Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Bala Chalet (Cameron Highland) & Scones

Lately, everyone is posting on scones.. (Carcar, LB & May etc..) Mmmm.. What is the consequences after reading all these posts? I started "digging out" my "old" photos, taken in Cameron Highland in September 2005 (cos I took several shots of scones over there). And while looking back at the photos, I noticed there are several photos that I have never posted yet. I posted quite a number of photos & posts regarding Cameron Highland in the past, but haven't post anything regarding Bala Chalet yet.

Bala Chalet is located at Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands. It is one of the oldest colonial buildings built during the pre-war era. Formerly this building was a British school. Now the place is fully refurbished into a cozy, old English style guest house with country charm. The building is preserved in its original structure to enhance its natural beauty.

Bala Chalet has now 25 cottage style rooms. When I visited the place last year, part of the place was closed down for renovation.

Cosy looking British India Restaurant - serving both local and western cuisine.

Haha, I didn't stay in Bala Holiday Chalet (so I can't give any feedback on the rooms & facilities). We just came here for our afternoon tea & homemade scones. We stayed in Heritage Hotel during our stays in Cameron Highlands.


Firewood in fireplace. I presume there is chimney as well?

This is the place serving one of the better quality scones in town :) This is what I had there - scones, scones & scones.. My servings of scones (together with whipped cream, strawberry jam & butter) and tea as well (of course).

This picture is taken in T cafe. Since I feel like eating scones now (after looking at all those scones picture), that's why I dig out the scone photos :) This is another nice cosy place to have scones & sipping afternoon tea. I have written a post on T cafe earlier on.

The followings are some of my old posts regarding Cameron Highlands (for those who are interested to know more about Cameron Highlands) -Sg Palas Boh tea plantation, Boh tea plantation, Bharat tea plantation, strawberry farm, mossy forest jungle trekking, herbal steamboat, view tower (Mt Brinchang), Parit Fall, tomatoes, grass babies, persimmon farm .

30 comments:

Cynthia said...

wah lau!!! you guys kia-su issit? kidding!

hahahha

nice place~!!! wonder when i will be going there..

miss home

Vagabonder said...

very nice, quite European, I must say

L B said...

Yayyy!!! Sconesomes!!! Nice lah ~ no wonder you like your scones from CH so much!!

Babe_KL said...

kum ngam geh??? i'm going this weekend hahaha gonna stay at the same place as you did kekeke but seriously i dun find the pastry at T cafe dat great. i still like scones at smoke house which charges a bomb but i dun mind since they serve them wid REAL clotted cream!!! yumyum will report when i come back :D

Chen said...

cynthia,
dunno ah? kiasu or craving for scones or.. whatever lah.. hahaha...

when will u be going there? when u balik kampung time loh.. bila nak balik kampung? :D

thao,
yes, it is indeed :)

lb,
haha, no choice, cos I don't bake scones.. but if I can take a piece of your scones, then that will be great.. can add another collection to my scone pictures :D

babekl,
woh.. going to CH for the long weekend? Nice :) But I presume that place will be crowded :D

I like the little balcony in Heritage Hotel :) And I'm sure u will get yourself plentiful of the Cameron sweet & juicy cherry tomatoes :)

I haven't tried the scones in smoke house yet.. Waiting for your report :D

Kristopher said...

cameron highland.... never being dere b4...i wan to go but each time when my family go dere for vacation, i will be the one who will cannot make it. last time my dad's company have a house dere complete with cook, butler and maid...but now my dad is retired liaw lo... nice pics....making me regret only..hehehe

Anonymous said...

ok, those scones definitely look better than mine!
and I love the look of the Bala Chalet. very cosy, homey. nice getaway place, yea?

JoeC said...

Hihi, wat a lovely place, I wonder where we can find those old colonial bungalows in Cameron for rent, love those old style decor and furnishing. Never stayed in one in Cameron but in Fraser have. Thx for the word. Cheers!

Chen said...

kristopher,
u still have the chance to go there lah, although your dad has retired... just that u cannot stay in the company house :D CH is definitely a nice place to visit :)

may,
your scones look good & yummy too, especially the 2nd batch ;) Bala chalet looks cosy, but certain rooms are hard to access.. haha, cos have to climb up using the small & narrow staircase :P Might be after the recent rennovation, things will be better :)

joec,
where to rent the old colonial bungalows ah? I have no idea loh.. :D

c a r c a r said...

yalah cynthia, bila nak balik kampung ni?

hey the scones really look good!

and you crappy story teller, how come ended up not staying there but tell so many story bout the bala chalet? hehehe...

i like the one taken from T cafe! nice nice!

i miss cameron highland too.

Selba said...

Wow... the place looks like a western country house (yeah, of course because it's colonial building, hahaha). So nice....

The beds... is it 'bau apek'? smelly...

I have never tried "scones" in my life. I even just know it these days from the blog word... hahaha... poor me... :P

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing those wonderful images.

They appear to be Mock-Tudor in style.

Chen said...

carcar,
hahah.. since u already mention I'm astory teller, so I'm qualified to tell "stories" :P

yeah, I love the scones there :)

selba,
kekeke.. never go inside the room to smell the bed lah :P

Congrats for learning new thing --> "scones" hehe.. Hope u get to taste one soon ;)

chuang sc,
Mock Tudor style is a common sight in Cameron Highlands :) Another famous one is "Ye Olde Smokehouse"

Chen said...

jonboy,
we shouldn't limit ourselves to certain places only.. If time & $$ permits, then must go jalan-jalan on & off :D

I know what is scone lah.. eaten scones many times already :D

Robin CHAN said...

The best scones I have ever tasted came from KUCHING from Mh2o..

Unker is so lucky and he eats them with Kaya!!!!

KittyCat said...

Mmm...thanks for posting on the scones (and Bala's chalet). Hv heard about the scones but dunno about them. Gonna make it one of our cuti-cuti Malaysia destinations =)

day-dreamer said...

Often hear the word "scone" but never get the chance to taste it yet... so cham!

sbanboy said...

I want some SCONES !!!!!

Chen said...

robin,
I see, Mh2o is a great cook. Wah.. unker eat scones with kaya? Might be unker & Mh2o can consider opening up a bakery shop?

kittycat,
Guess u must busy with your little Lucas at the moment :)

day dreamer,
I'm sure u will have the chance to taste it soon.. ;)

sbanboy,
u want CONES i can give u loh...(ice cream cones) but u want SCONES.. where to get for u ah? :P I give u CORNS or jagung instead :P

Anonymous said...

so english and colonial looking. the hotel, er...any eerie thing happen there before?

Selba said...

Hahaha.. *claps*

Bravo!!!

Chen, you are amazing playing with the words: CONES, SCONES and CORNS...

:D

Winn said...

scones again?
scone craze eh?

hmm. i feel so left out.

i no scone :( how?

scone spoils teeth ....

Chen said...

nurul,
dunno ha.. I presume so.. however, even if got, also they covered up lah. hahha.. Bangunan lama woh.. sure got "things" one :D

selba,
hahha.. this is called --> playing with words :P

winn,
join in the crowd mah.. the more, the merrier.. :P
Now is the scones season..
btw, u cannot eat scones at the moment lah.. not good for your teeth :P (as u mentioned - scones spoils teeth.. the little gal's teeth :P )

Anonymous said...

cameron highlands? when did i go? forgot oredi ... actually looking for another trip to "hunt" for rafflesia :D

beautiful place to laze around with plenty of flowers (i.e if one manage to survive the winding road up to the top hahaha ...) we actually on a small van, and that bugger was driving uphill, initial-D style, in the darkness. so you can imagine how giddy we after doing "rock n roll" in the darkness

Chen said...

slurp,
wah.. "hunting" for rafflesia? Rafflesia is available in Sarawak as well ;) but so far I haven't see the real rafflesia yet.. Only see in picture or tv show :(

winding road up ah? hahaha... I know what u r talking about :P Not only winding, but super narrow road as well..

Daniel Yiek said...

I hv been to that chalet. As a whole, it looked nice but on closer look, the finishing was sub standard especially the paint.

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Mock-Tudor is common in the Cameron Highlands? Wow! That's interesting. I must visit some day.

Chen said...

daniel,
Rennovation was in progress when I went there last year :) Hope they do something about the paint then..

chuang sc,
yeah.. quite a number of buildings are in Mock-Tudor style :)

Anonymous said...

hi there,
just back from cameron. stayed at Bala's Chalet.2 rooms for $360. The out look of the buildings is pretty. Very Colonial with Nice garden. BUT..I dont think they know what is hospitality!! Running the hotel is not only taking care of the building but there is no service, no smile at all from anyone except guests who stay there. Not a single greeting and smile. Feel like I owe them few millions. There is a fat Indian lady, looks like she is in charge. She was scolding her Indon helper in front os us, loudly. Every time she met us she just pretend we are not there. She must be very unhappy there. We try to make use of the reading room to read newspaper but staff told us light will be off at 9 pm. Wat is this? one of our room dont have hot water in the morning. Reception say on the tap for 10 mins but we waited 1/2 hr. Room is very basic, Despite the cold floor dont even provide a pair of sandal. Out of all this, we took many nice pictures in the garden. Think will not go back again since there is many other choice of accomodation.

Chen said...

anon,
Sorry to hear about your encounter in Bala Chalet :( Hospitality is very important, else they will lose customer in the long run if the situation persist....