Singapore is such a tiny island that if you drive more than an hour in any direction you leave the country. After being here for almost two years and visiting just about every major attraction — from the Singapore National Portrait Gallery to the Philatelic Museum (that’s stamps — yes, we went there), it was time to start branching out. A weekend in Malaysia was just the ticket.
The Malaysian border is actually about ten minutes from the Singapore American School, yet the girls and I had never been. Marc goes to the capital, Kuala Lumpur, all the time. He is not a big fan. However, outside the crowded capital Malaysia is blessed with hundreds of tropical islands with crystal-clear water, and so we went to Pulau Rawa. Rawa is a two and a half hour drive to the port of Mersing, plus a 20-minute boat ride away, but it feels like hundreds of miles from urban Singapore.
Rawa has everything you want in a tropical island resort. Palm trees, white sand, clear water, coral reefs, rainbows of fish, hammocks strung between palm trees and frangipani flowers blooming everywhere. Peacocks roam the island freely, and snorkels, sailboats, and paddle boards are available for play. We spent three days relaxing on the softest, whitest sand and reading our kindles under palm trees. The bonus is a big twisting waterslide off of the dock, and a coral reef just a few meters offshore. The girls loved making fish feeders by stuffing bread into empty plastic water bottles and being swarmed by fish.
Let’s be clear, when you are used to a quick weekend driving vacation being a waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells, Pulau Rawa was simply breathtaking. Each morning we woke up to the sound of peacocks calling and crashing waves on the shore. As for the resort itself, the food was very good and the rooms were clean and inviting. The service, unfortunately, is more laid-back-island than a luxury resort. Pulau Rawa is a pricey weekend without the pampering you may expect at name-brand resorts. Someone may greet you when you get off the boat, or they may not. Management may be staffing the desk and fielding your requests, or they may not. We embraced the island pace of life and did not let the lack of attention disturb our weekend. And seriously, we were on a tropical island! We may complain about the constant heat and humidity here at the equator, but February on Pulau Rawa sure beats February in Wisconsin.