It was late by the time our transport pulled up to the Ocean Wing lobby of Shangri-la Rasa Ria where our arrival was greeted with the sound of traditional gongs. There are 2 Shangri-la resorts in KK, and Rasa Ria is the secluded one 45 minutes out of town. It also has its own Orang Utan sanctuary. The Shangri-la brand is known for its luxury, and the Rasa Ria takes the concept of opulent escapism to a whole new level.
We visited the orang utan sanctuary the next morning, then spent some time enjoying the hotel’s amenities before we were picked up by our tour guide for the day’s itinerary.
It was another packed schedule that included a 90-minute drive to Kawa-Kawa for a river cruise to see proboscis monkeys followed by sunset at the estuary, then dinner and finally, a nighttime firefly cruise with a group of Chinese tourists who kept saying “wah” at the sight of the blinking lights.. I had to explain to my befuddled collaborator that “wah” is Chinese for “wow”.
We had opted to skip dinner at the hotel the night before thanks to having already eaten at the seafood restaurant, and I’d be damned if we were going to skip it again on our second and last night at Rasa Ria.
Estuary sunset cruise.
We had already had dinner as part of the river cruise, so Robb had to be persuaded to have a second meal at the resort. I promised I’d just have one quick plate of food from the buffet and that would be it. (I ate so quickly I didn’t even have time to take photos.)
I immediately regretted making the commitment. The food was sensational – I’ve raved about Malaysian hotel food in the past but this was really something else – plus they had more Sabah vegetable – cooked to order. I was hooked but Mr. Demarest was clearly in no mood to cut me any slack. I reluctantly called it a night but made a silent promise to come back to Rasa Ria another time when I’d be able to fully enjoy all the resort has to offer.
Our final morning consisted of a visit to a temple, then a highly enjoyable lunch with the team from Tourism Sabah – we couldn’t stop talking about food – then it was time to leave. It was a very short trip – way too short – but in that little time I came away thinking if ever I were to set up a base in Southeast Asia, Sabah would rank at or near the top of my list of places I could see myself living in.
I’m hoping to make it back there to shoot our show in the not-too-distant future; in the meantime I’ll be dreaming of the Shangri-la Rasa Ria and seafood and Sabah vegetable.