Magical Malaysia
We packed up and went to Malaysia (– via Singapore-another family favourite, so we always try to visit as much as possible!) After a great few days enjoying the sites of Singapore - the Gardens by the Bay, a cocktail at the top of the Marina Bay Sands, the obligatory Singapore Sling in Raffles and the delicious food of the Hawker centres, we hopped on a 1.5-hour flight to Langkawi and had a phenomenal week at the Datai. Wow! We had a beautiful villa room sat amongst the rainforest – the sounds at night were amazing!
We enjoyed some quiet beach time on their secluded beach, the most incredible Spa – the rooms are open air, and we had massages which a huge storm was overhead – they even offer massages for children so my two really enjoyed that. We took a cookery lesson, hiked in the jungle to a magical river and we swam in a secluded pond; made tie dyed clothes, and candles; my husband took my elder daughter on a night-time hike to see the nocturnal jungle creates which was an unforgettable experience for them. We were lucky enough for a pair of monkeys – a mother and her baby – sat by the pool for hours with us.
There were four restaurants, so we tried them all – you sit high up in the jungle canopy at the Pavilion (Thai) restaurant so could watch the monkeys swinging in the trees so no need for ipads or other entertainment for my daughters. The food was sensational in each of the restaurants, the Gulai House and the Pavilion were our favourites. They even had ‘The Els’ golf club next door, which made us feel at home as it is our ‘local’ in Dubai! We are all keen to return to the Datai – it is such a special place.
We did not want to leave! But eventually we had to, we took an internal flight to Kuala Lumpur and spent an afternoon and evening exploring the city, before hopping on another internal flight to Borneo (we actual had a few internal flights in Borneo to make the most of our time and to see what we wanted). We saw the Sunbears, Orangutans in Sepilok, had an unforgettable lunch with our taxi driving on a floating town, before heading to Kota Kinabalu for the last few days.
