The Household COO

Our recent trip to Tanjong Jara reminded me of a trip the hubby and I took a long time ago to Pangkor Laut.  This was before we got married so you’ll notice that hubby look a lot trimmer in these photos.  It was also back in the days when I could be bothered to wear my contact lenses…

The trip was a planned surprise for me, which I thought was rather sweet of the hubby to go through all that trouble.  He refused to tell me where we were going, only that we were taking a few days holiday at some unknown destination.

I caught on to an island retreat because he let slip that we had to make it to a certain place by a set time.  I figured that meant we had to catch something.  Since we didn’t need our passports, it clearly meant we would still be in Malaysia so it had to be a boat.  Turned out I was right, except I never guessed it was Pangkor Laut.  I was thinking something along the lines of Redang or Perhentian (although my geography of Malaysia is so bad I didn’t know any other islands existed anyway).

Here are some of the photos from our trip:

Below: Waiting for the ferry.

Below: On the ferry.

Below: Arrival at the resort, just after checking in.

Below: Scoping out the menu for lunch.

Below: Checking out the island - I think this was outside the Chinese Restaurant.  It was a long time ago so I can’t remember…

Based on the decor, I’m pretty sure it was a Chinese restaurant.  Can’t imagine any other restaurant with a large gold coin stuck to their front door…

A cute way to place mosquito coils:

Just goofing around outside the spa:

“I wonder if these rocks are climbable?”

Heading down from our room in the “hills”.  Pangkor Laut offers you “hill” villas, “sea” villas, “spa” villas, “beach” villas, garden villas and the suites.  Back then I was really into rock climbing so the hubby figured I would prefer the “hill” villas.  It was rather sweet of him considering the “hill” villas were located the furthest away from all the amenities and it meant we had a lot of walking to do - not exactly the hubby’s favourite passtime…

The food at Pangkor came included in the room package and was “all you can eat” at a variety of restaurants and cafes throughout the island.  This was breakfast on the second day:

All around the island you can see lovely peacocks showing off their tails.

There are a lot of activities to do around the island, but aside from the spa, most of them involve physical activity.  For instance, you can take a kayak around the island.  The hubby very sweetly accommodated my passion for physical activities and agreed to go kayaking with me around the island.

You can see some of the “sea” villas behind me in the background here:

We decided to take a break and headed for shore…

So hubby could get some “oxygen” - he was still an active smoker at the time…

A great workout deserves to be followed by a great meal.  We had dinner at the Chinese restaurant on the second night.  Dessert was homemade ice cream.

The waiters kindly accommodated us by taking a photo…

And another at the entrance to the restaurant.  There’s a cool looking boulder inside the restaurant that caught my attention, although I didn’t get a photo of it.  If it weren’t such a feature within the restaurant, I might have attempted to climb it.

Dinner on the second night was at another restaurant where a three piece Phillipino band was playing.  They were fantastic.  They went around from table to table serenading all the couples.  When they got to our table they sang a Phillipino song called “You are my Soul” - at least that’s what I think the title was.  I loved it, but it’s a shame I never managed to get hold of a copy of the song…

Here’s another peacock…

A view of one of the sea villas.

Taking a walk along the walkways by the sea villas…

Along the walkways they have seats where you can take rest stops, or just sit and admire the scenery.

Alternatively, you can look out for the giant lizards swimming in the water or sun bathing on the rocks.  Can you spot the one in this picture?

Pangkor Laut is a rather romantic getaway.  It is definitely the place to bring your other half and definitely not the place to be if you’re by yourself.  I can’t really comment on the child-friendliness of the place since I never really noticed those sort of things back then. 

The food at Pangkor was a lot better than the food at Tanjong.  There’s more variety as well.  The only downside is that because it is located on an island, there isn’t much else to explore except what’s on the island.  At Tanjong, you can take a drive out to the surrounding towns, explore the night market, and so on.  But if I had to choose which place I would rather go back to, I would choose Pangkor.

Come Monday, hubby and I will be taking our first family beach holiday with Gavin at a place called Tajong Jara.  Since Gavin is still a little too young to enjoy a lot of the activities available, I’m not sure how much we’ll get to do there besides eat and frolick in the pool.  Nevertheless, it will be a welcome break for both hubby and me since we haven’t been on a real holiday since our honeymoon.  As for Gavin, I think he’s going to have a ball.

Tanjong Jara is located on the East Coast of Malaysia between Kuantan and Kuala Terengganu and has been touted “One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World” by Condé Nast Traveller UK, 2006.  For more details and pictures of this beautiful getaway, take a wonder over to the Tanjong Jara Resort website.  They even have weddings and honeymoon packages - it’s a perfect venue for a beach wedding.

Romantic holiday for the hubby and me:

A beach on San Blas Islands.

Places I plan to visit:

A cathedral in Austria

Back in the early days when the hubby and I were still dating, we took a trip down to Australia together.  I was initially supposed to make another trip to Krabi but changed my plans after my Dad sounded a little disappointed I wasn’t planning to come home for Christmas.  We went to Brisbane first and then flew down to Melbourne for the second part of our holiday.

I guess a little guardian angel was looking out for me because that was the year the second largest ever earthquake hit the Indian Ocean causing a tsunami that spread as far as Krabi.  Although no one was hurt in Krabi, friends reported a lot of damage done to East Railay.

I digress…  Under the recommendation of my parents, we took a coach tour along the Great Ocean Road and here are some of the pictures from our tour:

Although I had been to see the Great Ocean Road one during my Uni days, I think I had a better time during this trip.  The coach picked up us from Swanston Street in the city took us out west onto the Great Ocean Road.  The driver was also our tour guide pointing out interesting landmarks along the way like the last light house and Shipwreck Coast where numerous ships ended up while trying to aim their way towards Port Phillip Bay.  Back in those days, navigating those waters was apparently like trying to thread the eye of a needle and a lot of ships never made it. 

It was a rather informative trip and a real pity we didn’t have time for more tours…

When I went back to Melbourne in 2004, Federation Square was a new additional to Melbourne’s CBD that I had never visited before. Federation Square is a bit of an artsy place, what with the Ian Potter Center and the Australian Center for the Moving Images, otherwise known as ACMI.

Unlike my usual inquisitive self, we didn’t end up exploring every last square inch of Federation Square. We only managed to get through ACMI before the hubby got distracted by the need for some tucker.

Below are some photos I took while we were wondering through ACMI. Below was a film recording the eyes of many different people.

In this shot, the hubby was talking to my SIL. It was the first news we received about the Tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean. My SIL’s boyfriend’s sister had been in Thailand at the time where they felt the aftershock.

Christmas 2004, I was originally planning to follow the Posers to Krabi until a telephone conversation with my Dad changed everything. He seemed incredibly disappointed that I was electing to go to Krabi for Christmas instead of coming home. Somewhere, deep inside, I rediscovered my conscience and decided that perhaps I ought to pay my family a visit for the festive season instead of making yet another haj to my rock climbing mecca.

I guess God was smiling down on me because I would have felt the effects of the Tsunami in Krabi had I gone there instead of Australia. Luckily no one was hurt in Krabi. The damage was mostly to the beach front properties.

This was an interesting rocket of some sort.

Below is the future of deities - a kind of robotic Buddha.

When we went there in 2004, the entry was still free so it’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you’re looking for some way to pass the time and keep yourself entertained for free.

Take a look at this picture and tell me what you see…

Yup, it is a fake beach in the middle of the city. The black line you see after the aqua blue separates the “sea” from the Brisbane River which flows through the heart of Brisbane. This “beach” is located in Southbank, Brisbane.