Tanah Rata: Day 1

I had initially planned on going for a cheap morning tour of the highlands today but I instead opted for a lazy morning, exploring the bustling main road of Tanah Rata. Breakfast was an order of Marsala Thossai (an Indian crepe stuffed with curry, then dipped in more curry), washed down with a Milo ais (like hot chocolate with ice) as recommended by my uncle just before I left. The curries in the Cameron Highlands are quite renowned because of the large Indian population here. Many were brought in as labourers for the surrounding tea plantations during the British occupation.

I took a few snapshots of the town for posterity - and to keep you all from falling asleep.

The town of Tanah Rata:


Perpetuating the Asian stereotype. Thanks, buddy:


The town’s main road is only a couple of blocks so it didn’t take too long to drink it all in. At about 11 o’clock, I decided to take my chances with the neighbouring village of Brinchang, which is a 5 minute bus ride away. The Lonely Planet pegs the Cameron Highlands as the place where buses go to die. They weren’t wrong. The rickety bus was coming apart at the seams and I could feel the side panel popping out a bit at every curve.

In case of emergency - you're boned:

My seat had this interesting piece of graffiti:

What makes this particularly interesting is that the first couple of characters spell out my Chinese name. I’m dying to know why I’m firing dotted lines out of my pud (I have a pretty good idea but whoever did this wrote quite a commentary on it). I think the artist got caught while writing his second point. Translations please?

As a side note, what you see above is not actually my real name, though it’s stated on my birth certificate as such. The person who penned in my name wasn’t Chinese and went with a different phonetic spelling. My real (but not legal) name translates to “one who has attained enlightenment/wisdom.” My birth cert name literally translates to “little intelligence.” I use the birth cert one because it’s easier to write. Did I prove them correct?

My first stop in Brinchang was the Sam Poh Buddhist Temple, fifteen minutes off the main road by foot. The closer I got to my destination, the clearer the Buddhist chanting became. I was expecting a place of peaceful contemplation. Instead, I was greeted by gift stalls and a bunch of tourists. The chanting was for show and had stopped by the time I got there.


I don't recall reading of Buddha doing this:

Worst super heroes evar:

Another long walk past the main road led me to Cactus Valley (another tourist trap), where they grow all sorts of flowers (which, I admit get boring after the first couple) and cactus plants.

Cactus plants grow in all sorts of shapes...:

Posterchild for Clearasil?: