Unripe Strawberries at Highlands Apiary

To some, one of the highlands to a trip to Cameron Highlands is a visit to a strawberry farm. Most of these farms are naturally outside town where there is more space. Fortunately, I was already at a strawberry farm after my grueling hike. The Highlands Apiary has a large sign along the main road saying to “pick your own strawberries”. To some this might be an enticing idea since you don’t get to pick strawberries anytime, so it is more of a novel activity.

Strawberry Farm at Highlands Apiary

One of the largest structures in the Highlands Apiary are row upon row of strawberry plants. Some of the plant are already bearing fruit while most of the other have already been picked clean. If you do see a strawberry still attached to the plant, it is most probably still unripe. The staff will give you a plastic tray where you can put your harvested strawberries in and you bring them inside to weigh them.

It is doubtful that you will know how to choose your strawberries and chances are they will be sour. How do I know? I bought a few trays in town and brought them back to Singapore, to my embarassment, they were “super sour” according to a friend of mine. So much for a making a good impression. At least, I can always blame the shopowners for that, I didn’t pick those.

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Cooking Some Chinese Snack

It was not easy to get to the Lakehouse without your own transportation. My only hope was to catch one of the rare buses from Tapah on its way to Tanah Rata. The trouble is, the buses there don’t seem to follow a schedule, they only leave when they feel like it. I just needed to trust that the buses would come. True enough, after 30 minutes of waiting by the roadside outside The Lakehouse, it finally came. The fare was MYR 2 back to Tanah Rata, I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I don’t need to walk back up the mountain.

Crowded Night Market at Brinchang

There was still some time before nightfall when I got back to Tanah Rata, I wanted to visit Brinchang which is the town after Tanah Rata. The bus from Tapah does not go to Brinchang, so I needed to transfer to another bus at the Tanah Rata bus terminal. The bus leaves hourly which was good since it was almost time for the bus to arrive. I was hoping I would be able to have dinner there but I was afraid I wouldn’t have transportation back to Tanah Rata, there was no fixed schedule anyway. So I decided to just pay a short visit before hurrying back to Tanah Rata.

They Even Sell Cake Here

Brinchang is most famous for its night market. Fortunately for me, that afternoon the night market is already setting up and there were already a lot of people walking around. The night market is set up long the main road of Brinchang which makes the traffic along this area horrible The night market itself has numerous stall selling primarily snacks, from Chinese to Malay snacks to fruit. Naturally, the fruit sold here is primarily strawberry. It is said that this would be the best place to buy strawberries since competition is fierce. Then again you will never know what you will be getting since they can always give you sweet strawberries then sell you the sour ones as what happened to me.

Sweet Corn is Best Here

To go back to Tanah Rata, you only need to stand on the other side of the road where you got off and hope that your bus comes. Last bus passes by at “around 8:30pm”, it is up to you if you want to take a chance with that. The Brinchang Night Market is a worthwhile place to visit since there is a lot of activity there. Snack lovers will love it there since there are a lot of things to try. Maybe next time, I would try to stay at Brinchang instead and get to explore this area more.

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Interiors of the Yoghurt House

The cave to cave tour was a most interesting experience for me. One was a trip to the Sumaguing Cave where I got to see a lot of limestone formations. The other one was a trip to the Lumiang Burial Cave where there are more than a hundred wooden coffins stacked inside a cave. The trip was expertly handled by Ian who was my guide for the whole trip. We walked back to the town proper and finally back to the municipal hall. I paid Ian the fee for the tour and thanked him for the wonderful trip.

Chicken Barbeque

He left probably to have lunch and I think it is also a good idea. After all the caving, I was starving. I wanted to try one of the many recommended restaurants here in Sagada. One of the restaurants that caught my eye on the way back to town was the Yoghurt House. As their name implies they are famous for their yoghurt but they also serve food other than yoghurt. I didn’t really have time to get dressed so I just went straight to the restaurant fresh from the cave.

My Yoghurt

Outside the restaurant it a humble looking two storey house but inside is a homey looking place. The interiors are lined with wood and hung various pictures. It has a feeling of an art cafe. I ordered my food quickly while admiring their place. There weren’t too many people eating at the time but I guess it was because it was already past lunch time. I guess I still took too long exploring the caves. There were a few foreigners discussing their plans over some yoghurt, but it was wasn’t crowded at all.

Yoghurt House From the Outside

My chicken barbaque finally arrived and it was okay. I probably have tasted better chicken barbeque in the Philippines but I guess what makes this one stand out is their liberal use of very fresh vegetables. It is an experience to bite into their crunchy vegetables as if they were just plucked out from their backyard moments ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually did.

Wall of Photos

After lunch, I had to try their yoghurt. Yoghurt is something you don’t see normally in Philipine restaurants. Sagada has the climate and the access to fruits and vegetables to make this happen. Yoghurt House is by no means the only one selling yoghurt here in Sagada, most of the other restaurants here will have it on their menu.

Cozy Interiors of the Yoghurt House

So how was it? It was nice, the consistency of the yoghurt feels really nice in the mouth without being too watery. My strawberry wasn’t too sweet either. The pine nuts give an interesting contrast in the mouth. I have never tried any home-made yoghurt before but I can say that this is just as good as the commercial ones. Probably even better because you know they are made from the freshest ingredients available.

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