Waking up to a new day in Fraser Hill. My room looks out to the town square with the iconic (non-functional) clock tower. I started my walk along the Old Gap Road...... The welcome signboard display of Fraser Hill in BRIGHT red. Little Cuckoo Doves were flying all over the hillsides. A pair of these Doves flew across the Old Gap road to perch inside fern and bushes growing on the hill embankment.
A small flock of Wreathed Hornbills were seen alongside the Old Gap Road that morning when the mist started rolling in. I heard the prominent swooshing sounds of their flapping wings, first before I saw this flock fly across the valley to perch on a tree. Always a delight to see hornbills!
I sprained my lower back and back muscles late March which required an intravenous drip to lessen the pain. I had applied Acustop plasters for last three weeks, was on painkillers and had attended three physiotherapy sessions to reduce the swellings and back pain before making this trip. The slow walk along these lovely stretches of the Old Gap Road was very rejuvenating to me. There is a new signpost which indicates the border between the States of Selangor and Pahang. A Police Station, Health Clinic lie beyond those red lines within the Pahang border of Fraser Hill. The old-style red telephone booth (phone inside is for decorative purpose:) is the latest on-site promotional item for the Little England of Malaysia. I missed out on the Rusty-Nape Pitta in this trip. Heard it can be seen in one of the off-beaten tracks in Fraser Hill, with one photographer injuring himself whilst in the pursuit of a picture. I was still recovering from a bad back sprain so alas, I had to assuage myself that I have heard this elusive Rusty-Nape Pitta before at the Telekom Loop, during pre-pandemic times. I pray for a chance to be able to see this Pitta species in Fraser Hill or any of the montane highlands when it chooses to re-appear, safely without injuring myself:) The New Gap Road, is the exit from Fraser Hill towards KL or Pahang. The signboard looks to be simpler with the second alphabet in need of being glued right back securely on it. Stopped to bird a little alongside road shoulders at the New Gap Road, which I had blogged about in my previous post HERE. It was mid-afternoon when I reached Kuala Kubu Bahru and the only meal sustaining me throughout the day was my half-a-plate of fried rice and two pieces of toast which I had for breakfast at Puncak Inn around 8.45am. This aunty and her family are still frying away delicious meals at this quaint shophouse in Kuala Kubu Bahru. I have yet to try their wok-fried kuey teow, I tried their snacks whilst waiting for my wantan mee during a very late lunch. The prawn fritters with crunchy pieces of Jicama (Sengkuang) were delicious although it would have been lovelier eating them hot off the wok:)
To be inspired by nature is tip no 3 from this home design by OCBC Malaysia at https://www.ocbc.com.my/personal-banking/docs/edm/mortgage-v4/edm_no_header.html
ReplyDeleteThere is a sadder and darker side in history to Fraser Hill being known as the Little England of Malaysia. The interview with the acclaimed writer Mr. Tan Twan Eng can be read at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/23/books-need-time-tan-twan-engs-new-novel-opens-door-on-history
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