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Pangkor Laut Day Two: Pool, Jacuzzi and Kayaking

This is an old journal, from our trip around the world in 2002, taken from the diary I wrote at the time. Apologies for the poor quality photographs, they are scans of prints taken with a compact camera and images from the scrap book I made afterwards.

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View Around the World for our Silver Wedding 2002 on Grete Howard's travel map.

I’m finally beginning to get that ‘chill-out’ feeling. It’s raining again, and we debate whether or not to take the arranged jungle walk this morning. Having decided against it, the weather of course clears up. We send e-mails instead, although the PC crashes four times during our time on there.

By the pool we get to know a very pleasant couple from London, Sian and Rob, who we spend a lot of time with discussing various hotels and destinations. As a travel agent, Sian is obviously quite informed about the world’s luxury resorts, but we all agree that this is by far the most exclusive hotel we have stayed at. They have stayed at another of my ‘dream’ hotels, the Dusit Rayavadee in Thailand, and consider that to be almost as good as Pangkor Laut. I must stay there one day!

You realise quite how wild this place is when you wander over to the pool shower and find a snake in there! Its location, coupled with the extremely attentive service and their eye for detail, are what makes this such an exclusive place to stay.

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After a lunch of the best steak sandwich I have ever tasted (this is a real 1.5cm thick slab of meat – I am even asked how I want it cooked!) and Fish & Chips for David, we spend more time by the pool and even try the Jacuzzi. What a strange sensation – the water is cool! The sun even comes out for us – briefly.

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By the time we go out in a kayak, it’s overcast again, but that is probably just as well. Being in a small kayak on the open water is a recipe for sunburn. We head for the water bungalows, but the kayak is rather difficult to steer – where’s that rudder?

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The rain starts again while we listen to some music and write post cards in the room.

Fortunately the rain has stopped by the time we go for Dinner on the Rocks. Tonight’s dining is a different affair, more like a dinner party: everyone eats the same food at the same time. We travel over to Emerald Bay in a Land Cruiser, where lights have been strung out through the trees on the beach and the palm trees are imaginatively lit from below. The lighting effects, the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and the many small geckos scuttling around our feet, make it a very unusual event, and very romantic.

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There are only seven of us there, on three tables.

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A three piece band provides pleasant background music for the complete dining experience, and a very excellent one too.

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The five course meal is as follows:

1. Stuffed rice wrapped in banana leaf with a delicious crab and bean sprout salad.

2. Chicken and vegetable consommé.

3. A refreshing lime sorbet served in impressive goblets made from ice with flowers and leaves frozen inside.

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4. White snapper in cream sauce with bok choy, split peas and sliced potatoes with cheese. With its slightly crispy coating and beautifully moist flesh, this really is the best fish I have ever tasted (as I’m not a great fish lover, that is quite saying something).

5. Heart shaped cheesecake with a hard chocolate edge, chocolate straws and a coulis of strawberry and passion fruit, decorated with fresh strawberries and lychees.

An absolutely fabulous banquet, but costly at £80.

Posted by Grete Howard 05:02 Archived in Malaysia

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