You Stayed at Our Resort- Bukit Gambang Resort City, Malaysia

I have to admit I was surprised at SATTE (at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi) in a very pleasant way! I was spending some time at the Malaysia Tourism stall when a gentleman called me and said hello and then added, you stayed at our resort at Bukit Gambang. I was completely floored. I have been there only once and I was part of a group of 100 people! I will also say that within the stall there were some other hotels where I stayed during Malaysia Tourism Hunt 2012 but no one else recognized me. And that doesn’t take away anything from their service but it makes Bukit Gambang very special for me.

It can sometimes happen that you get to interact with the people at the property but I did not not do so at all at Bukit Gambang. In fact when I stayed at the Arabian Bay resort at Bukit Gambang Resort City I was really tired and I retired early. So I did nothing that would distinguish me in a group of 100 to anybody. I didn’t even complain about anything. But then that is true for the entire trip.

And here was Mr. Shiva Segaram from Bukit Gambang at New Delhi telling me that I had stayed at his resort!

Bukit Gambang Resort City, Malaysia

So I had to ask how did he remember me? He said he had heard me at the 1 Malaysian International Tourism Bloggers Conference and Awards as well. Granted that I was an invited speaker there but even then to be able to spot me again in a group of 100 requires some effort. And at the cost of repeating myself more so when I did not ask for any special service at the hotel and stayed there just one night.

Thank you Mr. Shiva for making my day, you really made me feel special.

When we reached Bukit Gambang Water Park the first thing that was waiting for us was high tea, true to the Malaysian sense of hospitality! Food and Malaysia go hand in hand. It was one day when I needed it. I was really tired. Some food tucked inside me, I was willing to walk through the water park. We had reached there almost at the end of the day and even though some of us still had the energy to go on I was content to watch from the sidelines.

Our rooms were in the Arabian Bay Resort and it was a little away from the water park and it was huge. I hardly see any hotels on that scale in India. The room was quite comfortable and well equipped with tea (a must in my dictionary) and a good functional wifi. The front facade was once again on a grand scale. I once again compared the tariff and a room in another hotel in the same complex goes from 4000 rupees! I like that price.

The dinner at night was a grand affair. But as I said before I was not myself this day and I left my camera behind in my room. And they had steam boats for dinner! They basically set a burner on each table (imagine they were catering to 100 of us) and put a lot of stuff like noodles, fish, chicken, eggs, some vegetables for us. On the burner was a big vessel called the seam boat. We were supposed to make our own broth by adding things to this boat! The vegetarian in me was not too happy but when did I let a little vegetarianism stop me from having fun?

My table mates were really concerned that I won’t take meat but I was fine at taking some gravy and noodles from it. And then there were fruits, exotic tropical fruits and platter after platter of sweet dish to indulge in! This was also a daily affair on this trip!

This was one day when I left straight after dinner and crashed! In the morning I was much better and ready to go to Terengganu.

Just before our start to Terengganu the three of us from the same car got out together for a click. The lady on the right was our ace driver and she kept us safe for more than 800 kilometers. For some reason I like this picture of ours a lot, in fact as one of the best from this trip. I arrived here very tired but got out quite refreshed!

I got to see much more of Malaysia on my second trip. And Malaysia is the second country where I have been more than once. I have been to UK many times but it is because of my work. Come summer and I think Nepal will get added to this list as I plan to trek there again.

There was one particular day on the Malaysia Tourism Hunt 2012 where I got to see Sungai Pasu, National Elephant Conservation Center at Kuala Gandah and the Bukit Gambang Resort City! I was so tired on that day I somehow only posted Sungai Pasu pictures. About time I posted the pictures from Kuala Gandah and Bukit Gambang too. I also taking this opportunity to post a few others that have not made to this blog till now.

Our trip was flagged off by Dato Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, the Minister of Tourism at Malaysia. In her speech she asked us if we had visited the art gallery in the ministry office and when we replied in the negative, she asked her officials how was that possible? So when her speech was over we got an opportunity to see the gallery and this shoe was on display there.

I cannot resist posting another picture of the Sepang International Circuit. This was taken from the VIP room and it shows part of the grand stand and the main track. The blue lines are part of the pit stop area.

This picture is from the National Elephant Conservation Center at Kuala Gandah. The center is devoted to rescuing elephants that get into clash with people in settlements and rehabilitating them. They show a very powerful documentary in the movie hall of the center. It highlights the work of the center in spite of their limited resources.

Our night halt on this day was at the Bukit Gambang Resort City. The hotel was grand but otherwise I was just too tired. One of the rare days when I was not clicking too much with my camera.

The final picture for today is of Kapten Jack Sparrow. He ferried us from one jetty in Redang to another. We knew we were in safe hands!