You gotta have strawberries when you're Cameron Highlands

Cameron Highlands
I went to the Cameron Highlands a couple of weeks back for church camp. It was an awesome time of hearing a man of God preach the word. He's 70 years old, and still going on strong. It makes me wonder if I'd even last that long. Hrmm.

Anyways, it's always nice to see how a fruit is grown, and where they come from. It only confirms that food does not come shrink wrapped in plastic from supermarkets. I'd reckon that the highlight to a trip to Cameron Highlands would be it's strawberries.

Rows of strawberries being grown in compost.

Here's a little one that's all ready to be harvested.

Just looking at these beauties makes me smile. The strawberries from around Cameron Highlands are very different from the ones from say America, or Egypt.
Now, the ones that I see in the supermarkets are huge, like they've been injected with hulk-inducing hormones. Sure, it looks like a real deal, to have a huge strawberry but seriously, they taste really bland compared to the ones from Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands strawberries are full of strawberry flavour. No, really. Even the intense colour of it tastes like strawberries. It's rather squishy, compared to other strawberries and that only means it's really juicy.

I've came across these strawberries even before I went to Cameron Highlands, and I liked it so much, that I was determined to let everyone try it. And so I bought a kilogram of strawberries, made a chocolate fondue with the help of the hotel staff, and brought it up to the meeting for everyone to try. I didn't get to take a picture cause it was almost finished by the time I went up.
That's how good they are.
Meg had bought some too and I thought I'd dip them in some leftover chocolate for a picture.
The batch that she had bought were even smaller, just slightly over half and inch, and I couldn't help but think how awesome they'd be for petit fours.

If you're from around Singapore, you've got to go to the supermarket at Isetan Lido, and try them yourself. They're labeled as Grace Cup.
I'd really want to use these next time. Firstly, it tastes really good, and it's size makes it perfect for garnishing. Plus, it's compost grown, which means that it's not genetically modified.

We went to this place called Rose Valley, and they had mint growing there too.
There was a whole wall of these green gems growing, and I wished I could have candied them all.

Ipoh
We went down to Ipoh and stayed for a night, before leaving for Singapore.
There are several things worth checking out in the otherwise sleepy quiet town.

Ipoh White Coffee
You will not believe how aromatic and flavourful this humble cup of coffee is.
They're called white coffee because they are roasted with palm oil margarine and without sugar, resulting in a less darker roast than regular ones.
However, Ho Sen White Coffee roasts their beans with sugar caramel, and although not mentioned, I believe they're also roasted with palm-oil margarine.
This makes the beans more sweeter and flavourful when brewed. I've used them with tiramisu's and this gem of Ipoh has won my heart's affection, and has found it's place in my list of ingredients to use.
You have to try them yourself. Not just the packet 3-in-1 variety. They rely heavily on "natural flavouring", if you know what I mean.
Buy Ipoh White Coffee beans online!

Ipoh's White Coffee.

Here are the really cool bunch of people I hanged out with at the camp.
It's really awesome to have fun and spend time with people you care about.
Good food and great company are one of the world's natural pairing.
Kinda like chocolate and oranges.