Malaysia | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Sep

Shake it, spa it, catwalk it: Travel deals 9 September 2012

Four-Diamond Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa

Nostalgic surfer chic meets Miami swim catwalk on the Gold Coast and learn to shake what your mama gave you at the home of samba, salsa and tango.

VICTORIA

Quest’s five new studio apartment properties in
inner-urban Sydney and Melbourne include a kitchenette, workspace and free
wi-fi. They’re kicking off with deals such as $175 a night, down from $300, at
Quest Studios East Melbourne, close to the shopping strip of Bridge Road and
Melbourne’s top sports arenas. Includes breakfast for two at a local café. Stay
until October 30, quote ‘SHSO’ when booking. (03)
9413 0000, questapartments.com.au.

TASMANIA

Save 40 per cent when you book a night at Launceston’s
Country Club Tasmania, on the edge of the state’s second city. A night in a 4.5-star
deluxe room for two includes a bottle of Tasmanian wine, 18 holes of golf and a
30-minute massage as well as breakfast in the Links restaurant. Go horse
riding, take a wine tour or fish for trout in its private lake. Costs $299 a
night, until September 30. 1800 635 344,
countryclubtasmania.com.au

QT Gold Coast

QUEENSLAND

Get the party started on the Gold Coast with a two-night
stay in the slinky QT Gold Coast, self-described as ‘nostalgic surfer chic
meets Miami swim catwalk’. That’ll help you choose your wardrobe. On top of a
saving of $384, you’ll get breakfast, an exploratory dinner for two in its hugely
popular signature restaurant, Bazaar and $50 spa credit or a party starter at
the happening Stingray Lounge. Costs from $450 a room for two nights until
November 30. (07) 5584 1200, qtgoldcoast.com.au.

Seashells Resort Mandurah

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Mandurah is only an hour south of Fremantle, which is
gearing up for the return of the replica Dutch ship Duyfken, the first European
ship to reach Australia in 1606, on Sunday 23 September. Stay three, pay for
two nights in a one-bedroom apartment at the 4.5-star Seashells Resort Mandurah
until November 30. Costs from $210 a person, three nights, twin share. 132 757, harveyworld.com.au.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Watch the sun rise on Uluru, discover galleries of
Aboriginal rock art and visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Book 12 months
advance for your journey into the red centre, saving up to $450 a couple on a
six-day Red Centre Discovery. Included is a dinner and a discovery tour of the
Earth Sanctuary World National Centre, airport transfers and guiding. Deal
valid on departures until December 28, 2013. Earlybird special costs from $1689 a person, twin
share. 1300 228 546, aatkings.com.au.

NSW

Spring has sprung so put a wiggle in your walk with a
visit to the town of love and light, Byron Bay. Normally $780 room only, the
sleek Byron at Byron resort’s spring package gets you 10 per cent off in the
spa, restaurant and bar, as well as free yoga, wifi, daily breakfast buffet and
bike hire to cruise the rainforest trails down to the beach. Valid for stays
until December 10. Costs $794 for two nights in a standard suite. 1300 554 362, thebyronatbyron.com.au.

FRANCE

B&B,
Île Saint-Louis, Paris

You may still be shopping for the wardrobe to suit your
Parisian jaunt, but your apartment will certainly come up to scratch. Set on
the Île Saint-Louis, an island in the middle of the Seine, the B&B is on
the third floor of a traditional Haussmann building, and despite its antique
interiors, its owners welcome kids. There are two rooms, great for families or
two couples. Save from E44 a night on stays between November 1 and March 30.
Costs from E175 a night. petiteparis.com.au.

HAWAI’I

Hit the sands of Waikiki beach and stay eight nights at the Four-Diamond Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, with breakfast, flights and airport transfers. Kids under 17 stay free, under-12s get free lunch and dinner with a paying adult. Bonuses include a tour of Pearl Harbour and Honolulu city and one entertainment show or catamaran dinner cruise. Costs from $1990 a person, twin share, eight nights and return airfares with Hawaiian Airlines. 1300 00 42 92, myholidaycentre.com.au/hawaii.

Semara Resort & Spa

BALI

Hot to shop and the island’s best dining strip, Seminyak
is the fast-beating heart of Bali. The Semara Resort & Spa’s Winter Escape
deal saves $438 on stays until September 30. Book a two-night stay in a
superior poolside room, get daily buffet breakfast, dinner for two at Finns Beach Club, two hours
for two in the spa, wifi, yoga and
meditation classes and airport transfers. Costs from $484 for two people, two
nights. +62 (361) 847 6661, semararesorts.com.

MALAYSIA

Koto Kinabalu, Malaysia

Get a double dose of the tropics and a free Darwin stopover
on your way to Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu. Price includes return flights to KK via
Darwin with Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia, two nights at Darwin’s
Travel Lodge Mirambeena Resort and four nights at Novotel Kota Kinabalu.
They’ll throw in a free tour of Litchfield National Park, worth $149, full
breakfast daily and one free nightBook by end September, travel November 1 –
December 7. Costs from $1459 a person (land and air). 1300 747 400, creativeholidays.com/asiaonsale.

AFRICA &
MIDDLE EAST

Blend African wildlife with the craziness of Cairo and
Jordan’s deserts over 26 days from Cape Town to Cairo. Book before December 31
and your friend flies free (paying only taxes of $795), saving up to $2040 per
couple. Departs August – October 2013 and includes all flights within Africa,
two charter flights in Kenya, 4WD game viewing and accommodation in private
game lodges and luxury camps. Costs from $18,995 a person, twin share. 1300 229
804, aptouring.com.au.

TOURWATCH

Learn to shake what your mama gave you, and where better
than the home of samba, salsa and tango, South America? This 14-day dance-themed tour starts in
Santiago, Chile, where you’ll tackle the cueca and rumba, lubricated with wineries
visits, before hitting Buenos Aires’ La Boca district for up-close-and-personal
tango workshops. There’s samba and salsa classes in Rio de Janeiro as well as
visits to Copacabana Beach and Corcovado Mountain, to stand at the feet of
Christ the Redeemer, and the tour includes a trip to the Argentinean and
Brazilian sides of the magnificent Iguassu Falls. Departs March 3, 2013. Costs
from $3995 a person, twin share and includes some meals and all South American
flights. 1300 558 987, tempoholidays.com.

Source: Belinda Jackson Sun Herald

Aug

Champagne free-flow on sale! Travel deals: 12 August 2012

Tadrai Island Resort, Fiji

Get classy in Britain, test the champagne free-flow in Langkawi or slip into something comfortable in the Kimberley.
TASMANIA
Some of the world’s most pure air blows through Strahan,
a fishing village on the west coast of Tassie. Base yourself here to cruise the
Gordon River, catch the West Coast Wilderness Railway or to taste the divine
wine and cheese that results from such purity. Book a hilltop
standard room at the Strahan Village and pay half price until
September 30. Costs from $55 a person a night, twin share.1800
420 155, strahanvillage.com.au

VICTORIA

The seaside town of Queenscliff, an hour from Melbourne,
grooves to the tunes of the Blues Train, a steam train that shakes, rattles and
rolls over the rails to Drysdale and back, serving up dinner and a blues show.
The ‘D’ carriage is for dancing and there’s a bar on board, too. Stay two
nights at the Big4 Beacon Resort and get two tickets to the train, worth $185, transfers
to the train, a recovery brekky hamper and noon checkout. Costs from $272.50 a
person for two nights, twin share, 1800 351 152, beaconresort.com.au.
Tickets are also cut from $92.50 to $50 during August and September. 132 849, ticketek.com.au.

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Get a bird’s-eye view of the Red Centre with a balloon
flight over Alice Springs and its dramatic surrounds. Stay two nights at the
four-star Crowne Plaza Alice Springs and get upgraded to a Mountain View room
and a 30-minute balloon flight. Kids under 19 stay free, pay $209 for
ballooning. Book by 3pm October 5, stay until October 12. Costs from $439 an
adult. 1300 130 485, travel.com.au.

NSW

Families can discover the heart of Sydney when they book
a premier room for four nights, and pay for just three at the five-star Sydney Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel. The
hotel will also throw in a family pass to Taronga Zoo and free internet. Book before January 31, stay now until
September 30, December 16-24, 2012 and January 2-31, 2013. Costs from $1074 per
family (2 adults +2 kids) for four nights. 1800 044 066, travel-associates.com.au.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The quiet, fern-lined pools of Zebedee Hot Springs, on El
Questro cattle station, are the most ecologically sound spa you’ll ever
encounter. Soak it up in between outback hikes, bush-bashing down the Gibb
River Road, ogling crocs in Windjana Gorge, exploring the Bungle Bungles and
ancient caves on this nine-day Wild Kimberley tour. Accom is a mix of permanent
tents and al fresco camping. Was $2195, save 20 percent on September 11
departure. Book by September 7, costs $1756 a person. 1800 018 871, intrepidtravel.com.

Snorkelling at Orpheus Island, Queensland

QUEENSLAND

The secretive hideaway of Orpheus Island, off the coast
of Townsville, is sheer island luxury. Stay five nights, pay four, saving $1400
a couple. The package includes sensational meals from the kitchen of Cheong
Liew protégé Arie Prabowo, selected wines and beers, use of dinghies, cats, and
snorkelling equipment as well as a daily nature-based experience, be it a
sunset cruise, fishing or island tour. Stay till January 21, including the
Christmas period. Costs from $5600 for two people. (07) 4777 7377,
orpheus.com.au.

MALAYSIA

Oh, they know how we like it, at the Datai Langkawi. The
grand dame of Langkawi is cutting 25 percent off its regular rates with a
stay-three, pay-four deal until December 19, and includes daily breakfast with champagne
on free-flow. Accommodation is a deluxe
or superior villa and also included are limo transfers, a private dinner on the
beach for two, 120 minutes of spa treatment per person, a mangrove tour and guided
nature walk. Costs from $2338 for four nights. +60 4 959 2500 www.dataihotels.com

The Datai Langkawi, Malaysia

UNITED KINGDOM

Sometimes, a bit of class doesn’t go astray, especially
when you’re upgraded from standard to lovely first class. Buy a BritRail Flexi
Pass for four or eight days by August 30 through International Rail and get a
free upgrade to first class when you use the pass any time in 2013, travelling
through England, Scotland and Wales. Costs from $355 for a four-day pass. 1300
387 245, internationalrail.com.au.

JAPAN

If you can’t get enough of winter, now’s the time to
think about the Christmas ski season. Ski Hakuba and stay just 150 meters from
the ski lifts at High Mount Hotel. The deal includes breakfast and a six-day
lift pass. Book by 3pm September 28, travel December 14-29, January 3 – April
30. Costs from $1099 a person, twin
share for seven nights. 1300 130 485, travel.com.au.

Innsbruck, Austria

AUSTRIA

The capital of the Alps, Innsbruck, has city breaks
including a three-night stay in a four-star hotel and a 48-hour Innsbruck Card,
worth E35, with E227 value. Includes a guided walk through the medieval town, rides
on seven cable cars, a sightseeing bus tour, entrance to museums including the
Ambras Castle, Swarovski crystal museum, a cocktail at the town’s casino, and
there’s coffee and cake in the clouds, at the Alpenlounge Seegrube restaurant.
Costs E219 (A$256) a person, twin share, for three nights. +43 512 56 2000, innsbruck-packages.com.

FIJI

The new adults-only Tadrai Island Resort is sleek and
chic, with the Mamanuca islands’
signature white sand beaches. Includes champagne on arrival, all meals, drinks
and butler services. Stay seven nights and get one return flight from Australia
to Nadi with Air Pacific, stay 10 nights and they’ll give you two international
return flights. Book by September 11, travel until December 16. Costs $10,077
(two people, seven nights) or $14,399 (two people, 10 nights). (07) 5524 5222, tadrai.com.

TOURWATCH: Lord
Howe Island

When you breathe your next yoga breath, your lungs are
filled with the pure air of Lord Howe Island during this wellness retreat with
yoga teacher Charlotte Dodson. You may have spotted her recently teaching Lara
Bingle, and other radiant celebrity followers include model Miranda Kerr and
fashion designer Kit Willow. Pinetrees
Spring Wellness Retreat’s six-night packages include two daily yoga sessions
with Charlotte, daily fitness sessions, wholefood cooking classes, organic
gardening classes and wine tasting (that’s organic wine, of course!) Ayurvedic spa treatments are also available and then
there are the island’s everyday charms – snorkelling, swimming, kayaking and
mountain climbing. Runs from September 3-7 and November 17-23. Costs from $1270 a person twin share
(excluding airfares). (02) 9262 6585, pinetrees.com.au.

Source: Belinda Jackson, Sun Herald

Dec

Cheap and full of cheer

Rejoice, oh disorganised work slaves! Bargains still abound for those who don’t book their summer holidays a year ahead.

Everything about Malaysia screams “bargain” and it’s all
done so nicely. Getting to Kuala Lumpur is cheap, thanks to respectable
Malaysian budget airline AirAsia, and the shopping is fabulous, with
Chrissy sales making it even better (psst, and heaps cheaper than
Singapore). You can snap up a city five-star hotel for as little as $100
a night but for a cheap, authentic experience, try a home stay in a
kampong (village) house with a local family, eating home cooking and
experiencing the culture. The government-monitored initiative costs from
$27 a day. In January, the holiday islands of Penang and Langkawi are
starting to dry out from their November deluge but new hotels are
keeping the competition fierce – check out the new Four Points by
Sheraton on Langkawi and Penang’s new Hard Rock Hotel.
airasia.com, go2homestay.com, tourismmalaysia.com.au.

Others on the budget radar include Singapore, Tahiti, Hawai’i, Cambodia, New Zealand and our own Cairns is on sale, too.

Click here to read more.

Apr

Essential guide to Kuala Lumpur

There’s more to KL than those big towers – and what are they, anyway? You go up high, you look around, you go down…

Instead, we say hit the malls for some truly fabulous shopping, and get down and dirty on the streets of Little Inida, Chinatown, the Malay quarters…

Click here for where to shop, eat, sleep and sightsee in KL…

Oct

Hot to shop: Kuala Lumpur

Photo: the bewilderingly fabulous mall, Suria KLCC.
Photo: AFP & Sun Herald

Malaysians have two great loves: eating and shopping. Sometimes you could flip that around to shopping and eating.

Either way, the capital, KL, is truly fabulous for a shopover, especially if you’re a mall fiend.

Smell the fakes, snap up the bargains then advance to genuine designer talent. Click here to read the full story…

Sep

Things I just don’t get about Malaysia

No kissing in taxis (see explanatory picture).

The B.U.M. Equipment clothing range. For men, women and children. Er, market research, anyone?

The Petronas towers. Yeah, they’re big man. Ok, they’re real big. And that’s really about it. No cure for cancer or the common cold. They’re. Just. Big. Call me a killjoy, I don’t care.

The fact the population is just 1.6 million (with surrounds, 7 million). “Melbourne looks so small after KL,” said the Kiwi in front of me as we flew into Melbourne lat night.

Clearly, her eyes were painted on. Or perhaps that we were flying at the time over the desolate northern suburbs, where the highest point is the VideoEzy store. Or it’s just that when we think of Asian cities, we think of megapolises. KL’s population is dwarfed by Melbourne, which recently topped four million.

KL’s a young city, too, with Chienese settlers dropping in to mine tin in the 1850s, relative to Melbourne’s founding in 1835.

However, I notice that we both now have Chinese language directions at both airports, so we’re not so dissimilar after all, eh?

Aug

Early morning over Kuala Lumpur

Flying over Kuala Lumpur before sunrise, the city of 1.8 million looks dark and empty. I’m having a flashback, oddly, to another time, arriving before dawn in a small Russian city, dumped off an overnight bus on an overpass on its outskirts.

Surprisingly, the Russian soldier who gets off the bus at the same lonely point speaks good English, and he becomes my guide. He is walking to war… The town’s train station is a major gathering point for fresh conscripts to be sent to Chechnya.

The closer we get to the station, the more the streets fill with young men with rough crew-cuts and ill-fitting uniforms, walking to war in plastic sandals, their cheap regulation boots slug over their shoulders. They eye my leather hiking boots with avarice.

My guide is older than most, at 28 he is educated and has a career. Yet he seems untouched by what is country is making him do. He’s neither excited nor angry nor afraid – just stoic. He says he knew he would have to go. His best friend went before him and is already dead.

As the taxi drives through palm gardens and terraces of ferns, the humid Malaysian air warming bones chilled by a Melbourne winter, it’s a strange memory to recall this morning. But who ever can control their memories?

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