Tony's home leave: Penang, Cameron Highlands and etc

Omg. This blogpost is WAAAAAAYYY overdue.

So Tony came back for Home Leave from 15th June to 28th June. And it was very packed because Penang was 17-20 June and then Cameron Highlands was 21-24 June and then after that was Staycation 25-26 June. So.. super packed and busy.

Anyway so he came back on 15th and luckily I didn't have much work to do, brought my laptop out but no work, yays!! Met him at the airport and then went off home with him taking 858.

After that was doing collect the car he rented at Yishun, and off to do stuff. I don't remember where we went actually. I remember we were supposed to go Plaza Sing to repair his phone but not sure whether we went on that day or another.

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16 June: Shuffle

We went to Shuffle with AM and SY and I was really pissed. I had some work to do and also needed to pack for Penang trip so I went home while he went to do his stuff. Make specs and etc I think. Anyway so because already settled beforehand that he was gonna fetch AM from work and then drive to Shuffle (supposedly with me but I had work so I split off). So I was gonna go Shuffle alone. No issues with that. Except I asked him whether it was at 8pm and he said yes, so I prepared and went out. When I was at Dhoby I asked him whether he fetched AM already because I didn't wanna reach Shuffle first and wait around etc. And he told me he just left Plaza Sing.

I WAS SO PISSED. He knows I go Clarke Quay need to go through Dhoby (which is where PS is at what), he went to PS to collect his repaired phone couldn't he have the basic decency to ASK ME MY LOCATION TO SEE IF I WAS NEARBY AND HE COULD WAIT FOR ME? No, he fucking rushed to PS to collect his phone and rushed off.

I was already pissed and then I went to Clarke Quay. Reached downstairs of Shuffle and asked him where he was, and he said he haven't fetch AM yet. I was feeling pissed already and this made my blood boil. It was already past 8pm. And then he said I thought I told you its 9pm? WTF. (To be fair I think the day before he did tell me 9pm. But I forgot. But when I asked him on the day itself, whether it is 8pm, he said yes). Stood outside Shuffle for about 45mins just boiling. Really every minute my blood boil hotter. When he finally came I totally refused to talk to him or let him coax me to not be angry. I think AM was alittle taken aback. But anyway eventually after SY reached, also all talk. But really was pissed.

Anyway after that we went tauhuey at Jalan Kayu there, and JT came to meet us too. After that was send AM home, and SY stayed over at her house, and then us home too. I think Tony stayed over.

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17-20 June: Penang

Took a flight to Penang, and I'm not gonna describe every day one by one but rather as a whole. Penang isn't TOTALLY my cup of tea to be honest. AM on the other hand loved it and declared that she would totally be back again. Tony likes it too, he would la the food was good. I liked the food too. Alot of choices, we didn't even finish all the food places he planned and he was sooooo upset he didn't get to try Penang Chendol.

I found the assam laksa really yummy! Not too spicy and it was sour-ish, SUPER YUMS!! Wished I had the chance to eat there another time before we came back, really liked it! Oh and did I mention. Once I touched down my throat hurt and I couldn't stop sneezing. And I'm sick till now btw. Wth right.

And once I reached Penang I'm sick. My sore throat got progressively worse as the day went by so I asked Tony to help me buy Panadol when he went to guardian. Dunno what else he went to buy because initially HE wanted to go guardian. Anyway, damn suay. I brought my little bag of medicine but I didn't bring the important ones, like FLU, COUGH and SORETHROAT meds. FML right.

Luckily Tony had flu meds so I ate his flu meds and Panadol. Didn't exactly get better but didn't worsen any more so I guess it is a good thing already.

We AirBnB-ed the place, a condo which was really beautiful(: There were quite afew beds so enough for about 6people!

But we only got 3. Even got an upstairs, master bedroom was upstairs with a larger toilet. Downstairs one was tiny.

But I slept downstairs with AM. There were 2 single beds in the 'living room' and because AM watched conjuring 2 she was kinda scared and she said she doesn't mind if we sleep in the master bedroom but hope we don't mind if she carry the mattress up and sleep on the floor. Of course I said don't crazy we all sleep downstairs and tried to force Tony to sleep with me on the single bed BUT he keep looking at the king bed upstairs and he promised ok 1 night sleep downstairs. And he went up to sleep. Haha. He was like GOT SUCH A BIG BED UPSTAIRS U ASK ME SQUEEZE WITH YOU ON A TINY SINGLE BED? Anyway I was sick so might have been a good thing we didn't share a bed otherwise later he also sick. (And the whole trip he only slept downstairs ONCE. And not even with me. It was the last night and he slept about an hour on my bed because we played cards and drank till late, and did packing. So I didn't sleep).

Penang has alot of phototaking places. The wall murals, the museums (I enjoyed the Upside Down Museum tho.) and etc. Visited a temple too.

Visited the swimming pool at the condo and major regret. I dunno why the hell the wind so damn strong (actually I know la, it was near the sea, so confirm windy) AND THE WATER WAS ICY COLD. I swear I was shivering the whole time in the water. AM can attest to that, she laughed at my goosebumps. She say move around then won't so cold. I move I got even colder. My theory is I alr warmed the water around me, I move I am touching new water which is cold! Anyway eventually I went out and suntan. Tony and AM concluded that the water is cold but not as cold as I made it out to be, therefore concluding that I felt that way because I was sick. Which I was really damn sick during that trip.
Also visited the gym for a 3km jog(: Nothing fast and almost died, but at least I exercised. (:

Went cafe hopping too! Not exactly la. Went just afew cafes. Had the most awesome churros I ever ate at a cafe called The Alley. We almost missed it because the top of the cafe had some chinese words. We only saw it by chance. We were walking towards The Alley (which we thought was a distance away) and then passed by a 'random cafe' and AM decided to look at the chalkboard Menu because kaypoh and then SHE REALISED IT WAS THE ALLEY. Damn heng! Best churros!

The first cafe we went was called piknik and I love the atmosphere. Very relaxing. But seriously their pistachio cheesecake last warning. TAKE OUT THE PISTACHIO WORD. NO PISTACHIO TASTE DE!! Was very meh. But the atmosphere full marks!(:

Don't remember much, all in all not exactly my type. I mean I enjoyed the food, but my idea of a holiday involves something like hiking or some kinda sports. Or water sports. Haha. Of course I love relaxing as well. But at least 1 day do something adventurous. But anyway I got it in Cameron, so no complains!

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20-24 June: Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands was pretty awesome!! We drove up (again, as usual) and it was really absolutely great to have the convenience of driving because in Cameron Highlands itself basically you gotta drive everywhere. We stayed in the town which had less attractions so we often drove from out town to the other main town.

While driving up, normally I am really the typical sleep in the car. Once my buttock hits the seat and the car starts moving my eyelids start to close. But I really tried to keep awake because this time round noone else to talk to Tony when he drives. Otherwise in Penang usually I sit behind and sleep. Also, because I am sick. HAHAHAHA nola. Either way whether sick or not, I always feel sleepy in car rides.

Anyway, halfway up to Cameron we stopped at the waterfall again to take pictures. Actually the last time we went Cameron we already took pictures. It was also where AM dropped her new polaroid camera ._.

Anyway! After a brief rest continued up and into Cameron Highlands!! Super major love the weather!!

After checking in went for dinner and check for adventure tour because I DESPERATELY WANTED TO GO HIKING. Also, Tony wanted to go up to the peak which meant need the 4 wheel drive vehicle to bring us because the last time we tried going up and it was so steep we were alittle afraid to drive up ourselves.

So we found a travel agency (?) right beside the Starbucks and found the best day tour which fit our criteria! Mainly was the 4 wheel drive up and the hiking I guess. But they also brought us to the BOH tea plantation so we didn't need to drive up ourselves. The tour we booked was for our 3rd day at Cameron.

On our 2nd day we decided to clear all the places which are not covered in the tour, so we went to pluck strawberries and bee farm etc. The pluck strawberries is totally cheat money one lor. Not that plucking the strawberries are very expensive. But the strawberries on the plants are all not very ripe and tiny? But the ones they sell are huge and a lovely shade of red!! Looked so delicious!! So we bought waffles with strawberry jam I think, to eat there. After that we went to a market as well and the strawberries were ALL SO BEAUTIFUL. Made us totally upset and regret plucking our own strawberries. Nonetheless the experience is still fun. Though this is my 3rd time plucking strawberries already. HAHAHA. STILL FUN THOUGH. Because we had a box of strawberries we couldn't buy the absolutely beautifully red strawberries at the market so we ate alot of fried mushrooms. Which were yummy but cold :( They fry beforehand so by the time we buy they were cold.

We also went to another tea plantation to buy tea because Tony wanted something other than BOH tea because he said BOH tea ships to Singapore and Brunei so he don't want. He want something more special and only bought in Cameron. So okay. Hahaha

We also went to the Lavender Farm, looked at flowers and strawberries. But main thing, we ate again. We really go every tourist spot also eat. To be fair the tea eggs looked and tasted fantastic! Once we exited the Farm we bought fried vegetables and coconut drink. Oh goodness. We really didn't stop eating at all because even in the car we were eating.

Then we went off to the Bee Farm to buy my HONEY! I love honey. Walked around and saw the bees in the garden (?) and then went to buy our honey.

Don't remember what else we did on the 2nd day.

3rd day!! My favourite!! Early morning went out and the vehicle which came to pick us up was just totally badass! So country, cowboy-ish!

Anyway they brought us first to hiking! And it wasn't in Cameron. We travelled quite a long time down, and it wasn't cold anymore. But because hiking all around is trees ma so it was cooling. Luckily.

The hiking was really my favourite part of the tour. It was to see the Rafflesia flower but to be honest I didn't care much about the flower. Nonetheless it was worth it to see the flower after our long hike in the forest. If the flower died already I think I better go flip table. Actually no la. I enjoyed the hiking and climbing SO MUCH that no flower I also contented. What I really liked was that my shoes after that were dirty and it totally gave me a sense of satisfaction!! Initially when I stepped into mud I was so upset because new shoes you know. My UA shoes were just bought last Dec and already I stepped into mud quite afew times in this pair of shoes!! But after that, looking at my shoes just made me feel that I did hiking which is not just walking in a forest trail but involved climbing up and down and it made me happy(: Definitely not as jialat as Tony's shoes tho. His shoes totally changed colour ._. During the hike I felt totally no ache so after the hike I was so proud of myself and told Tony I'm not aching at all!! Totally regret because the next day every single movement, EVEN WALKING, caused me to ache all over.

Another thing I loved about the hike was there were 2 dogs with us!! I totally love the one called Milo. And it kept running behind me for quite awhile too! Super happy!! Even when I move to let it go first because the lane is very narrow and I thought it might wanna run infront, it would just stay behind me. I totally feel like it is my guardian angel like that, making sure I don't slip. Hahahaha. On our way back it disappeared tho-.- Think it ran with its owner behind because on our way back our group got alittle stretched out with one guide taking us infront and another guide waiting for some at the back.

Finally reached back to the vehicles and tried blowpipe hunting. Pretty fun though I had to try like 3 times before successfully hitting the board.

Then it was off for lunch and then BOH tea plantation where Tony in the end still decided to buy more tea and then we had a drink each while we just sat and enjoyed the scenery and the weather for awhile. Off to the top of Cameron Highlands after that!! Sat behind with other tourists, and it was totally great to hear them talk. Like they were doing backpacking and one of them was going Thailand the next day!! Totally awesome. They were really well travelled and often went backpacking, so jealous!! Tony sat infront because he wanted to see the view of the road while going up. He was so excited about it!

After an extremely bumpy but exciting ride up, we finally reached the top. After climbing up a structure to get the best view, we went alittle down to walk the mossy forest to find the pitcher plant. Tony found one and kept insisting the one he saw was tiny and wanted to find another bigger one while I just enjoyed the walk through the forest. By that time our group kinda gelled together so we were walking together. Went back when time was up.

Then after that was back to hotel were we rested abit before going out for dinner. OMG HOW COULD I FORGET TO MENTION THE AWESOME ICECREAM WE HAD AT CAMERON. I ate it twice. HAHAHAHA. First time was on first day I think. I saw someone eating icecream (the cornetto type) and totally had craving for icecream so I was looking for the same type. Finally found a mama shop selling those type AND REALISED THEY HAD THEIR HOMEMADE ICECREAM! Obviously anything homemade grabs my attention so I had the yam icecream while Tony chose Matcha. Both were super awesome!! So on the 3rd day after dinner I insisted we HADTA go eat it again!! This time double scoop. Haha.

Then Tony bought a scrub because he wanted to wash our sports shoes. And I stood outside eating my icecream because he finished his but I was still eating mine.

Back to hotel, bathed and then Tony shut himself in the toilet and scrubbed at our shoes. Took him a really long time but the shoes were totally clean after that!! That really touched me because he did it without complaining and he made sure the shoes were totally clean. AND ALSO by that time the heater was off!! (The hotel turns off the heater after 11pm. Wtf right) So the water was freezing cold and he was washing the shoes in the bathtub with the freezing cold water. I really dunno how he tahan because when I wash hand I am already screaming. All the time. HAHAHAHAHA

Oh and for all the dinners at Cameron, more than half were steamboat. And they were really yummy!! Their vegetables are super fresh and sweet!! Totally enjoyed it!! Especially with the cold weather, steamboat is totally great!! Only gripe is that their chilli lose out abit. But to be fair they had the normal chilli but vegetarian one not nice in some places.

Going back was really sad. Really didn't wanna leave Cameron plus knowing that going back meant that Tony was gonna go back Brunei soon. So was quite down about it.

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Well I don't remember what else we did so.. thats all for now! Thats all for this super late post.