Off to the Highlands!

Hypothyroidism can be debilitating if left untreated. At one point, I was not able to drive and had to depend on public transportation. Hypothyroidism however, is not an excuse for me to cease living!

It’s been a while since we went anywhere for a holiday. We actually stayed home this past Christmas because of my medical condition. However, things have progressed well and I am feeling sprightly again, backed by the encouraging results of the monthly Thyroid Function Studies.

The icing on the cake is I am liberated from the walking stick (never thought this was possible), and with that came the itch to travel again. Buoyed by this sprightliness (is this even a word?) on a whim we decided to make a trip up to Cameron Highlands.

someone's happy

growing boy needs to eat often

pit stop at the Rawang R&R

But instead of driving up via the customary Tapah route (which can be taxing due to the long and winding roads) we drove up via Simpang Pulai. Yes, it is at least 40-50 kilometres further but we actually found the journey up to be more pleasant and comfortable.

Actually we almost ran out of gas but after asking around Kampung Raja village found a temple custodian selling petrol by the litre. Thank heavens J

emergency fuel up

...

thank heavens

Brendan begged for this shot

We headed to Tanah Rata first and had lunch there (Jasmine Café, covered in our next post).

final shot of the temple

look what we found J

we've reached Tanah Rata

the familiar row of shoplots

time for lunch J

RM4 a bunch? wowee J

Convent school from afar

Tanah Rata's foodcourt

After lunch, we surveyed several hotels in Brinchang and found a budget hotel, Jasmine Hotel (a coincidence huh?) to our liking. It ticked all the boxes (it had an elevator which was important because our luggage was heavy!) and was clean and presentable. Our subsequent posts will cover this hotel.

at Brinchang town

at Brinchang town

view from our hotel room J

view from our hotel room J

We had dinner at an authentic charcoal-fired steamboat restaurant (Restoran Hyland, covered in our upcoming post) and before retiring had some lovely strawberry hot chocolate at a café near our hotel.

in the heart of Brinchang town

you won't miss it

Brendan quickly gulped down his strawberry hot choc

one more?

Then it was lights out, tomorrow is going to be a busy busy day J

St John's Institution

St. John's Institution

No. 7 Jalan Bukit Nanas

50250 Kuala Lumpur

+60320782846

(Coordinates: 3.150547, 101.700195)

Brendan had to replace a school day today (Saturday) so while waiting for school to be out I took some photos of this school’s majestic main building. Indeed, it truly deserves the honour of being gazetted as a Heritage Site by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, Malaysia on May 21, 2010.

Brendan the prefect

I'm glad to see that the camaraderie among students of all races remains excellent.

Restoran Kin Kin

Restoran Kin Kin

40 Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman

Kampung Baru

50300 Kuala Lumpur

+60163728069

(Coordinates: 3.160769, 101.698311)

Forget all other pretenders to the throne, this is the one and only true king of chilli pan mee! Forgive me for gushing, but we’ve been coming here for ages (but did not think to mention it here, duh!) and this is hands down bar none (oops, gushing again) THE best chilli pan mee in Kuala Lumpur.

Truth be told we forgot about this place and were only recently reacquainted. There has been talk of Kin Kin establishing branches here and there but we’ve been told this outlet in Kampung Baru/Chow Kit is the one and only.

Enjoy the photos J

located behind the Honda showroom

woot!

the famous chilli J

the soup J

aah, heaven J

Cat started off without me

so did Brendan

yum yum

time to dig in J

The verdict? Hands down the best pan mee in town. Kin Kin has over time increased the price per bowl while at the same time reducing the serving portions, so this may one day be a restaurant that's beyond the realms of the everyday food for the everyday man?

The Garden Debate

Brendan was picked to represent his school St John’s Institution (SJI) in an age group restricted debate tournament (13 to 15 year olds) organized by Garden International School (GIS). We were up pretty early on a Saturday morning so that he’d be there by 8AM. We stopped by Restoran Safiz Corner for breakfast before making our way to the venue.

breakfast on a Saturday morning? unheard of!

There were quite a large number of teams competing, from as far as Malacca. Although it was his first tournament Brendan didn’t seem nervous at all, I think we were more nervous than him! SJI sent two teams and he was in Team 1.

the boys preparing

Thank you Cikgu Elizabeth

His first match started promptly at 9:30AM.

what, me worry?

with their esteemed opponents

yup, Brendan's a leftie

Throughout the day, Team 1 had a total of four mathes and they didn’t do too badly (what with it being their first time and all) chalking up 2 wins. Their first and last opponents were from GIS teams and while they lost the first match, they redeemed themselves by winning the last.

chill Mom!

Teams 1 & 2

Team 1: Haarandren, Sarab & Brendan

Team 2: Sri, Jazlan & Asri

Teams with their parents

final match

listening intently

and the verdict is..... SJI's Team 1!

Brendan with his badges

The boys decided to stay back and watch the finals between two boarding schools. It was an eye opener and they quickly understood why these two fine teams made it to the finals (charisma and intelligence aplenty).

well done boys

oi, watch the match

They also had a photo opportunity with the lovely GIS girls, cheeky boys!

when Goofy met Silly

when Goofy met Silly

when Goofy met Silly

with the kind soul who organized the whole thing

Thyroid Function Studies March 2013

T3: 5.15 (normal levels from 2.23 to 5.35) – normal (at last) J

T4: 16.6 (normal levels 9.1 to 24.4) – normal J

TSH: 0.01 (normal levels is from 0.30 to 4.64) – complications*

*due to complications arising from the cholesterol medication. Doctor’s pretty confident this is a minor problem, as long as it’s not at an elevated state I should be fine (it was an uncharted ‘999’ before).

I will be celebrating my 44^th birthday soon, so these results are an early present as far as I am concerned.

And oh, one more thing, I’m off the walking stick J

here's hoping for many happy returns J