Malaysia
Content
Malaysia, Truly Asia
Jacquelyn Suter
It rhymes, it chimes, and just happens to be the market tag for Malaysia Tourism. Imagine a country comprised of the engaging diversity of three major ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese, and Indian, all lying down peacefully together like a scene from an Edward Hicks painting. Buddhist temples and Chinese shophouses, Muslim mosques, Hindu temples and pungent Little India’s, and Georgian-style colonial architecture all vie for space. Add to this the hybrid strain of Chinese men (Baba) married to Malay women (Nonya) and you get an architecture and cuisine called Peranakan. Truly Asia indeed. When taxi drivers chat about ethnic diversity and sing praises to the harmony of the country, you know it’s for real. I wanted to see this diversity played out in Malaysia’s landscapes and cityscapes. However, something more spectacular has preceded all this multiculturism by, say, some 130 million years. A pristine rainforest One of the least explored areas of peninsular Malaysia, Taman Negara National Park covers a whopping 4,343 sq km of undisturbed jungle evolution claimed to be the world’s oldest. You have to really want to go here, because it’s a 3-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur, and then a 2-hour boat ride down the Tembeling river to reach park headquarters. Is it worth it? Oh yeah, and here’s why. How about a little treetop stroll? On the Canopy Walk, with steel-girded catwalks 25 meters above ground, you can leisurely saunter through this rainforest at the level where the animals live. Just a bit scary, as the catwalks sway ever so slightly as you’re right in the middle, but keep trucking through the entire range of seven bridges and platforms for an exhilarating experience. At nightfall, go on a jungle walk with a guide. You’ll meet no animals frozen in your flashlight, because they’re on to this game and have retreated far into the jungle, but the insects know from nothing and will come out and play with you. Giant spiders, big-winged moths, snakes coiled in trees, huge walking sticks. Not so special, you say? How about this: little mushrooms that glow in
the dark. Fascinating little fungi, and each one had an ever so tiny sign around its stem saying ‘eat me.’ Make it easy on yourself and purchase a package from Taman Negara Resort which includes roundtrip transportation from Kuala Lumpur, cost of chalet, three meals, and a guide. Normally, I’m not a package tour type person, but in this case, it just makes sense. But if you want to schlep it alone through a couple of public bus changes and a boat ride, I invite you. Melaka, Malacca ‘Melaka’ is the officially correct spelling for this city, but I prefer ‘Malacca’, the Portuguese spelling. ‘Malacca’ looks more laid-back and sounds more lyrical, rolling off the tongue nice and easy. And that’s what this place is like, even though it can be somewhat of a busy little tourist venue. Malacca has always fascinated me as one of those mysterious Straits settlements, along with Penang and Singapore. A place where the British played out their fantasies of colonialism, and the Chinese did what they do best – make business. Mix it all up and you have an interesting little town in which to spend a day or two. I wasn’t here for very long before I saw a familiar Chiang Mai sight – the Malacca equivalent of the tuk-tuk. Here, called trishaws and decorated to the hilt with colorful plastic flowers, with each trishaw playing its favorite version of Southeast Asian noise all at once, I felt right at home. Put them in a bunch and they’re a great photo op, a veritable bouquet of color. Saunter in to the not-to-be-missed Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum for a glimpse of a renovated Peranakan style house. First built by the Dutch in the 1700’s, then rebuilt by a Straits Chinese in 1896, the Peranakan furnishings are over-the-top in carvings, gold embellishments, and beautiful blackwood furniture with intricate mother-of-pearl inlay. No surface is too unimportant that a little gold leaf could set it right. Look for the old typewriter with its metal plate saying ‘British Empire.’ Priceless; says it all. Where to stay for a couple of days? Lonely Plant author’s choice is Hereen House. But I found the whole place a tad worn around the edges. My choice instead would be the Hotel Puri, a boutique hotel in an authentically renovated Peranakan house, centrally located, with a lovely garden café and sitting area. Get the superior room here for roominess. Langkawi, fantasy island Now here’s a place. Tall coconut palms swaying languorously, no traffic, no crowds, small roads that wind around lush green hills to reveal a glimpse of turquoise coloured sea and white sand down below – down there where you’re headed in your rented jeep. Langkawi is really like this. To complement this environmental spectacle, you can take your pick of 5-star luxury hotels right on those gorgeous beaches: The Datai, Andaman, Four Seasons, Tanjung Rhu. All the amenities at the appropriate prices. But there’s another, not yet too well known resort, for those looking for a unique experience. And I was that one. Before I sing praises to the Bon Ton Resort, there’s one thing you need to know at the outset: Bon Ton is not on the beach. So, if you’re dead set on a beachside abode, look elsewhere. But here’s what you’ll be missing: The opportunity to stay in traditional Malay kampung houses stylishly converted into upscale accommodations with all the mod cons. The kampung houses are not brand-new replicas; they are the same houses where generations of Malay families have stayed before you. This is what makes the Bon Ton very special indeed. Seven houses on the premises all have their distinct personalities and unique decor. My house, the Yellow Orchid, was a big room with a canopy bed smack in the center surrounded by pale yellow
walls and bright pillows in traditional Malay fabric and design. Charming swing-out windows open up to the Bon Ton compound: a pool surrounded by green lawns and, out beyond that, a wetlands area of reeds and large lotus ponds. The Bon Ton restaurant is itself a destination for those who want 5-star cuisine. Tear yourself away from all this and take an all-day catamaran cruise around the islands in the Strait of Malacca. Bring your swim things, because you can sit in a big net in the water, swung between the two hulls of the boat, for a rousing experience, drinking your Tiger beer all the while. One other experience you must have in Langkawi – take a mangrove boat tour. But not just any boat during the day at the touristy boat dock. Accept no substitutes, contact Ojima Keigo, a delightful Japanese who has made Langkawi his home for the past eleven years. He will take you at dusk in his longtail boat, winding through smaller streams where the tourist boats can’t go. This is a magical time to drift through the mangroves, while listening to the popping of sea shells breaking the golden silence. That’s right, they pop – Ojima can tell you all about it.
The Pearl of the Orient Georgetown (aka Penang) is the oldest of the Straits settlements where the British left a large footprint. English Georgian architecture is everywhere, and nowhere more glorious than in the magnificent Eastern & Oriental Hotel, one of the grand hotels of the ‘East.’ You need to stay here, if at all possible (excellent rates online). If not, you must at least step into the lobby to see the elegant Georgian rotunda. For Peranakan style, visit the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, a meticulously restored courtyard house that won UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Heritage 2000 Award for Conservation. This building is a reflection of the times at the end of the 19th c when the original Chinese builder began a rags-toriches story that eventually resulted in his being called the Rockefeller of the East. The tour is thorough and engaging, chock full of gossip about the original family, the architectural restoration, and mysterious feng shui concepts that are the guiding principle of the house. You can even stay here if you like, with 16 rooms available. But the standard room I saw struck me as a bit dark and dank. I’d take a pass on the hotel part, but don’t miss the tour. The food, oh yes. Go to the Nyonya Baba Cuisine restaurant, in a restored heritage house, that’s been in business for 30 years for a mouthwatering treat of Peranakan cuisine. Assam shrimp sautéed in tamarind sauce and fish in an aromatic curry reflect the combination of on-the-spicy-side Malay cooking. This restaurant has been written up a number of times and they have a notebook of clippings to prove it. On the way to the airport, returning home, my driver said, “when are you coming back?” I replied, “I’m not sure,” but my heart and stomach said, “soon, very soon.”
Malaysia Fast Facts
Visa
Most nationals can get a 3-mo. visa on arrival. Consult: www.kln.gov.my
Flights
CNX>BKK>KUL>LGK>PEN>
BKK>CNX. ca. 18,300 baht Bus or taxi to Malacca extra.
Taman Negara
Taman Negara Resort, Free & Easy Package, 3 days/2 nights, single, standard chalet = US$195 www.tamannegararesort.com
Malacca
Hotel Puri www.hotelpuri.com
Langkawi
Bon Ton Resort www.bontonresort.com.my Catamaran sailing: Eco Adventure Cruise www.crystalyacht.com mobile: 012-408-7866 Mangrove Boat Tour: Ojima Keigo mobile: 012-474-8704 email: [email protected]
Georgetown
Eastern & Oriental Hotel www.e-o-hotel.com Book and pay through: www.precisionreservations.com Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion www.cheongfatttzemansion.com
Photo Gallery
Author’s photographs: www.minimango.net Alfred Molon: www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia
First published in Citylife Chiang Mai, September 2005
Jacquelyn Suter
It rhymes, it chimes, and just happens to be the market tag for Malaysia Tourism. Imagine a country comprised of the engaging diversity of three major ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese, and Indian, all lying down peacefully together like a scene from an Edward Hicks painting. Buddhist temples and Chinese shophouses, Muslim mosques, Hindu temples and pungent Little India’s, and Georgian-style colonial architecture all vie for space. Add to this the hybrid strain of Chinese men (Baba) married to Malay women (Nonya) and you get an architecture and cuisine called Peranakan. Truly Asia indeed. When taxi drivers chat about ethnic diversity and sing praises to the harmony of the country, you know it’s for real. I wanted to see this diversity played out in Malaysia’s landscapes and cityscapes. However, something more spectacular has preceded all this multiculturism by, say, some 130 million years. A pristine rainforest One of the least explored areas of peninsular Malaysia, Taman Negara National Park covers a whopping 4,343 sq km of undisturbed jungle evolution claimed to be the world’s oldest. You have to really want to go here, because it’s a 3-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur, and then a 2-hour boat ride down the Tembeling river to reach park headquarters. Is it worth it? Oh yeah, and here’s why. How about a little treetop stroll? On the Canopy Walk, with steel-girded catwalks 25 meters above ground, you can leisurely saunter through this rainforest at the level where the animals live. Just a bit scary, as the catwalks sway ever so slightly as you’re right in the middle, but keep trucking through the entire range of seven bridges and platforms for an exhilarating experience. At nightfall, go on a jungle walk with a guide. You’ll meet no animals frozen in your flashlight, because they’re on to this game and have retreated far into the jungle, but the insects know from nothing and will come out and play with you. Giant spiders, big-winged moths, snakes coiled in trees, huge walking sticks. Not so special, you say? How about this: little mushrooms that glow in
the dark. Fascinating little fungi, and each one had an ever so tiny sign around its stem saying ‘eat me.’ Make it easy on yourself and purchase a package from Taman Negara Resort which includes roundtrip transportation from Kuala Lumpur, cost of chalet, three meals, and a guide. Normally, I’m not a package tour type person, but in this case, it just makes sense. But if you want to schlep it alone through a couple of public bus changes and a boat ride, I invite you. Melaka, Malacca ‘Melaka’ is the officially correct spelling for this city, but I prefer ‘Malacca’, the Portuguese spelling. ‘Malacca’ looks more laid-back and sounds more lyrical, rolling off the tongue nice and easy. And that’s what this place is like, even though it can be somewhat of a busy little tourist venue. Malacca has always fascinated me as one of those mysterious Straits settlements, along with Penang and Singapore. A place where the British played out their fantasies of colonialism, and the Chinese did what they do best – make business. Mix it all up and you have an interesting little town in which to spend a day or two. I wasn’t here for very long before I saw a familiar Chiang Mai sight – the Malacca equivalent of the tuk-tuk. Here, called trishaws and decorated to the hilt with colorful plastic flowers, with each trishaw playing its favorite version of Southeast Asian noise all at once, I felt right at home. Put them in a bunch and they’re a great photo op, a veritable bouquet of color. Saunter in to the not-to-be-missed Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum for a glimpse of a renovated Peranakan style house. First built by the Dutch in the 1700’s, then rebuilt by a Straits Chinese in 1896, the Peranakan furnishings are over-the-top in carvings, gold embellishments, and beautiful blackwood furniture with intricate mother-of-pearl inlay. No surface is too unimportant that a little gold leaf could set it right. Look for the old typewriter with its metal plate saying ‘British Empire.’ Priceless; says it all. Where to stay for a couple of days? Lonely Plant author’s choice is Hereen House. But I found the whole place a tad worn around the edges. My choice instead would be the Hotel Puri, a boutique hotel in an authentically renovated Peranakan house, centrally located, with a lovely garden café and sitting area. Get the superior room here for roominess. Langkawi, fantasy island Now here’s a place. Tall coconut palms swaying languorously, no traffic, no crowds, small roads that wind around lush green hills to reveal a glimpse of turquoise coloured sea and white sand down below – down there where you’re headed in your rented jeep. Langkawi is really like this. To complement this environmental spectacle, you can take your pick of 5-star luxury hotels right on those gorgeous beaches: The Datai, Andaman, Four Seasons, Tanjung Rhu. All the amenities at the appropriate prices. But there’s another, not yet too well known resort, for those looking for a unique experience. And I was that one. Before I sing praises to the Bon Ton Resort, there’s one thing you need to know at the outset: Bon Ton is not on the beach. So, if you’re dead set on a beachside abode, look elsewhere. But here’s what you’ll be missing: The opportunity to stay in traditional Malay kampung houses stylishly converted into upscale accommodations with all the mod cons. The kampung houses are not brand-new replicas; they are the same houses where generations of Malay families have stayed before you. This is what makes the Bon Ton very special indeed. Seven houses on the premises all have their distinct personalities and unique decor. My house, the Yellow Orchid, was a big room with a canopy bed smack in the center surrounded by pale yellow
walls and bright pillows in traditional Malay fabric and design. Charming swing-out windows open up to the Bon Ton compound: a pool surrounded by green lawns and, out beyond that, a wetlands area of reeds and large lotus ponds. The Bon Ton restaurant is itself a destination for those who want 5-star cuisine. Tear yourself away from all this and take an all-day catamaran cruise around the islands in the Strait of Malacca. Bring your swim things, because you can sit in a big net in the water, swung between the two hulls of the boat, for a rousing experience, drinking your Tiger beer all the while. One other experience you must have in Langkawi – take a mangrove boat tour. But not just any boat during the day at the touristy boat dock. Accept no substitutes, contact Ojima Keigo, a delightful Japanese who has made Langkawi his home for the past eleven years. He will take you at dusk in his longtail boat, winding through smaller streams where the tourist boats can’t go. This is a magical time to drift through the mangroves, while listening to the popping of sea shells breaking the golden silence. That’s right, they pop – Ojima can tell you all about it.
The Pearl of the Orient Georgetown (aka Penang) is the oldest of the Straits settlements where the British left a large footprint. English Georgian architecture is everywhere, and nowhere more glorious than in the magnificent Eastern & Oriental Hotel, one of the grand hotels of the ‘East.’ You need to stay here, if at all possible (excellent rates online). If not, you must at least step into the lobby to see the elegant Georgian rotunda. For Peranakan style, visit the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, a meticulously restored courtyard house that won UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Heritage 2000 Award for Conservation. This building is a reflection of the times at the end of the 19th c when the original Chinese builder began a rags-toriches story that eventually resulted in his being called the Rockefeller of the East. The tour is thorough and engaging, chock full of gossip about the original family, the architectural restoration, and mysterious feng shui concepts that are the guiding principle of the house. You can even stay here if you like, with 16 rooms available. But the standard room I saw struck me as a bit dark and dank. I’d take a pass on the hotel part, but don’t miss the tour. The food, oh yes. Go to the Nyonya Baba Cuisine restaurant, in a restored heritage house, that’s been in business for 30 years for a mouthwatering treat of Peranakan cuisine. Assam shrimp sautéed in tamarind sauce and fish in an aromatic curry reflect the combination of on-the-spicy-side Malay cooking. This restaurant has been written up a number of times and they have a notebook of clippings to prove it. On the way to the airport, returning home, my driver said, “when are you coming back?” I replied, “I’m not sure,” but my heart and stomach said, “soon, very soon.”
Malaysia Fast Facts
Visa
Most nationals can get a 3-mo. visa on arrival. Consult: www.kln.gov.my
Flights
CNX>BKK>KUL>LGK>PEN>
BKK>CNX. ca. 18,300 baht Bus or taxi to Malacca extra.
Taman Negara
Taman Negara Resort, Free & Easy Package, 3 days/2 nights, single, standard chalet = US$195 www.tamannegararesort.com
Malacca
Hotel Puri www.hotelpuri.com
Langkawi
Bon Ton Resort www.bontonresort.com.my Catamaran sailing: Eco Adventure Cruise www.crystalyacht.com mobile: 012-408-7866 Mangrove Boat Tour: Ojima Keigo mobile: 012-474-8704 email: [email protected]
Georgetown
Eastern & Oriental Hotel www.e-o-hotel.com Book and pay through: www.precisionreservations.com Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion www.cheongfatttzemansion.com
Photo Gallery
Author’s photographs: www.minimango.net Alfred Molon: www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia
First published in Citylife Chiang Mai, September 2005
