My early years in China and Thailand from January 1949 to August 1956
January 11th 1949 -» August 1st 1956
School years in Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia from August 1956 to July 1968
August 4th 1956 -» June 15th 1968
College, marriage, and trips while living in Thailand from August 1968 to August 1975
August 1st 1968 -» July 1st 1975
Trips while living in Virginia from July 1975 to August 1977
July 11th 1975 -» August 14th 1977
Trips while living in Ramstein, Germany from August 1977 to February 1980
August 15th 1977 -» February 29th 1980
Trips while living in Boblingen, Germany from March 1980 to July 1984
March 1st 1980 -» July 12th 1984
Trips while living in Brussels, Belgium from July 1984 to November 1995
July 13th 1984 -» November 2nd 1995
Trips while living in Falls Church, Virginia from November 1995 to August 2005
November 3rd 1995 -» August 12th 2005
Trips while living in Woodland Park CO from August 2005 to the present
August 15th 2005 -» ongoing
New Years Vacation to London and Paris with Tamara and Rosanna 2006
January 1st 2006 -» January 15th 2006
Thailand with Tamara, Rosanna, and Will
May 16th 2007 -» June 15th 2007
China, Thailand and Vietnam with Will and Mom
May 13th 2009 -» June 21st 2009
Spring Break with Tamara and Will in Italy and England
March 20th 2010 -» March 30th 2010
40th Anniversary Trip to the South Seas, Australia, and New Zealand
September 15th 2012 -» November 15th 2012
Following the Silk Road and the Baltics in 2013
March 1st 2013 -» April 30th 2013
South and Central America in 2014
April 30th 2014 -» May 13th 2014
2015 Trip to the Balkans
April 15th 2015 -» April 30th 2015
My Camino de Santiago
September 1st 2016 -» October 9th 2016
England in 2019
April 1st 2019 -» May 22nd 2019
Ancestral Visitations to Scotland and Sweden
July 1st 2022 -» September 30th 2022
Maurice Chew
non-member comment
Penang and the Cameron Highlands
Dear Linda and Bob, I stumbled into your blog, whilst doing a search on the Eastern Hotel at Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. We ( me and my wife Chwee) live in Sunny Singapore , but we have a condo apartment in Penang overlooking the sea (near Batu ferringgi). We use this as a holiday home to get away from the mad rush of city living. Last month whilst in Penang we decided to drive to the Cameron Highlands with our parents. I have not been there for about 20 years and was told that the new highway up from Ipoh to Brinchang in the highlands was alot better with less twistings and bends. About 3.5 hours drive we arrived at Brinchang by about 8 pm. It was nice and cool and after dinner I continued downhill on to Tanah Rata, and checked into the Hill View Hotel by nightfall. As a boy in the sixties I remember vividly the Eastern Hotel in Tanah Rata. It had a fireplace and in the December months when it was colder the fireplace was always lit. ( I did not know then that it was your old Dalat School.) We used to walk to Parit Falls- about 15 minutes away behind the hotel . We were young then and really enjoyed the highlands. Meals were usually at Wah Nam Restaurant which is along the shops in the main street. It was run by a wonderful hainanese cook at the time and his meals were super--Pork Chop, Beef with green Peppers. The Hainanese were great cooks. The morning came and I drove out to look for the old Eastern Hotel. The old town of Tanah Rata has not changed much except for a new building and Bus depot opposite the street where the shops on the main street are situated. It is also alot more busy now. The old Wah Nam Restaurant is still there but the name has changed to Shin Nam. Apparently the owner has passed on and he sold the shop. As I drove past looking for the Eastern Hotel I found it had been demolished and replaced with the Century Pines Resort. It in no way ressembled the old place. Gone was the Scottish house of the old Eastern Hotel--and a touch of sadness crept over me. I went back to the Shin Nam Restaurant looking for a meal but it looked crummy . The new owners -obviously from China ( Chinese nationals now seem to be everywere) did not up keep the place and the menu was vastly different. In the end I settled for a curry meal next door at an Indian Restaurant. Later in the day we drove to check out the Robinson Falls and the Hydroelectric Dam. It appeared that this too had deteriorated as there was alot of debri---plastic bags and cans brought down by the water from higher up (probably from Brinchang which is now even more densely populated than Tanah Rata.) Thank you for your very detailed pictures of the old Eastern Hotel. It brings back fond memories. Maurice Chew