Well, I do enjoy holidays very much, especially when I travel with my family. I will try to arrange a family trip to overseas at least once a year, but a short trip in Malaysia is always welcome break for our family.
Mesmerizing sunset over the infinity pool.
Text: Elina Heng Photos: Kim Teoh & Elina
Well, I do enjoy holidays very much, especially when I travel with my family. I will try to arrange a family trip to overseas at least once a year, but a short trip in Malaysia is always welcome break for our family.
My home town is in Penang and I have settled down in Kuala Lumpur after I married. In terms of logistics and convenience, a weekend holiday in Selangor is the natural choice for us. This round we went to Sepang Gold Coast with a Luxury stay at the Golden Palm Tree Iconic Resort & Spa. The palm tree layout for the whole resort is iconic of this resort and all hotel rooms and Villas are built above the sea in the Straits of Melaka located along the Sepang coastline. I like the idea of the resort with the combination of the “alang-alang” roofing with wooden panels and glass windows to catch the beautiful views. This is one of the resorts that inspire many Malaysians of a dream stay here and it is very famous and popular amongst Taiwanese tourists.
Golden Palm Tree Resort & Spa (by Kim Teoh).
After we parked our car, the shuttle promptly took us from the car park to the reception at the main lobby and after getting our room key, the shuttle buggy transported us to our room. Upon entering the room, it was great to have a feeling that we are isolated from the outside world, it means our vacations have
started!
We had a short rest in the room while the sun is sizzling outside. The room unit is a villa with 2 rooms and a sitting area, we could gather at the sitting area playing cards, but my kids couldn’t stay long in the room. They were just too anxious to jump into the beautiful pool. My parents-in-law enjoyed sipping the afternoon tea at the pool side while watching over the kids happily splashing in the infinity swimming pool. When the sun was settling down, we were all mesmerized with the breath-taking sunset. We were so spoilt for choices for dinner as there are 7 restaurants here. Finally, we decided to go to the BBQ restaurant PERAHU at the garden, we should come early to have the best view of sunset.
After dinner we quickly head back to the club house for the daily evening entertaining program, the singing and dancing show with some funny games with guest participations. The night is full of laughter and the best part is what my kids liked the most – the grand finale where the performer invited guests to join the dance.
Relax to the sound of waves in your room.
Chalets stretching over the water in a palm tree layout.
A beautiful night of chalets over water (by Kim Teoh).
The cosy cafe.
Romantic al fresco dining by the sea (by Kim Teoh).
We woke up early the next morning for our breakfast at the Bila-bila restaurant in the club house. It offers a variety choice of snacks and food at the buffet spread. We had a walk at the smiley beach after breakfast. I was told that the beach is full of mud but my kids enjoyed it very much, they had lots of fun trampling on the mud at the low tide. My hubby and I think this is a great place for ecology class, as there are thousands of tiny crabs running all over the mud, and the children had a whale of a time trying to pounce on them. There are also a lot of mud skippers around. It is really rare for my children, who came from the city, to see all these inhabitants of nature.
On the smiley beach we are also able to enjoy a 20 minutes cycling tour lead by the resort staff to see the beautiful view surroundings, the daily life of the locals and the mangrove swamps. There are several types of bicycle for us to choose, it is either for adult, for kids, or tandem bicycle for two. I was glad that my father-in-law also joined in the ride as it had been years since he last rode a bicycle. After the cycling trip, it was windsurfing and cart sailing for my hubby and I while the children occupied themselves with football and badminton with other guests. We have had a great time, and the best thing is all these games are free of charge for the in house guests. The only thing we had to do is to register ourselves in advance and take turns according to the schedule.
After a whole morning of fun, we went back to the hotel for lunch at the Chinese restaurant Hai Sang Lou for Dim Sum, it was such a yummy good meal! Soon it was time to pack up but the children were not keen too keen to go home and kept begging to stay just a bit longer or just one more jump in the pool….
Off course the answer is “we will come back again…”
Thousands of crabs sprawling the beach.
Ready to pounce on the targets.
One dip is never enough.
A cycling off we go.
Wind sailing.
Tanjung Sepat is one of the attractions that is nearby, we went there for the famous bun factory, where we could observe the process of making the bun. The bun (bao) tasted so good that I bought about 20 pieces with different fillings. We also went for the cottage coffee factory, and enjoyed the aroma of roasted coffee beans, and the children enjoyed watching the coffee roasting process and listening to the narrations from the friendly owner. Tanjung Sepat is also famous for seafood and bak kut teh, give it a try when you are there.
