<p><br /><br /> There’s only one resort in Gem. It clings to a rocky, rugged shore, is backed up against a densely wooded hill, and has just 45 villas, most of them rising on concrete pillars from the surf-washed rocks. Be a little careful when you step off the speedboat. The ‘jetty’ is a pontoon, so it rises and falls gently with the waves.<br /><br />Do look down, however, because the water is as clear as molten sapphires and the fish are as bright and as friendly as school kids on a holiday. All around us were great gardens of coral so you can go snorkeling, gazing down at underwater worlds like an angel floating in the sky. You don’t have to be a swimmer to snorkel. You can strap on a life jacket, wear a pair of flippers, and be towed slowly behind a motor boat. It feels a bit like parasailing in water! <br /><br />But even sitting in our villa we seemed to be buoyant in space. From the deck of our cottage, with the South China sea washing below, we had wide-screens views of a bay dappled with light, stretching to the shores of our neighbouring island, Kapas. Bobbing in the Kapas bay was a sailing yacht. Pirate? Not likely. A rich playboy with his Playmate companion? Very likely. Our imaginations wove vivid scenarios that would have made the moral police go ballistic with rage. <br /><br />Happily, there are no MPs here! The smaller coves seem designer-made for twosomes and there are plenty of trees and rocks to shield voluntary castaways from the sun. But before you go, check with the staff of the hotel. At certain times of the morning, the sea becomes rich with plankton, we were told, and they could irritate the skin of sensitive swimmers. Fellow guests, a Chinese family, who had spent a day on Kapas said that those microscopic creatures never worried them but some Caucasians were badly affected. As one of them put it with a grin: “Maybe we Asians are tougher, huh!” <br /><br />Searching around for possible alternatives to risking a possibly embarrassing attack of plankton itch, we discovered two interesting little beaches on Gem Island. Both were backed by intriguing sea caves and they were on both ends of the resort. But be a little careful before you start exploring. When we tried to clamber over the rocks to get to the caves, we realised that we should not have attempted to do it barefoot. The sea had honed some of them into razor sharpness and so we had to return and get into thick-soled shoes. One of these rock-backed beaches is at the end of the walkway leading off the side of the restaurant. The other is at the far end of the path serving the villas. We were tempted to scramble out to the end of a promontory, thrusting out to sea, but then we saw that the tide had turned and we could have been marooned if we had ventured out too far.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Then there was also a wonderful activity that required no effort on our part at all. At the end of the villa path was the massage and spa therapy centre. It’s a great place to revitalise oneself. The Tusita Wellness Spa was staffed by charming girls from Myanmar, one of them with the musical name of Thu-thu. Their therapies ranged from 30 minutes to two hours, and they offer a choice of 36 different treatments such as Thai Royal, After Sun and a whole range of beauty treatments including waxing, manicure, pedicure and even facial therapies for guys. Clearly the distinctions between the genders is blurring in our unisex world. <br /><br />Then there’s the magic of head chef Nor Zamzam Mohd Khan who informed us, cheerfully, “You can call me Chef Holy Water.” Zam-zam is the sacred well of the Haj Pilgrimage. For one of our meals he gave us lemon chicken, butter prawns, chicken curry, mixed vegetables and rice. ‘Holy Water’ obviously did not believe in confusing his guests with gurgling French names. He preferred to use ordinary descriptions for the most extraordinary creations. Every dish was a delight to look at and every one of them sang on our palates. He was happiest when we appreciated his food; absolutely delighted when we gave him our own favourite recipe. One of us gave him our family recipes for traditional Anglo-Indian crumb chops and chicken biryani . So, if after an energetic work-out, you find either of these before you, think of us. The chances are, of course, that Chef Holy Water will have added his own alchemy to our recipes, helping them to evolve from the originals created by a great-grandmother and her Lucknowi bawarchi! <br />Gem Island — its formal name is Gemia, named after a local fruit — also does its bit for evolution and the environment. Most sea turtles are an endangered species. They are trapped in fishing nets, and drown; killed for their meat, which reputedly has aphrodisiacal properties and have their eggs dug up and sold to eager customers who devour them in the belief that they are a sort of natural Viagra. You will not, however, find any of these on chef Zamzam’s menus because the resort protects and nurtures these graceful creatures. On the way to our villa we saw a cordoned off area in the beach marked by cylindrical mesh fences. In each of them, carefully labelled, were turtles’ eggs collected from other beaches, incubating in the sand and sun. <br /><br />When the little creatures hatch they are transferred to a blue pool fronting the entrance of the resort. There they are fed every day, have their backs scrubbed once a week, and are released back into the sea when they are old enough to look after themselves. Kids, in particular, found this turtle-nurturing activity endlessly fascinating. One little girl asked her mother, with great solemnity, “How do turtles make more turtles when they’re all packed up in armour?” We were sorely tempted to stray and hear her mother’s reply but our motor boat had arrived to speed us away to the mainland. <br /><br />We stood at the stern of our boat as it fled across the bay and Gem Island grew smaller and smaller till it was just a dot on the sun-wrinkled bay of the South China sea. Soon, too soon, it felt as if it had all been a dream. And perhaps it was; perhaps it really had been an unforgettable dream.<br /><br />Travel tips<br /><br />* Getting there: Air from Kuala Lumpur by either Malaysia Airlines or Air Asia and then about 35 minutes from the airport to Marang Jetty. Finally 15 minutes by boat to the island resort. <br /><br />* Accommodation: 35 Water Villas, 4 Premier Villas, 4 Hideaway Villas and 2 Hideaway Suites. <br /><br />* Recreational Activities: Snorkeling, scuba diving, island hopping, kayaking, and jungle trekking</p>
<p><br /><br /> There’s only one resort in Gem. It clings to a rocky, rugged shore, is backed up against a densely wooded hill, and has just 45 villas, most of them rising on concrete pillars from the surf-washed rocks. Be a little careful when you step off the speedboat. The ‘jetty’ is a pontoon, so it rises and falls gently with the waves.<br /><br />Do look down, however, because the water is as clear as molten sapphires and the fish are as bright and as friendly as school kids on a holiday. All around us were great gardens of coral so you can go snorkeling, gazing down at underwater worlds like an angel floating in the sky. You don’t have to be a swimmer to snorkel. You can strap on a life jacket, wear a pair of flippers, and be towed slowly behind a motor boat. It feels a bit like parasailing in water! <br /><br />But even sitting in our villa we seemed to be buoyant in space. From the deck of our cottage, with the South China sea washing below, we had wide-screens views of a bay dappled with light, stretching to the shores of our neighbouring island, Kapas. Bobbing in the Kapas bay was a sailing yacht. Pirate? Not likely. A rich playboy with his Playmate companion? Very likely. Our imaginations wove vivid scenarios that would have made the moral police go ballistic with rage. <br /><br />Happily, there are no MPs here! The smaller coves seem designer-made for twosomes and there are plenty of trees and rocks to shield voluntary castaways from the sun. But before you go, check with the staff of the hotel. At certain times of the morning, the sea becomes rich with plankton, we were told, and they could irritate the skin of sensitive swimmers. Fellow guests, a Chinese family, who had spent a day on Kapas said that those microscopic creatures never worried them but some Caucasians were badly affected. As one of them put it with a grin: “Maybe we Asians are tougher, huh!” <br /><br />Searching around for possible alternatives to risking a possibly embarrassing attack of plankton itch, we discovered two interesting little beaches on Gem Island. Both were backed by intriguing sea caves and they were on both ends of the resort. But be a little careful before you start exploring. When we tried to clamber over the rocks to get to the caves, we realised that we should not have attempted to do it barefoot. The sea had honed some of them into razor sharpness and so we had to return and get into thick-soled shoes. One of these rock-backed beaches is at the end of the walkway leading off the side of the restaurant. The other is at the far end of the path serving the villas. We were tempted to scramble out to the end of a promontory, thrusting out to sea, but then we saw that the tide had turned and we could have been marooned if we had ventured out too far.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Then there was also a wonderful activity that required no effort on our part at all. At the end of the villa path was the massage and spa therapy centre. It’s a great place to revitalise oneself. The Tusita Wellness Spa was staffed by charming girls from Myanmar, one of them with the musical name of Thu-thu. Their therapies ranged from 30 minutes to two hours, and they offer a choice of 36 different treatments such as Thai Royal, After Sun and a whole range of beauty treatments including waxing, manicure, pedicure and even facial therapies for guys. Clearly the distinctions between the genders is blurring in our unisex world. <br /><br />Then there’s the magic of head chef Nor Zamzam Mohd Khan who informed us, cheerfully, “You can call me Chef Holy Water.” Zam-zam is the sacred well of the Haj Pilgrimage. For one of our meals he gave us lemon chicken, butter prawns, chicken curry, mixed vegetables and rice. ‘Holy Water’ obviously did not believe in confusing his guests with gurgling French names. He preferred to use ordinary descriptions for the most extraordinary creations. Every dish was a delight to look at and every one of them sang on our palates. He was happiest when we appreciated his food; absolutely delighted when we gave him our own favourite recipe. One of us gave him our family recipes for traditional Anglo-Indian crumb chops and chicken biryani . So, if after an energetic work-out, you find either of these before you, think of us. The chances are, of course, that Chef Holy Water will have added his own alchemy to our recipes, helping them to evolve from the originals created by a great-grandmother and her Lucknowi bawarchi! <br />Gem Island — its formal name is Gemia, named after a local fruit — also does its bit for evolution and the environment. Most sea turtles are an endangered species. They are trapped in fishing nets, and drown; killed for their meat, which reputedly has aphrodisiacal properties and have their eggs dug up and sold to eager customers who devour them in the belief that they are a sort of natural Viagra. You will not, however, find any of these on chef Zamzam’s menus because the resort protects and nurtures these graceful creatures. On the way to our villa we saw a cordoned off area in the beach marked by cylindrical mesh fences. In each of them, carefully labelled, were turtles’ eggs collected from other beaches, incubating in the sand and sun. <br /><br />When the little creatures hatch they are transferred to a blue pool fronting the entrance of the resort. There they are fed every day, have their backs scrubbed once a week, and are released back into the sea when they are old enough to look after themselves. Kids, in particular, found this turtle-nurturing activity endlessly fascinating. One little girl asked her mother, with great solemnity, “How do turtles make more turtles when they’re all packed up in armour?” We were sorely tempted to stray and hear her mother’s reply but our motor boat had arrived to speed us away to the mainland. <br /><br />We stood at the stern of our boat as it fled across the bay and Gem Island grew smaller and smaller till it was just a dot on the sun-wrinkled bay of the South China sea. Soon, too soon, it felt as if it had all been a dream. And perhaps it was; perhaps it really had been an unforgettable dream.<br /><br />Travel tips<br /><br />* Getting there: Air from Kuala Lumpur by either Malaysia Airlines or Air Asia and then about 35 minutes from the airport to Marang Jetty. Finally 15 minutes by boat to the island resort. <br /><br />* Accommodation: 35 Water Villas, 4 Premier Villas, 4 Hideaway Villas and 2 Hideaway Suites. <br /><br />* Recreational Activities: Snorkeling, scuba diving, island hopping, kayaking, and jungle trekking</p>
