Refarm, A Good Place for Short Rejuvenation in Kampar

Refarm is a recreation farm. Fish ponds, rooms for overnight stay (not cheap), halls for birthday party, gazebo for outdoor activities, and several types of old MacDonald's farm critters. Not to forget the best part of the farm- a big swimming pool with the water pouring down straight from the waterfall. For us, the all-natural water from the mountain range far behind the farm was selling point that worth the entrance fee paid.

Approximately 4 kms from Kampar (to Tapah and Cameron direction, address is lot 6059, Jalan Temoh-Kampar), Refarm can be easily spotted as it's located just beside the main road. The entrance was not catching our attention at all, so we didn't realize its presence until we were invited by Bryant. The entrance fee was RM10 for adult and RM5 for child. It opened daily from 9 am to 6 pm.

First of all, our advices- be early and be ready to get wet. The farm was still under minor construction and there were less shades. Gazebos and some big trees could help to chill a bit, but the whole area was very hot and humid under the sun. The swimming pool could be the only place that remained cold after 11 am. There was a fish catching area fun for children. The area however was a bit too big and the fish could easily elude the clumsy net. The animals feeding area was not attractive, hence a quick walkthrough would be just fine. So again, the main attractive would be the pool. By the way, if you are really a big fan of old MacDonald's pets, you may visit Farm in the City in Selangor. It is a good educational farm for children.

Decent entrance of Refarm. Luckily, ample car parks were prepared.

The entrance of the park is located next to the restaurant (upper left). The ticketing area was narrow. The restaurant had limited operation time, and it offered non-halal food (upper right). There was a shady walkway right after the entrance (lower left), with some fish in not-so-attractive tank.

There were a few fish ponds, decorated with newly planted shrubs.

The best part of the farm- the swimming pool! You can see the water pours into the pool from waterfall far behind.

There are shading huts beside the pool, with tables and chairs prepared for snacks and rest.

We could see ongoing constructions around, reflecting the ambition of the farm owner (upper left). A view from the top of the hill (upper right), where the rest houses located (lower right). The pool for fish catching was a bit too big for novice "fisherman". 

We could touch only two types of animals- goat and horse.

We took our lunch at Refarm Restaurant with Livien's family. The food was average, with overall small portion. The restaurant surprised us with no credit card payment allowed. Luckily we brought enough cash.

We stayed in the farm for around 1 hour and 30 minutes. To our surprise, we were not bitten even once by mosquito. The farm was clean without unpleasant smell from animals. So, if you wish to have a dip in natural waterfall, Refarm provides a good alternative that saves us from a long walk through the jungle, such as waterfall at Nopungguk. By the way, there was a food stall inside the farm, providing snacks and drinks with reasonable price.

So, visit Refarm again? Yes, and will bring along the towels and swimming suits with us.

For our experience in places nearby Kampar, please read our posts:

[Tin Dredge in Batu Gajah] [Kellie's Castle] [Ipoh Old Town]
[Limestone caves in Ipoh] [Ipoh's Food] [Short Stay in Kampar]

[Cameron Highlands] [All Our Destinations]

Nice Food in Kampar

Finally we have the chance to stay overnight at Kampar again. Of course, earned the opportunity to try more nice food in Kampar. First in our list, the famous curry chicken bread. We learned that there are a few famous restaurants offering the same dish. Kam Ling Restaurant and You Kee Restaurant are two of them. However, we tried that dish at Restaurant Jia Kampar (家好月圆大饭店）. We really liked that restaurant, because it was fully air conditioned, good service, and easily accessible. Above all, very nice food. We took our lunch with our family there. The price, around RM12 per person. More information about Restaurant Jia is available here. Surprisingly, curry chicken bread was not introduced in the restaurant's webpage. Luckily, we have Bryant and Livien with us, or else we might never visit that restaurant. They knew the place well.

 Restaurant Jia Kampar is located at the corner of a two-storey shoplot at Masjid Road (upper left). The restaurant is clean and fully air-conditioned (upper right). The restaurant serves the famous Kampar Curry Chicken Bread (lower row).

A snap before enjoy our food with family members.

Evening, after we visited Kellie's Castle and Gopeng Gaharu Estate, we went to Kampar old town's market to take our dinner. At night, the area around the old town was quiet, but we were surprised by the happening at the food court. Under the dim fluorescence light, smoke from burning stools, sound of people talking and laughing indicated that we were at the right place. Hot? Nope, but the smoke was everywhere, due to the poor ventilation system. But, who cares? People like the food more than anything else. We really tried many food there with our family. Char kuey tiaw with clam and egg, chu cheong fun (or chee cheong fun), water spinach with squids, porridge with chicken, and wantan noodle were several of them. The wet market is located at Masjid Road, at the northern side of the old town. We learned from this blog that the market has many nice food to offer under the daylight.

Some of the food that we took at the market- chu cheong fun (upper left), water spinach with squids (upper right), char kuey tiaw with clam and egg (lower right) and taro cake.

This is what we saw around us at the market.

After taking our dinner, we went back to Kampar new town and took a walk around our hotel. Well, the temptation was tremendous, as there were many shops offering tempting food. We stopped at a small cart selling "lok-lok". Lok-lok is nothing new to many. But, how about RM 0.70 per stick of food? Well, price did the talking. We took several sticks of clams, water spinach with squid, and pork. The taste, not the best, but the price compensated. We found the cart at Hala Timah Road 1, west to Grand Kampar Hotel. Anyway, the cart might be moving around so, you might need some luck to find it.

 Various choices of food were offered.

 A few youngsters gathered around the cart, enjoying their supper.

Just before we went back to our hotel, we stopped at Black Ball Taiwanese Tea and Dessert at another side of Hala Timah Road 1. The shop was narrow, selling dessert and milk tea. Nice, but just a bit noisy, crowded with youngsters.

Black ball offers exquisite Taiwanese dessert and delighting Taiwanese pearl tea.

This is the first time we tried so many food in Kampar. The experience, great! Never thought that a small place like Kampar could ever come out with so many nice food. There are many more food in our list. We should visit Kampar again to try them all. Check up about food in Kampar by wyyv.blogspot.com. They provided many useful information to us.

Our sharing on other places nearby are available as well, as listed below.

[Tin Dredge in Batu Gajah] [Kellie's Castle] [Ipoh Old Town]
[Limestone caves in Ipoh] [Ipoh's Food] [Short Stay in Kampar]
[All Our Destinations]

Last Tin Dredge in Malaysia

We read about tin dredge in our history class many years back in our secondary school, "kapal korek" we called it in Malay Language. Now, we see it with our own eyes in Batu Gajah, Perak. It goes beyond everything that we had ever imagined. It is gigantic.

Tanjung Tualang Dredge No 5 (TT5) was one of the largest mining machine of its kind. Three storeys high, 4,500 tonnes, supported by a pontoon of 75 meters in length, 35 meters in width, 115 digging buckets which could dig 15 meters deep, once supported 17 workers working in shift, swallowing the marshes and mud to extract the valuable mineral.

Many years ago, these machines were the symbols of prosperity, which had brought handsome revenue to our country. 75 of them in total between 1954 - 1964, feeding 45% of the world's demand. Then, the tin price nosedived in 1980s. When the operational cost rose above the production cost, these giant machines were shut down one by one. Now, it is the last survival of its kind, laying quietly in a small pond at Batu Gajah. Many years back, people believed that it would be a matter of time for this metal giant to be consumed by rust. However, it stands tall and proud as we can see today, result of the preservative works done by many. You can read more about the preservation of this last dredge at Ipohecho.com.my.

Starting from Kampar, we reached Batu Gajah through Gopeng. Then, we followed the sign boards to Tanjung Tualang. The dredge is located about 10 km from Gopeng towards Tanjung Tualang. There was no clear sign showing the exact location of the dredge along the way. If you are driving from Gopeng towards Tanjung Tualang, the dredge should be about two minutes away after Chenderong, on your left. The opening hours of the dredge are 8:30 am - 6:30 pm daily, with a lunch break at 12 - 1 pm. The admission fees are RM6.00 for adult, RM5.00 for student (with student card) and RM3.00 for child.

 This three storey high mining machine lies quietly in this old mining pond.

 Walking around the pond, we can see the dredge from different angles.

 The front side of the dredge.

The ladder with buckets still attached. The ladder can reach 31 meters below the water.

 Close up of digging buckets.

 The entrance to the first level of the dredge.

 One of the workstations in the dredge.

Separated from tin, stones and sand were discharged from these chutes located at the back side of the dredge.

"Safety first" in four languages.

You will have a better idea of how big is the ladder by looking at this photo.

The spare metal bucket in the dredge.

A canvas banner was hung at the entrance of the dredge museum, which is around 100 meters away from the main road (upper left). A small information centre with some old black and white photos and objects on display. Not much that we can learn from there.

We passed by Chenderong before reach the dredge (upper left). The dredge was hidden and we couldn't see it from the main road (lower left). There was a "Jom Teroka" or "Come and Discover" sign board beside the road, facing Tanjung Tualang direction (upper right). We had to look back to see the sign. The overgrown shrubs made the dredge hard to be seen, even from the information centre.

Our photo at the right flank of the dredge. The sun shine proudly during our visit. It was very hot.

The tin mining was a very important activity, not only at Kinta Valley, but it brought a rise to whole Malaysia. For us, the tin dredge visualized what we had learnt in our history and geography lessons, far back to our secondary school. Well, this is the last survived one in our country. Without it, we would have to go to other country to look for one.

No food and drink are sold around the tourist area. The nearest towns that we can look for a meal are Batu Gajah to the north, or Tanjung Tualang to the south. However, in our trip, we traveled further north to Ipoh to take our lunch. Sunny day is good for taking good photo with clear blue sky. However, the blazing sun might be unforgiven for those who wish to take a walk around the dredge. So, we would advise that bringing an umbrella might be necessary. Again, like Kellie's Castle, this site might not strong enough to be your standalone point in your itinerary. Take the opportunity to visit Kellie's Castle at Batu Gajah, Kampar, and Ipoh around the area. We heard that Tanjung Tualang is famous with its prawn, take a look about the food at this site- Tanjung Tualang Prawns. You might like to take a try.

We learned some useful information from these sites about the last tin dredge. Maybe you would like to take a look as well- TT5 Tin Dredge, Dredge up the Past, and Thiffytraveller. Driving your own car or joining a local tour in Ipoh or Kampar might be a good idea to go to both Kellie's Castle and the Tin Dredge at Batu Gajah. As far as we could see, there was no public transport around the area.

Our sharing on other places in Perak are available as listed below.

[Kellie's Castle] [Ipoh Old Town] [Limestone caves in Ipoh]

[Ipoh's Food] [Nice Food in Kampar] [Short Stay in Kampar]
[All Our Destinations]

Kellie Castle, an uncompleted masterpiece

Kellie Castle was huge to be considered as a mansion during the time it was built. It was a symbol of richness, a sign of power, a home to an European family and, of course, joy of a father to his son, and love of a husband to his wife. Today, the mansion in Batu Gajah again brought us back to the British Colonial Era, where the European plantation owners gathered for afternoon tea, or sat around the dining table for beer and laughs.

The mansion was built by William Kellie Smith, a Scottish who found his fortune through his investment in rubber plantation and tin mining in Malaya. It was late 1890s. He was in fact doing the right thing, on the right time, at the right place. His fortune grew like a rolling snowball. He went back to Scotland to marry Agnes, and had been blessed with a son and a daughter. He started the construction of Kellie's Castle in 1915. Dubbed by London Financier Newspaper 1911 as the most unique building in far east, the mansion was destined to be an uncompleted masterpiece, followed by the death of his master.

Kellie's Castle from the entrance.This prominent structure can be clearly seen from Gopeng Road that connects Gopeng to Batu Gajah.

The uncompleted mansion designed with 14 rooms, a four-storey tower, flat roof top that overlooking the beautiful surrounding, and a lift shaft, which is believed to be the first elevator designed in Malaya. However, the building never reach its completion, and the elevator, left uninstalled.

Kellie's Castle located in Batu Gajah, in between Ipoh and Gopeng. The entrance fee for adult was RM5, with RM1 discount for MyCard holder, RM3 for student (need to show the student card), and free for children below 6 years old. The operation time is from 9 am - 6 pm.

We took about 30 minutes to reach the castle from Kampar and reached Kellie's Castle at around 4:15 pm. We stayed for more than one hour, not because of the size of the mansion, but the picturesque surrounding.

The white door leads to the bridge that connects ticketing counter to the mansion at the other side of the river.

A lone mansion on the hill. We wonder if this mansion was completed by Kellie, would it still attractive? Or the flaw of uncompleted  building is the attraction?

There are two routes to the mansion. We took the left one.

Corridor on ground floor of the mansion.The far side of the corridor leads to the staircase to upper levels.

The wine store room which can be accessed from the ground floor (upper left). The arches are common design which can be found through the building (lower left). A hidden staircase that leads to the underground level that Kellie's family can hide in case of emergency.

A view from the hidden underground room.

Corridor on the first floor of the mansion.

Narrow staircase that leads to the rooftop of the mansion.

This is how the rooftop looks like. You can go even higher if height is not a problem to you.

This is how the old Kellas House looks like from the rooftop of the mansion. Kellas House was the house that Kellie and his family used to stay in. The surrounding area of Kellie's Castle was well landscaped.

The entrance to Kellie's Castle from the highest rooftop.

This is what we saw when we look east from the rooftop.

Back to the ground floor, we roamed around the area and took a close look on the damaged structure, which used to be the worker's quarter and kitchen (upper left), Kellas House (upper right), the guard house and the stable (lower left). Kellie's Castle can be clearly seen from the old Kellas House.

Of course, before we left Kellie's Castle, we took a photo on the highest point of Kellie's Castle with our family members.

Then two of us. Smile while enjoying the cool blowing wind.

If you ask whether Kellie's Castle is a must visit place in Malaysia? Well, it was a filming site of Anna and the King in 1999. A mysterious tunnel of several hundred meters was found. The ghost of Kellie is believed still haunting the castle. Apart from that, it is just an empty mansion on a silent hill, accompanied by a very old love story of rich and famous. Visit the mansion only if you are visiting somewhere nearby, such as Ipoh, Gopeng, Kampar, Cameron Highlands, or the Last Tin Dredge in Batu Gajah, and make it a stop in your whole itinerary. For us, it was just a stop in our 3 days 2 nights Kampar-Ipoh trip.

We visited the Kellie's Castle in late afternoon, and found that the lighting was excellent for photographing. It was less hot as well. If you are planning to visit the mansion, please make sure that you bring some drinking water with you, as we found no vendor or hawker around the area. Try your best to reach for the highest rooftop of the mansion to enjoy the beautiful panoramic view. As the rooftop is covered by dark carpet, the area might be hot on sunny day.  Not much information that we could acquire on the site. So, please read before your trip. The site might be quite boring for anyone who doesn't know the background of the mansion. We found that these few sites provide good information about the mansion- Perak.info, Explore-ipoh, and malaysia-vacation-guide, and Spooky stories at New Strait Times.

Well, our next sharing, our trip to the Last Tin Dredge in Batu Gajah, 30 minutes away from Kellie's Castle. Our other sharing on Perak are listed below.

[Last Tin Dredge in Malaysia] [Ipoh Old Town] [Limestone caves in Ipoh]

[Ipoh's Food] [Nice Food in Kampar] [Short Stay in Kampar]
[All Our Destinations]

Ipoh Old Town

We took a two days trip to Ipoh at the end of October 2011, and we found three interesting things to describe Ipoh- old town, food and limestone caves.

Before we talk about the old town, let's start with our itinerary. Friday evening, we reached Ipoh KTM station (train station) at 9:30 pm,  took our supper at "Tong Sui Kai" (dessert street), and checked into Excelsior Hotel. We went to take "dim sum" early the next morning, followed by taking "yong-liu" (or considered as yong to fu in other places) with Ipoh hor fun (flat rice noodle). We strolled around the old town area for nearly two hours before we took a sumptuous lunch at a local Chinese restaurant on our way to Kek Lok Tong, one of the famous limestone caves in Ipoh. We stopped at Sin Yoon Loong, one of the oldest coffee shop in Ipoh for a sip of original old town coffee in the late afternoon, before we spent our night on a friend's wedding dinner.

Sunday, we tried Ipoh well-known "Nga choi gai" (chicken with bean sprout) and bought some white coffee before we departed home at 2:30 pm.

Ipoh old town is full with hundred years old buildings. Many of them are remained functional until today. Ipoh old town is mainly referred to the town area in between S.P. Seenivasagam Road and Leong Boon Swee Road, on the west bank of Kinta River. Ipoh starts thriving in early 1900, when mining companies were set up at the old town, covering an area around 1000 m x 250 m. Instead of monumental buildings such as the town hall, railway station, the war memorial, St. Micheal Institution, and Birch Memorial which all of them located at the northern part of the old town, the rest of the town is just old two storeys and three storeys shop lots. Starting from the tourist's information center at Tun Sambanthan, we took around 2 hours walking around the area.

Standing at the crossroad between Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab Road and Dato Maharajalela Road, the town hall of Ipoh is the most prominent edifice that can be seen. Built on 1916, the building was designed based on neo-classical style, similiar to the railway station and the high court of Ipoh. The first political party in Malaya, Malay Nationalist Party held its first congress in this building in late 1945.

This war memorial is located opposite of the town hall, just in front of the railway station (as we can see from this photo). This war memorial was unveiled in 1927, in commemorating the gallant members in World War One. The original plaque was vandalized soon after the installation, and unidentified drug addicts were accused to be the culprits. The replacing plaques that we can see today stated that the memorial is in memory of those who sacrificed during World War I, World War II, during Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), Indonesian Confrontation (1962-1965), Re-Insurgency Period (1972-1990), and those who sacrificed during the construction of Thailand-Burma Death Railway. Only those died in First World War have their names listed on one of the plaques.

Ipoh Railway Station was built in 1917, designed by the same architect who had masterminded the design of Ipoh Town Hall- A. B. Hubback (additional information, he was the one who designed KL Railway Station as well). This building has often been referred as "Taj Mahal of Ipoh".

Along Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab Road, we saw Ipoh High Court (upper left), built in 1928 and serves as the building of justice until today. Beside the high court stands Royal Ipoh Club (upper left). Established in 1895, the club was the oldest club in Ipoh. St. John Church of Ipoh located at the end of the heritage trail. The church was once the largest church in Malaya. We could only see the backside of the church from the main road (lower left). We have to move ahead and turned into Perak Drive (Persiaran Perak) in order to get into the church's compound.

St. Micheal Secondary School, or formerly known as St. Micheal Institution was founded by Father J. B. Coppin. The school is located at S. P. Seenivasagam Road (formerly Clayton Road). The Gothic style building was built in 1922.

Recently, this historical building was repainted, and its former glory, restored. This school is one of the top rating schools in Perak, in both architectural and performance. The slogan of the school- Quis Ut Deus (Who can compare to God?) and Signum Fidei (A Sign of Faith).

The fine sculptures on the wall of the building can be seen from the main road.

Town Padang Mosque is next to St. Micheal Secondary School. This mosque portrayed special Indian Mogul style, which it's construction was funded by Shaik Adam, a wealthy Tamil Muslim in 1908, with a cost of $500,000. Sheikh Adam Road beside Birch Memorial was named after the Mogul.

Town Padang Mosque is more like a piece of art than a mosque.

We made a right turn after Town Padang Mosque and went down Sultan Yussuf Road (formerly Belfield Street), and we met with this old building of F.M.S. Bar and Restaurant. Some has claimed that it was the oldest restaurant in Malaysia. We were not sure whether the building has been abandoned or, under reconstruction.

Birch Memorial was built in 1909 in memory of J.W.W. Birch. Birch was the first British Resident of Perak, assassinated in Pasir Salak in 1875 by Dato Maharajalela. His death was a lesson to other disrespectful and arrogant British officials. Dato Maharajalela was hanged afterward, but he is sung as a national hero, until today. After the independent, a few roads named after Birch were renamed as Dato Maharajalela Road. The road that next to the Birch Memorial at Ipoh, as you can guess, is Dato Maharajalela Road (ironic, is it?).

HSBC Bank at Sultan Yussuf Road was built in 1931 with neo-renaissance style (upper left). Tenaga National (upper right) and former S.P.H. De Silva building (lower right) were located at the both ends of Maharajalela Road, respectively. Old shoplots like Chung Thye Phin Building are everywhere in Ipoh old town.

Eu Yan Sang is located at Bandar Timah Road (formerly Leech Street, upper left). The shop was found in 1879 by Eu Kong, a tin miner who was selling herbs to cure opium addicts. Then, his son, Eu Tong Sen took over the business and expanded the business into million dollar Chinese pharmaceutical giant, as we can see today. Gabled shophouses (upper right) can be seen at the end of Leech Street. Hawkers are selling their food in front of Sin Yoon Loong (lower right), on the same street with Eu Yan Sang. Famous Ipoh old town white coffee is available at Sin Yoon Loong. Chinese wholesale district is a part of Ipoh old town (lower left).

Most of the shops which are now located in the old town are operated by new owners. Without additional information, there will be no way for us to find out the history of the shops. So, we would like to recommend to get information from Tourist Information Center first before your tour. We found that the leaflets themed "Ipoh Heritage Trail Map 1" and "Ipoh Heritage Trail Map 2" were really helpful for us, in both planning our way through the site, as well as revealing the story behind the buildings.

Our recommended route- Starting from Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab Road, head north until you reach St. John Church. Then, go back to S.P. Seenevasagam Road. At the end of the road, turn right and walk along Sultan Yussuf Road and its vicinity, until Silang Road. The must visit sites are Ipoh Town Hall, Ipoh Railway Station, St. Micheal Institution, Birch Memorial, the finance street along Sultan Yussuf Road, and the old coffee shops along Bandar Timah Road (at the southern part of Sultan Yussuf Road). The whole journey should take one to two hours (without snack stop).

More information about Ipoh old town is available at:
Perak Heritage Society
Ipoh Heritage Trail Map 1 at Ipohworlds.org
Ipoh Heritage Walk at Malaysia-traveller.com
Kinta Heritage Group Sdn. Bhd. @ Facebook

Instead of the old town area, Ipoh is well known for its food. We tried many of them, and most of them are nice. Follow us to know more about Ipoh's food now.

All our sharing about Ipoh and places in vicinity are available too. Please follow the links below.

[Ipoh Food] [Ipoh Limestone Caves] [Kellie's Castle]
[Tin Dredge at Batu Gajah] [Nice Food in Kampar]
[A Short Stay in Kampar] [All Our Destinations]