Pangkor Escapade

During the recent school break, we went to Pangkor Island. As I did not allow my girl to go on a trip to Redang last March for reasons best known to myself, I thought this Pangkor trip would work more like a 'compensation' to her. I booked the Pangkor Island Beach Resort two months ago and the kids have since getting excited over it.

We started our journey early morning. The drive was much easier than I envisaged. As I used to work on the university project in Tronoh, I know quite well the first half of the stretch. After passing Tronoh, we kept going straight and eventually took a right turn to Lumut.

Quite a facelift they have given to Lumut town. Note the colourful buildings behind the giant fish bone-like sculpture.

This is the Lumut Jetty. We bought our ferry tickets at the special booth and boarded a double decker ferry. I recalled during 70s' and 80s', there were wooden ferries. Of course now we have air-conditoned double decker with faster speed (not to mentioned the horrible smell), but yet to upgrade to hovercraft.

Off we go.

We went onto the open deck for some fresh air. My son simply adores the sea.

Are we there yet?

Within 30 minutes, we reached this private jetty shared by PIBR and Teluk Dalam Resort.

Already there waiting to wheel us to the resort, is the hotel shuttle bus. Err... more like a prisoners' bus. Reminded me of my terrifying bus experience in Mexico City years ago. Within 2 minutes, we reached the guard house of the resort, and then passed through the beautiful 3-holes golf course and ponds.

Pangkor Island Beach Resort, formerly known as Pan Pacific Pangkor. If I am not mistaken, it was known as Golden Sand Hotel during the 70s'.

The Filipino singers that perform in the hotel lounge give a welcome greet to the arriving guests.

The refreshing welcome drink.

I was speechless when the staff at the check-in counter told us that we could check into our room. Shouldn't the normal check-in time for hotels be 2 or 3pm? It was barely mid-morning. Well, overjoyed, we headed straight to our room located in the Ocean Wing.

The Ocean Wing.

View from our room.

My kids could not wait and dashed straight to the beach after changing into their swimming gear.

White sandy beach.

Plenty of reclining deck chairs under the shades.

Lazy swaying palm trees.

Quite gorgeous blue water.

But, do you notice something not so right? There was hardly anyone on the beach!!! Considering it was middle of the school holiday, I expected crowded beach after reading reviews from travel websites.

We have the 1.2 kilometer secluded beach almost all to ourselves. The kids dipped into the sea, chased the crabs, jumped over the waves...

Giant trees provided plenty of shades. As I was feeling quite weak, barely recovering from food poisoning, I didn't join the kids in the water. I just slumped myself in the reclining chair and rolled into a deep nap.

The gentle lapping of the waves. A tranquil way to unwind. A much needed rest for me.

Sunset. Strolled this private enclave accompanied by the soft breeze and water washing against my feet.

Hornbill birds swoop in and out for the scheduled feeding by the resort. Oh, dinner time. Decided to eat out in the town.

We took a taxi to Pasir Bogak. It cost us RM30 in this nostalgic pink van for a return trip. The trip was a fast and scary one, the driver was speeding like nobody's business. The road is winding and hilly and it really felt like a roller coaster ride.

We ended up having dinner at an unpretentious, minimal decor chinese seafood restaurant. We had Or Chien, the oyster omelette, steamed white snapper Teochew style, prawns, and green vege.

My son had the whole plate of prawns to himself.

After dinner, another round of roller coaster ride.

Didn't fancy music at the lounge/karaoke, went back to the room. Stood at the balcony, listening to the sound of the waves, before crashing exhausted into bed.

Anything to do with the prawns he has eaten? I ordered creamy prawns, not drunken prawns...