the weekend getaway

i had my reservations...
i had my worries...
i had my qualms...
but all those were squashed flat by the greatest weekend ever i had with me old friends

friday nite, after sending my bro to the lrt station, i continued my food preparation: marinating beef & chicken strips for our planned steamboat-grill
(bro's going for a snorkel in the sea, me going for a climb on the mountains)
then i continued preparing ingredients for fried rice for tomorrow's breakfast
packed my bags & then to sleep

woke up the next day at 5:35am
fried the rice
packed the foods
took a shower
called my friend whom i'm hitching the ride (they were just hitting the showers)
reached there around 8:30am
and off to the highlands we go!

there were 4 of us in the car (the fenari)
we met up our other 3 friends who are going in another car (the getz) at the hanging restaurant R&R
since we were already late, the getz already had their breakfast there
the fenaris (excluding me) already had breakfast at home
but i wasnt hungry after frying 2 woks of rice *lol*
our driver panicked a while at one point on the highway
she was on the fast lane, when she saw headlights from a convoy of ninjas
she wanted to switch to the left, but she saw from the rearview window the guys were holding out their left hands
she thought they were signalling her to go to the left
she got confused, coz the marshall up front signalled her to keep in her lane
which way to go? what is she to do? *lol*
my dear, the ninjas were actually signalling the ninjas behind to turn left...not for you to turn left..that's bikers' language hihihi
guess the ninjas saw her panicked expression
they all waved to the fenari occupants once the passed by us (auwww~so sweet of 'em)
wish MY ninja was here ;)

we reached the highlands at around noon
checked in to our rented apartment & had a quick lunch with breakfast's fried rice *lol*
the apartment belonged to a friend of a friend's uncle
3 bedrooms, useable kitchen, separate bath & toilet~not bad for RM200 a nite
on the 3rd floor itself, it was quite cold..it brought back nostalgia of winter in aotearoa
hahaha i had to wear socks & jackets inside the house
the water was freezing cold...luckily there was a water heater in the shower
we had to re-live sleeping in a foetal position with a thick duvet & waking up to sore knees & a backache hahaha
we had afternoon tea at the tea plantation farm, taking in the scenic view of the green hillside
we went to the night market, browsing, my friends shopping
i didnt have any budget for plant shopping this time, coz i'll be spending them on veges
i was excited to find they had baby kailans on sale (last time i went, i didnt see any)
we went back to the apartment and had our steamboat session
finally....food glorious food
we talked about nothing else but food for the whole of our trip *lol*
any topic brought up would end up with a discussion about food ;)
we had tomyam soup with lots of balls & fresh veges..yumm yumm
tired from our food fest,
we all slept like babies..all comfortably curled up inside our warm duvets

the next morning was photo-shoot session
we visited an agro research site, where we were greeted with the beautiful tulips greeting us in the sunshine (shaded under the greenhouse, of course)

aren't they pretty?

we stole shots at the old smokehouse, getting a taste of old english country charm
we stopped by the lakeside mansion, comparing between the english country views
we followed the trail to the bee farm, tasting some honeys (i didnt coz i only take kiwi honey hahaha)
we walked in the rain to the fresh produce market, looking for the best bargain for our vege shopping
i finally had my taste of jagung mutiara bakar...it was ABSOLUTELY yummy! good for digestion, too, as proven by the instant churning of my stomach & the desperate need to get to the toilet hahahahaha..luckily we've reached the end of our journey & was headed home already
we watched in awe as the view outside became grey & fuzzy as the mists moved through the hills (i was reminded of King's short story~The Mist..thank heavens that's only in the storybooks)
after a simple dinner of leftover soup & KFC, we headed to a hotel for a karaoke session
we screamed our lungs off and hollered our stress off..yup yup..DEFINITELY was LOADS of fun
we finished the nite with a steaming cup of coffee & hot chocolates at Starbucks
i even thought one of the getz-er drank half of my coffee..found out that the foam from my capuccino had dissolved..guess the cold weather made the reaction faster than normal
exhausted, we once again curled up in our warm duvets & had a good nite's sleep (not counting the few times i woke up, took off my socks & visited the loo)

the next day was bye2 to the highlands
we checked out around noon after a heavy breakfast
we braved the rain (again) for our final shopping session
i spent for a month's supply of vegies *lol*
i was tempted to buy meself some fresh flowers (tuberoses were in season), but i had to pass
next time, me beauties...next time...

it was a weekend well spent
made the more fun because of the company i was in ("company" as in FRIENDS, hokey, not "employment entity")
once again, we were young and 18 and enjoying our lovely youth

back to the real world
wish dot-dot was here to massage my poor, aching calves hahahahha