Chinese New Year Vacation 2011

During Chinese New Year vacation I brought my family for a break away up to the hilly terrains of Bukit Larut - Maxwell Hill....... This time around, we even needed the service of a tow-cart to carry all our belongings. YES, you have to pay extra for it........

Yippy! Newly surface road - made the trip that much more comfortable.........

My eldest and I enjoying the jeep ride. BUT the same can't be said for the rest of the family....... The narrow and winding road trip up the steep hill, especially the extremely tight 'U'-turns can be too much for some people..........

This is our bunker for two night on the hill........ Though not new but it sure is well kept and clean...........

It even has a fire place to enhance that rustic feel.......

Spacious Dining area.........

What enormous bedrooms it has - all 4 rooms of them.....

Mom and my youngest...........

Free and easy time - exploring the surroundings...........

Steamboat for the night, looks like it is going to be a sumptious meal...........

Hey, where's everybody gone to? Might as well dig in first...........

The crown dish of the night - broth cooked with all left overs chuck in the Japanese style........ DELICIOUS!! Night hunting begins, hope the beetles will be attracted to the lighted canvas tonight.......

Nope! Not much luck, just a few 'Zebra' bettles were caught...........

Teaching my little ones to appreciate the wonders of nature from young.......... and my eldest likes it thoroughly........

Some fauna chanced upon.........

More faunas.............

My eldest pretending to be a beetle........ Floras found on the hill here..............

Wonderful battery charging trip for the whole family indeed.........

Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) & G. Brinchang

It has been a while since I did my last beetle collecting trip......... This is my first time visiting Bukit Larut, formally known as Maxwell Hill, this place has the highest rain fall (98inches) throughout Peninsular Malaysia and it's always cool and misty ( 15 - 20 degree C ). This is a place where I wanted to go earlier, but I couldn't make it until now...........

To go up, you will need to hire the 4X4 Land Rover from the base office........ The height of 1,250m from the sea level........is about 13 km to the hill top and it takes 40 minutes ride of hilly and winding terrain to get up there......A rest house named Gunung Hijau is situated at 1,113m high and this is the place where we are going to stay overnight......The place is a bit old, but over all is neat and comfortable....... And it has a huge living room............

We had prepared our own food for dinner............View of the front yard..........My little Loksi very curious and enjoying the misty atmosphere out here.........Evening that night.........Taiping town fantastic view from the hill.......... Get ready for bug catching..........An assortment of insects came by.............. Beautiful moths............
Longhorn beetle and a couple of Stag beetles (Cyclommatus Lunifer)........

We had collected 3 male and 1 female Stag beetles (Cyclommatus Lunifer), 2 male Stag beetles of (Prosopocoilus Zebra Zebra), and 1 female long-arm beetle (Cheirotonus peracanus)...........

We dropped by Mt. Brinchang for a short excursion on our way back..........

Tea plantation...........Rest hut in the mossy forest.........The view from Mt. Brinchang (the tallest Mountain in Cameron Highland ).........