One of the signs said that it was only 2km away from the main road so we thought: "Heck - why not? That doesn't sound very far!"
... but Good Friggin' Lord that was the longest 2km of my life: The road is very curvey and unbelievably narrow, where once in a while you will get a crazy lorry/ van/ car hurtling around the (blind) corner with a real "devil may care" attitude.
(Schoolyard rules apply here: "I bigger = I scarier so YOU give in to me")
When we finally arrived though, it was nice to smell the fresh air (there were also hints of tea aroma from the nearby Boh factory) and enjoy the lush greenery that surrounded us. The Boh Cafe at the Boh Tea Centre, pearched on the hillside, was absolutely breathtaking though:
The design of the entire Tea Centre was absolutely gorgeous - very modern but with natural elements such as bamboo and wood contrasting beautifully with the hard concrete and metal finishings.
(I want a house like that!)
Anyway, we eventually sat down to enjoy an early tea at the cafe, choosing the scones from the variety of pastries and cakes available there:
Sadly, the scones were entirely forgettable - dry and rather tasteless (the butter and jam helped a little) - but the view!
*siiiiiiigh*
Well,... the view was worth chowing down a 100 dry scones.
(You MUST get a seat on the balcony area though)
Sitting there, sipping on my tea and staring out to the endless expanses of green was really relaxing.... In fact, I almost succeeded in zoning and drowning out the irritatingly noisy baby/ bunch of teenagers/ tourists seated around me.
(Just so you know: 2 scones and a pot of tea came up to about RM12)
We also went on the Tea Factory tour while I was there:
Seriously though, if there doesn't seem to be any "tour guide" appearing, just go into the little factory by yourself... That's what I did and I didn't get thrown out - besides, you don't really need someone to explain the process to you, there are some informative signs on the walls.
I suspect that for the most part, it is only a "pretend" factory...
There is no way in Hell that those 5 wobbly old machines and 10 workers can produce even 5% of Boh's monthly tea requirement....
All in all, I think it was worth the treacherous drive in....
(Easy for me to say though - I wasn't the one doing the driving! - haha)
Details:
Name: Boh Sungai Palas Tea Garden and Tea Centre
Opening Hours: 9.00am till 4.30pm, Tuesday to Sunday (Closed on Mondays)
Admission: Free
TAGS: Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Cafe, Scones, Boh, Tea, Tea Plantation, Sungai Palas, Boh Sungai Palas Tea Garden and Tea Centre, Cameron Highlands, Personal
Posts
whoaa....da scenery is so beautiful! green green tea leaves ekekekeke... my cousin once told me before that when he was there for a cuppa, da tea was awesome and as so, he bought a few boxes of tea bags back to kl and to his surprised when he had his first sip over da tea bags that he bought in da factory, it tasted so different from da one he had at da Boh Tea Centre. He felt so conned :|
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I had scones & tea at Ye Old Smokehouse. I love the English Tudor style ambience. Did you manage to go there?
ReplyDeleteThe tea centre looks really impressive.
ReplyDeletethe feeling of sitting right at the edge of the balcony is very shiok! did you managed to grab those seats? we did :p
ReplyDeleteto meiyen:
ReplyDeleteYeah - the scenery there is really nice... love it!
:)
Your poor cousin....
I suppose nothing tastes as good as when it is really fresh made/ fresh from the factory....
to jemima:
Yup... I did!
I really like the Tudor style too - it was very cosy...
... and the garden was really beautiful.
:)
(Shhhhh... don't spoil the surprise: I'll be posting it up soon)
to boo_licious:
I was pretty amazed with the architecture/ design of the place...
(I wish I could have a house like that too... but without the surrounding scenery it would never be as nice)
Hmmmm... I wonder how much they spent on it? Must have been a lot!
Nice pics. I have travelled round the world but have never been up to the Cameron Highlands. Got to change that soon.
ReplyDeletethat's it la, i'm goin to cameron highland and i'm gonna visit that very farm!
ReplyDeletetime for some clear, fresh air and away from the haze and smog infested air of kuching!
to adam:
ReplyDeleteWell,.. it's never too late.
:)
The drive up/ down is a bit tiring but it's a good place for a relaxing weekend trip.
(Probably not good to go for more than 2 days tho - you may run out of things to do)
to laksa:
Go lah, go lah.
Support local tourism!
... and don't miss out on The Smokehouse and the strawberry place that I posted about while you're there.
:)
to babe_kl:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - It's a really good experience.
:)
Luckily I managed to get a good table right at the edge of the balcony too, if not the long drive in may seem a little not worth it...
(Yay for us both!)
its true. boh tea centre would be a sampah if we put it in the middle of kl. but as architecture is about "response with context/environment", we conclude it as a good architecture. not only the view, the sensual, tactile, aural etc, the building itself is responding with the existing tea factory. the gallery is lying on the same axis with the factory, in respect to the old one.
ReplyDeleteActually, those wobbly old machines are historical and Used to actually produce BOH's tea. Now that they supply all of Malaysia, they do have more factories but that 'pretend factory' use to be the original one. :)
ReplyDeleteto anonymous 2:
ReplyDeleteWell, how far it's come since then! :)
(Amazing!)