Cameron Highland's trip with Highschool friends

What seem to be thoughts, came to reality 2 days ago.
On the 11th-12th of December 2006, we had our post-highschool trip with 9 people who cleared that schedule to be together.
People whom were present:-

1. ME
2. Mei Ling
3. Mel
4. Sarah
5. Dai
6. Karmun
7. Kiranjit
8. Yeesan
9. Jacqueline

So, at 8 on a Monday morning, when all the adult were waking up for work, the 9 of us, gathered in Kinta Bus station, to depart. I, nonetheless, was the first to arrive at 7.45 a.m., when Meiling was about to leave her place. Jacqueline arrived second, while some of them went to the wrong place. Mei Ling spreaded the word that we should wait in Medan Kit, while me being the smart one knew exactly the place we should wait. However, everyone arrived on time, just before the bus set out, and we embarked on our little journey to Cameron Highlands.

Halfway through, before we even reached MGS, the driver told us that something is wrong with the bus. "Itu brek sudah ikat."-that was what we were told. You should see the bus crawling on a flat road surface at less than 10 km/hr, and Karmun made a statement that even after the traffic light has turned red, the bus will yet to have crossed the road. Right now, the 9 of us were getting worried. How can the bus even go right up to Cameron Highlands at the rate it's moving? It might even slide down the hill! So, we tried reasoning with the driver, telling him to tell his boss to change a new bus. There were a few other passengers, probably amused and annoyed with the hoo-hah that 9 of us created. The driver kept assuring us that it's safe in the bus, only that we would be arriving late in Cameron's. What?! We don't want to arrive late in Cameron's which is the reason why we took an early bus..and now he's telling us that??! So, he dropped us somewhere in Simpang Pulai in one of the offices to call his boss. But his boss was such a mean-ass, hung up on Meiling who tried to explain the situation to him. We continued our journey, trying to figure out a solution to the problem.
We did manage to reach the highway to Cameron's and the bus had a hard time to go up a slope. A small slope and it's already crawling. So, the driver stopped the bus aside, and we had to wait for 45 minutes for another bus to come take us.
The journey continued, and some of us did take some shut-eyes, due to tiredness. Kiranjit and Dai were busy updating one another, talking loudly in the bus. We were probably dominating the whole bus, considering we talked so loudly, and people were probably laughing silently, at the things we talked about. We only arrived in Tanah Rata about 12 something.
The first thing everyone was searching would be the toilet whereas the both of us, Meiling and I, settled the bill and the tour around in Campus. We managed to find a van together with the driver, to drive us around, with a minimal fee of RM30. Our driver happened to be called 'Balu', an 18-year-old guy who's currently doing his A-levels in KTAR in Setapak. See how well I know him? That's because I sat with him throughout the whole journey. =)

We went for our first lunch in some cafe, with free WiFi. The food was not at all nice, and it was damn expensive. Nevertheless,everyone was so hungry that we gobbled down the food quickly and went to our apartment. Carnation Apartment, just a 5-minute drive from the town. Our apartment was located 5 storeys high, and everyone, except for me, complained about the flight of stairs. I was having no trouble because I do that for the past 4 months, daily. My hostel in UTP is even higher to begin with. Anyway, we chose our rooms, as soon as the door was opened. Karmun, Kiranjit, Dai and I took the Master bedroom, whereas Mel and Sarah took the second room and Jacq and Yeesan took the third room. There was only 2 bathrooms in the whole house. Meiling wasn't sure which room to choose, so she just dumped her stuffs in the master bedroom. We settled down, and went to the living room to tabulate the money. Then, poker cards were brought out and there we were, playing the first game: Chor Dai Dee. At the same time, the tv was on, and DOHA games were the 'in' channel. The aunty who rented us the apartment was kind enough to lend us her ASTRO card, so we were glued to the tv set the whole time. The van was supposed to pick us up 3 hours later, so we had loads of time to kill. Snacks were brought out, the 2 bottles of wine were put into the fridge and cards were taken out. We played all sorts of card games including Heart Attack, Chor Dai Dee and BlackJack. We had a small gambling session, using only RM0.10 for each round of bet. It was only me who was the banker all the time, with Meiling and Yeesan taking over at times. PLayed for a while, and everyone decided to take a short nap before going out that night. Alas, it was so difficult to sleep, being in a cold place and people who were talking ever so loudly, so I dropped the idea of resting and went to wash my face instead. We left the apartment at 5.30 to the pasar malam in Brinchang.

The pasar malam sold alot of things, ranging from food to souvenirs which would be nice to be given away. The usual price would be 3 for RM10 or 4 for RM10. Food were ample and I did indulge in a few. Like Honey dipped Strawberries on sticks. I had 4 sticks to be exact. The rest were shocked with what I ate, asking me to stop eating. And also, we saw this shirt with words like " Will work for sex ", cost RM10 each. I wanted to get one, but at the same time, I didn't feel like forking out a red-dollar note. I don't know, but I went for homemade ice-cream anyway. It took RM2 for 2 scoops, I had a rum-raisins and strawberry icecream, which was so rich in cream. Low Fat Cream. We indulge in food till we remember that we still have to keep room for our steamboat dinner. We walked slowly to the restuarant " O.K. Tuck! " when we saw a lot of people. We did stop by at some souvenir shop to look around, because we were still full with what we have eaten in the pasar malam.We only managed to grab our seats around 7.

We had a scrumptious meal, which cost us RM15 perhead. It was not a very nice steamboat dinner, only enough to satisfy us. Jacqueling didn't quite like it since she can only take fishballs, so...We however did like it, just for the company. We went back to our apartment early to resume our little chatting session. Everyone took their shower, when all of us sat down to watch "House" on AXN and after that NIP/Tuck. Cards were brought out again, together with the wine we bought. Yeesan forgot to bring the corkscrew so we had a real hard time taking out the cork. It took 4 people, taking out the corks. The white wine was not nice, but the red one was fruity. All of us had our drinks and then, everyone started feeling tipsy. Karmun's face went all red, and she didn't feel well. I kept refilling Mel's and Dai's glass. Dai took sips while Mel drank quite fast. Soon,everyone was feeling tipsy, and that was when we had our "TRUTH OR DARE" game with the spinning bottle. All secrets were let out. Those with questions were all answered. I even answered 2 myself. Man, and then, people were getting bored with questioning and answering, so cards were brought out again. This time, bets were raised, and we had an awesome game. Dai is now known as "Kaki Judi Hitam". =) She got pretty good now, probably can join us during Chinese New Year now.

We retired rather early, about 2 that night as we have an early day the next day. Mel and Sarah took the living room and Meiling took the sofa. The 4 of us, went back to our room, cam-whore a little with the mirror and started to talk alil. Dai was afraid of the dark, kept asking us to switch on the lights. We all woke up at 8 the next day. Our tour starts at 8.30 a.m. where we had our breakfast in some Indian restaurant. The food is cheap compared to Jarum Emas back in Tronoh, ok? The first stop was in Rose Garden. No one wanted to enter the place due to the entrance fee of RM4. So Balu (our driver) had to take us to the 2nd place which was the Rajoo Strawberry farm. We spend more time in the shop eating strawberries than visiting the farm. I bought myself a big packet of strawberries with honey, with RM6 and I satisfied myself. So, now, I am sick of them already.

Among the places we visited were the Honey Bee farm, the market, the butterfly farm, the Boh tea factory. Only 5 of us went inside the Butterfly farm because the entrance fee was RM5 and I didn't regret a single cent. The things we saw was mesmerizing. And of course, we kept thinking pictures. We do love posing, especially Yeesan, whom we reckoned couldn't live without her camera. We did take alot of pictures together, and we posed alot too. Pictures are available everywhere in the internet.

All in all, we had a marvellous time together, updating one another about what's happening in our lives. Because we are now distributed all around the globe, this trip served its purpose by putting us together, and to share what we have learned. I was the centre of "attention" in this trip, being made fun by people who ganged up on me. But I know, you guys love me too much, to let me off the hook. I thank you people for that. I shall not forget that Jacq made fun of my big ass during the trip, and everyone started to make fun of it too. Meiling had to remind me that I was fat, which didn't stop me from eating less during the trip. I shall not forget the things we talked about during the "heart-to-heart" cum spin the bottle session which I still remember till today. People who are tipsy talks easily, and I am happy that they talked it out. I told them my private moments about MP too, whom they now know what's making it harder for me to let go.

We left Cameron Highland's at 3 pm, failing to bid Balu farewell. He was such a great and patient person to have brought us to places, and to stand the noise they created at the back of the van. Only reached Ipoh at about 5 pm. During the journey back, everyone fell into deep sleep, as we were all very tired. We bought alot of vegetables, flowers, corn and stuffs back to Ipoh.

I am looking forward to the next trip though. I know it's rather impossible as most of them will be leaving the country soon.
Even for this trip, it took alot of effort from all parties to come together at one time, to make this trip successful. It's sad to know that some have changed, and also some remains the same. But deep within, we are still the students of MGS, who were once mischievous, and also naughty in heart.