Just told our Dutch guests (Cheng's friends from Maastricht) after we were thanked for showing them round, that we were just returning a favour because Cheng is under a Dutch scholarship!
In KL, Nee took them to Putrajaya, then they were left on their own. Then last night a sister-in-law gave them a Chinese dinner at Jaya 33. Today, we were at the Batu Gajah railway station to receive them. By the way, there were a couple of travellers who had to walk all the way out to the main road.
My wife took the trouble to cook Hainanese chicken rice for lunch, against my advice to just have it in the shop. Then we took them to the heritage Tin Dredge which is our favourite for foreign guests. It is tilted and is under consideration by the Perak State Government as to how best to deal with it. Steven was around and even showed us his Australian specie custard apple orchard next to the dredge. He selected 3 custard apples for us which weighed in at 1.2 kilograms. He is trying to save a few to try to achieve 1-kilo fruit and I wished him luck!
Then we went to Kellie's Castle which we had not been for a long time, since Steven was managing it. Now, the charges are Rm5 for foreign tourists and Rm4 for locals! To make the uncompleted building safe, the restoration work seemed more like renovation which to me, make the building less of an old relic.
We then headed towards Gopeng for Adeline's Guest House which is now famous for 'back to nature' holidays among foreigners and locals alike. This time we were lucky Adeline was around. She has added a new section which has modern amenities like air-condition and other convenience which can feed 30 persons. The original guest house can take in 100! Charges are Rm188 per head for the new which is scheduled for June 1 opening, and Rm138 per head for the old section. When complained about the steep charges, she was quick to add that it includes breakfast, lunch and dinner! Anyway, we were lucky because a big durian just dropped from a tree. Adeline promised to treat us. But because Jannake and Arne just tried and did not go for further helpings, we managed to eat only two small durians, leaving the big one untouched (partly because it was too fresh that I could not open it). In the farm, there were starfruits and jackfruits and even rubber trees for the Dutch tourists to see for the first time. It seems Adeline's mother at 76 still comes to tap the rubber trees which was her original intention when she bought the 5-acre land for only Rm1,900 an acre! Adeline bought the new 7-acre land for Rm40,000 each! Her success had brought in new competitors like My Gopeng Resort next to hers.
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