Cameron Highlands (29-30 May 2016)

We continued our journey from Ipoh to Cameron Highland via the Simpang Pulai exit. Took us about 1.5 hours to reach the top. Weather was good, not to hot and not to cold. Since we arrived in Cameron early, we made a few stops before checking in the hotel

First Stop : Lavender Hill

There's another Lavender Garden further up the hill which is bigger and famous. We opted for this because there's less people = more parking :) They also offer free entry, which is a plus. The park is not big but it is more than enough to amused my children. There's paddle boat ride, rabbits and ducks on exhibition. Fruits and vegetables are also on sale. You can also buy homemade ice cream in the park which was quite tasty. They even had lavender flavored ones which we didn't try because we were too chicken :p

Second Stop : Cactus Point

After Lavender Hill, we continued our journey up the highlands. It was barely 1pm at the time so we decided that we should make another stop and explore. We stopped by cactus point to look at the cactus. If you love plants as much as I do, this is a must go. There's plenty of selection for cactus, flowers and edible plants on sale.  We bought some munchies and cactus to bring home.

Third Stop : 3D Art Museum, Cameron Square

We received free tickets from the hotel to visit the 3D museum in the same building. The kids had a lot of fun and since there wasn't a lot of people around, we managed to spend quite some time taking fun photos together.

Fourth Stop : Pasar Malam Brinchang

Bored of restaurant food, my mum decided that we should go food hunting at the pasar malam for dinner. Gosh there's a huge selection of fresh fruits and vegetables and plenty of yummy fried snacks :) My comot girls enjoyed the chocolate covered marshmallow and refused to eat the strawberries. We (read I) went a bit nuts buying the cute animal hats for the kids, which Iman and Ryan refused to wear :p It was quite cold but the kids was too excited running around it didn't even bother them much.

Fifth Stop : Strawberry Farm, Brinchang

A trip to Cameron Highlands will not be completed without making a stop at the strawberry farm for some strawberry picking activities. There's plenty of farms to choose from, just our luck that we choose the most "hilly" one. Try negotiating steep hills, with 3 little kids while wearing wedges. Thank god no one was hurt haha. It is a new experience for the kids, though they got a bit annoyed that they did not manage to pick fat strawberries like the ones they see in books.

Final Stop : Cameron Valley Tea Plantation 

Another must go when you're in Cameron is its tea plantations. My dad did not want to drive up to the Boh plantation so we settled for Cameron Valley. Oh well, tea leaf is tea leaf, right. Iman was asleep so we took turns going down to buy tea and take pictures. Ryan and Ranya was already tired by now and was not at all appreciative of their surroundings. So we got them some scones and cakes and headed home.

Alhamdullilah it was a good trip and I was thankful that we managed to spend time with my parents and the children.

Nova Highlands Resort and Residence, Cameron Highlands (29-30 May 2016)

We chose Nova Highlands Resort because of the good reviews given on Booking.com. The location is great as it situated on top of a small mall with a few restaurants like Teh Tarik Place, a mamak shop and a bakery. For entertainment there's an indoor playground and a 3D Art Museum (for which we received 4 free tickets). There's also some stalls selling fruits/flowers and vegetables across the road, Watsons and shops selling jackets/clothing items nearby. The pasar sayur is also nearby and within a walking distance. The famous pasar malam in Brinchang is also just about 15 minutes drive away

The hotel is quite new, plenty of indoor parking space. Checking in was a breeze and the service was quite fast. The staff is also quite friendly and chatty. 

We booked the 2 bedroom apartment for one night. The space consist of a small kitchenette, living room, one bathroom and 2 bedrooms. I find the space to be adequate to fit 7 people. The living room is quite big but the bedrooms are quite small. My issues was with the sliding glass door they use which I find to be pretty impractical and quite dangerous for small children. Other than that I have no other issue with rooms. 

 View from our the room is pretty nice, breakfast is not bad but with limited selection.

To me the best thing about this hotel is its location. There's a lot of attractions nearby and some within a walking distance so you don't have to drive and fight for parking so much. All in all I rate the room at 7/10.