Fraser's Hill

Back from Fraser's Hill, which turns out not to be on Genting at all, but is actually in between Genting and Cameron. It feels odd to be back in Singapore, after all these days of seeing only a maximum of like twenty people every day. City bustle is stunning on a certain, deep level, throwing me off balance. Kinda like stepping on an escalator that's going too fast.

Anyway, it was a great time on Fraser's Hill! A magical place, that. Many strange and wonderful coincidences happened on the hill - like going all the way up the hill and halfway up the Malaysian Peninsula to meet an old friend from Pre U Sem (Alvin) and his dad who works in the MFA scholarships department or sth liddat. When I saw his smiling face in the bungalow I was literally stunned into babbling. I'd always joked with myself that the world is too tiny...but I didn't actually expect something like this to really happen!

The setting for the holiday owns! Photos haven't been uploaded yet, so I'll make do with these scans of the sketches I did. And what a relaxing time it was, sketching...many interesting scenes to draw on that hill. Kept me well occupied.

That's a scene from the living room of Singapore House, where we were living. If you look carefully, there's a set of cushy sofas and, on the extreme right, under the clock, it's a real fireplace with a real mantle! That is like a scene right out of my fantasy dreams! And the coolest thing was that on our last night Mum actually managed to start a fire in that fireplace, so we could actually enjoy the flickering flames and the heat. A fantastic moment, that...rarely have I seen a sight as happy as a crackling fire in a fireplace.

And this happy scene is the centre of the village on Fraser's Hill. A quiet, tranquil place, where cars are practically nonexistent, and everything moves with the slowness of a satisfied langour. The whole place is charmed, I think...while sketching this, I was sitting behind a parking lot, and when I had to draw a part blocked by the parked cars, they obligingly and coincidentally moved away until I had finished. And a group of Malays, Indians and even Chinese tourists from Kelantan dropped by to watch me sketching. That town is really friendly to artists, it seems. Heck, it's really friendly to all the visitors!

I said the place was charmed...yep, it definitely was a satisfying vacation in every conceivable way. Exceeded all my expectations of what a holiday in Malaysia is like. Imagine my surprise to find a passable facsimile of the European countryside in the next door country! Many things to do...horse-riding, nature-trails, sketching, walking, Monopoly. And a chance, definitely, to catch up with the family. The trip was filled with stories about all our various trips abroad. It was a novelty, to be with my family on holiday, and a delight to find out what they'd been up to all this time.

Mmm...and it was filled with memories too. Reminded me of all the other times I'd been on hillsides, mountainsides and hill resorts (Really, YS, you should see it; you'd love it up there!). And coming, as it did, at the end of an era, it was the time to reflect on how things had turned out this year. And it's with not a small amount of pleasure to find that I really did not mind these two years at all. There were gripes, but no regrets. Two good years filled with memorable, enriching experiences.

And the thing, I think, about this trip is that it finished with the feeling that I've been recharged and readied on all levels. At the end of this era, this most intense of all eras, I find that I am ready to begin.

pondered by phoenican @ 13.12.05