Farm Stay in Malaysia - Part 1

(Daddy recounts)

We had initially made plans to drive up to Kuala Lumpur last weekend, as it was a school holiday on Monday. Alas, Ale was still nursing a fever on Friday night so the KL plan was aborted. 

And I couldn't have scripted it better, for her fever miraculously scooted off come Saturday morning! With the wifey's birthday falling on Monday, I thought it would be a nice treat if we could all get away even though it was only for one night.

After much due research (actually, I had bookmarked the page eons ago but don't tell her that), I settled on UK Agro Farm Resort.

No, it isn't in the United Kingdom. Neither do I have the budget anyway. I think UK probably stands for the owner's initials. But anyway, UK Agro Farm is situated in Johor - about one hour's drive away from Singapore. And it is Malaysia's largest goat and sheep farm, with 100 acres of grazing land for 4000 sheep.

Sounds pretty enormous to me! In addition, it has accommodation options available for those who want to be fully immersed in the Farm Stay experience. 

Frankly speaking, I had absolutely no idea what we were in for except that... well, the photos and descriptions on the website looked pretty decent. So we packed our bags on a Sunday morning and away we went!

And this was the view that greeted us as we neared the Farm.

Pretty awesome sight, isn't it?

For the most part of the road trip, the drive was pretty straight forward. However for the final 15km of the journey, we had to travel on a gravel road like the the photo below.

Bumpy, yes. Fun and exciting, most definitely! I think the monkies loved the gravel road journey, especially since they got to see many cows grazing along the way.

For a moment I thought I was holidaying in Australia or New Zealand, with scenes like these. Or maybe it was because of Ale and her incessant moo-ing emanating from the back of the car.

The moo-ing  was eventually replaced by excited chattering as the first sign of our destination appeared in front of us.

Soon enough, we finally reached the Reception area of the Farm Resort.

The entire area was huge, with the Reception area housing the Restaurant as well.

As I proceeded to check in, the monkies wasted no time in exploring the place.

And what they found out thrilled them to bits.

Yup, there were tons of farm activities for them to get all excited about - ranging from goat feeding to animal petting. But I will have more on that later, because we had to check in to our room first.

If you are feeling adventurous enough, there is the Dormitory option which comes complete with mosquito coils and nets. Or for a notch higher in the adventure stakes, there is even a camping site where you can pitch your own tent.

Err, I reckoned we are not that advanced yet. So we settled for the Deluxe Room -  built in the form of a 'Long House', a traditional house found in the Iban community in Sarawak.

Built on stilts and with long corridors, the rooms overlook the vast green meadows and the grazing pastures of the Farm.

The view from our corridor - instant stress reliever if you ask me.

And the room? It was pretty decent, clean and functional. Ours came with 1 double bed and 1 single bed, with the usual amenities like air-conditioning and water heater. I don't have many complaints with the lodging, especially since it's RM240 (or S$100) for one night, with breakfast.

Of course, the monkies didn't want to remain cooped up in the room. Not when the allure of the Farm Tour was still lingering in their minds.

There are quite a number of different Farm Tour packages to choose from and you can view them in detail HERE. Essentially, one can go for the 3-hour Guided Tour on a Mini-bus or a 2-hour Tour on a Horse Cart.

I gave the boys the freedom to choose, and no prizes for guessing which option they picked.

The main difference between the Mini-bus and Horse Cart tours is that the Mini-bus tour comes with a guide, who will explain the going-ons behind the various stop points in the Farm. Also, we will have to purchase our own feed (RM3 per packet) at the goat feeding and ostrich feeding areas for the Horse Cart Option.

However seeing how we could move around the Farm at our own time and pace, coupled with the fact that the boys were relishing at the thought of riding on a Horse Cart, it was a no-brainer for us. Well, I do pity the horse for having me as a passenger but if it was of any consolation, at the least the rest of the other passengers were much lighter!

And so, off we began.

The wifey & I would never have imagined such a place existed so close to Singapore in the first place, because we thought such a scene only existed in other countries further away. So it was actually a very nice surprise to get lost among such wonderful scenery as the horse pulled us along.

The first stop was the Herb Sanctuary, where it housed a collection of more than 100 species of herbs. Or so it claimed.

Not that I bothered to keep count in the first place... uhm, because I was busy trying to cajole the 2 brothers into posing nicely for me to snap some photographs.

And this was the best they could muster.

Vomit blood, I tell you.

Ale, on the other hand, was a much better subject.

She's really such a joy to photograph nowadays. The fact that she is so so so cute does help too of course. Yes, I'm biased but I'm entitled to. Right?

Anyway, I guess the boys were more interested in animals rather than plants. So it was just as well that our next stop was the Goat & Sheep Farm.

And I knew we reached the Goat & Sheep enclosures as soon as I caught a waft of mutton in the air. It wasn't exactly that overpowering, but still it made me think of sup kambing.

Or lamb chops with black pepper sauce.

But I digress. Truth is, I was very impressed with how well-kept the entire enclosure was. The timber flooring was clean and free of poop of any sorts. Even the goats and sheep looked as if they were enjoying life there, I kid you not.

How difficult can life be when you are hand-fed hay by kids everyday?

Well, that is unless you meet someone like Ale. Who decreed that each goat can only chomp on 1 strand of hay at any given time.

The monkies also got a chance to traumatize cuddle a baby goat in their arms.

I think Ale enjoyed herself the most, since it was her first time coming into contact with a goat.

After bidding farewell to our four-legged friends, the two-legged feathered creatures beckoned.

The Ostrich Park housed many ostriches, all of which seemed to be rather hungry... or greedy.

And since Ayd couldn't get to carry an ostrich (for obvious reasons), he hugged an ostrich egg instead. Heh.

I could see that the kiddos were enjoying themselves on the Farm Tour thus far, and we were not even halfway through our tour yet! Read about the second part of our Farm Stay here: http://www.cheekiemonkie.net/2012/05/farm-stay-in-malaysia-part-2.html

View more photos of our 1-night Farm Stay at UK Agro Farm Resort, Malaysia 

on our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.303226839757592.70136.110845722329039&type=3