THE LOW DOWN ON OUR FAB HONEYMOON TO BEAUTIFUL MALAYSIA

So I’ve finally settled back into working life in London, phew bit of a shock to the system after 4 weeks off work!  So after being back for a little while I’ve at last gone through the 3000+ pics we took when we were away.  I’ve picked out a few of my favs to share with you guys to help give you an idea of what Malaysia was really like.

So let’s get started!!!!  First off we spent a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur which I have to say was the best decision ever as we walked around in a dazed state for the first day and slept lots!  Jet lag sucks, but its all good when you’re staying in a fancy 5 star hotel with your gorgeous husband 😉  The first hotel we stayed at was G Tower, it’s a new hotel and seemed pretty quiet considering how huge it was.  The location was great, 5 minute walk from the Petronas Twin Towers and a minute from the nearest skytrain.  The rooms were a really nice size, modern, comfortable and luxurious.  One point which they don’t advertise is that there are surrounding building sites, it didn’t bother us at all but some people might not like this.  The problem with KL is that there are hotels and offices being built everywhere so hard to avoid the cranes and building sites, definitely an upcoming city I can only imagine what KL will look like in 10 years time!  We eat in one of the hotel restaurants and another in the food complex in the basement of the hotel.  We couldn’t fault the food, really yummy and well presented, and the service was exceptional.  A short stay here, but we’d definitely recommend it.

So after 2 nights at G Tower we were back to the airport (an hour’s taxi ride from KL) and on to another flight to Penang Island.  When we arrived in Penang it was then another hour’s drive to the northern tip of the island to Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa where we stayed for the next week.  On arrival we were greeted by a helpful porter and ushered over to reception in the beautiful lobby.  We were informed that we had been upgraded to a suite for the whole of our stay. Woo hoo, result!!  (Little tip when booking your accommodation put a mention that you’re honeymooners, seemed to work to our advantage, even though I felt a little cheeky doing it 🙂 )  Our room was amazing, it had two full glass walls, private balcony’s and a beach view…oh and very own dinning table.  The rooms seemed very traditional in contrast to G Tower, but were really lovely and I loved the L’Occitane products in the bathroom.  We stayed in the Garden wing due to our upgrade but kept our Rasa wing privileges which entitles you to use of the Rasa pool, no children allowed and free drinks, snacks etc throughout the day.  You also get afternoon tea and evening cocktails and canapes included in the room cost.  Both of which are not to be missed!

We mostly spent our days lounging around the pool, then popping for afternoon tea and out for dinner in the evening.  There isn’t a lot to do here, but that’s the point, its all about RELAXATION.  One morning it was a bit overcast so we decided to give the golf course a try, very entertaining to say the least….for some reason I thought I was playing hockey and was a horrible shot and in the bushes most of the time ha ha.  Paulius as usual was a natural, god damn him… is there nothing this man can’t do?!  He’s also a dab hand at jet skiing and went off on his merry way whilst I chilled on the beach.  The hotel also offer a free shuttle bus to George Town so on another day we did an afternoon trip to the town to check it out.  There wasn’t a huge amount here, a huge shopping complex but not much in the way of culture.  If you’ve ever been to Thailand and are expecting Malaysia to be similar you’ll be a bit disappointed in that respect.  Even though its in Asia it does have a strong Western feel and the temples aren’t a smidging on Bangkok’s.  But if shopping’s your thing, then you’ll love KL and George Town.

There were two restaurants at the resort and a bar.  We didn’t eat off the resort as there were no places near by that we considered nice to eat at.  We eat at both the restaurants and ordered room service a few times and have to say all of the food we had was delicious and reasonably priced.  Breakfast was particularly impressive, a huge buffet with everything you could ever want, there was a station for everything, omelets, waffles, sushi, pancakes, juice bar….. the list goes on.  I’m not a lover of buffets but everything here was fresh and tasted delish, oh I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.  Service was also great, the staff were all extremely attentive and friendly.

What really made this resort stand out for us was most definitely the service and food, you really did feel like you were being well looked after and the little details made this feel like a 5 star experience.  Some of these little details were missing at the next resort which was a shame, but we let them off as Pangkor Laut is most definitely a tropical paradise!  Anyway on to that in a minute, here’s a few pictures of our stay at Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Next we were jetting back to KL and on our way to Lumut where we were picked up by the Pangkor Laut private boat.  Pangkor Laut is a bit of a pain to get too but its really worth all the travelling, we were so excited when we came around the corner and saw all the beautiful Sea Villas perched on the shore and the beautiful white sandy bays.  This private island resort really does have the WOW factor.  We were extremely lucky to be upgraded at this resort also, we stayed in the Spa Villas in the Spa Village.  Our villa was absolutely stunning, with our own private balcony and loungers, a gorgeous stone bath that had windows that fully opened with a view out to the sea and the comfiest bed EVER!

Pangkor Laut can quite easily be described as a tropical paradise, the gardens we walked through on a daily basis were enchanting.  The buzz of the jungle was hypnotising and the flocks of hornbills flying overhead, were mesmerising.  This place simply felt magical.  If you’re a nature lover then you’ll LOVE this place, we saw all sorts of beautiful creatures on our stay here.

After staying at Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa I have to say we were a little disappointed with the restaurants here.  Uncle Lim’s was our favourite, the food was really good and the restaurant beautiful with massive boulders jutting out of the wooden floor.  One point to point out is that food at Pangkor Laut is extremely overpriced and that made us think that the food would be exceptional but is was quite ordinary if I’m honest.  We eat at Feast Village one evening and vowed never to eat there in the evening again, it felt like eating in a canteen, no candles, no backing music, it totally lacked atmosphere.  That being said it wasn’t awful, I just have high expectations from a 5 star resort.  However we did eat at Feast Village every morning for the breakfast buffet and it was perfectly fine for that.  The buffet was very similar to that of Rasa Sayang, lots of different stations and really yummy food.

One evening after a lovely dinner at Uncle Lim’s we returned to our villa to find a bath filled with rose petals, surrounded by candles and a bottle of champers.  It was such a special touch and we had a really romantic evening.  We didn’t get this kind of honeymoon treatment at Rasa Sayang but then we did have the perks of being a Rasa resident like the afternoon tea and cocktails etc which we missed at Pangkor Laut.  We used the spa village pool on a few occasions and you don’t get any special privileges there which is a shame.

We did get two vouchers for £10 off a massage in the spa village which we used.  An 80min massage costs about £90.  This might sound expensive but it was sooo worth it!  Before your massage you get taken to the Spa Bath House.  First you have your feet bathed and massaged, then you’re taken to the changing rooms to slip into a sarong.  Next its off to the wishing well and Malay Bath with its overhead fountains and freezing water.  Then on to the Malay Herbal Pots where you inhale different incense to help you relax.  Next I was ushered into the Japanese Bath House where I was left on my own to have a good body scrub and rinse myself off with a large wooden spoon and bucket.  By this point I was feeling really refreshed and was then taken to the hot stone pool for a bit of relaxation.  I was left here for about 10mins with a nice cup of Jasmin tea thinking ahh I could get use to this!  The very last stage of the Bath House is a visit to the Shanghai Scrub room, where you lie on a bed and get an all over body scrub and rinse.  Then you dry off and change into a fresh sarong which you get to choose and keep.  By this stage your so relaxed you could have a little afternoon nap, but that’s just the start you’re then whisked away to your own hut for your 80min massage.  I have to say I had one of the best massages I’ve ever had here and kept drifting in and out of sleep, so relaxing.  A must if you stay at this resort.

Another must is a visit to Emerald Bay, the islands private beach voted one of the top 10 beaches in the world.  It’s simply stunning and utterly relaxing.

Right enough babbling, here’s a few pictures of our stay at Pangkor Laut!  As you can tell we loved it here!!

After our fantastic stay at Pangkor Laut we returned to KL for a few days and fitted in a bit of sight seeing.  We took the KL hop on and off bus tour to get a feel for the city and stopped off at the Aquarium which was good fun.  Had to include the below pics, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with fish and this was captured perfectly below ha ha

We also visited KL’s Central Market and Jalan Petaling’s street market.  We had so much fun here bartering for bargains and came away with a few goodies :oP

I’d also recommend a visit to a street called Changkat Bukit Bintang, we had a great time one evening here, there’s lots a great restaurants, bars and clubs…it had a real buzz about the place.  I had one of the most delish lychee cocktails here…yummy.

Well that’s the main highlights of our honeymoon trip, we had the bestest time ever and would recommend Malaysia to anyone.  We weren’t disappointed by any of the places we stayed and felt utterly relaxed on our return.  We just wish we could do it all over again now!  If you’ve managed to get to the end of this post, thanks for taking the time to read it!  If you’ve been to Malaysia or are thinking of going I’d love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions you might have.  Just comment me below. x