Trip Report: Malaysia
Oct 12th, 2005, 07:50 PM
#42
After breakfast, we got our 8am transfer to Batang Ai (cost RM120 o/w). The transfer was arranged through Hilton since the hotel at Batang Ai was also a Hilton. It‘s the only hotel there. The transfer was in a minivan and there were eight of us, plus the driver. It was a fairly uninteresting drive that took almost five hours, with one stop about half way. The stop was for 30 minutes and about 25 minutes too long. It was at a strip of shops and cafés that sold nothing I wanted to buy or eat. We did buy a huge pack of corn snacks to bring to the longhouse to present to the chief as a gift for the children. This was suggested by the driver. Not wanting to be bad guests at the longhouse, we made the purchase.
We finally made it to Hilton’s jetty for the last leg of the trip, a 20 minute boat ride across a lake to the hotel. The lake is actually a man made reservoir. The ride was nice and the scenery beautiful and we were anticipating our stay here.
We arrived at the hotel, which is billed as luxury in the jungle. Well, I’m not sure I would put it quite that way. It was nice but not quite luxurious, in fact, it was somewhat disappointing. Personally, I would rather stay in a very basic hut with no amenities if that’s what I’m prepared for, but don’t get me excited that I’m going to be in the lap of luxury and then not deliver. We were shown to our room, which was a “Queen Deluxe Suite with river view”. We booked this through Hilton’s 800 number in the States. A regular room was $23 per night and the suite was $55. It was nice enough I suppose but there was no river view. In fact, there was no river. I never saw one so I’m not sure what they were talking about. We didn’t have a view of the lake either.
The room was laid out on two levels, the downstairs being the living room with a sofa, chairs, coffee table, end tables, desk and armoire with TV. There was also a bathroom with shower, a minibar (empty) and coffee and tea making facilities with packages of Nescafe, tea and Coffee Mate. We will not, under any circumstances drink Nescafe or any instant coffee unless absolutely forced to so I always carry a small plastic Melita filter with paper filters and my own ground coffee. We’re big coffee drinkers and MUST have several cups each morning. One thing I demand is a good cup of coffee. I also demand at least a bathrobe, slippers and room safe at a decent hotel. This one had none of it. This is a Hilton???
Upstairs was the bedroom, which was large and also had an ensuite bathroom and TV. The air conditioner up there was noisy and barely cooled the room. In fact, it was hotter than hell up there making me wonder if we were going to fight over sleeping on the sofa downstairs since it wasn’t large enough for two.
The hotel itself is set up as a series of longhouses so you enter through a common corridor which is traditionally used for social activities at a traditional longhouse. The corridor had some chairs and tables set up in it. From the bedroom, the view out the window was of the corridor, in keeping with tradition, and from the living room, we had a view of trees. The hotel sits in the middle of jungle and I can’t complain about the surrounding scenery, it was beautiful.
Since we arrived at the hotel well after 1:00pm, all of the day’s tours had already left and there was nothing to do so we decided to have some lunch. There is only one restaurant there and you cannot go anywhere since there is no place to go. In essence, you are held hostage by the hotel and must have all of your meals there and pay their inflated prices for mediocre food. We sat outside since none of the public areas are air conditioned and most tables inside do not have ceiling fans above them, whereas, many outside do. We ordered some satay and spring rolls. I was hoping the spring rolls would be the same as the ones at the Hilton Kuching. Not even close. The satay wasn’t too great either, absolutely no spiciness to it. We each had a couple of beers, by far the best part of this meal.
After lunch we went to the tour desk to book the next day’s tour. You really can’t do anything on your own there. Besides, Lonely Planet said this was a good place to stay and they had quality tours to longhouses and forest. The only problem is you cannot do two tours in one day because of the timing of them. We booked a private tour to an Iban longhouse that would then bring us to a swimming hole in the forest for a picnic lunch (Cost RM150 per person). After the tour desk, we decided to have some pool time. The pool is nice although not large. When we passed the pool on our way back to our room, there was a group of people in it and the pool was filthy! I mean, you could see the scum floating on top. UGH! I wouldn’t even stick my big toe into that pool. I couldn’t believe that a “luxury resort” did not constantly filter their pool. There had been quite a few people in the pools at the MO and the Sabah yet both of those pools managed to stay spotless. With the pool out, we walked around the grounds a bit and then went back to our room and watched some TV. There was literally nothing to do. After a while, we decided it was a respectable enough hour to open our wine so we drank wine and ate some snacks that we had brought.
Dinner is from 7 to 10 and we got there at about 8:00. There were no outside tables available so we got stuck indoors, at a table with no fan above it. It was stifling. There was a buffet but we don’t like buffets so we ordered a la carte. I don’t remember what we had but it wasn’t that good, It was also one of the most expensive meals we had to date at RM155.83. The food wasn’t awful but it certainly wasn’t memorable. After dinner, we watched some more TV and went to bed. At least the bedroom had cooled off somewhat, though it was not cold by any means.
The following morning at about 8:30, after a decent enough breakfast, we met our tour guide in the lobby. We went to the jetty and got our boat to take us to the longhouse. The ride to the longhouse took about one and a half hours. The ride was beautiful and I enjoyed it. We even managed to see a hornbill, although it was far away up in a tree. I was glad to have my binoculars with me.
We got to the longhouse and met the chief and his wife, who made some tea for us. We sat with them and talked, with the guide translating. For all I know, the chief speaks perfect English but that wouldn’t look too good for the tourists. There were no tourists there but I’m sure they get them. There were quite a few dogs there, one of whom took a liking to Eric and cuddled up next to him. It was very sweet. We asked the chief a lot of questions about longhouse living and society which he politely answered, all the while me hoping they didn’t notice that I wasn’t drinking the tea. I didn’t want to seem impolite but tea makes me want to throw up. Just the smell of it is enough to make me gag.
After an hour of talking, we walked around the longhouse and took pictures, which is allowed. The chief and his wife then showed us their living quarters, which consisted of two rooms. I was surprised to see they had a television. They explained that they have a small generator, which they showed us, which provides about three hours of electricity per day. On the wall were family photos, one of them showing Mr. and Mrs. Chief with their daughter at her graduation from University. There they were, Mr. Chief in a suit and tie, and Mrs. Chief in a nice dress with her hair all done, looking rather spiffy. It somehow didn’t fit in with what you would expect of a tribal Iban chief! They told us that a lot of the children grow up and attend university and go and live in the cities. Well, why not? Longhouse living ain’t for everyone.
I then purchased several baskets made by the ladies in the longhouse and presented our gift to the chief. We also gave him some money to thank him for the visit. Lonely Planet says that you can either give money, a gift or buy some trinkets to show appreciation for the visit. We did all three. Like I said, we wanted to be good guests.
We left the longhouse and embarked on the boat ride to the swimming hole. This took about 40 minutes. I love boat rides in speed boats on calm rivers. I can’t take cruises however since I get sea sick. We got to the “beach” and again I wish I had worn a bathing suit under my clothes. Eric did so he and the guide went swimming. I took the legs off my pants so at least I had shorts and could go in up to my knees and cool off. It was very refreshing. The Hilton packed us a picnic lunch. We ate the lunch and relaxed for awhile before heading back to the hotel. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get there. By now, the sun was very intense so we had to cover up a bit, using the towels the Hilton provided.
We got back to the hotel in mid-afternoon and went and had a beer and relaxed. There was a nature walk going out at 4:45 that we decided to take so we decided to wait until we came back from that before taking showers, knowing we would only get all sweaty on the walk. The walk was nice and lasted about an hour. The hotel sits in the middle of jungle so the walk began right behind the hotel and ended up at a peak with lovely views of the lake and surrounding forest. The guide explained about the plants found in the forest. Again, within a couple of minutes, we were all drenched from the humidity.
After the walk, I arranged through Hilton to have a private transfer back to Kuching for the following morning. The Hilton’s transfer wasn’t leaving until 1:00pm, so had we taken that, we wouldn’t get back to Kuching until after 6:00, wasting an entire day. None of the morning tours would have gotten back in time and hanging around that place, bored to death, wasn’t happening. The earliest transfer that could be arranged would leave the hotel’s jetty at 8:30am and we were to meet “Mr. Jack” on the other side. I told the man at the Hilton’s desk that I didn’t want to make any stops and just wanted to drive straight through. He assured me that the driver would not stop unless I directed him to. Cost for the private transfer was RM350, three times the price of the Hilton’s. It was worth it to get back to Kuching and at least have some time there since we were going to Penang the day after returning to Kuching.
We took showers and drank the rest of the wine. We decided to go to dinner a little later, at 8:30, hoping some of the early diners would be finished and we could get an outside table. We got to the restaurant and all the outside tables were taken. I flat out refused to sit inside so we got beers and waited for a table to open. Several did at about 9:00 so we sat and ordered dinner. I ordered a traditional Malay dish, laksa, a spicy noodle dish in coconut juice. Honestly, I didn’t care for it. I’m not sure if it’s the dish itself or how it was prepared at the hotel, but it had a very strong taste of a curry that I’m not too fond of. I like most curries but not this one. It was okay but I wouldn’t order it again. I think Eric stuck to something more western. Dinner was pleasant enough though, sitting outside in the breeze, watching lightning in the distance.
The next morning, after breakfast, we checked out and got the 8:30 boat. It was pouring and we and our luggage got soaked. We met Mr. Jack, who had a minivan. Mr. Jack was also bringing along a friend and his friend’s motorcycle, which took up the space in the back where our luggage should have gone, thereby giving us a lot less room to spread out. I was somewhat annoyed at this but said nothing. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway since neither Mr. Jack nor his friend spoke English. About half way, Mr. Jack stopped to make a turn into the same horrible rest stop we stopped at going to Batang Ai. I said no, three times, shouting it by the third time but he turned in anyway. He pointed to his friend and said “toilet.” Now I got angry. I’m footing the bill for this so called private transfer and his friend, who is getting a free ride on my dime, is calling the shots? I didn’t say anything but then and there I decided I would not pay the entire RM350. His friend could pay half. We did not invite his friend and motorcycle to come and I was not about to pay for this bozo’s ride into town. I was especially annoyed at the Hilton Batang Ai for not checking out whom they made arrangements with.
When we got to the Hilton in Kuching, I got out and told the doorman I needed someone to translate. He spoke English so he did it. I explained that I was very, very angry that we arranged for a PRIVATE transfer, at a cost of almost $100 and it was not private, that the driver brought a friend and motorcycle, etc. etc. I stated that his friend was to pay for half the transfer; I was not paying for him. He translated all of this to Mr. Jack, who became angry. I wouldn’t budge so Mr. Jack called the Hilton Batang Ai. The doorman got on the phone with them and then, repeating what the Hilton B.A. said to him, said the stop was only for a few minutes. I said I didn’t care if it was for a few seconds, if I’m paying, I say whether we stop, not some kid bumming a ride. I told him I would pay RM200 and nothing more, take it or leave it. The doorman agreed that was fair and told Mr. Jack, who took the money but was seething. Not half as much as I was though. I have several bones to pick with Hilton and they will be getting a letter from me.
By now, it was alittle after 2:00 and I was anxious to check in and get out and have some time in Kuching. We went up to the 12th floor, checked in, and we were told we could have our old room back but it would be about 10 minutes before it was ready. We went into the lounge to wait and I ordered a cup of cappuccino. The room was ready before the cappuccino so they delivered it to the room. Like at the MO, coffee, tea. Cappuccino, etc is available all day in the Lounge.
We decided to have some lunch at a place on the river at a restaurant called Khatulistiwa Café, at the beginning of the promenade. It is an open air but covered place that several guidebooks recommended for Malay food. The big attraction here was not only is it on the river, but they serve beer, unlike most river joints. We ordered several appetizers and one main dish of prawns in chili sauce. The food wasn’t great but the staff was very friendly and accommodating and it was extremely pleasant. We stayed there for a while, having several beers and enjoying the river activity. Afterwards, we walked around and went to a shopping plaza.
Back at the hotel for cocktails and figuring out where to have dinner. We decided on a place on the river, a short walk from the hotel, called D’Alifies. They serve Malay food but no alcohol, which we found out when we got there. We stayed anyway. We ordered soft shelled crabs in a black pepper sauce, rice with seafood and mindin/bindin (another Hornbill suggestion), which is a young jungle fern found only in Sarawak, and mineral water. Everything was excellent. The grand total for this was RM43!!! That’s $11 folks, quite the bargain. There was plenty of food and it was one of the best meals we had. I called my mother from there to check in and find out how my uncle was doing. She said everything was fine and she was very happy to hear from me. I hadn’t called her in about a week. I had planned to call her from Batang Ai but couldn’t get s signal from there (another demerit). After dinner, we strolled along the waterfront before returning to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, it was 9:00 and I decided to get a massage. An hour massage is very inexpensive there (RM80) and they are open until 11pm. The massage was very good but the massage rooms are close to the fitness room and there were some men in there who were quite loud and I could hear them, which is distracting. After that, it was time for a shower and bed as we had an early flight to Penang via KL.
Next: goodbye Borneo, hello Penang
We finally made it to Hilton’s jetty for the last leg of the trip, a 20 minute boat ride across a lake to the hotel. The lake is actually a man made reservoir. The ride was nice and the scenery beautiful and we were anticipating our stay here.
We arrived at the hotel, which is billed as luxury in the jungle. Well, I’m not sure I would put it quite that way. It was nice but not quite luxurious, in fact, it was somewhat disappointing. Personally, I would rather stay in a very basic hut with no amenities if that’s what I’m prepared for, but don’t get me excited that I’m going to be in the lap of luxury and then not deliver. We were shown to our room, which was a “Queen Deluxe Suite with river view”. We booked this through Hilton’s 800 number in the States. A regular room was $23 per night and the suite was $55. It was nice enough I suppose but there was no river view. In fact, there was no river. I never saw one so I’m not sure what they were talking about. We didn’t have a view of the lake either.
The room was laid out on two levels, the downstairs being the living room with a sofa, chairs, coffee table, end tables, desk and armoire with TV. There was also a bathroom with shower, a minibar (empty) and coffee and tea making facilities with packages of Nescafe, tea and Coffee Mate. We will not, under any circumstances drink Nescafe or any instant coffee unless absolutely forced to so I always carry a small plastic Melita filter with paper filters and my own ground coffee. We’re big coffee drinkers and MUST have several cups each morning. One thing I demand is a good cup of coffee. I also demand at least a bathrobe, slippers and room safe at a decent hotel. This one had none of it. This is a Hilton???
Upstairs was the bedroom, which was large and also had an ensuite bathroom and TV. The air conditioner up there was noisy and barely cooled the room. In fact, it was hotter than hell up there making me wonder if we were going to fight over sleeping on the sofa downstairs since it wasn’t large enough for two.
The hotel itself is set up as a series of longhouses so you enter through a common corridor which is traditionally used for social activities at a traditional longhouse. The corridor had some chairs and tables set up in it. From the bedroom, the view out the window was of the corridor, in keeping with tradition, and from the living room, we had a view of trees. The hotel sits in the middle of jungle and I can’t complain about the surrounding scenery, it was beautiful.
Since we arrived at the hotel well after 1:00pm, all of the day’s tours had already left and there was nothing to do so we decided to have some lunch. There is only one restaurant there and you cannot go anywhere since there is no place to go. In essence, you are held hostage by the hotel and must have all of your meals there and pay their inflated prices for mediocre food. We sat outside since none of the public areas are air conditioned and most tables inside do not have ceiling fans above them, whereas, many outside do. We ordered some satay and spring rolls. I was hoping the spring rolls would be the same as the ones at the Hilton Kuching. Not even close. The satay wasn’t too great either, absolutely no spiciness to it. We each had a couple of beers, by far the best part of this meal.
After lunch we went to the tour desk to book the next day’s tour. You really can’t do anything on your own there. Besides, Lonely Planet said this was a good place to stay and they had quality tours to longhouses and forest. The only problem is you cannot do two tours in one day because of the timing of them. We booked a private tour to an Iban longhouse that would then bring us to a swimming hole in the forest for a picnic lunch (Cost RM150 per person). After the tour desk, we decided to have some pool time. The pool is nice although not large. When we passed the pool on our way back to our room, there was a group of people in it and the pool was filthy! I mean, you could see the scum floating on top. UGH! I wouldn’t even stick my big toe into that pool. I couldn’t believe that a “luxury resort” did not constantly filter their pool. There had been quite a few people in the pools at the MO and the Sabah yet both of those pools managed to stay spotless. With the pool out, we walked around the grounds a bit and then went back to our room and watched some TV. There was literally nothing to do. After a while, we decided it was a respectable enough hour to open our wine so we drank wine and ate some snacks that we had brought.
Dinner is from 7 to 10 and we got there at about 8:00. There were no outside tables available so we got stuck indoors, at a table with no fan above it. It was stifling. There was a buffet but we don’t like buffets so we ordered a la carte. I don’t remember what we had but it wasn’t that good, It was also one of the most expensive meals we had to date at RM155.83. The food wasn’t awful but it certainly wasn’t memorable. After dinner, we watched some more TV and went to bed. At least the bedroom had cooled off somewhat, though it was not cold by any means.
The following morning at about 8:30, after a decent enough breakfast, we met our tour guide in the lobby. We went to the jetty and got our boat to take us to the longhouse. The ride to the longhouse took about one and a half hours. The ride was beautiful and I enjoyed it. We even managed to see a hornbill, although it was far away up in a tree. I was glad to have my binoculars with me.
We got to the longhouse and met the chief and his wife, who made some tea for us. We sat with them and talked, with the guide translating. For all I know, the chief speaks perfect English but that wouldn’t look too good for the tourists. There were no tourists there but I’m sure they get them. There were quite a few dogs there, one of whom took a liking to Eric and cuddled up next to him. It was very sweet. We asked the chief a lot of questions about longhouse living and society which he politely answered, all the while me hoping they didn’t notice that I wasn’t drinking the tea. I didn’t want to seem impolite but tea makes me want to throw up. Just the smell of it is enough to make me gag.
After an hour of talking, we walked around the longhouse and took pictures, which is allowed. The chief and his wife then showed us their living quarters, which consisted of two rooms. I was surprised to see they had a television. They explained that they have a small generator, which they showed us, which provides about three hours of electricity per day. On the wall were family photos, one of them showing Mr. and Mrs. Chief with their daughter at her graduation from University. There they were, Mr. Chief in a suit and tie, and Mrs. Chief in a nice dress with her hair all done, looking rather spiffy. It somehow didn’t fit in with what you would expect of a tribal Iban chief! They told us that a lot of the children grow up and attend university and go and live in the cities. Well, why not? Longhouse living ain’t for everyone.
I then purchased several baskets made by the ladies in the longhouse and presented our gift to the chief. We also gave him some money to thank him for the visit. Lonely Planet says that you can either give money, a gift or buy some trinkets to show appreciation for the visit. We did all three. Like I said, we wanted to be good guests.
We left the longhouse and embarked on the boat ride to the swimming hole. This took about 40 minutes. I love boat rides in speed boats on calm rivers. I can’t take cruises however since I get sea sick. We got to the “beach” and again I wish I had worn a bathing suit under my clothes. Eric did so he and the guide went swimming. I took the legs off my pants so at least I had shorts and could go in up to my knees and cool off. It was very refreshing. The Hilton packed us a picnic lunch. We ate the lunch and relaxed for awhile before heading back to the hotel. It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get there. By now, the sun was very intense so we had to cover up a bit, using the towels the Hilton provided.
We got back to the hotel in mid-afternoon and went and had a beer and relaxed. There was a nature walk going out at 4:45 that we decided to take so we decided to wait until we came back from that before taking showers, knowing we would only get all sweaty on the walk. The walk was nice and lasted about an hour. The hotel sits in the middle of jungle so the walk began right behind the hotel and ended up at a peak with lovely views of the lake and surrounding forest. The guide explained about the plants found in the forest. Again, within a couple of minutes, we were all drenched from the humidity.
After the walk, I arranged through Hilton to have a private transfer back to Kuching for the following morning. The Hilton’s transfer wasn’t leaving until 1:00pm, so had we taken that, we wouldn’t get back to Kuching until after 6:00, wasting an entire day. None of the morning tours would have gotten back in time and hanging around that place, bored to death, wasn’t happening. The earliest transfer that could be arranged would leave the hotel’s jetty at 8:30am and we were to meet “Mr. Jack” on the other side. I told the man at the Hilton’s desk that I didn’t want to make any stops and just wanted to drive straight through. He assured me that the driver would not stop unless I directed him to. Cost for the private transfer was RM350, three times the price of the Hilton’s. It was worth it to get back to Kuching and at least have some time there since we were going to Penang the day after returning to Kuching.
We took showers and drank the rest of the wine. We decided to go to dinner a little later, at 8:30, hoping some of the early diners would be finished and we could get an outside table. We got to the restaurant and all the outside tables were taken. I flat out refused to sit inside so we got beers and waited for a table to open. Several did at about 9:00 so we sat and ordered dinner. I ordered a traditional Malay dish, laksa, a spicy noodle dish in coconut juice. Honestly, I didn’t care for it. I’m not sure if it’s the dish itself or how it was prepared at the hotel, but it had a very strong taste of a curry that I’m not too fond of. I like most curries but not this one. It was okay but I wouldn’t order it again. I think Eric stuck to something more western. Dinner was pleasant enough though, sitting outside in the breeze, watching lightning in the distance.
The next morning, after breakfast, we checked out and got the 8:30 boat. It was pouring and we and our luggage got soaked. We met Mr. Jack, who had a minivan. Mr. Jack was also bringing along a friend and his friend’s motorcycle, which took up the space in the back where our luggage should have gone, thereby giving us a lot less room to spread out. I was somewhat annoyed at this but said nothing. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway since neither Mr. Jack nor his friend spoke English. About half way, Mr. Jack stopped to make a turn into the same horrible rest stop we stopped at going to Batang Ai. I said no, three times, shouting it by the third time but he turned in anyway. He pointed to his friend and said “toilet.” Now I got angry. I’m footing the bill for this so called private transfer and his friend, who is getting a free ride on my dime, is calling the shots? I didn’t say anything but then and there I decided I would not pay the entire RM350. His friend could pay half. We did not invite his friend and motorcycle to come and I was not about to pay for this bozo’s ride into town. I was especially annoyed at the Hilton Batang Ai for not checking out whom they made arrangements with.
When we got to the Hilton in Kuching, I got out and told the doorman I needed someone to translate. He spoke English so he did it. I explained that I was very, very angry that we arranged for a PRIVATE transfer, at a cost of almost $100 and it was not private, that the driver brought a friend and motorcycle, etc. etc. I stated that his friend was to pay for half the transfer; I was not paying for him. He translated all of this to Mr. Jack, who became angry. I wouldn’t budge so Mr. Jack called the Hilton Batang Ai. The doorman got on the phone with them and then, repeating what the Hilton B.A. said to him, said the stop was only for a few minutes. I said I didn’t care if it was for a few seconds, if I’m paying, I say whether we stop, not some kid bumming a ride. I told him I would pay RM200 and nothing more, take it or leave it. The doorman agreed that was fair and told Mr. Jack, who took the money but was seething. Not half as much as I was though. I have several bones to pick with Hilton and they will be getting a letter from me.
By now, it was alittle after 2:00 and I was anxious to check in and get out and have some time in Kuching. We went up to the 12th floor, checked in, and we were told we could have our old room back but it would be about 10 minutes before it was ready. We went into the lounge to wait and I ordered a cup of cappuccino. The room was ready before the cappuccino so they delivered it to the room. Like at the MO, coffee, tea. Cappuccino, etc is available all day in the Lounge.
We decided to have some lunch at a place on the river at a restaurant called Khatulistiwa Café, at the beginning of the promenade. It is an open air but covered place that several guidebooks recommended for Malay food. The big attraction here was not only is it on the river, but they serve beer, unlike most river joints. We ordered several appetizers and one main dish of prawns in chili sauce. The food wasn’t great but the staff was very friendly and accommodating and it was extremely pleasant. We stayed there for a while, having several beers and enjoying the river activity. Afterwards, we walked around and went to a shopping plaza.
Back at the hotel for cocktails and figuring out where to have dinner. We decided on a place on the river, a short walk from the hotel, called D’Alifies. They serve Malay food but no alcohol, which we found out when we got there. We stayed anyway. We ordered soft shelled crabs in a black pepper sauce, rice with seafood and mindin/bindin (another Hornbill suggestion), which is a young jungle fern found only in Sarawak, and mineral water. Everything was excellent. The grand total for this was RM43!!! That’s $11 folks, quite the bargain. There was plenty of food and it was one of the best meals we had. I called my mother from there to check in and find out how my uncle was doing. She said everything was fine and she was very happy to hear from me. I hadn’t called her in about a week. I had planned to call her from Batang Ai but couldn’t get s signal from there (another demerit). After dinner, we strolled along the waterfront before returning to the hotel.
Back at the hotel, it was 9:00 and I decided to get a massage. An hour massage is very inexpensive there (RM80) and they are open until 11pm. The massage was very good but the massage rooms are close to the fitness room and there were some men in there who were quite loud and I could hear them, which is distracting. After that, it was time for a shower and bed as we had an early flight to Penang via KL.
Next: goodbye Borneo, hello Penang
Oct 12th, 2005, 08:18 PM
#43
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thanks laurie....sorry things did not work out all that well...i hope to hear more positive things for you upcoming...
you are very brave to have stood up to that driver....i am very good at muttering and slamming doors and walking away....you handled it perfectly....good thing he left his machette at home!!! i blame the originating hotel 110%....
looking forward to tomorrow...hope you feel better
bob
we will have lots of soothing tea for you to drink on saturday...
you are very brave to have stood up to that driver....i am very good at muttering and slamming doors and walking away....you handled it perfectly....good thing he left his machette at home!!! i blame the originating hotel 110%....
looking forward to tomorrow...hope you feel better
bob
we will have lots of soothing tea for you to drink on saturday...
Oct 13th, 2005, 05:55 AM
#50
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Well, as I said before, I'm glad we opted for a jungle lodge in the Danum Valley instead of the Batang Ai.
I expect those leech socks will become a family heirloom, and eventually the stories of how you battled the enormous Borneo leeches will become legendary.
Thanks for a very detailed report.
I expect those leech socks will become a family heirloom, and eventually the stories of how you battled the enormous Borneo leeches will become legendary.
Thanks for a very detailed report.
Oct 13th, 2005, 06:12 AM
#52
Kathie, I hope your jungle visit turns out better than our visit to Batang Ai. I'll look forward to hearing about it and if it's good, will put it on the list for the next visit to Malyasia.
The next part should be up sometime soon.
The next part should be up sometime soon.
Oct 13th, 2005, 02:45 PM
#55
We were up very early for our flight to KL and on to Penang. It was too early for breakfast at the Lounge so we arranged for room service to deliver it to us. We got to the airport and checked in for our Air Asia flight. Our luggage seemed to weigh more than on the last flight, which I found strange since we hardly bought anything and made sure we packed all the real heavy stuff into our carry-on bags this time. The flight was almost an hour late getting to KL but we still had plenty of time to collect our bags and check in for the flight to Penang. Air Asia will not send your bags through; you must collect them after each flight. We got our bags and went to the Air Asia check in for the next flight. This is when the fun began.
We put our luggage on the scale (again weighing more than it should have) and then we were told by the agent that the flight time was changed; the flight we had booked would be leaving almost 12 hours later than originally scheduled. I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was hearing wrong. I told the agent that this wouldn’t do, to please put us on another flight. He said there was no other flight. I said that I then wanted a refund and we would book on another airline; getting into Penang at 10pm would really cut into our already limited time there. We were originally supposed to get there at about 11am. He asked me if I had read the “terms and conditions” and said there would be no refund. I stated that this was totally unacceptable, I was never informed of the flight change and pushing it back almost 12 hours was as good as canceling it. He didn’t care. I asked him if he thought it was fair that our vacation was being ruined by this. He said “no”, but there would be no refund and kept on smiling. By now I was mad. Now I’ve been to Asia many times and am well versed in the concept of not losing face, and getting loud and angry causes both parties to lose face. But at this point, losing face was nowhere near as important as losing vacation time. I became hysterical and shouted at him and began to cry. He immediately took us to a supervisor who immediately said we can have a refund. So much for yelling not getting you anywhere. The supervisor also informed me that our return flight to KL several days later was pushed back by several hours. I told him I wanted a refund for that flight as well as I had no plans of ever flying Air Asia again. He didn’t argue and issued refunds for both flights. These were not expensive flights; it was the principle as much as anything. Apparently Air Asia thinks nothing of changing flight times and not informing customers of the change. A 12 hour change is a big deal for anyone. I will never ever fly them again. You can save a lot of money but it is not worth the aggravation. I was planning on flying them from BKK to Chiang Rai next spring but now I will look into Bangkok Air and Thai instead. Did I mention that I will NEVER fly Air Asia again?
The refund was taken care of but our real worry was that we would not be able to get a flight to Penang. We only had two nights in Penang and wanted to make the most of them. We went over to the Malaysia Airlines desk and found out that they have fourteen flights per day from KL to Penang and the same number coming back, and, that we could get seats on a flight leaving in an hour. WHEW, what a relief! We purchased tickets and went to the Malaysia Airlines check in. We put our luggage on the scale and guess what? Our luggage miraculously lost several kilos since putting it on the Air Asia scale less than an hour before! I wish I could lose that much weight so easily. Eric and I looked at each other and realized that the Air Asia scales are set to make your luggage weigh more than it really does. This way, they make more money on you. The amount of money may not be huge but being nickled and dimed really annoys me. By the way, we were never charged for overweight luggage on any of the Malaysia Airlines flights.
We got to Penang, an hour earlier than our original Air Asia flight would have gotten us in so it all worked out in the end. After collecting our luggage we went to the Malaysia Airlines desk and purchased our return tickets to KL. We then got out taxi voucher (RM38) to take us to our hotel, the Eastern & Oriental in Georgetown. The drive to the hotel took about 40 minutes. Penang looked beautiful.
The E&O is a really beautiful old world hotel, with a very genteel feel to it. There are no rooms, it is all suites and each suite comes with a butler. We paid for a Georgetown Suite with a view of the Straits ($105++ through asiahotels.com), but we upgraded to a balcony suite when we got there for another $15 per night. The balcony was really a patio but it had a table and two chairs and had a nice view of the water. I was thrilled to be there and felt like a giant weight had been lifted off me.
We got to our room and during the check in I asked if we could get an ice pack because Eric’s back was bothering him. Our butler came with three ice packs and seemed very concerned about Eric’s back, asking if there was anything he could do, maybe arrange for a massage. We told him the ice will do the trick and thanked him.
The suite was beautiful, with a bedroom and living room. There were chandeliers and ceiling fans and dark wood furniture. The bathroom was really special, with an old style tub, separate shower and his and hers vanities. The patio was off the living room. My only complaint is that it was COLD, bordering on frigid, everywhere in the hotel. I was glad to have that jacket I bought in Sandakan. At times, we had to turn the air con off in the room.
We had lunch at Sarkie’s Corner at the hotel, which featured a lunch special of different Malaysian foods. The price was about $12 and it had quite a few courses and it was excellent. After lunch, we walked over to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, a very short walk from the hotel. CFZ arrived in Penang from China at the age of 16 and penniless. He was a merchant who built a vast empire and became filthy rich. He built the mansion in the 1880’s, using eastern and western influences that conformed to feng shui. It has been dubbed La Maison Bleu because of the color, a very rich blue. It has 38 rooms, 5 courtyards and 7 staircases. It was restored in the 1990’s and in the year 2000, it won UNESCO’s Conservation Award. You must take one of the two daily tours offered. You cannot just walk around on your own. We didn’t really want to take a tour but the tour turned out to be great. The woman who gave the tour was extremely entertaining and informative. It lasted two hours and was not at all boring. Unfortunately, you cannot take photographs inside the mansion.
After the tour, we walked around and looked in some shops. We then went back to the hotel; it was happy hour at Farquhar's Bar.It was freezing in there, even with my jacket. The bar wasn’t too crowded, probably because it was so cold in there. The atmosphere was nice though, lots of wood, small tables and chairs around them and it looks out onto the pool. The pool, by the way, looked very nice but we never got to use it. During happy hour, they have specials, such as half price on certain beers and specials on the “wine of the month.” This month, the wines were Australian, Lindemans. We visited their winery on one visit to Australia and although they were a bit snooty, which is very un-Australian I might add. I generally like their wines so I ordered the red. After a couple of drinks, we went to Thirty-Two for dinner.
Thirty-Two is a 10 minute walk form the E&O and is in a beautiful restored mansion. I’m not sure how to classify the food, some of the items were Italian, and others seemed to be nouveau cuisine. We didn’t have reservations and this was a problem as it was full. There was another room off the main dining room which had no one in it. We were told that the air conditioner in there was not working properly. We didn’t mind, it was cool enough in there and I had been freezing at the hotel so the warmer air actually felt good. We ordered deep fried chicken wantons and soup as appetizers, and I had chicken stuffed with prawns for my main dish and Eric had pasta with seafood. We also ordered garlic bread, beers and cappuccinos. We drank the ice water they poured after they assured us they double filter the water. We also ate the salads that came with the meals. It was wonderful to have a salad. We didn’t get sick from it so I can tell you, water and salads are safe there. (It’s also safe at the MO in KL). The food was all fantastic and I can highly recommend this place. Be sure to make reservations though, it’s very popular with locals and tourists. The bill came to RM173.65 (about $46). When we left the restaurant, it was raining and not wanting to walk around in the rain, we went back to the hotel. It rained in Penang more than it had anywhere else, but it never rained for the whole day. It was sunny for much of the time with periods of rain.
I’ll try and post more later but if not, the rest may have to wait until after the weekend. I’m going to Boston for the GTG.
We put our luggage on the scale (again weighing more than it should have) and then we were told by the agent that the flight time was changed; the flight we had booked would be leaving almost 12 hours later than originally scheduled. I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was hearing wrong. I told the agent that this wouldn’t do, to please put us on another flight. He said there was no other flight. I said that I then wanted a refund and we would book on another airline; getting into Penang at 10pm would really cut into our already limited time there. We were originally supposed to get there at about 11am. He asked me if I had read the “terms and conditions” and said there would be no refund. I stated that this was totally unacceptable, I was never informed of the flight change and pushing it back almost 12 hours was as good as canceling it. He didn’t care. I asked him if he thought it was fair that our vacation was being ruined by this. He said “no”, but there would be no refund and kept on smiling. By now I was mad. Now I’ve been to Asia many times and am well versed in the concept of not losing face, and getting loud and angry causes both parties to lose face. But at this point, losing face was nowhere near as important as losing vacation time. I became hysterical and shouted at him and began to cry. He immediately took us to a supervisor who immediately said we can have a refund. So much for yelling not getting you anywhere. The supervisor also informed me that our return flight to KL several days later was pushed back by several hours. I told him I wanted a refund for that flight as well as I had no plans of ever flying Air Asia again. He didn’t argue and issued refunds for both flights. These were not expensive flights; it was the principle as much as anything. Apparently Air Asia thinks nothing of changing flight times and not informing customers of the change. A 12 hour change is a big deal for anyone. I will never ever fly them again. You can save a lot of money but it is not worth the aggravation. I was planning on flying them from BKK to Chiang Rai next spring but now I will look into Bangkok Air and Thai instead. Did I mention that I will NEVER fly Air Asia again?
The refund was taken care of but our real worry was that we would not be able to get a flight to Penang. We only had two nights in Penang and wanted to make the most of them. We went over to the Malaysia Airlines desk and found out that they have fourteen flights per day from KL to Penang and the same number coming back, and, that we could get seats on a flight leaving in an hour. WHEW, what a relief! We purchased tickets and went to the Malaysia Airlines check in. We put our luggage on the scale and guess what? Our luggage miraculously lost several kilos since putting it on the Air Asia scale less than an hour before! I wish I could lose that much weight so easily. Eric and I looked at each other and realized that the Air Asia scales are set to make your luggage weigh more than it really does. This way, they make more money on you. The amount of money may not be huge but being nickled and dimed really annoys me. By the way, we were never charged for overweight luggage on any of the Malaysia Airlines flights.
We got to Penang, an hour earlier than our original Air Asia flight would have gotten us in so it all worked out in the end. After collecting our luggage we went to the Malaysia Airlines desk and purchased our return tickets to KL. We then got out taxi voucher (RM38) to take us to our hotel, the Eastern & Oriental in Georgetown. The drive to the hotel took about 40 minutes. Penang looked beautiful.
The E&O is a really beautiful old world hotel, with a very genteel feel to it. There are no rooms, it is all suites and each suite comes with a butler. We paid for a Georgetown Suite with a view of the Straits ($105++ through asiahotels.com), but we upgraded to a balcony suite when we got there for another $15 per night. The balcony was really a patio but it had a table and two chairs and had a nice view of the water. I was thrilled to be there and felt like a giant weight had been lifted off me.
We got to our room and during the check in I asked if we could get an ice pack because Eric’s back was bothering him. Our butler came with three ice packs and seemed very concerned about Eric’s back, asking if there was anything he could do, maybe arrange for a massage. We told him the ice will do the trick and thanked him.
The suite was beautiful, with a bedroom and living room. There were chandeliers and ceiling fans and dark wood furniture. The bathroom was really special, with an old style tub, separate shower and his and hers vanities. The patio was off the living room. My only complaint is that it was COLD, bordering on frigid, everywhere in the hotel. I was glad to have that jacket I bought in Sandakan. At times, we had to turn the air con off in the room.
We had lunch at Sarkie’s Corner at the hotel, which featured a lunch special of different Malaysian foods. The price was about $12 and it had quite a few courses and it was excellent. After lunch, we walked over to the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, a very short walk from the hotel. CFZ arrived in Penang from China at the age of 16 and penniless. He was a merchant who built a vast empire and became filthy rich. He built the mansion in the 1880’s, using eastern and western influences that conformed to feng shui. It has been dubbed La Maison Bleu because of the color, a very rich blue. It has 38 rooms, 5 courtyards and 7 staircases. It was restored in the 1990’s and in the year 2000, it won UNESCO’s Conservation Award. You must take one of the two daily tours offered. You cannot just walk around on your own. We didn’t really want to take a tour but the tour turned out to be great. The woman who gave the tour was extremely entertaining and informative. It lasted two hours and was not at all boring. Unfortunately, you cannot take photographs inside the mansion.
After the tour, we walked around and looked in some shops. We then went back to the hotel; it was happy hour at Farquhar's Bar.It was freezing in there, even with my jacket. The bar wasn’t too crowded, probably because it was so cold in there. The atmosphere was nice though, lots of wood, small tables and chairs around them and it looks out onto the pool. The pool, by the way, looked very nice but we never got to use it. During happy hour, they have specials, such as half price on certain beers and specials on the “wine of the month.” This month, the wines were Australian, Lindemans. We visited their winery on one visit to Australia and although they were a bit snooty, which is very un-Australian I might add. I generally like their wines so I ordered the red. After a couple of drinks, we went to Thirty-Two for dinner.
Thirty-Two is a 10 minute walk form the E&O and is in a beautiful restored mansion. I’m not sure how to classify the food, some of the items were Italian, and others seemed to be nouveau cuisine. We didn’t have reservations and this was a problem as it was full. There was another room off the main dining room which had no one in it. We were told that the air conditioner in there was not working properly. We didn’t mind, it was cool enough in there and I had been freezing at the hotel so the warmer air actually felt good. We ordered deep fried chicken wantons and soup as appetizers, and I had chicken stuffed with prawns for my main dish and Eric had pasta with seafood. We also ordered garlic bread, beers and cappuccinos. We drank the ice water they poured after they assured us they double filter the water. We also ate the salads that came with the meals. It was wonderful to have a salad. We didn’t get sick from it so I can tell you, water and salads are safe there. (It’s also safe at the MO in KL). The food was all fantastic and I can highly recommend this place. Be sure to make reservations though, it’s very popular with locals and tourists. The bill came to RM173.65 (about $46). When we left the restaurant, it was raining and not wanting to walk around in the rain, we went back to the hotel. It rained in Penang more than it had anywhere else, but it never rained for the whole day. It was sunny for much of the time with periods of rain.
I’ll try and post more later but if not, the rest may have to wait until after the weekend. I’m going to Boston for the GTG.
Oct 13th, 2005, 03:27 PM
#56
Join Date: Jan 2003
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Laurie, I'm delighted that Penang was such a good experience for you. I've always wanted to go there just to stay at the E&O. After your report, it's been moved up my list of places to visit!
Oct 13th, 2005, 03:50 PM
#57
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Hi again Laurieco, Still reading and enjoying, glad we decided against going to Batang Ai at the time. Our last holiday was in Penang too, we stayed on the beach at Batu Ferringhi. If you ever come back to Australia you must come and visit the Margaret River region in our little corner of the world and try the wines here!
Oct 13th, 2005, 04:11 PM
#58
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laurie, you've convinced me to take tiger air to bangkok from singapore. sure, air asia is cheaper, but with the luggage weight question, and the changes in flt times, why take a chance. i've flown tiger before, and was very satisfied with the on-time service.
as far as shouting and crying to get a refund, i can do the shouting part easily, but crying would be difficult. and even if i did, i wouldn't say anything cos hawaiiantraveler would tell on me.
great report. have fun in boston. maybe the leech socks will work there, as it might be abit wet there with all the rain i've been hearing about.
as far as shouting and crying to get a refund, i can do the shouting part easily, but crying would be difficult. and even if i did, i wouldn't say anything cos hawaiiantraveler would tell on me.
great report. have fun in boston. maybe the leech socks will work there, as it might be abit wet there with all the rain i've been hearing about.
