A group of colleagues wanted to take little retreat. So off we went to this place called Awanmulan (Mulan's Clouds) within the Pantai Hills Orchard Resort in Jelebu. Followed someone's GPS and we lost our way. Google map worked a little better. By the time we arrived, it was getting dark (and we were the 1st group!). After a call clarifying if we were still on the correct road, we reached. There weren't any signboard because, well, it is an orchard and the houses were all private property and they just came up with the name not too long ago.
The Teng family built their own home and another part as a guesthouse house for family friends. We booked most of the rooms that 2 night, so we very much had the whole place to ourselves. We entered Teratak Bonda and was just in awed. The beautiful structure was made of wood and had a very tree house (a big one) feel to it. The kitchen faces the lush greenery and as the clouds surrounds the place, it felt really serene. The huge deck with hammocks was just prefect. We had a welcome party - Daniel and friends. They were really friendly, and they knew their boundaries.
We had a quick tour before deciding on room assignments. The girls got the larger, newer units below the deck. :) Every unit was spacious and beautifully designed and some were equipped with kitchenette. Some of the bathroom walls were adorned with colored glass bottle and some, you get a very outdoor feel.
Oh, and check out the swimming pool! Awesome! Don't worry about 3G, the family has got wifi for us. Nice for those who can't stand not being connected on fb and twitter. Some of the girls and I took up the Sunrise room. And I had my bed pushed right up to the edge to get a real feel of sleeping "next" to nature. And the name didn't fail. Check out the sunrise photo below. That was the sight that greeted me in the morning.
Had a little chat with Uncle Teng. Told us a little about his background and about building Awanmulan. Most of the window panes and doors were bought over from old traditional homes that was going to be demolished. And part of the pool deck was made of old telephone post. He decided to leave the wood as it is instead of filling up the holes and chopping them to the exact length. As original as it can be!
Zee helped planned a trekking for our group - which some within the group just couldn't cope with. We turned back instead of finishing the trail. Guide said we were just too slow. Most of our food were catered and Zee helped us with BBQ. Of course we did a little cooking - instant noodles! Haha. We ate so much, we finished most of the snacks we bought - which was A LOT.
It was a refreshing trip. Will be back again. Simply a great place to chill. Just pray I don't bump into a group like mine, we were pretty loud till wee hours in the morning. :-p
