Camping catch-up

 After not having done camping since my youth, I have decided to give it a go recently albeit an easy one - at a friend's organic farm in Batu Talam, at 400M above sea level...the place is well isolated from traffic noises and clean, fresh air from the hills behind makes it a very inviting spot.

as we were camping on a platform, the outer jacket was not needed, which suits me fine...

The plot is adjacent to a quartz hill, giving it a very unusual feel

flowers from the garden

the hills in the distant is the Benom Range, with Mount Benom clearly in view.

morning view of the valley below (Klau corridor)

breakfast

Drunken Leaf Bird

A few weeks ago I was on my way up the staircase to the garden at GTE when I stumbled upon a seemingly drunk Blue-winged Leaf Bird, Chloropsis cochinchinensis. It must have been unwell (never touch any sicken bird if anything we have learnt from all the transmissible diseases ) or in a stupor (for example having consumed too much over-ripen fruits) but as I got near, it did not make any effort to move until I started using flash from my camera: it started to "wake up" and in a few instances flew away into the bushes...

The freshest Lala dish ever

Back in December in Taiping, the lala dish (there are about 4 to 5 ways cooked offered by the restaurant New Bee Guan) turned out to be the freshest we have ever tasted anywhere in Malaysia. Can't say we tasted that many but it was outstanding here....Locally known as lala, it is actually a type of clam found in Malaysian waters. 

The first order was surprisingly good that we ordered a second helping...

The "kam heong" meaning sauteed with curry powder was savoury but kinda mask the freshness of the clams. 

 The deep fried squid was equally good...

The best and sweetest - in superior soup base and claypoot.