Cool places … in hot Malaysia

by Jay Brunhouse, Contributing Editor

The pet monkey named Joyng bit through her leash and romped through the fronds of the palm trees, celebrating her freedom. She paused occasionally to heave a coconut down at the sweat-soaked baseball cap of her frantic owner, who was chasing wildly after her and, in the Terengganu dialect which Joyng knew, beseeching her to come down.

Such is life in tropical Malaysia’s resorts — better known to Europeans (especially Germans) than Americans. Guests enjoy the tropical sun, sandy beaches, swimming pools, eco-tourism, river cruising, ocean diving, jungle trekking, end-to-end massages and spacious villas in the architectural styles of the Malay Archipelago. They will also find crab-eating monkeys, noisy hornbills and monitor lizards sunning themselves on the green lawns as their neighbors.

Architectural landmark

Our press group’s experience was limited to eating fresh local cuisine, sleeping in comfortable villas, snorkeling in warm seas and partaking in three spa treatments, which together created a perfect high-enjoyment resort memory.

We had first flown into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s modern capital city, which everyone calls “KL.” The cosmopolitan city and business center gained new public awareness when the Petronas Twin Towers topped out in 1996 and occupancy began in early 1997. Tower One is occupied by Petronas, the state-owned petroleum corporation. Tower Two houses Petronas’ associate companies and multinationals. The towers are joined by the 192-foot-long sky bridge on levels 41 and 42.

The floor plate of the 88-story, 1,480-foot-tall tower is based on geometric patterns common in Islamic architecture. It is composed of two rotated and superimposed squares with small circular infills. Architects claim these geometric figures symbolize unity, harmony, stability and rationality. The overall character of the building is high-tech and international, yet distinctively Malaysian.

See and be seen

Bintang Walk, in the heart of KL, is a focal point for dining, shopping and entertainment. It’s Malaysia’s answer to Tokyo’s Ginza District and the Champs-Élysées in Paris. While they didn’t come close, it is KL’s ultimate place to see and to be seen.

Bintang includes two of KL’s top hotels — the Ritz-Carlton (168, Jalan Imbi; visit www.ritzcarlton. com), where we stayed, and the JW Marriott (183 Jalan Bukit Bintang), where we dined in the avant-garde restaurant Shook! — in addition to the Starhill Shopping Center, trendy Lot 10 (offering more shopping) and the international fast-food and coffee franchises found everywhere.

KL’s 2-story, Art Deco Central Market building is a marvel if you are interested in shopping for products from Kelantan to Sarawak. You can browse and shop for pewter figures of Harry Potter (tin is a leading Malaysian export) as well as batik, puppets and designer Malaysian clothing.

The building won the Coronation Architectural Design Award in 1953. Now it is a center for the display and development of Malaysian culture, arts and crafts. You can watch performances, demonstrations and activities that include batik painting, fortune telling, shadow puppet plays, glassblowing, and dance and art classes.

KL also features the KL Tower, the world’s fourth-tallest telecommunications tower, Sentral Station, the spanking new travel hub, and an extensive elevated train system.

Terengganu

From Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) we boarded a Malaysia Airlines flight to Kuala Terengganu, where we changed to a van headed for Tanjong Jara Resort on the east coast of Malaysia. Along the way we stopped to visit the Terengganu market, with piles of astonishing vegetables, bins filled with mysterious, aromatic spices, tables covered with red and green chilies, and corners filled with exotic food stuffs of every sort.

Lack of infrastructure has hindered the development of the fundamentalist Muslim state of Terengganu, despite vast oil and gas resources. Of Malaysia’s states, it remains one of the least developed and ranks second lowest for investments in manufacturing.

Tanjong Jara Resort

Tanjong Jara Resort is located directly opposite the island of Tenggol, known for its tropical jungle, rugged features and sandy white beaches — but most of all for its 13 dive sites that are popular with both beginner and experienced divers. Room prices range from RM805 to RM1,553 (near $215-$414).

My villa was designed using local timber, fabrics and materials. A covered terrace led to the gardens and golden-sand beach along the coastline of the South China Sea. In addition to a large indoor shower, my room was equipped with an enormous outdoor cement bathtub set in a sparse private garden with chirping birds and blazing sun. I couldn’t use sunblock in the bathtub, but the bath foam ameliorated the sun’s rays.

We took Western breakfasts and a classical Malaysian-cuisine dinner at Di Atas Sungei, located on the veranda perched above a river running into the South China Sea and surrounded by tropical ferns, foliage and palm trees. We walked along the shoreline for lunch at The Nelayan (meaning “Fisherman”) and chose from a wide variety of fresh seafood.

I did not have an opportunity to visit the spa at Tanjong Jara as I did at our next stop, the Pangkor Laut Resort, but Tanjong Jara Resort’s spa complex offers Swedish, Thai and local massage as well as reflexology and aromatherapy.

Pangkor Laut Resort

After returning to KLIA, we boarded a van for the 3½-hour drive to Lumut on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. Pangkor Laut Resort is at the same time a privately owned island and an exclusive resort. Probably Thai in origin, pangkor means “beautiful island.” It’s eye-popping.

Pangkor Laut’s jungle interior screams with monkeys, buzzes with cicadas, brims with butterflies and plays host to an array of flowering plants and trees, some of which, straight as skyscrapers, tower 20 stories high. Palm-studded white-sand beaches hug the Straits of Malacca along the rocky coastline. With the tropical forest covering virtually all of its 300 acres, the island is large enough to sustain an abundance of wildlife yet small enough to have escaped cultivation and development.

Our group stayed in Spa Village, a group of 21 villas on structural stilts in Royal Bay overlooking the Straits of Malacca. The villas, using sober local materials, each feature a king-sized bed and a spacious bathroom. (Water from the overhead showerhead fell like warm rain.) The large private wooden balconies with deck chairs made convenient locations to watch the sunsets. Rates for villas in Spa Village are RM1,750 ($467) per night.

Massage medley

On the first day in Pangkor Laut, I chose a traditional Malay massage that put me to sleep, and I was pleased that it did. On the second day, a tough Swedish massage made me want to jog around the lagoon. On the third day, an open-air Thai massage twisted me into a pretzel and I limped out the boardwalk to my villa.

Each spa treatment began with a unique Bath House Ritual. This started with the noisy thumping of the Chinese Foot Pounding, which was previously offered only to the concubines of feudal China. From there I was escorted to the male bath house to enjoy the traditional Malay circulating bath, which originated from the days when villagers bathed in streams or rivers, and a Japanese-style cleansing with a goshi-goshi cloth.

This was followed by a lengthy immersion in the biting-hot Rotenburu pool amongst blossoms and flowers and, finally, inhaling a surprising array of four scented, steaming vapors designed to strengthen and stimulate me. Thus, I was suitably wilted before each massage actually began.

The Malay masseuse used massage oils concocted from herbs from the tropical forest to knead and manipulate my nerves and muscles. Finally, she massaged my feet. It was very relaxing.

The Swedish-massage masseur pinched and pounded my muscles in a more rugged way the next day. I was invigorated.

On day three, the Thai-massage masseur took me from the spa building to a pad overlooking the sea, where he stretched and bent me in order to exercise my joints and increase my flexibility. The subsequent aching did not last long.

Fresh ingredients

Completing the Pangkor Laut Resort experience was the variety of the restaurants — without doubt, an essential element for a luxury resort. Our first dinner was at Uncle Lim’s, built atop a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea. The specialty of this restaurant is Chinese-style home cooking.

We had a Western breakfast buffet in the Palm Grove Café and a roti canai (Indian pancake) lunch at the Royal Bay Beach Club.

In the evening, we gathered outdoors for “Dinner on the Rocks” while we watched the sun set over the Straits of Malacca at Emerald Bay. The 4-course dinner was served on a rocky outcrop surrounded by the tropical rainforest.

Our final dinner was at the Fisherman’s Cove Restaurant, which offered an Asian-fusion cuisine of Western grill, Chinese dishes, Italian specialties and fresh seafood. The open kitchen, sea views and state-of-the-art design made it the ultimate dining experience at Pangkor Laut.

When you go

Malaysia Airlines (800/552-9264 or visit www.malaysiaairlines.com) flies five times a week between Los Angeles (LAX) and KL via Taipei and three times a week between New York (JFK) and KL via Stockholm.

Malaysia Airlines’ crown jewel, the Golden Lounge, is the world’s largest business- and first-class airport passenger lounge, with good food plus corners in which to relax and check your e-mail.

Pangkor Laut Resort (phone 877/851-3144 www.pangkorlautresort.com) was included on the Top Ten Overseas Hotel Spas-Asia and 100 Top Spas Worldwide 2004 lists by Condé Nast Traveller. Opened on March 1, 1979, the resort has been extensively refurbished under new management. It features 126 luxury villas and 22 spa villas plus a spa building and two swimming pools. It is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group.

Tanjong Jara Resort (phone 011 800 9899 9999 or visit www.tanjongjararesort.com) won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its updated interpretation of a 17th-century Malay sultan’s palace. It was given the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences’ 5-Star Diamond Award and the top award in the Malaysian National Landscaping Competition.

Thinking about a visit

Our drive back to KLIA for our flight home was notable because it was on Ching Ming, the day that people from the Chinese communities traditionally visit cemeteries to honor and show respect to their ancestors. The many final resting places that we passed, all high on hillsides, were thick with devotees and there were no places left to park on the highway.

Malaysia is a great place to visit, but be prepared for tropical heat, overwhelming humidity and thundershowers every afternoon, depending on the season. Monsoon season starts around the beginning of October and continues to January-February. A resort stay, with its sea breezes, is fresher than a stay in KL, and dress is more casual.