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West Malaysia 2024 — Rainbow Garden
Fresh greens and steamboat, bubbling away,
Four hungry tummies — hooray, hooray!
Finally, Mama Won!
After a couple of days of eating rather rich food, Mama had been patiently waiting for her turn to decide what we should eat.
And finally… Mama won!
Son: “We've been eating rich food for the past few days. Today we eat vegetables lah.”
Mama: “Yes! Eat vegetables good!”
Me: “Wah, today Ah Ma's suggestion got supporter already!”
Hubby: “Then where are we going?”
Son: “Cameron Highlands is famous for its fresh vegetables, right? Might as well enjoy them while we're here.”
Mama: “Good! Vegetables!”
Me: “Okay lor… today we let Mama have her veggie feast!”
And so, our makan destination was decided — Watercress Valley!
A steaming hotpot surrounded by heaps of fresh vegetables awaited us.
Me: “Wah, today very healthy woh!”
Son: “Balance mah.”
Hubby: “Wait until you start throwing everything into the steamboat!”
Mama: “Never mind! Eat more vegetables!”
And for once, Mama didn't have to ask, “Makan makan where?”
She had won the food election!
Suddenly, The Hills Were Alive…
Getting to the restaurant came with one little challenge — that entrance slope.
It might not look like much in the photo, but with Mama in her wheelchair, going down it definitely got my kancheong meter working overtime.
But never mind… I’ll come back to that slope later. Let’s just say going down was only half the story.
After all the huffing, puffing and what felt like an arm-wrestling match with that slope, we finally reached the restaurant.
Then we looked around.
Wah… suddenly everything was worth it. ❤️
The cool Cameron Highlands air, the rolling green hills, vegetable terraces stretching across the slopes and the restaurant sitting right in the middle of all that greenery — it honestly felt as though we had walked straight into a picture.
Me: “Soooo beautiful…”
Son: “Just now who was complaining about the slope?”
Me: “That was just now. Different department.”
Hubby: “Very nice view.”
Mama: “Nice… nice…”
For once, even Mama wasn't immediately asking about food.
Standing there admiring the scenery, I suddenly felt like bursting into song:
🎶 “The hills are alive…” 🎶
Son: “Mum… please.”
Hubby: 👀 “Here she goes again.”
Me: “What? The scenery got Sound of Music feeling mah!”
After our little battle with the slope, this peaceful view was the perfect reward.
Tired arms, sweaty faces… but very happy hearts.
Sometimes a place makes you work a little harder to reach it — and then gives you a view that makes you forget all the huffing and puffing along the way.
Even The Empty Bottles Got A Second Life 🍺
While looking around, one little decoration caught my eye — rows and rows of empty beer bottles neatly arranged together.
Normally, an empty beer bottle is just… well, an empty beer bottle. But put so many of them together in neat rows and suddenly they became part of the restaurant décor.
Me: “Eh, quite nice leh!”
Son: “They're just empty bottles, Mum.”
Me: “One bottle is an empty bottle. Many bottles arranged nicely is ART.”
Hubby: “You also want to take photo?”
Me: “Of course! Nice arrangement what!”
And so, while everyone else was admiring the hills, the food and the scenery…
I was admiring empty beer bottles.
Sometimes it's the simplest little details that make you stop, look twice and reach for the camera.
Now… About That Very Tall Hotpot!
Once we had admired enough scenery—or rather, once everyone else had admired enough scenery—it was finally time to concentrate on our steamboat.
Mama sat staring at the tall chimney hotpot in the middle of the table with great curiosity.
Mama: “Wah… why this one so tall?”
She studied it from top to bottom as though trying to figure out whether we were supposed to eat from it or climb it.
Meanwhile, Hubby had disappeared to investigate the condiments.
Son was completely occupied with the ingredients, happily mixing and matching what should go into the hotpot next.
Son: “This one put first… vegetables later… eh, where's the mushroom?”
Everybody had a job.
And me?
I was still mentally standing somewhere on a Cameron Highlands hillside…
Me: 🎶 “The hills are aliiiiive…” 🎶
Son stopped what he was doing.
Son: “Mum… we are eating already.”
Me: 🎶 “With the sound of musiiiiic…”
Son: “Mum… PLEASE.” 😑
Hubby returned with his condiments.
Hubby: “She still singing ah?”
Son: “Yah.”
Mama: “Food can eat already or not?”
And just like that, The Sound of Music was officially cancelled by the Steamboat Committee.
Fine lah.
The hills could stay alive by themselves. I had vegetables to eat.
What Goes Down… Must Somehow Come Back Up!
The slope leading down to Watercress Valley may not look terribly steep in the photo, but trust me - that slope was STEEP. And DOWN we had to go… with Mama in her wheelchair.
Thankfully, Mama had her safety belt securely fastened, and Son took control of the wheelchair from behind.
Me: “Wah… quite steep leh.”
Son: “Never mind, I control. Slowly.”
Mama, meanwhile, sat comfortably like a VIP passenger while the rest of us concentrated on getting her safely downhill.
Me: “Slowly ah! Slowly ah!”
Son: “I know lah, Mum.”
Me: “I know you know… but I still must say!”
By the time we reached the bottom safely, I could finally breathe again.
Me: “Lucky ah…”
Mama: 😌 “Makan?”
Of course. She was the only relaxed passenger in this whole operation.
And Hubby?
Me: “Eh… where is your father?”
Son: “Behind lah.”
Me: “GOOD. MAKE SURE HE DON'T DISAPPEAR. LATER NEED MANPOWER!”
Little did I know how prophetic that sentence would be.
Going downhill was nerve-racking, but at least gravity was helping us.
It was only after our steamboat meal that we realised something very important…
Me: “Errr… just now we came DOWN this slope, right?”
Son: “Yah.”
Me: “Which means now…”
Both of us looked uphill.
“…WE HAVE TO PUSH MAMA BACK UP?!” 😱
Full stomach, steep slope, wheelchair, uphill…
What a wonderful combination.
We pushed and pushed, and very quickly I felt like my entire steamboat lunch was being burned off on the spot.
Me: “Aiyooo… cannot already!”
Son: “Push! Push!”
Mama: 👵🏻 “Can or not?”
Me: “Mama, you just sit nicely! Your transport department is dying!”
Luckily, two kind male employees saw us struggling and came over to help. With the extra manpower, we finally managed to get Mama and her wheelchair safely back up the slope.
THANK GOODNESS. ❤️
Mama: “Okay already?”
Me: 🥵 “Mama… YOU okay. We nearly need wheelchair now.”
There. Hubby reinstated into the family.
So yes, we went to Watercress Valley for a healthy vegetable steamboat…
…and received a free post-lunch workout on the way out.
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Looks Harmless… Until You Have A Wheelchair! 😅♿ Continue to the Next Post → West Malaysia 2024 — Sheep Sanctuary |
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