Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropicale and Japanese Gardens

Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropicale and Japanese Gardens / Tea House

French-themed square a cool respite in Bukit Tinggi
By Melinda Roos
Monday September 12, 2011

THERE is no shortage of bustling and vibrant sceneries in Kuala Lumpur. Sometimes, you can feel the city pulsating at your fingertips just by sitting in the middle of where the action is.

Driving through its major thoroughfares on the way home at three in the morning from a night out at Changkat Bukit Bintang, I've seen the traffic congestion similar to that of rush hour. The city doesn't sleep.

Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropical French Village

We have frequent guests staying with us in our home, so we tend to go out quite often.

In the five months since we've moved I am counting six arrivals on our doorstep so afr

And Hotel Roos has no shortage of future bookings. Our guestroom has reservation dates blocked already for upcoming visits.

Too many nights out in town for weeks in a row can be dizzying.

And it is really no fun to wake up to a throbbing headache the following morning when you have two energetic young children jumping on your bed.

So to avoid these from occurring too often, I welcome the fresh mountain air as always the better alternative, a much-needed break from the usual frenzy and the heat that accompanies city living.

Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropical French Village

Bukit Tinggi is a sight for sore eyes if you just want a respite from the regular Malaysian city landscape and a reprieve from the humid and soaring temperatures.

Nestled up at 762m above sea level and about an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur's city centre is a little French village reminiscent of the Colmar in the northeastern part of Alsace, France.

The Colmar Tropicale is a picturesque themed hotel that looks like its been lifted out of a fairy tale storybook illustration and planted on a mountain scenery.

You'll just feel glee at the sight of this magical castle setting made up with buildings styled in typical French medieval architecture complete with clock towers, cobblestones and tiled roofs.

There is non-stop lively singing, dancing and all other kinds of live entertainment in the "town square's" stage and there is enough mix of restaurants for al fresco dining.

Whether you're in the mood for pizzas and pastas, local Malaysian cuisine, roast chicken and mashed potatoes, bakery items and cakes from their French boulangerie or even a French fine dining restaurant is on your list of choices.

I wouldn't count on the "authentic" claim though.

The pizzas and pastas are quite good actually.

Children will be more than occupied with the game machines, kiddie rides, carnival atmosphere, clowns strutting their stuff and playrooms that abound.

Or just by simply running around such a festive setting.

The place is apparently popular for company team building activities.

It is best to visit when there are no company conferences going on as the place could get really busy with groups of people running around and performing team building games and exercises.

Bukit Tinggi Rabbit Park

A few minutes drive outside of Colmar Tropicale is a Rabbit Park. Children can play and cuddle with the rabbits for a very small fee of RM3.

Bukit Tinggi Japanese Garden, Village and Tea House

There is also a Japanese Village where you can watch women in their kimono outfits conduct a one-hour tea ceremony in the Japanese Tea House or you can opt to go for a walk in the lush botanical garden.

Bukit Tinggi Golf and Country Club and Horse Riding

The mountain range is also home to the Bukit Tinggi Golf and Country Club, which has an 18-hole golf course and other facilities like a bowling alley, badminton, squash and basketball courts.

My favourite activity however is saddling up and going for some relaxing horseback riding and terrain exploration.

The Bukit Tinggi Horse Riding Trails offers just that kind of experience.

You can go on your own or with a group, together with a trail guide to discover the different hills and valleys and admire the panoramic vistas of the countryside.

Good to consider

So the next time you have guests and you're wondering where to take them after you've visited the Petronas Towers for the umpteenth time, the mountains beckon and offer a different kind of view from those of the city's towers.

It is a refreshing alternative to consider and its unhurried pace is soothing.

Bukit Tinggi is perfect for a full day's visit unless you want to do more horseback riding on the mountain trails and can't get enough of that fresh air tickling your skin.

But I am told it is monsoon season now.

I look forward to the late afternoons to evening rains that sometimes go on for the rest of the night.

The lightning and thunder rouse me up on certain nights, light sleeper that I am. But I welcome waking up to cooler mornings, refreshed by the colder breeze.

The city is starting to chill and the mountain escape will have to wait for a while now until summer dishes up its heat once again. -- The Star Metro

Bukit Tinggi Colmar Tropicale and Japanese Garden / Tea House

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Bukit Genting, Penang - Stars on the menu

Stars on the menu
By Andrea Filmer, Photos by Wan Mohizan Wan Hussein
Tuesday April 21, 2009

Vantage point: A restaurant owner has joined forces with USM's Astronomy Club to build an observatory for amateurs at his hilltop eatery in Bukit Genting, Penang.

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SINCE 2004, the Bukit Genting hilltop in Penang has offered visitors delicious Thai food, a breathtaking view, a fairyland atmosphere with hundreds of lights lit during the night and now, stars have been added to the list.

A new amateur observatory named the Pearl of Orion Observatory was completed on the hilltop this month and at 305m above sea level, it is believed to be the highest observatory in the country.

The observatory was the combined effort of the Bukit Genting Hill Leisure Park and Restaurant and Universiti Science Malaysia’s Astronomy Club.

Interesting topic: Dawson (right) engaged in a discussion on the universe with Jaime and Cameron (left).

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Club committee member Stefan Dawson said restaurant owner Robert Tan had offered to sponsor both the land and funds to build the observatory in February when efforts to secure corporate funding fell through.

“The view of the sky from this location is amazing and we have a clear view in all directions, save a little obstruction in the south due to the contour of the hill.

“The observatory is also built in a completely unique design. Tan and his team came up with the design themselves after visiting some of the other observatories in the state,” Dawson said.

Perfect location: USM Astronomy Club members setting up telescopes at the new observatory.

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And the effect is indeed spectacular.

The 3.0m by 3.7m observatory with a ‘roll-on roll-off’ roof is nestled between two boats-turned-chalets and overlooks the beautiful span of Balik Pulau’s lush greenery.

“Minus the telescopes,” Tan said, “about RM70,000 went into the place. My interest in building it was to help the state’s tourism sector.

“Penang has the sea, hills and the English language skills needed for the tourism industry to flourish, so there is no reason why we should be lagging behind Malacca and Singapore,” said Tan.

According to USM Astronomy Club academic advisor Dr Chong Hon Yew who named the observatory, the sliding roof was the most convenient design for an amateur observatory.

“It is cost effective, easy to use and allows a lot of air circulation so the place does not get too stuffy.

“Having an observatory here is wonderful. The Astronomy Club had several overnight stays on the hill last year but now, we definitely plan to come up more frequently for stargazing and photography.

“We also encourage school students to come or even get in touch with us for monthly astronomy sessions,” Dr Chong said.

Curious kids: The international school students taking turns to look through the telescope.

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Among the first to use the observatory were 17 students from the Tenby International School in Penang who participated in a space camp recently organised by Dawson, who teaches world history at the school.

For students Jaime Gunter and Cameron McGrath, the atmosphere of Bukit Genting added to the hype of their first space camp.

“I’m looking forward to being the first to use the telescopes here.

“I hope we get to see some satellites, because normally, we only get to see them when they’re taking off and not when they’re in the sky,” said Jaime, 15.

Year 8 student Cameron, on the other hand, was anticipating other activities planned for the two-and-a-half day camp.

“We’re going to make water cannons and I want to see how high they can go.

“I also can’t wait for the jungle trek to the (Gertak Sanggul) beach. The hike is going to be winding and it doesn’t follow a straight path so I think it’s going to be really adventurous,” the 13-year-old boy said.

Admission into the observatory is free. -- The Star Metro.

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Gunung Ledang

The lure of the Puteri’s mountain
By Meera Viajayan
Saturday August 12, 2006

Mountain climbing may sound like a sport for extreme adventure enthusiasts, but 56-year-old Singaporean Hoong Ah Sin who has climbed up Gunung Ledang more than 100 times will tell you otherwise.

“Anyone can climb a mountain. You just have to go up like an ant,” said the youthful looking Hoong who has climbed up Gunung Ledang 115 times and also conquered Gunung Tahan twice.

One of the smaller streams from the cascading waterfall.

“An aspiring mountaineer just has to control and suffer during the first 30 minutes of the climb. If he can keep going for the initial half an hour at a steady pace, he should be able to last for hours after that,” he said.

According to Hoong who takes groups of Singaporean tourists up Gunung Ledang, many of them did not have any experience in mountain climbing.

“Don’t stop for long rests and don’t sit down too often. The maximum you should stop is about three to five minutes at a time,” he said adding that despite taking many mountain novices up, he has not had any complaints from them.

Lest one should imagine that the climb up Gunung Ledang or Mt Ophir is a breeze, the mountain has been rated the sixth toughest mountain to climb in Malaysia, with Sabah’s Gunung Kinabalu trailing far behind as the12th hardest, by Gunung Ledang resort managing director Tey Chee Yan.

At 1,276m above sea level, Gunung Ledang registers some 20,000 climbs a year with more than a million visitors annually.

Standing at 1,276m above sea level, Gunung Ledang registers some 20,000 climbs a year with more than a million visitors annually.
Tey revealed that not all visitors to the mountain were interested in scaling the peaks.

“Many come here to enjoy the waterfall and have a leisurely picnic with their families and friends,” he said.

According to Tey, a favourite spot for picnickers was the Princess Waterfalls, about a 45-minute trek from the base of the mountain.

For city slickers who balk at the thought of an almost hour long walk, rest assured that the jungle trekking route to the waterfalls is manageable with clearly marked trails and often paved steps.

The route to the waterfall is manageable with clearly marked trails.

The trail is also pleasant as the shade from the leafy canopy provides a welcome respite from the tropical heat with small gazebos along the way giving tired climbers a chance to rest.

Climbers may also choose to stop at any of the many naturally formed bathing pools shielded by large boulders along the way, but the trek to the Puteri Waterfalls is well worth the effort for a cool and refreshing dip under the rushing waterfall.

The mountain is also richly steeped in history and mystery with its most famous legend being that of Puteri Gunung Ledang, a princess of the Maja-pahit empire who was once wooed by one of the Sultans of Malacca.

A legend goes that the princess insisted she would marry the Sultan only if he built a golden bridge and a silver bridge linking her mountain to his palace, sent her seven trays of mosquito hearts, seven jars of virgin’s tears as well as a bowl containing the blood of the Sultan’s son.

Whether one believes in the superstition that the spirit of the princess roams the mountain to this day or not, a chance to enjoy the waterfalls and get away from the bustle of city life is reason enough to enjoy the experience with nature.

For enquiries, please contact the Gunung Ledang Resort at +60 6 977 2888 or visit www.ledang.com for more details.

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More info about mountains in Malaysia:

Mount Kinabalu Sabah Borneo Malaysia, an outdoor adventure travel

Travel the mystic mountains of Malaysia

Gunung Brinchang Cameron Highlands adventure travel by car

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CNY at Bukit Tinggi, Raub & Fraser's Hill

Happy Chinese New Year!

Yes, it is the year of the dog. Hopefully, we don't have to work like a dog this year, but somehow I think not!

Just backed from CNY holiday. What a blast! Reunion dinner and all. My aunty from Raub invited us over for overnight stay as my Uncle Aaron was giving treating us a CNY dinner. And my sis-in-law also managed to get free stay at Silverpark Apartments in Fraser's Hill. Well, to make full use of this trip, I decided to cram in a few sight seeing / fact finding / photo taking session opportunity.

First, I made a stop at Bukit Tinggi Resort and visited the Colmar French town and Japanese Garden. Since I'm building a site about highlands I may as well write about other highlands that are related to Camerons. My Parents-in-law also had not been to Bukit Tinggi so it was like killing two birds with one stone kinda thingy.

It was a good time to up to the French town replica. The Berjaya Hills Management knows that in order to keep the visitors coming, they had to organize activities. Sure enough there were the usual lion dances for the Chinese New Year for luck and prosperity. Lion dances are always a hit for just about anybody, not just for Chinese, the Malays, Indians, and Gwai-Lo were just as fascinated with the acrobatic antics and prowess of the Lion Dancers.

I spotted a few spectators sitting precariously on the window ledge of the French town trying to get the best possible angle for a photo shot!

And the din from the lion drums! It really has a New Year mood to it! Relaxing at one of the tables, eating pizza and drinking coffee, my dear wife remarked that it felt just like the vacation we had in Melbourne Australia. Yep! Felt good to just sit down and not worry about a thing. Ah, if life was always like this!

After the Lion Dance was over, we took a few family shot of the place. But before we left, I needed to grab some more photo of the Japanese Garden. Though my wife and parents-in-law were tired and didn't follow me. I think they should have, as the air in the garden was pretty refreshing. However I was a short on time as we had to rush to Raub for the dinner on time. Still I managed to get as many photographic shots as possible. Pretty nice nature photography, with the Zen like garden. Wish I weren't so rushed; I could do with a bit more relaxing mood and take my time for better composed photographs.


The journey to Raub was pretty rushed and we managed to get there on time for the dinner. The food was good and everybody enjoyed the dinner.

My aunty worked and stayed in a shop house all this while, but she had a good heart and allowed us to sleep in the "box" room where it was the only room with air conditioning. Without it, I doubt I could sleep well as I not used to hot humid temperature. Me, my wife and Lindy cramp onto the bed and well, we managed to get some sleep.

The next day, we proceeded our journey to Fraser's Hill. It is a smaller highland in comparison with Cameron Highlands, but never the less it was still a good alternative. There was a route from Raub to Fraser's Hill and the distance was only about 40km though the road towards it was rather winding.

We reached the area known as the Gap where the traffic to the top of Fraser's Hill was controlled. The authorities had to this as the road was narrow and it would be safer to allow a one way traffic. The authorities actually build another road so that there was no need to control the traffic by making each road a one way direction. But ever since a landslide occurred on the new road, I guess the authorities deemed the new road unsafe and opt back for the old method of controlled traffic. Besides, the amount of vehicles going up and down Fraser's Hill weren't that many anyway.

I guess the Silverpark management were not use to heavier than usual visitors and we had to wait quite a while for a room to be ready. After finally checking in, while my wife, family and relatives had a rowdy time playing mahjong and watching Cantonese VCD which Lindy had the good sense to bring along, I went off alone to explore the area and to take as many photos for future articles about other highlands.

Since there were not many good eateries available in over there so as usual, my aunt and mom-in-law prepared chicken pot rice and brought over there for dinner. Yum! Taste good on an empty stomach!

Night time activities were the usual mahjong and watching Cantonese VCD, leaving me with nothing much to do but to go to bed early.

Next day, I continued my further exploration of the area and visited the Allan's water (pond) and Jeriau waterfalls. And to my surprise, it rained on me! I guess CNY was not as hot as it should be. Still I managed to take some good shots and collected some info from the Fraser's Hill tourist information office.

Strangely, the only two Chinese eateries owners were known to my Aunt. It seems they bought many of their utensils and stuff from my aunt's shop in Raub. Talked about a small world. Yep we had our lunch at Hillview restaurant and Laksa at the Kheng Yuan Lee Eating shop.

Next of course, it was time to checked out of the apartment and sent our aunties back to Raub. Staying one night in Fraser's was sufficient enough, but could have done with a second night.

After having dinner in Raub, we made our way back to Kuala Lumpur and reached home pretty late what with the heavier traffic as many people were rushing back to KL to get ready for work the next day. Phew, what a trip!

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