Several items actually peaked my interest in recent years. I was in a quilters' list at onelist ( this is pre yahoo group days ) when one of the quilters in US wrote me and said she used to go to Boarding School in Cameron Highlands.
After the advent of Google I finally found out that the boarding school she was talking about was now Bala's Chalet. It used to be the Tanglin School for expatriate children. Check out its history here and here .
The School was closed in 1948 because of the increasing danger from communist insurgents surrounding this area.
Arriving at Bala's at drizzly late afternoon gave the whole cottage a serene cosy feel. We were tucked under the big umbrella, having hot masala tea and scones on iron wrought benches surrounded by the sweet smell of honeysuckle and jasmine.
The garden sported a moss sampler, different moss grown on little tiles
and a unique birdbath
Unfortunately I have lost touch with the US quilter who use to go here but I would be grateful if anyone has any memories or photographs of the school until its closure in the 1940s.
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Cameron Highlands has the one of the highest numbers of well preserved colonial bungalows. Being a hill station established in the 1930s, many colonials would take this arduous journey up the montains, in elephants first then motorcars, to partake of the fresh mountain airs. The journey is still as arduous even in this modern day and age, but well worth it.
One of the bungalows that evokes the most sense of mystery is Moonlight, the bungalow Jim Thompson was staying in before his mysterious disappearance in 1967.
Many malaysians now will remember Jim Thompson as a premier brand for Thai Silk, never realising that he was a man with a quite sinister past. In fact his disappearance sparked a huge search by local and international jungle experts including many psychics. For a great read on his disappearance including a blow by blow account - you have to go to this site and read this forum thread . It's pretty old but in the later pages there are excerpts of the Book SOLVED! The Mysterious Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King.
I'm unable to get a hold of this book and have written to the author but will update when I do.
Now when I arrived at Moonlight I was greeted by a very grumpy looking caretaker who did not like us looking around. he gave us 5 minutes and said - no photos. Fair enough! Looks like I might have to pay the RM 750 + for rental to justify the some serious investigation in to the place.
It was a bright sunny day but when I was walking in the garden, the sun went behind the clouds and it seemed to get darker. It was so quiet, almost as if the place was blanketed by time. Such an old place with so much history, I could almost see children playing in the garden and women have tea on the terrace. A peek through showed a parlour with an open fireplace where once men had sat and smoked their cigars and drank their brandy.
I wished I could catalogue the history of this place, the families who owned it and the people who lived here.
I'll just leave you with some bungalows we managed to snap - from afar as they're privately owned. Thank God for zoom lense.
1 comment:
There are a couple of houses in Brinchang, lovely colonial architecture, where the owners are (or were - it's been ages since I've seen them) old-timers who've been around since velociraptors were chasing little green critters. They'd love to talk about their place, if you approach them nicely enough....
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