a pack) as 弟弟 wanted more after sampling it. The aroma of ayam percik is delicious, I just had to go back the next day to try it as too full on the first day.

"Apple guava" sounds like a hoax to me, and true enough, it's just guava partially preserved in green colored syrup. See photo below with the children eating them (I felt bad as it is not good for children ya).

Outdoor photo is at EQ

Day 2 - Boh Tea Plantation (Sungai Palas)
Woke up early for our visit to Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation. Everyone told us the road leading to this place is super challenging. It's true! First the main road leading there is a steep uphill corner (have to be very careful not to miss it). On the way, even with not-so-many cars, it's a game of give-and-take otherwise everyone will end up stuck. The most challenging moment is when there's a big bus from the opposite side. Do not try if your driving skill is not up-to-par :) The stress is definitely worth it for us passengers as we get to enjoy the scenic views along the way. Tea plants everywhere, so beautiful!

Upon reaching visitor parking, you can choose to park here or drive up further to the tea centre. However do note parking up further is very limited and it's more windy road ahead. It's just a short 5-10 mins scenic walk uphill via a windy little tar road, or through a path surrounded by tea plants.

We went for short factory tour. Children didn't have the patience to hear the explanation, so we just zipped through. There's also a video room about history of Boh, again they have no patience to sit through.

The cafe! Fragrant smells tentalises as you walk past. There's the scones set that I've been wanting to try (RM8/set). We had both Palas Supreme and Bukit Cheding tea (RM4.30 for small pot with tea leaves, top-up hot water RM0.50). The tea is fragrant and a nice welcome on this cold morning. We prefer the Palas Supreme as it is milder (we are not tea drinkers). Children shared a slice of chocolate cake (RM6.50) happily. We sipped tea while a downpour came and went. Very good view of the tea plantation from the viewing platform. The cafe had glass windows all around for everyone to enjoy the stunning scenery with their meal. Oh, the uncle behind our table had nasi lemak (RM3.50 per pack from menu), in fact quite a lot of folks had nasi lemak. Wondered if it is nice since so popular?

We went down the path to get closer to tea plants on our way down

Do get some tea leaves/tea bags at the souvenir center, very nicely packed. By the way, the toilet is quite clean, both at the tea centre and the one near visitor carpark. When we drove off, we saw the workers gathering tea leaves they had collected. The place is filled with serenity, it's my favorite place at Cameron Highlands albeit the difficult drive.

Ee Feng Gu (玉蜂谷) Bee Farm
This bee farm is just a skip away from the steep road to Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation. This is convenient stop for those staying at EQ. There are ample parking during our visit. We visit the Bee Farm to show children how bee is reared. But they were disappointed to see the "boxes" instead of real bee hive. Give this a miss if not interested in bees or honey. There are flowers everywhere for the bees but I've had enough of flower shots. And no, I didn't do a bee close-up.

We had lunch at restaurant at Brinchang, not very sure what it's called. 姐姐 insists she wants noodles as she was too full to eat yee mee from dinner last night. I had chicken & char siew rice and 弟弟 had fried rice. A simple meal, we wanted to keep it light to ensure our tummy have room for dessert later.

Tanah Rata tour - Sam Poh Temple, Hutan Lipur Parit Fall
Initially we wanted to visit the Orang Asli Village, but do not trust the GPS as it led us to a small, lonely road. 姐姐 say to skip this and go to Sam Poh Temple instead. The temple is so new and clean! We went for simple prayers.

Children beria-ia wanna see waterfall in Cameron. Imagine our surprise when we found Hutan Lipur Parit Fall waterfall :) The water is murky and the place only had a few picnickers. There is no real path to the waterfall except a big leap to the river bank. 爸爸 took off his slippers and half-carried the children one by one to feel the river water. Children say it's icy cold! And 姐姐 didn't appreciate the mud at all, and just tingled her feet on the water for a millisecond :) 弟弟 manage to stand on the mud for a while for us to take a photo. There's a group of men fishing and panggang their catch nearby.

Food, food and food
Next is dessert time at Strawberry Moments! I had the strawberry strudels (?? i think this is the name, RM7.50), and children tried fruit salad (RM8.90) and a custard dessert (not sure what's the name, RM6.90). Hm... kind of over-rated, not sure if the cakes are better? Looks really nice though.

After dessert, we stop-by Brinchang night market, only 5pm already a lot of stalls are open. I just had to get the nasi ayam percik and children asked for more noodles. The strawberries we picked from yesterday were "frozen" in the fridge. Still, the children finished them. Should have just left them outside at room temp. Since we had such a huge afternoon tea, we had late dinner at 8pm to avoid the crowd. Although, there is not much crowd at all. Dinner is at Restaurant Mountain House Charcoal Steamboat. Wow, this is the best steamboat we had here. The veggies are good, found later they serve organic veggies. The soup base is good too, 鸳鸯 is herbal with tomyam. Even the children who didn't like steamboat loved it here. If you want the soup to boil slower, put the lid on the funnel. This time we only ordered steamboat for 2 person, with chrysenthemum tea only comes up to RM36. Definitely delicious and must-try at Cameron Highlands. Just a couple more tables after we finished dinner, even though only 9 something.

Kea farm market
There are two famous markets at Cameron we heard. One is the Brinchang night market, the other is Kea farm morning market. All sorts of brick-bat and especially veggies/fruit stalls. We got our stash of strawberries and veggies here. 爸爸 also bought a big stash of potatoes, sigh. He better cook them, not me :)

Cactus Point
A quick stop here just to bring children to see cactus up-close. No entrance fees for Cactus Point but need to pay if go to Cactus Valley, though I've not been there so not sure if there are more things to see.

We had early lunch at  唯一大牌档. Food is pretty good and economical. As it's still early, 爸爸 tried to look for the Orang Asli Village again. We followed direction from GPS but navigation stopped in the middle of the road. There were several small lanes but we just don't want to explore anymore. There are no road signs to show we are at the correct location. Not sure if the place moved.

Bharat Tea Plantation/Cameron Valley Tea House
Since we're still early, I wanted to try scones from Cameron Valley Tea House. Funny how the GPS try to bring us to Brinchang again when we are quite sure the place is after Tanah Rata. Finally switched off the GPS and went beyond Tanah Rata town. There are signs of Bharat Tea Plantation along the road. 爸爸 say if we reach Bharat Tea Plantation and still no sign of the tea house then we will stop looking, which is a fair deal. In the end, Cameron Valley Tea House is actually operated by Bharat Tea Plantation, what a big round we took to find it! It's just by the roadside, about 5km from Tanah Rata town using the main road. Again, ample parking space as not much visitors.

We ordered scones set (RM12), strawberry cheesecake (RM7.50) and brownies (RM8.50). Nice view from the tea house and glorious food! Tea is Cardamom Tea (RM10 for small pot, no tea leaves in the pot as already prepared by staff and not available to top up with hot water), it has one type of spice. The other house tea had several spices, since we prefer light tea, we had Cardamom. It's still full of spice flavour, we prefer the Boh's Palas Supreme. Probably some tea drinkers might like the Bharat tea with spices. Tea plantation walk is just a skip from the cafe. So we took more photos there. The Cameron Valley Tea House overlooks a brilliant tea plantation. So if not prefer to drive all the way to Sungai Palas Boh Tea Plantation, can give Bharat Tea Plantation a visit. Of course, the scones are not to be missed.

Later we realized there is another Bharat Tea Plantation near Kampung Raja, that's why the GPS keep asking us to go via Brinchang. Same type of tea plantation by the roadside, not sure if there's a cafe. Since it's raining we didn't stop.

Kellie's Castle
The rain accompanied us down Cameron. Only 4pm when we reach Simpang Pulai, so a brief stopover to Kellie's Castle. It's about 10 km drive (maybe more?) after Simpang Pulai toll. Entrance is RM4 for adults, children below 6 is FOC. Cannot miss it as it's just one straight road ahead after big signboard mentioning Kellie's Castle. Found out later Gua Tempurung is also nearby if we had time to visit. Maybe next time.

We had 老黄芽菜鸡 for dinner at Ipoh. Surprise that both children like it, when they didn't during their previous visit. Taste buds change, for sure.

Our thoughts and experience
Our trip to Cameron Highlands was planned 3 months earlier. Still we had to miss ballet lesson in addition to extra music classes in preparation of JMC graduation concert. But it was worth it to travel during not-so-peak period. The restaurants were not packed, neither was the local attractions. According to 爸爸, Cameron is just one main road, if you don't venture off you will arrive at the major towns like Brinchang and Tanah Rata. He is very nice la, bring us to all the places no matter how far. Most people will say there is nothing at Cameron, depends on what the expectation is. We enjoyed the relaxing trip, except when it rained rather heavily on our last day there. Of course, don't come looking for night life :D The weather during this time is between 18-20 degree C, and a little rainy, but didn't stop us from enjoying the main attractions. 姐姐 was cold most of the time as her clothes are the summery type, but 弟弟 totally enjoyed the cool weather. Unfortunately it was not only cold, it was damp as well. One thing 姐姐 is busy flicking away flies everywhere we go.

Our apartment didn't have any microwave for us to heat food... sigh. The flooring is too cold and we forgot to bring bedroom slippers. Ended up buying more slippers from night market to prevent walking on cold floor. The cleanliness level at EQ apartment could be improved, but no big complain since we didn't expect it to be spanking clean. Luckily they just refurbished the room, otherwise dare not think of its' cleanliness at all. No TV for the 3 days we were there as they are upgrading their system and it will be down for one month. There's just basic setup, nothing special at the apartment, although they really need to work on cleanliness. Nowhere near the apartments I stayed during US trip. Wish our local service apartments and hotels can be as clean.

View from the balcony