Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers
Lilypie - Personal pictureLilypie Kids Birthday tickers

Monday, June 22, 2015

Our first DIY self drive tour at Ipoh/Cameron Highlands (5D/4N) -- Day 1

This is a rather last minute trip for us this June... WL had this trip in his mind for sometime, but I was not really keen, especially when it involves a budget flight trip and especially when its a trip to our neighbouring country and a state which I am not familiar with... I had been trying to get a all-in trip quote from firefly for a start, but the quote was not very what we thought and the itinerary was not all we had in mind... WL had wanted to let the kids try a different mode of transport, the TRAIN, so we had requested for a quote for a 1 way trip by firefly (a propeller plane, which am not familiar with and seriously, I hated budget air... but but but... :(  ), was really expensive thinking we need to settle on our own in Ipoh and getting the train tickets on our expense too.  It did occur to me that if there is no mode of transport in Ipoh for our family of 5, it would be really difficult to move around, when Taxi and Bus are not a viable mode of transport in Malaysia. So, after much emailing and thinking and thinking and goggle-ing.... we decided on our FIRST DIY SELF-DRIVE trip to Ipoh cum Cameron Highlands... this will be totally dependant on my GPS app on my ipad!!! hooyaa....
 
Ok, we decided on the dates first, i.e 7 to 11 June, in which the kids will not have to miss any classes in school, except for 2 make up lessons for my Ashley's Chinese dancing and postpone their piano lesson on our day of return... and my dear hubby went to get the air tix from TigerAir to Ipoh direct and also the Train tix back from Ipoh to Singapore!!!  Yes, TRAIN all the way back from Ipoh to Singapore, which took 10 hours, train will leave Ipoh at 11:07 am and arrive at Woodlands causeway at 9:30pm!!!  And follow by our hotel research and finally booking of the 2 hotels for 2 nights each at The Copthorne @ Cameron Highlands and The WEIL hotel @ Ipoh...  And for mode of transport, I was the one doing the booking... a fuss-free booking thru Facebook Messenger!! Hahaha...  my smart hubby calculated the amount spent on our first DIY self-drive to be the same as the amount quote from Firefly which does not include a rented car for us for 5 days... so it's a steal??  At least we are able to move around for 5 days on our own with my GPS app on hand and enough Ringgit with no fixed timing and rushed itinerary to follow.... So, off we fly on 7 June!!! 
 
Kids on the travellator to our boarding gate at T2...
 
My 2 boys were sitting with me, see my busy baby insisting to do his 'reading' on board, he got a window seat and my Adwin got a aisle seat... Ok, as I mentioned, I hated budget air... and this is a really scary ride... my baby was telling how he had the scary feeling when the plane was doing his descending at Ipoh airport... and mind you, not one time he mentioned "whoa, mama, it's so scary!", but 3 times!!! hahaha....   
    
 
My girl and her daddy.... seating right behind us... 
Shot from my view of Ipoh before landing... 
 
Shot of the clouds from WL's view... 
 
A quick shot of our flight and our short walk over to the Ipoh custom...
 
I had arranged for our rented car to be collected at the Ipoh airport, so after paying we were on our way up to Cameron Highlands... which was about 2 hours drive up hill...  By the time we reached the hotel for check it, it was about 6pm...
 
And here's the view from our room's balcony... misty and cooling...
 
We decided to dine at the restaurant at our hotel lobby, something kids would enjoyed after a long trip from Singapore and have an early and good night's rest for a full day here the next day.... But the dinner was really expensive, RM190 for a really simple meal... all considering having local foods... my baby had his kids spaghetti fix, I had a hor fun, my girl had char kway teow and a curry dish for my curry lover son and a grilled chicken for WL...
    
 
 
After our dinner, we decided to just take a stroll in this cool weather around our hotel... Can you see the temperature reading behind us?? 18 deg!!!  A huge air con around the highlands!! Hahaha.. My Ashley asked, mama, how did they maintain this temperature outdoors??!!... Hahaha.. She must be wondering where is this huge giant air-con!!!
 
 
And we found a grocery store just about 5mins walk from the hotel, and tons of people or tourist were inside grabbing drinks and snacks!! And see this cute strawberry stools and table!!!
   
 
This ends our Day 1 for our trip!!! :) 

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