Cameron Highlands: The hills are alive!

The hills are alive with the sound of music

With songs they have sung for a thousand years

The hills fill my heart with the sound of music

My heart wants to sing every song it hears

(The Sound of Music)

History corner:

Cameron Highlands was founded by William Cameron, a British colonial government surveyor, in 1885. He traveled by elephants with his companion Riau to explore the Titiwangsa Range.  Cameron Highlands grew famous when British planters realized the potential of the fertile mountain slopes for growing tea. Today, it is Malaysia's largest tea-producing region.  

April 2016 I made a trip to Cameron Highlands (for work) after so many years of missing it. I don't even remember when was the last time I was there, maybe around 5 or 6 years old. It was amazing seeing the changes and progress. So businesslike nowadays. Little hotels mushroomed at every corner. Stalls all over the place, selling souvenirs and knick knacks. And oh.... the night market was a blast.

Paid a visit to one of the nurseries. Little, medium, chubby cactus for sale.

Peach colored flowers are indicative of gratitude and thankfulness. It means that the affection you seek to express is genuine warmth and appreciation.

Was fascinated with this little door on the wall. It was drizzling when I shot this; the rain didn't worry me a bit. Gotta have this shot. So King Arthur-ish!

Ferns. Beautiful greens. I was hoping that no snakes would jump out of this. I had my face against this green carpet a few times!

Plants and flowers galore....

Gerberas to your fancy. These flowers I love. Big hearts. Rich colors. A pure joy to photograph.

You are the blood in my veins and the beating of my heart. You are my first waking thought and my last sigh before sleeping. You are - bone of my bone and breath of my breath. (Daughter of the Forest)

Hairy balls milkweed...hahaha (certainly make me laughed out loud when I spotted them!) ... fascinating plant. I believe these are butterflies' best friends. I wonder what the butterflies see in them?

Grilled corn on the cobs. Super duper sweet and yummy. Sold in the markets.

Morning Glory is the best name. It always refreshes me to see it. (Henry David Thoreau)

Purple star petunias. Bravo! Looks like it is carrying a star right in the middle of its heart.

Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell

It fell upon a little western flower

Before milk white, now purple with love's wound

And maidens call it love-in-idleness

(A Midsummer Night's Dream)

A gazillion petunias smiling back at you in the cool Cameron weather.

Feeling in the pink???

What a beautiful mess!

A visit to the Strawberry Farm and ended up being a glutton. Strawberry jam, strawberries and cream on waffle. Strawberry sundae. Strawberries and cream. Strawberry coffee. You name it, they've got it!

Roses in bouquets, sold in the market. White roses are my favorite. But so are red and yellow and purple and blue...hehehe!

The BOH Plantation. What a grand view - scenic, tranquil, and fresh air.  Founded in 1929 by J. A. Russel, a British businessman.

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is actually a tree rather than a bush as popularly regarded by many people. In Cameron Highlands, black tea is the most popular variety, followed by Oolong and Green Tea.

White turnips for sale!

The cordiality of Cameron Highlands will always be in my heart; coolness of air, serenity of the tea gardens, the emotions of life, and the lust for desserts!  It was a good reunion for me. Now I have newer contemporary picture of Cameron in my mind, one that would stay for a longer period of time I hope. With a grateful heart, I managed to seize precious moments to photograph some memorable live sketches of flora; a fancy of mine since forever.  Thank you Cameron for my new memories and experiences. I will be back!

Fire Monkey 2016

Gong Xi Fa Cai and a Happy Chinese New Year to all. May this Fire Monkey year be an adventurous one to all and I wish you a great year ahead. This blog entry's photos are a collection of Chinese New Year decorations from some malls in Kuala Lumpur.  I adore the effort of people prettifying the malls for a festival in our multicultural society. It shows respect and fantastical motivation. With that, I see a lively optimistic and progressive year ahead for all.

I will also be filling this entry with Chinese proverbs and will leave them up to you to ponder, vision and use for your life. I trust that everyone sees and understand things differently, coming from your very own rich background of culture and traditions. May you be filled with infnite streams of abundance that lives within and around you.

To have principles, first must have courage.

By nature, men are nearly alike; By practice, they get to be wide apart.

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.

If you bow at all, bow low.

Kindness is the best quality of the soul.

Force tells weak from strong for a moment; Truth tells right from wrong all the time.

If you always give, you will always have.

Fight poison with poison.

If you hurry through long days, you will hurry through short years.

Time is money. It is difficult to use money to get time.

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.

You can't prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.

Failure is the mother of success.

If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it!

Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.

Quarreling is like cutting water with a sword.

Reading ten thousand books is not as useful as travelling ten thousand miles.

The miracle is not to fly in the air or to walk on the water; it is to walk on earth.

If you are planning for a year, sow rice. If you are planning for a decade, plant trees. But if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

With love and fire blessings,

Jo

I miss you

This road trip was by 3 girlfriends, 2 years ago. Today, I miss all of you. I miss my girls. I miss home. I miss the cool air. I miss the beautiful flowers. I miss the laughter. I miss the pigging out. I miss it all. One day... we will have ourselves another road trip.

Kathleen and Nicole...and oh there's me too!

Nicole and I - Kundasang War Memorial. Established in 1962 to commemorate the brave Australian and British prisoners of war who died in Sandakan and during the infamous death marches to Ranau during World War II. The memorial is made up of 4 gardens - the Australian Garden, the British Garden, the Borneo Garden, and the Contemplation of Garden and Pool. Most of the flower pictures in this blog entry were taken in this memorial.

We decided to take a road trip to Kundasang one Monday. It would be quieter. It would be just us and nature. It would be a relaxing trip for us.  And, we needed that break. Less people around. Less noise. Less pollution....LOL.

The flowers were beautiful. The leaves looked fresh. The trees seemed richer. There were only us who disturbed them with our cameras! I had all the time in the world to photography them and it was plain luxury. I hope you enjoy them just as much as I did....but nothing beats enjoying them upfront and personal.

Missing someone is a part of loving them.

Thoughts of you are always in my heart

I miss you like stars miss the sun in the morning skies.

Missing you in all paths of my life.

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends and family at a distance. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

It is never the same without you girls.

Thank God for WhatsApp!!!!!!!!!!

Days always seemed crazier with you girls around!

I can only imagine when we see each other again.... EARTHQUAKE!!!

I wish you well a thousand times each day in my heart.

Life is beautiful yet strange. People we love, we can't keep forever. Somehow, some way, we have to let go. We have our own paths to follow. We have our dreams to achieve. We only have to keep each other in our hearts and remember the good ole times. Thankful and grateful for those good ole memories. But, always with a hope and prayer, that one day we will surely meet again. Maybe once...maybe more...but until that moment, life goes on. Most importantly, people whom we love are happy and well. For I know when they love life, life will love them back.