Imagine, if you will, a tropical beach with palm trees fringing the turquoise sea and white sand, temperatures in the low 30'sC and a tiny, six week old baby girl in a carry cot, sleeping happily while her parents enjoyed the beach with their dear friends Phil and Frieda. The hotel behind them, the Rasa Sayang in Batu Ferringhi, was a two storey building built in colonial style, painted white to reflect the sun's rays. Servants in white outfits carrying trays of cooling fresh lime juice and ice ran to do your every bidding and the huge ceiling fans stirred the humid air in the pretence of cooling. It is 1957 at the height of the Malysian Emergency.
Fast forward 55 years and this is the very same spot where a woman in her fifites and her husband came to relax and spend some time in the sun. After checking into the beautiful five star hotel, The Rasa Sayang in Batu Ferringhi, now on four floors and very much larger than previously, they sauntered down to the Club lounge where servants in grey outfits carrried trays of champagne and sauvignon blanc, ready to fulfill your every request and the fierce airconditioning made it all so cold that sometimes one needed a pashmina.
The baby and the woman are the same person and they are me. It was truly magical to return to such a beautiful place and to recognise it all from the black and white photos that my mother has in her dimly lit home in the UK in her own twilight years. The beach, now renewed and reclaimed from the ravages of the tsunami in 2004 just a little bit narrower than before as the hotel grounds had spread to encroach on it, to ensure ample space for the guests to lounge in the gardens and eat at the beach bar.
We had the most magnificent time being stunned to discover that we had, by some great fortune, been chosen for an upgrade to the Presidential Suite. A room so large that it could host a dinner for twelve and provide ample seating for just as many. The view from both balcomies was all you could hope for with sea and the sunset accessible to us.
We spent our time revelling in the privacy of the Club swimming pool - no small children allowed in there and it was akin to sitting in the library. We gathered every day to sit in the tranquillity afforded by the exclusivity. Reading, listening to ipods, summoning coffee, lime juice, water with the wave of a hand or a quick conversation with the man with the towels. We sat surrounded by the scent of jasmine flowers and frangipani trees and dozed our way between one meal and the next.
The sheer bliss of sliding into water and luxuriating in its warmth and silkiness took me straight back to my childhood and the life I had led growing up in Singapore in the late 60's and early 70's. What a charmed life it seemed from this distance; how pampered and spoilt our family was with its servants and gardeners and drivers; it's seeminigly never ending sunshine with perfumed air.
It is true to say that we barely left the confines of the hotel. I did not want to revisit places last seen as a teenager lest the memories became confused. I wanted to remember Penang as I had known it. Real, authentic, unspoilt by tourists who, at that time, had yet to discover the joys of this tropical paradise. The Snake Temple with its very doped snakes entwined around the altar to Buddah, the colonial syle of Georgetown - unforgettable.
We ate in the village a couple of times - a real Indian curry one night and the most delightful asian fusion the next time we ventured forth. Most of the time we ate at the hotel which had an excellent restaurant right there on the second floor - the Ferringhi Grill. We were well looked after and treated like royalty. Our eighth wedding anniversary dinner was prepared for us and we had a very special table with lace and candelabra. The staff had made us a chocolate cake to celebrate with and delayed its arrival as they were not happy with the size of the strawberry on top and summoned a larger one!
Dave indulged himself in a rare pedicure as the rain poured down one evening and the delightful massage he had at the hotel, having had a really unpleasant experience in the local massage place - no stunning beauties there for his delight!
This was a true trip down memory lane for me - they were not specifically my memories but rather those of my parents who had told me the stories and shown me the photographs and smiled warmly and fondly at the great time they had there. How lucky was I to be able to revisit that place and realise for myself what a special place in the world it is.
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| View from the balcony |
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| Dave ironing in the lounge area! |
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| The gorgeous pool |
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| The beach |
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| The Bath |
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| Dining Area |
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| Beach looking south |
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| Our daily space!! |
