Pangkor Laut Resort Trip 4D3N

Hello readers!!!! I know it’s been forever since my last post.. Well, let me see. My last post was about my third trip to Tasmania, which was back in April and now we are in the month of October (at least when I’m writing this, it’s still October), so it’s been 6 months since the last time I posted!!! Oh well, at least this entry won’t be disappointing because it is related to the trip I went in August to Pangkor Laut Resort in Lumut, Malaysia. Pangkor Laut Resort is one of the most expensive resorts in Malaysia and it is a private island housing only a few villas. I was very fortunate to be invited by my sister’s father-in-law’s family to join them on a family trip to the resort without paying! They booked 6 villas for 4 days and apparently, the usual price per night is approximately RM1,500 per night and it depends on the type of villa as well with sea villa being more expensive than the hill villa or garden villa. The names of the villas are pretty self-explanatory with sea villa meaning the villa is located on top of the sea in a shape more like of a hut. Garden villa means the villa is facing a garden and hill villa means it is located on the hills. There’s also spa villa, which is a more exclusive villa and it has it’s own pool and restaurant/bar for their guests, as well as spa facilities, which is accessible by other patrons from other villas with extra costs.

There is another more exclusive island near the resort, which is more expensive than Pangkor Laut Resort and apparently it costs approximately RM10,000 a night. The name of the island is (If I remembered correctly, it is called Marina Island) but just google online when in doubt. 

My sister told me we were leaving home by 6 am in the morning, so I got up at 4 am to get ready. I couldn’t sleep the night before for whatever reason. So, I got up straight away and made sure I’d packed everything I needed. I had to pack my laptop because I was planning to do a video chat with my husband when I was there. So, my laptop bag was pretty heavy plus all the other small bags I had. I couldn’t beat my sister though, who had gazillion bags with her because she has two kids. We left home at 6:15 am and there were a total of 5 or 6 cars leaving together. This was meant to be a family trip for my sister and her husband’s family and another family friend who joined.The purpose of this trip was to celebrate my brother-in-law and his mother’s birthdays and also just so the family could spend some quality time together.

After driving for about an hour, we stopped by a kopitiam to get some breakfast. My sister and I ordered some toasts with eggs and sausages and a cup of Milo each. I caught up with everyone for the first time in a long time because I knew them 7 years ago when I used to study in Malaysia. Now everyone has their own kids already. How time has changed everyone, some for the better, some for the worse. After breakfast, we continued our long journey to Lumut to then take a speedboat across towards Pangkor Laut Resort. The journey was another 2 to 3 hours away and the kids fell asleep at the back with my sister. After what seemed to be a forever road trip, we finally arrived at the jetty and we took our luggages down. The valet service was great and there were refreshing drinks waiting for each guest as we arrived prepared by the staff there. We took a break whilst the staff were getting the boats ready for the guests and after all our luggages were loaded on the boat, we proceeded to the jetty and ready to depart. 

The view from the speedboat was breathtaking!!

It was roughly about 15-20 minutes boat ride from the jetty to the port of the resort. When we arrived, there were a couple of staff who greeted us and escorted us to the main lobby of the resort, while the other staff were assigned to carry our bags to our designated rooms. We walked to the lobby and a staff member welcomed us and explained about the facilities that we could use freely around the resort and the various restaurants we could visit, as well as the buffet timings and local attractions. The staff also took their time to inform us about the special promotion for their spa treatments, which usually costs about RM800 to RM1000++ but just for the time we stayed, we could get an 80 minutes spa treatment for RM300 pp!!! I immediately seized the opportunity and told my sister I wanted to make an appointment for that. Another family's friend also made an appointment for the same date so we could keep each other company. I found that the staff there were extremely friendly and professional. I was immediately impressed as soon as I stepped off the boat!

This view was taken from the buffet restaurant

Whilst the staff were preparing for our rooms, we were escorted to the buffet restaurant for lunch as we arrived almost at lunch time. By the way, the check in time is pretty late. I think it was something like 3 pm. The buffet room was quite massive and it houses so many different cuisines, there were Western, Eastern, Malay and Indian varieties. There was also a range of desserts as well. The choices seemed to be never ending and I was pretty full by the time I started my second round of western cuisine. I must say the taste was not bad unlike most hotels food, which tastes average. I remember their mango curry was very yum!! After satisfying my stomach, I was offered a cup of coffee by the restaurant's wait staff and my lunch experience was then complete.

The Buffet Restaurant

Mi coffee

My very much sun burnt face!!

There is a section after you enter the lobby, which is called "The Library". It is open 24 hours with an extremely good wi-fi system. They also have 3 computers free to use for the guests. The seats are comfortable and there are also a few cabanas for people to lie down and enjoy the cool breeze from the sea. They also have a few books to read but I didn't check what books were stocked in the shelves. There weren't many I remembered.

The entrance to the library from the main lobby

We were called by the staff to advise our rooms were ready. Hooray!! After a very long day, everyone would like to take some rest, especially the kids as they needed to take a nap. We headed to our rooms to unpack straight away. Our villa was located at the hills and just imagine this, the villa is located at the HILL!!!!!! SO, we had to walk up a flight of stairs and take a lift up to the second floor, and then walk approximately 50 meters AND walk down a flight of stairs again before we reached the doorstep our villa. There is also an option to use the stairs all the way up. No, thank you. Well, now come to think of it, I'm very stupid not to take a photo of my journey from Ground floor all the way to the hill villa. The view was worth it though. Although there were some trees blocking the fantastic view, I still managed to steal a glimpse of the vast sea ahead and the green trees below our villa. This was what was awaiting in front of us as we stepped into the room. 

To be fair, I was about to take more photos of this cute "elephant" from different angles but my niece was too quick to jump into the bed and destroy the elephant by detaching the head...... So, thank goodness I managed to at least take 1 shot of it while it still looked like an elephant.

There is a wooden sliding door to separate the hallway from the room just for privacy purposes.

This is the balcony outside the room. Although I must say that this balcony is absolutely not children friendly, because the gap of the fence is quite large. Children below 10 years old are absolutely not encouraged to play at the balcony without parental supervision. My niece was firmly reminded by my sister not to play outside. 

I would go to this balcony to make an internet phone call to speak to my husband (oh, just a small note here, I am married now :)). I shall share about my civil ceremony in another post. 

There is no signal over there in the island but apparently if you are a Maxis user, there is still hope for you guys. No one would know I was dead or alive unless I went to "the library" and used their wi-fi. It's an island after all and you're supposed to come here to relax. So, no mobile phone please!! Ah!! I forgot to mention this earlier on, when we were briefed by the staff upon our arrival, each villa received a pocket wi-fi, which you can use up to 10 devices I think. However, I was pretty disappointed with the coverage and the speed. It was pretty slow and sometimes it didn't work at all. I had to step outside at the balcony and stand near the door to get some sort of coverage to speak to my husband. 

There is another sink looks exactly like this one on the opposite site. I assume this villa is meant for a couple, so there are 2 separate sinks with mirrors. 

The villa also comes with outdoor jacuzzi, however I'm actually not a big fan of outdoor jacuzzi like this one just because it gets dirty very easily. Let's not forget that this is a hill villa. So, the villa was built at the hills, there are tree leaves that fall from their branches and make their way inside the jacuzzi, which makes it not as hygienic. It's also hard to clean after each use (but if you plan to use it only once, it ain't matter) as well as there are lots of monkeys in this island!! 

So the story goes.... More than 8 years ago, I visited Pangkor Island, which is an island across from Pangkor Laut Resort and we joined a day tour. The tour guide took us on this boat ride near the islands and we hopped off this island, called The Monkey Island and it lived up to its name was all I could remember about this island. There were gazillion monkeys hanging out preying on humans' belongings. Well, maybe some of you can tell from my writing that I hate monkeys and NO, they're not cute!!! They could steal stuff and I shall prove you all about this later. One of the monkeys stole my friend's shoe and wouldn't return it until our perseverance convinced the monkey to spare us some mercy and returned the shoe to us. Well, we just kept throwing stuff up the tree aiming at the monkey so that it would drop the shoe. No animal cruelty involved!! 

The bathroom has a separate toilet room so everyone is happy!! :) 

After everyone took some rest, my sister decided to join the rest of the family members at Emerald Bay. I freshened up and we made our way down the beach. There is a shuttle van that picks up patrons to where ever they wish to go and one of the destinations is Emerald Bay. We waited outside the lobby area and the van would come very regularly to pick up guests. The ride was a mere 5 minutes ride but the road was windy and hilly. You can choose to walk as there is a walking trail for hardcore people and regrettably, I didn't get to walk the trail throughout my 4 days stay just because I wasn't allowed to go by myself and no one would go with me :(

It is called "Emerald Bay" for a reason I guess. 

The beach is clean with white sands. Except for the fact that it was super hot and humid when I was there and no one was swimming. 

The boys caught this little guy but we let it go afterwards. There were also plenty of fish to catch in the shallow water. 

When we got back to our villa, there was a tiny drama. When my brother-in-law stepped outside to the balcony to get some fresh air, he saw some monkeys next door. We opened the window inside the room to check them out and we saw quite a number of monkeys were raiding the villa next to ours and we found out that the villa belonged to one of my brother-in-law's family friends. My brother-in-law tried to call them but no one answered. We just watched the monkeys raided their villa and they stole some food because I remembered seeing a monkey with a banana! When the family returned, we were told that most of their food disappeared but not only that, even a toothpaste went missing!! Time to freshen up "dat" breath monkeys! My brother-in-law called the reception and reported about the incident. We later saw the staff sent some employees up to deal with the aftermath. So, there you go. Don't ever think monkey is cute!! 

I took this photo with my Samsung Note 4, as you probably can tell, it is not as good as my DSLR but it is actually not too bad for a smartphone and I did zoom in to get a better view of the monkeys and it did an alright job. 

Dinner time was fast approaching, we took turn to take a shower and got ready. We went to the same buffet restaurant for dinner because the buffet was already included in the cost of our stay. There were so many choices from all continents and I chose to have some beef steak and pasta. I also had a few selections of desserts as well. I wouldn't say the taste was great but they do have a wide varieties for the guests to choose from. In the middle of finishing my dinner, I had a light bulb moment! I haven't managed to connect my phone to the Internet, but the location of the restaurant is just next door to "the library", so I used the wi-fi and called my husband, who was 3000 kms away. The connection was not too bad and we managed to do FaceTime briefly. Of course the connection would be stronger if I was in the library. At least I got to enjoy this view while talking to my husband through viber. 

and this one is taken with my iphone5 without being edited. Let me present you some of the foods I had from the buffet restaurant. 

This was also taken with my iPhone 5. I was walking around this area to talk to my husband, but if I moved closer to the buffet restaurant, the signal would be weaker. This area is an extended area from the restaurant but I guess this area is more privileged. I think the villas behind are garden villas.

After we hung up the phone, I walked back to the restaurant to join the rest and my sister's father-in-law suggested us to take a walk to his villa to hang out. Also, they usually fish for some squids during the night. Earlier in the evening, they set up the baits. So, they were eager to go back and check on their baits. I've heard stories from my sister about their exciting experience catching squids and being squirted all over with their ink. As a result, I was excited too. The view during the walk was absolutely breathtaking. The villas on the water looked like huts in Maldives resort. They looked very familiar to me, just like what you'd usually see in a photography magazine. Although I didn't do them much justice, at least I did try my best to capture what I saw. 

The photo is a bit blurry because I didn't use my tripod. Only used my hands to hold the camera steady. It could be better!!

The walk felt a bit lonely because everyone had a partner except me and whenever I walked past a couple, I felt sad. This is the perfect resort for couples and young families. The walkway was very dark but well lit with dim lights. So, not to worry that you might fall into the water unless you're super drunk, but if you have small children, maybe tie a head torch on their head so they can see where they're walking to. The beach/sea villa is not suitable for very small children. You'll know the reason why below. 

This view was taken from the balcony at the back of the sea villa. If you look at the villa next door, they share the same design, therefore the balcony looks the same. The fence gap is pretty large, therefore, a child of age 2 to 8 years old can easily slip through the gap and fall into the water below. If I remembered correctly, the resort also doesn't recommend family with young children to stay in a beach villa. The view is amazing though and imagine waking up to the sound of waves crashing into the shore. The best natural alarm there is. 

That day was my brother-in-law's birthday. So, the staff member from the resort brought in a chocolate mud cake for my brother-in-law and we all sang a birthday song for him. He blew the candle and we continued to celebrate. My sister wanted to go back to our villa because it was getting late and from beach villa to hill villa, it was a bit of a walk. So, I helped my sister with the cake and we started walking back to get some early rest. I had to sleep on the couch because my sister, my brother-in-law and their 2 kids were sharing one bed. It wasn't a very comfortable surface but because I was extremely tired, I fell asleep with my earphone on listening to a list of my hand picked civil ceremony songs. The boys were drinking and chatting away outside in the balcony and I didn't even notice when the noise of their laughters became silent, a sign that I fell asleep deeply.

We got up at 8.30 am and we got ready quickly to make it in time for breakfast as the rest of the family members were already in the buffet room. We all kind of got sick of the buffet selections and would like to have something different. My sister's father-in-law booked a table at Uncle Lim's restaurant near spa village for tonight and it was meant to be quite famous there. Uncle Lim is probably the only Chinese restaurant in the island. Story has it that Uncle Lim was the first chef working in Pangkor Laut Resort and they decided to built a restaurant on the water and named it after him. He is now 80 years old and still frequents the restaurant almost every day. The big family decided to go to the beach that morning. So we headed down to Emerald bay again because that is the only beach at the resort where guests could relax and swim with ease. 

The guys were catching some fish and other sea creatures while the kids were playing with sand. My sister's eldest daughter and her brother-in-law's eldest son fell in the water a while ago, so they are now traumatised and refused to play with water no matter what we bribed them with. They refused to go anywhere near water and chose to play with the sand instead.

The sky was pretty grey and the sun was hidden amongst the cloudy sky but it was still pretty hot and  humid to the point I was struggling to open my eyes and my sunnies were somewhere in my bag on the lazy chair. As you can see, the water is crystal clear and clean.

The boys and my sister's mother-in-law caught some fish and put them in a cut up 1 litre empty water bottle filled with water, which they then set them free afterwards.

The folks decided to pack up and make their way to the restaurant nearby for lunch. We went to Chapman's Bar for lunch and I ordered rice with grilled fish. The fish also came with a special gravy on top and I swear that it was super spicy! Even for chilis eater like me! Well, I did try to look up for their menu online with no luck. I didn't take a photo of the menu but it is the only menu with fish, so you won't miss it! My sister ordered a mie goreng and the presentation looked amazing but the taste was quite disappointing compared to my grilled fish. I am a bit disappointed with myself because I became lazier and lazier in taking photos. There were so many things I didn't take their photos of. We also ordered some desserts, which came out extremely late. It only came out by the time my food got digested inside my tummy. I ordered their house gelato and it was pretty good but unfortunately, I didn't finish it because my sister was rushing to go back as the kids were falling asleep. 

What you get to see if you dine in Chapman's Bar. I believe they also open for dinner as well. 

I suppose this area is open for dinner, as well as if you decide to hold a function or any form of group celebrations. A wedding in Pangkor Laut Resort would be a dream come true but to dream usually costs nothing. If you are to do it for real, it will most likely cost you an arm and a leg. My dream was actually to have my wedding in Santorini but that can remain a dream for now. I will get there one day. 

You thought you were invisible but you were not because I caught you!! :)

After lunch at Chapman's Bar, my sister wanted to take the kids back for a short nap before they left for swimming later on. I didn't want to join them for a swim because it was quite troublesome to pack my swimming gears and I couldn't be bothered. I would rather chat with my husband via FaceTime. We were only given 1 set of key for the villa, usually I kept the key with me. Before I left the villa, I packed my laptop bag with everything I needed because I wouldn't be returning to the villa straight away. My sister told me to meet them at the pool and we were going to dinner together from the pool. Dinner tonight would be at Uncle Lim's near spa village. I made my way down to the library and set up my laptop there. I called my husband and we spoke for quite some time, The Internet connection was quite stable and I was very happy that I was able to show my husband where I was. I spun around so he could see the entire library and a glimpse of the restaurant ahead. Dinner time was approaching and I told my husband I needed to meet my sister at 6 pm in front of the pool. I packed up my laptop bag again, hung it over my shoulders and off I went to walk along the coast on the footpath to the pool. 

"Infinity Pool". I waited for a long time before I could take this photo because there were so many people swimming. This is the pool accessible by the guests across all villas but the guests living in spa villas have their own exclusive pool and their own exclusive beach!

My niece was trying to overcome her fear of water and she was being encouraged by her dad but she was not convinced enough and she just sat by the pool side with her legs in the water and she was happy with that but I'm sure as young as she is, she would like to play in the water but she still needs to work on that. My sister was looking after the little one and the little one has no problem with playing in the water. He had a children friendly floater on him and he would kick in the water to get moving like a pro. The kids finally got ready and my sister helped them dry themselves and afterwards, we started making our way to Uncle Lim's by walking the pathway from the pool towards the beach villas and straight on to Uncle Lim's. The cemented pathway merged with the wooden pathway at the end and we were walking on wooden "bridge" above the water. The view was incredible and we even spotted a massive lizard sunbathing on a big rock. 

I took this view from the entrance of Uncle Lim's restaurant. The restaurant was also built on the water and according to my sister's FIL, this restaurant has been around for more than 50 years. It is very easy to locate because as long as you keep walking along the wooden bridge, it will lead you to Uncle Lim's.

This is the only Chinese restaurant in Pangkor Laut Resort and they do buffet as well. I'm not exactly sure how their "buffet" works because it is a seated restaurant and they bring out the dishes for you from entrée all the way to dessert. We had soup to begin with and it was quite spicy. I don't know how to describe the texture but the closest one I could think of is like shark fin soup but a spicy version. It was then followed by main, which consisted of some chicken, fish, fried prawns, vegetables and many more. Guarantee you won't leave hungry! We complained about the amount of prawns given and they gave us another batch free of charge!! Well, I'm not saying if you do the same, they would give you another batch for free too! Desserts followed after mains and we were given a range of choices from mango pudding, to avocado delight to banana split. I can't remember if there is another choice but I just remembered those 3. The banana split was the best of them all although I didn't get to try until our last night there. Again, I was very disappointed with myself because in this post, there are not enough photos of food. I hate myself!! :(

How Uncle Lim's Kitchen looks like. This huge rock is real by the way. They built the restaurant around it.

After dinner, we walked back to the lobby area and I separated from my sister. I sat down on my favourite couch at the library and I called up my husband via FaceTime. During my stay there, we usually FaceTime whenever we could because my mobile phone had no signal, so we couldn't text each other. I shared with him about my activities for the day and where I had for dinner and what I was planning to do next. Although the library is open 24 hours but I started packing up at 10 pm because I didn't want to walk up the hills by myself in the dark and I was very worried that I would get attacked by a monkey (although this theory is unfounded). By 10 pm, the entire library was vacant, except for a few staff member who occasionally passed by and nodded their head with a big smile to greet me. I felt absolutely safe but would rather not be by myself late at night although I'm pretty sure nothing would happen. I walked back up by myself and didn't encounter any other human being. We all slept pretty early that night because everyone had their own agenda the very next day. For me, I had an appointment for a spa treatment tomorrow. Yaaaayyyy!!! 

I woke up at 8 am the next morning because my spa treatment appointment was at 12 pm but I needed to meet the family friend at 11.30 am at the lobby and then we would walk together from there. After everyone gathered at the agreed time, we then were picked up by a chauffeur, who drove us to the entrance of spa village. We could already sense the exclusivity of this villa and the tranquility of it. It was serene and there was no one there at the time we arrived. Apparently it was meant to be very exclusive. Depending on how many of you (I believe maximum amount of people in a group is 4), they only dedicate the slot just for your group. So, it is not crowded and you can completely let go and relax not having to worry about other people seeing you etc. We were greeted by a super friendly staff and we were told to wait for 20 minutes while refreshment beverages were served to us. We took this opportunity to walk around and take some photos. They have their own "infinity pool" and even their own beach. The guests don't have to go to Emerald Bay but Emerald Bay is still more beautiful in my opinion. 

This is the waiting area 

Perfect time to take this photo when there was no one swimming!

Here is another waiting area 

We were called shortly by the employee advising us our session was ready. We started making our way to get our feet scrubbed and cleaned first. 

I regret to say that this is the last photo I snapped before I disappeared inside the spa facility. I was contemplating to take my phone inside because we were allowed so. I wasn't planning to risk taking my DSLR camera inside. However, I was a bit worried because we were mainly going to be in the water and it was too risky to bring my phone in and because the family friend volunteered to bring her phone inside, I decided not to take mine. Thankfully I didn't. Although up to this date, I'm still beating up myself for chickening out. We were first escorted to our changing room where we were provided a locker each and we had to take off our jewelries  and store them inside the locker along with the rest of our belongings. We were then wrapped in a piece of batik sarong professionally by a staff and then the key of the locker was pinned to our sarong. We were then escorted to what in lament term, I would call it as a cold swim. It was a type of treatment originated from the Malays. We soaked ourselves by walking down the stairs in the pool and man the water was so cold! We then wiggled our way to the man-made fountain and drench ourselves under the "waterfall". The depth of the pool was quite shallow. I am 167 cm in height and the water level probably comes up to my waist  and that's about it. If not, maybe just a little higher. It is recommended though, to check with the staff before you try to jump into the pool as if you would in a public pool. In any case, a staff member is always present while you're taking your bath in the pool.

After some time, we got up all soaked up and we stepped up to this tiny pavilion where there were four types of herbs burning inside a stone made container with burning charcoal inside. There was smoke coming out of each hole with different distinctive smells. There were 3 of us, so we were instructed to lean forward and let the steam of smoke blanket our entire face and inhale the herbs. After a few minutes, we would switch to the next mixture of herbs and inhale the smoke and we kept taking turn until everyone was done. After this, we were escorted to a Japanese bath pavilion. Let's just say I hadn't taken a bath this way in a very long time. If any of you have never tried a Japanese bath style before, the washing area and the bath area sometimes are located separately but sometimes they are located within the same area as well. So you're meant to wash yourself first, which in our case we sat on a small "what seemed to be fitted for a child" stool and we scooped out the water from a wooden pail and washed ourselves thoroughly. A small bottle of soap, shampoo and hair conditioner were provided to us. The only thing was, it was quite uncomfortable to wash myself while wearing a piece of sarong because I didn't feel clean enough but I didn't want to go naked as well because there were other women with me whom we don't share that kind of intimacy as to go naked in front of each other. In any case, you are supposed to wash yourself while wearing the sarong.


After we washed ourselves absolutely squeaky clean, we stepped out of a sliding wooden door and we were greeted by another pool!! Well, this one is more like an onsen, a Japanese hot spring water bath. We soaked ourselves once more but this time, the water was hot and the weather was also hot. The kind staff gave each of us a cup of cool Japanese sencha to drink while we soaked in the hot mineral water bath. We all know it was meant to be good for our skin. We were called two persons at once. Well, when we were about to start our treatment in the beginning, they asked us if we would like to pair up but because there were three of us, a pair of mother and daughter, I told them they could do the treatment together and I would go solo. So we did. The mother and daughter were called first and I was left by myself soaking away but soon enough, it was getting too hot for me. So I sat at the edge of the bath and soaked only my legs. I was wondering what they were doing inside because I was waiting forever for the staff to come back out and save me from the heat. Eventually, they did answer to my prayers.

I was escorted into another "bath" house. How many baths did I need to take?? Thank goodness I smelt really good after the whole thing. Not really a bath. I saw a massage table that was wet and I was requested to lie down on my belly naked! Well, turned out that the employee scrubbed my back and then washed the residue away with water while I was still lying on the massage table. She then asked me to step away from the table and she handed me a clean fresh towel to wipe myself clean. She then wrapped another piece of batik cloth on me professionally. I felt like I could step out wearing that and feel ok with it. It was a complimentary gift from spa village. Another lady came to escort me to the waiting area, which I was then joined by the family friends. We were asked by the masseuses what kind of massage style did we like and we requested for Balinese massage. We were given a cup of hot ginger herbal tea for a refreshment and took our time to relax before we proceeded with our last treatment, which was a nice one hour and 15 minutes worth of Balinese massage! There were so many other types of massage worth having a dilemma!!


We were escorted to two different rooms. As soon as I entered the room, first thought came to my mind was "Wow!!! The massage pavilion was humongous! It was nicely decorated with a luxurious touch! The marble floors and porcelain sinks made the bathroom fits only for a princess like me, ahem! :) Jokes aside, the entire room made me feel so comfortable and I felt like I was being treated like a princess. My masseuse, who was a Balinese, escorted me to my "bed" where I would be lying face down. Before she started, she asked me which oil I would like her to burn on the oil diffuser. I asked her the differences and she told me each one had their own purposes, such as relaxing, refreshing and I can't remember for the life of me what was the third oil for. Anyhow, I chose the relaxing one and I did have trouble choosing one. I laid down on my belly and she started her magic touch. I did request her to only use medium strength because I was afraid it was gonna hurt but it didn't hurt at all. I didn't remember from which point but I did fall asleep whether it was halfway through or not even halfway through. By the time I was awake, it was because from a distance I could hear someone calling out for me. It was the masseuse asking me to turn around. I continued to fall asleep while she massaged my limbs and my head. Alas, the time went through too quickly! She woke me up gently by patting on my arm to tell me the heavenly session was over.

I gingerly tried to straighten up myself because I was still sleepy and she guided me to the wooden chair where a hot ginger herbal tea was waiting for me. I breathed in the smell of the herbal tea before slowly sipping it. I also took my time to enjoy the sea view just right outside the pavilion through the bar. It was one of the best experiences in my life which money can buy. Sitting there alone, I felt sadness in my chest because I was enjoying this serene view by myself and wished my husband was with me. It would be a perfect mini honeymoon for us but I snapped up to reality quickly and reminding myself I would get to see him soon and there are many experiences we will build in the future together. I stood up and told the masseuse I was ready to leave. She guided me to the changing room where everything started and I unpinned my key and retrieved my stuff and got changed. I folded the batik cloth carefully and inhaled the aromatherapy oil scene absorbed by the cloth because it was rubbing against my skin throughout my massage session. I walked back out to the waiting room and waited for my other 2 comrades. They came out eventually and we shared our experience. We waited for the chauffeur to pick us up from the main entrance of the spa village and he dropped us off near Royal Bay Beach Club where we would meet the rest of the family members and have lunch. This resort is the perfect place to spot a number of hornbills, like this guy over here.

The guys were leaving by the time we arrived but we decided to have lunch here. We looked up the menu and there were a variety of international, as well as Asian delights to choose from. We ordered two entrées to share and one of them was a pomelo salad with prawns drizzled with their special in house dressing. I must say pomelo salad is my new favourite now! I tried it twice over two different restaurants and they were so yum!! I like pomelo as a fruit but I never thought of mixing it with other veggies as a salad!

The second entrée was a pesto pasta with prawns and it was also very yum, except the pomelo salad still impressed me more than the pasta. We ordered the pasta because when we arrived at the restaurant, my brother-in-law told me it was very delicious and that we must try. It was still a very satisfactory choice.

Now, as for the main, we shared a dish called "Golden Pillow". This dish is THE STAR!!!
I must say the presentation of this dish wasn't the best but it was completely understandable due to the nature of its appearance. Why is it called a golden pillow? Well, it comes with this massive bun and the bun was already sliced into 4 sections and you are meant to peel the outer layer of the bun just like when you do with a banana skin. Inside the bun, there was curry chicken wrapped in a baking paper and then it was stuffed inside the bun. The bun was so soft and fresh and the curry chicken was so tender. The curry gravy was quite spicy, so beware of that! Apparently this golden pillow dish is a native dish originated from Ipoh. It was such a perfect combo! Well, the photo below is not the most mouth watering photo because there was no other way for me to make it look pretty but as cliché as it sounds, don't judge the book by its cover. The curry was much tastier than it looked.

After the heavy main, we ordered a dessert to share. We chose to have a sago with Malacca brown sugar, coconut milk and a slice of dragonfruit. When it came, the family friend noticed it was too sweet, for her health purposes, we asked for another one with the coconut milk and Malacca brown sugar to be separated from the sago and they gave it to us with no additional cost! Yay!!!

It was by far one of the best sagos I have ever tried!! We took no time to devour the whole thing and we didn't even exchange a word. We just nodded and looked at each other in agreement. When it comes to good food, I guess no word exchange is required and language barrier is not an issue. We left the restaurant with our happy stomaches. We then took a walk back to the lobby of the resort but on our way back, we stopped by a souvenir shop, where I bought a white top with a small Pangkor Laut Resort logo at the front of the shirt for my husband as a small gift. After that, I walked back up to the hill villa to drop off my paper bag from the souvenir shop and I had to get ready for dinner at Uncle Lim's again tonight because tonight is the last night of our stay. Instead of walking the long way although the view was a million dollar view, we took the shuttle to Uncle Lim's instead. On our way, we saw the "celebrity", Uncle Lim himself, was walking towards the restaurant. We had some similar dishes as previous night with slight variations. We also got to try the infamous banana fritter, which was super delicious! One of the most delicious Banana Fritters I've ever tried! You must go there just for the sake of trying out their banana fritters. After dinner, Uncle Lim came to each table to greet the guests, had some chit chat and he also took a photo with everyone. He came to our table and chit chat with the folks. We managed to take a group photo as well but not with my camera. Rest assured if you dine there, you'll get to see the man behind the restaurant's success.

I took the exact same photo during the day and this is the night view from Uncle Lim's. 

After dinner, we decided to walk back to my sister's FIL villa and chill out there. My sister asked me if I would like to go back now and video chat with my husband. I seized that opportunity to say yes! First of all, it would be quite boring for me to chill out at their villa because the boys were fishing and the mums were busy attending to their children and gossiping away. I was the only lonely soul wandering around. My sister showed me the path back to our villa and it was a mere 10-minute walk. I took my own sweet time and snapped a couple of photos because no two exact same photos look the same during the day and night. The night cool breeze was comforting and I didn't feel so lonely anymore. 

This is the walkway to the lobby. I should've waited until there was no one to snap a shot! :(

Upon arrival at the library, I found my favourite spot again. This time by the power point where I could charge my laptop and chat with my husband. There was no one in the library and I was by myself again. I shared with him about my spa experience and I also told him I bought him a small present. Halfway through our conversation, I saw my sister's family walked by the library and not long after, my sister walked by too. They went back to their villas and I continued to chat with my husband. I told my husband that it was the last night of our stay and we were leaving the next morning in the afternoon back to collect our cars and go home. By 10 pm, I told my husband that I should get back to the villa because I would get up early tomorrow morning to FaceTime with him again before we left. I went home and had a brief chat with my sister. We didn't have enough time to chat heart to heart because my sister was always busy with her kids. When I was staying with her, she had to squeeze in some free time to chat with me in between kids' napping time and before the kids went to bed. 

The next morning, I got up at 8 am and started packing up to go home. I decided not to join breakfast today and strange enough, I had a bad craving for Indonesian instant noodle, pop mie and my sister happened to buy one prior to our trip. I asked for her permission to devour the instant cup noodle but turned out that particular flavour was very disappointing! I should've had my last buffet breakfast downstairs!! After my pitiful breakfast and all packed up, I put my bag aside near the door and equipped with only my laptop bag, I danced my way down to the library. I decided to use my phone to FaceTime with my husband instead of laptop. I sat outdoor this time. They set up some lovely bamboo couches outdoor and I just sat there all loosen up and soaked my skin with the warmth from the sun. I showed my husband where I was sitting and I flipped the camera around so he could see my surroundings. I told him we were leaving at noon and I needed to be at the lobby by 11.30 am. I was the only one who was ready, so I took my own sweet time to chat with my husband until the time came that I had to walk to the lobby. I also played my favourite music to fill in the gap while waiting. I left this resort with a different feeling to when I first stepped into this resort or even before we departed. Initially, I thought I wouldn't enjoy this trip because there were so many families with kids and I was the only one without my other half. However, having spent some nights by myself, I got to absorb the true beauty this resort had to offer without all the disruptive noise. I got to reflect on myself and thought, this place was astonishingly beautiful! 

Sometimes, I need some space by myself in order for me to change my perspective and that moment would come where things are not as bad as I thought it was. After I hung up from my husband, I waited at the lobby for the rest to join me and checked out from the resort. The staff then collected our bags and transported them onto the speedboat. The staff were kind enough to take some photos for us and they all stood at the port and bid us farewell. They were still visible as the boat drifted away from the port and they kept waving to us up until we couldn't see them anymore as the speedboat drifted further away. This trip was an eye opener for me and there are many more beautiful places I would like to visit and next time, there will be me with my special someone :)