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By June Ramli
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I had always wanted to holiday at the Pangkor Laut Resort.
In fact, I had planned a vacation to this spot for the longest time with some schoolmates from my hometown of Ipoh but unfortunately, our plans never materialised, mainly due to our conflicting schedules – well that was until recently.
After two years of lockdown I decided to book my Pangkor Laut dream holiday on my own when I had the resources and time to do so!
After three years of not visiting my home country Malaysia, I decided that this would be the best time to squeeze in a last minute vacation to the island resort.
I remember the day so well.
I checked out from Majestic Hotel in the wee hours of Nov 21 and drove to Lumut.
Driving out of Kuala Lumpur was very challenging mainly due to the many roadblocks in place after the 15th General Election in Malaysia which was held two days earlier.
Some TikTokers were talking about how the hung parliament could lead to racial riots similar to the one on May 13, 1969.
After driving around for about an hour, I finally manage to drive out of Kuala Lumpur and on to Lumut.
While driving I realised that I had accidently left my work camera at the hotel, so I called them and thankfully they found it.
I reached Pangkor Laut Resort’s marina close to 4pm, which is when the last ferry to the private island was, and I managed to catch it in the nick of time.
At the marina, I was served with some refreshing welcome drinks.
The check-in at the marina in Lumut was rather smooth and as soon I was done there, I headed to the ferry to take my 20 minute ride to the resort, which is a private island off the coast of Pangkor.
I had a really good ferry ride with a rather chatty boat driver.
As I was the only passenger on the ferry at that time, the driver even took some time to show me one of the popular camping islands in Pangkor.
In fact, I even got the whole interaction on video.
Here, take a look.
While I was on the ferry, the driver asked me where I was staying and I told him that I had been booked to stay at the Garden Villa to which he replied, why don’t you try the Spa Village?
Spa Village?
Hmm, I was intrigued.
I had been to Bora Bora earlier that month and had always wanted to stay in a water bungalow but I couldn’t since it was too pricey there.
And so when I was told about the spa village, I was immediately intrigued.
The total cost for the three days two night stay at the Spa Village including all meals cost me RM3000! But I didn’t mind the expense, as holidaying in the island had always been a lifelong dream of mine.
Was it worth it though? Yes and no.
The property itself is very old but located on an absolutely beautiful island.
I had many encounters with wild animals such as hornbills, monkeys, wildboars, jelly fishes and even iguanas.
Just a short warning though that the monkeys on the island can get rather aggressive and so visitors are advised to keep their doors and windows in their hotel rooms locked at all times to avoid these animals from coming in and causing an absolute ruckus.
As for me, I almost got attacked by a group of monkeys and was very traumatised after that incident.
I immediately complained about my situation to the manager Darwin, and he made sure to station a security guard so that the monkeys wouldn’t repeat their antics again.
I think that was great but there needs to be some kind of sign board at the Spa Village to warn visitors of these aggressive monkeys.
As for my daily activities, this was what I would do everyday at the island.
Get up early and make my way to the breakfast area.
As I was staying at the spa village, the breakfast area was quite far and I had to call in the free transportation to send me over to the “makan” place.
Breakfast was served buffet style and it was normally a mix of local and western cuisines.
I really enjoyed the Pandan marble cake.
Please see the TikTok video for a visual explanation.
After breakfast, I would normally head to the Emerald Bay, the only spot where visitors were allowed to swim.
Don’t get me wrong, there are other beachy areas throughout the island but one is not allowed to swim in these areas because of the corals.
Although the property looked old and in need of a new refurbishment, the staff displayed a very good and professional outlook at all times.
As a solo female traveller, I felt absolutely safe during my stay.
When I complained about my dessert that the ice kacang was not made to perfection, instead of sweeping my complaint under the carpet, the manager Darwin decided to treat me to a five star meal at one of their very own fine dining restaurant nearby the Spa Village.
The name of the restaurant is Fisherman Cove and the Ikan “Patin masak cili api” cooked by Chef Ali was an absolute cracker. I recorded the whole dinner in a TikTok video too.
Thank you Chef Ali for the wonderful dinner you cooked me that night.
I would definitely recommend you to visit Pangkor Laut Resort, at the very least once in your lifetime.
About the author: June Ramli is the editor of DailyStraits.com. This is an opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of this publication.
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June Ramli is the editor of DailyStraits.com. To stay in touch with June, look her up on Twitter @junesairaramli