I had planned to check out the Pangkor Laut Resort
for some months now and after checking the calendar, decided to head there last
weekend. Why last weekend? Well, it was the weekend after school reopened (no
way would I go during March school holidays when the holidays were only a week
long), a weekend before Easter and also a weekend of no Arsenal in action. I
only made my booking on 27 February 2015, exactly a month before checking in
and there were only three Garden Villas left then. I’d made some research and
discovered that there are no TVs in the Spa and Sea Villas (yes, I may be on
holiday but I still liked to know that I could find out what’s happening in the
outside world if and when I wanted to) while some of the Hill Villas involved climbing up the trail.
There were no Beach Villas left available then (I had already decided on either
Beach or Garden Villas) so a Garden Villa it was.
If you’re a resident of Malaysia, Singapore and
Brunei, do take up the Resident’s Package as it includes daily meals*, return
scheduled speedboat transfers to/fro Marina Pangkor and a jungle walk. As the
resort runs on the concept of one island, one resort, you would find the
included meals a big welcome. Also one-way transfer is also not cheap and if
you miss the scheduled speedboat times, you’ll have to charter your own private
boat and trust me you don’t want to do that. I read a lot of angry comments on
TripAdvisor about this and I don’t understand why people don’t read or do more
research. It’s all stated clearly in the website.
Anyway, back to my trip. We left KL at a quarter
to 11 on Friday and headed north. There was a bottleneck somewhere (definitely
before Sungkai) as two lanes were being tarred so we had to slow down for that.
We exited at Bidor (I got distracted and confused my driver – we were supposed
to exit at Sungkai but no harm done) and followed the road to Teluk Intan (we
were slowed down by some lorries) and then on to Manjung. We reached Pangkor
Marina just after 2 p.m. and as it was still early, we decided to have some
light lunch. I had some chicken soup and hot barley drink. We then drove over
to Pangkor Marina and unloaded our luggage. I went in to check in while CT went
to park the car.
At the check-in office, the staff would come
approach you and hand you a refreshing scented cool towel and a glass of cold
drink (I asked for no ice as I was still coughing). You then have to sign your
check-in and the porters would help to load your bags all the way down to the
boat. There was a Caucasian couple who arrived a couple of minutes before 3 but
the staff made no fuss at all (you are supposed to arrive 20 minutes before
departure).
We boarded the boat at 3 (our luggage was already
loaded onto the boat deck) and fifteen minutes later, we were already docking
at the jetty to the resort. We were greeted by the resort staff and they showed
us the way to the reception. At the reception, we were handed scented cool face
towels and a glass of cold drink again while waiting to be briefed. The
reception is an airy place and behind it is the library. You can get WiFi
reception here.
We had to wait about 15 minutes before we were
briefed (I think the staff wanted to be thorough and clear with all the guests) and then we made
our dinner reservation for that evening and the following evening with the
Dining Concierge before we were shown to our Garden Villa. I trailed behind,
taking in and capturing the beautiful and tasteful architecture and landscape
of the resort. Our bags were already there and I took some pictures of the room
before we had cluttered it up. We stepped first into a hall with the wardrobes (dressing hall). The safe, the mini fridge and mini bar together with tea/coffee-making facilities are also here. In one of the wardrobes, there was a straw bag provided for use by guests and bag racks; in the other, there were dressing robes and long umbrellas propped against the wardrobe wall. On
our left was the bedroom and the patio leading off it. On the right was the bathroom
and the WC, two sinks (one on each side/his and hers) and toiletries and beyond the glass sliding door, our own
outdoor mini bathtub. Iron and ironing board are available upon request although we had to wait about an hour when CT requested it the following afternoon. There are also bedroom flip flops (although I did see some guests using them outdoors and one gentleman using them for his Jungle Walk!).
We decided to have our late lunch at the nearby Royal Bay
Beach Club. I opted to have mild tom yum soup and fried noodles while CT had
some tortilla wrap (if my memory serves me right) and dessert and we had the occasional
company of the local hornbills. We headed back to our villa after our late
lunch for prayers and a brief rest before venturing out again at 6 p.m. We
walked to the Sea Villas, continued on past Uncle Lim’s Kitchen and Fisherman’s
Cove to Spa Village then walked up the road to the Conference Hall and trudged
up the steep road to Emerald Bay on the other side of the island. It was a
tough steep climb but we managed to reach Emerald Bay just before sunset. We
stayed for a brief while before going to the gazebo for the shuttle ride back
to our villa.
I had to call the Dining Concierge to reschedule
our dinner to half an hour later. We arrived at Feast Village for our dinner at
9 and left after 10 p.m. The air was still though with hardly any breeze. There
were lightning in the distance but we weren’t overly worried as there were many
crocks holding umbrellas for guests’ use almost everywhere. We stopped by at
the library to access the Internet before returning to our villa. It rained
shortly after we arrived. We were a bit knackered from the drive over and the
evening walk and it didn’t take long for us to fall asleep.
On Saturday, we ventured out after morning prayers
and took a walk up to the helicopter landing pad. We then turned and walked up to
the Hill Villas. It was quite a climb alright. The view would have been
spectacular had it not been for the glare of the morning sun and the its bright
shimmering rays in the sea that hit you blind in the eye. Still, come noon
time, the sun would have moved and those in the Hill Villas won’t have the sun
in their eyes anymore.
We finished our walk at a quarter past 8 and went
for breakfast at Feast Village (this is the only breakfast venue on the
island). The spread was generous from fruits, salad, cold cuts, the usual
Western fare (baked beans, scrambled eggs, pancakes) to Malay (nasi lemak) to
Indian (roti canai) to Chinese (dim sum and noodles. I had chee cheong fun on the morning of departure), cereal and muesli,
dessert and the best thing of all freshly squeezed juice. The staff were all
attentive and friendly and never ceased smiling.
After breakfast, we headed back to the room before
returning to the library for the Jungle Walk. Our Resident Naturalist, Mr.
Aris, talked us through the flora and fauna of the island, the wildlife of the
island, the collaboration with the National University of Malaysia on coral
conservation, the resident hornbills, the migrating wild boars and macaques,
etc. He also told us of the bats that used to make one of the trees near the
Beach Villas their home but had since migrated to another part of the island
after some attack by a predator bird.
Mr. Aris then led us to the Sea Villas, passed
Uncle Lim’s Kitchen and Fisherman’s Cove to the Spa Village (basically the same
route we took the evening before) then entered the forest behind the treatment
rooms. There were only 11 of us (Mr. Aris said his largest group comprised of
32 participants) but there were some above 50 so we took the northern perimeter
trail (525 metres long compared to the 2.4-km southern perimeter trail). We
stopped every now and then as Mr. Aris stepped off the trail to explain the
flora and fauna and the tracks made by the wild boars. There was a brief steep
climb and a long climb down but it was all manageable. The track ended at
Emerald Bay and we ventured to the beach where there were already quite a few
guests sunbathing and swimming there. We walked along to the boulders before
returning to the beach recliners to rest. Well, not that the walk was that
strenuous but we wanted to wait a bit before having lunch especially after our
generous breakfast. I wished I had brought my novel along. Before long, we had
the staff at Chapman’s Bar approaching us with scented cool towels to freshen
ourselves and bottled mineral water. Really, how thoughtful! They also came and
offered us beach towels but we declined as we were not going to swim.
We walked over to Chapman’s Bar for lunch. I cannot
fault the resort for anything as they all bent over backwards to serve us with
pleasure but if there was one complaint from me, lunch at Chapman’s Bar was it.
My portions of tortilla soup and main course of Seafood Cioppino were small
enough to make me go speechless. And to top that, the girl brought CT’s beef
burger and ice cream and sorbet dessert out at the same time. As we were
sitting in the sun with some shade, it took all of two minutes for the dessert
to melt into a gooey unappetising mix. I asked for a feedback form and when I was
told they had none, I told the bloke behind the counter. He duly apologised for
it.
We took the shuttle back to our villa and rested. As
we didn’t venture out that evening, I tried out the outdoor bathing tub. The resort
thoughtfully provided bath salt on top of bath and shower gel so I sprinkled
some before soaking in.
We left for dinner at ten to nine and waited for
five minutes to be seated. Uncle Lim’s Restaurant is indeed busy every evening.
We could choose three main courses and two desserts so we chose fantasy prawns,
aromatic sea bass and mixed vegetables. I can’t remember now what we ordered
for dessert because believe it or not, we left before dessert. We totally
forgot about it until we were in the room and about to sleep! Tsk tsk tsk.
On Sunday, we showered and finished packing after
morning prayers. We then walked to Feast Village dropping by the reception en
route to check out and return the key. We had a quick breakfast before making our
way to the jetty for our 08:45 boat back to the mainland.
Back at the mainland, we had help loading the car
from the staff (we didn’t even need to lift a finger with our bags from Pangkor
Marina to our villa and back again!). After asking for direction to Lumut, we
bade the staff farewell and drove off. We didn’t spend a long time in Lumut,
just long enough to walk at the waterfront and then buy some salted fish and
snacks. We reached KL at 1 p.m.
I want to return there again but can do without
the drive. I’m now contemplating Tanjong Jara Resort, oh if only it isn’t too far
a road trip away!
*Note:
Under the Residents’ Package, you get for every night of stay one breakfast at
Feast Village, one two-course lunch at either Royal Bay Beach Club or Chapman’s
Bar, and one set dinner at either Uncle Lim’s Kitchen or Feast Village,
inclusive of complimentary coffee, tea and mineral water served during meal
times. We decided to try all the restaurants included in the package.
