we drove to Malacca and spent 1 night there, at the Equatorial_ Club rooms.

as always, the hotel service was wonderful, the food delicious, and the afternoon cocktail tea was a feast.  we took a nice long walk down the river and had a meal at a promenade cafe. hubby met us later for a trishaw ride. thek ids went alone in one (which scared me to deah!) whiled h and i shared another. the kids were sooooo excited. after that we took a walk through the new mall to do some window--shopping. kay cdnt keep her hands off he merchandise... a real little lady...

that nite ky slept on his own bed, and kay slept in a cot. she only got out once or twice for milk... so dh and i had a superkingsize bed all to ourselves.... until about 2am that is... when kay spilled half a bottle of water on my side of the bed! she wisely snuggled next to bal as i mopped up the mess_ leaving me to sleep damp on the bottom half.

we took a long drive to Cameron Highlands e next day and stayed at Century Pines for 2 nights. the hotel was a bit dark on the higher levels, so i chose a brighter room with a groundfloor garden, looking out to the front (though the back ones had a lot of privacy and backed on to the jungle, so wd have been even nicer. i loved the morning birdsong very much indeed.)

the room was quite spacious, like Equatorial, but the wooden furniture and flooring showed some scratches (which didnt bother me, but it did the hubby) the kids liked the sliding-door access to the patio and garden.  and again we had a bed and cot for the kids, with kingsize bed for us. 

the hotel was very clean and free of mould and damp, which is what i was after... (some others in the same loacale are not up to the same standard in this respect).  none-the-less, the overall impression is nothing too fancy...more of a business/ conference hotel. however, we did see a lot of small malaysian families though. 

the location to me is it's best asset. just outside the main carpark is a large playground with a range of swings and climbing equipment. what makes it special, is that the paths have been lined with an array of beautiful flowering shrubs and trees. next to this park is a large grassy field, separated by a little stream. there are cute bridges going over the water at different spots, with little wodden seats for u to rest and enjoy the sound of the birds, and the lilting water.

if u follow this stream up past the side of the hotel, it goes up through the trees and comes out at a little waterfall. my 6yr-old cd mange the walk fine, though my 3-yr-old had to be carried some bits where the terrain grew too muddy or steep. (wear long pants and comfy walking shoes. and take water and camera.) we went across the rope bridge which took us a little up the mountain along some steps and over some winding tree-roots. this path comes out at a bridge going over the waterfall... or up ito the mountains for the more intrepid hikers.

just outside of the hotel driveway is a whole row of sundry shops, cafe's and coffee-shop-type eateries. it's far enough away from the hotel for the traffic not to be heard, yet within a 5-10minute walk. further up this road is an open-air market square, which we didnt have time to visit.

we went to a tea plantation and enjoyed some tea and scones at the cafe. (be warned, the cream was not real cream though. it was some white atificial tasteless froth.and the toilets at these stops are rather grim...so get kids to go at the hotel)  at this tea plantation the view was pleasant however, and the breeze rather brisk. (bring yr jackets). we took a little hike down the hill... passing some wonderfully-scented pines. the kids ran most of the way... only taking one or two tumbles!  at the bottom was a little stream, (sadly with rubbish on its banks) .... but it gave us a beautiful vista up into the green-tea-covered hills. the kids were delighted when dh held on to them so they cd get a feel of the icy clear water.  the hike back was good excercise for the adults, but challenging for the little one. the elder one played in the dirt while waiting for us to catch up :)

alas we were not too impressed by the fruit and veg plantations that we passed.  i think we were expecting something like the open fields of the English countryside... but unfortunately all the produce was hidden under ugly white plasic sheeting which was used to make their 'greenhouses'. it was a real eyesore against the hillsides... especally when it covered big swahes of the once-geen land. we didnt even stop. the litter strewn alongside the roads was also much of a turn-off. it was probably this overall dissapointment which led us to leave Cameron 1 day early. (if i came back to these hills i think it wd be only to hike the trails with the kids when they are older. we wdnt visit the fruit and veg farms.)

so off we headed to Sunway Lagoon, Pyramid Hotel, for a 2-nite stay. the room was smaller than th rest and faced a wall. it was also the most expensive. there was no separate bath/shower/toilet. it was all combined, so a bit of a drag if the toilet was occupied. pillows were terribly soft and they had no more to provide us with. not quite value-for-money. the breakfast however was the best we'd had yet on our whole holiday... a wondeful spread of noodles, curries, rice, prata, omelettes, chinese pow, and all the usual hot and cold western fair. i really feel like they catered well to n international palate.

we arrived on a tues and unfortunately the theme park was closed. so we relaxed and explored the shopping mall alongside. we also found time for a movie, Kung Fu Panda... which the kids and i thoroughly enjoyed! then dh treated Ky to a game of ten-pin-bowling. kay tried her hand at it too, but actually had to use 2 hands to get the ball rolling.  they both say its something they'd like to do again...  it cost all of $2.50 (including shoe-hire for kynan... very good value!)

the next day at 11am we were almost 1st-in-line for our tickets, and only left ard 6pm. unfortunately they're very strict aboutt not allowing food and drinks in... not even water...so that was a damper rt at the start. once inside though, it was pretty quiet and we had a fab time in the various pools. dh joined us and later went back to the hotel when we went off to explore the animal park/petting zoo. there the highlight was a little show where the kids got to hold a real live large albino python.... much to my worryy and delight (esp for little kay who chose to follow her big bro... and ended up holding the wriggling head!!!)

trying to buy lunch after was a nightmare...the kids were tired, seats were hard to find, and the serving staff terribly disorganised. (my food kept being given to other people... and for some reason, although i was in one of the queues, others were served ahead of me form the side... just shouting out their orders and thrusting their money forwards... locals perhaps? i actually raised my voice/shouted at staff for the 1st-time in my life. yes i was that exasperated!!! so totally not me!!!... but it finally got the point across)

before calling it a day, we headed up the hill towards the funpark and the kids went on some 'tame' rides. then we headed back across the long overhead bridge and had one last swim before closing time. none of us wanted to go back... it really was with heavy feet... and we all begged dh to let us stay another night. unfortunately finances did not allow...as this was the priciest stop of our journey. but we had plenty of happy memories and lots of photos to look back upon.

that night before leaving, we met with my sil who lives in kl, along with her 2 kids (same age as our 2). it was wonderful to see the kids together. in spite of the time and distance, they clicked immediately, like they'd never been aprt... and it was wonderful to see our 2 youngest girls relating to one-another in such a grown-up manner... holding hands and chit-chatting shyly as they walked along. aaaah! and kynan... of course chasing after the elder girl... happily shrieking and laughing as they went.

we all went to bed ard midnight and were wondering how on earth we'd be up in the morning to drive back to singapore... we felt msierable for it. kynan cdnt wake up, and kay had a rare meltdown... from our room + 30 minutes into breakfast. finally she settled and i was able to eat.  they both slept well in the car due to their late night beofre, so we made brisk time... stopping only twice along the way back to s'pore.

no-one wanted to go back home, so we went to the bishan-hotel instead... unpacked and 3 lots of laundry done in no time! now we nedd to recover :)