A taste of French living

Sitting under a shady umbrella with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and surrounded by the smell of newly baked bread by the road side would be the most enjoyable moment one could imagine. No, I did not go to France for this purpose. Neither did I leave the country for this. Instead I went to a French themed resort in the hills of Bukit Tinggi, Pahang Darul Makmur. Owned by the Berjaya Group, it is the first resort built for this particular theme. Located at 3000 ft above sea level would mean that a lot of uphill driving. Since this is my first time visit, expectation couldn’t be less.

From my hometown, it takes about 2 hours of travelling via car to get there, oh.., that excludes the ‘minor’ traffic congestion along the way. Along the KL – Karak Highway, we took the Exit 805 just after the Genting Highland exit. After some 30 km over going up the hill, we finally reach the resort – Colmar Tropicale!

It is kind of refreshing to see different architecture in Malaysia. The resort consists of two rows of French inspired buildings with matching interior decorations. Visitors will be welcomed by the huge draw bridge at the entrance which leads the street inside the resort.

Just beside the entrance, we checked-in to our pre-booked one bedroom suite, which leads us to Block ‘Fuschia’. Situated at the end and facing the street, that should provide a nice view of the buildings. Our room is bigger than I expected, with dining and living hall. But I couldn’t ignore the sign of aging furniture especially the couch!

With the complimentary pass in hand (part of the room package), we headed to the other place of attraction nearby. One of the places is the Japanese Village. Since the place is not within walking distance, shuttle bus was provided for visitors. Since its Sunday and lots of visitors, seems like it is going to take some time before we could able to board the shuttle bus. Hated to wait anymore, we decided to drive there. Trailing the shuttle bus, we reach the Japanese village. Since they do not allow any vehicle near the place, we could only walk up the hill with the steepness of 20% ! The place definitely worth the walk, situated inside a tropical forest, the place is refreshingly interesting. With the man- made Japanese style pond & rivers, pictures taken here will surely be nice. One could see a Japanese style hut beside a pond fill with Japanese Koi. This hut also offers Kimono rental and tea ceremony, with a fee off course! For those who really desire to experience the Japanese style of living might want to consider staying in Tatami Suite and to enjoy the Tatami Spa as well.

Next stop, we went to the Botanical Garden, situated just beside the Japanese village. It offers a wide range of exotic flowers and plants as well as the nice view of greenery. One of the true attractions there would certainly be the Ryu Zan Tei restaurant situated inside the garden. Imagine having dinner accompanied by thousand of flowers and plants. Something one could not easily forget.

Before going back to the resort, we stopped by the Rabbit Farm. As the name suggest, lots of bunnies there. All tame and friendly enough to play around with the visitors especially children. But not much to be seen at the place.

After wasting much energy of walking up hills, it is time to fill our stomach. The resorts offer a few French cuisines specializing in grilled/roasted meat, pizzas and pastries. Besides that, visitors may also choose Thai cuisine. Just to remind you though, the restaurants close REALLY early. Being as early as 8 pm on weekdays or 9 pm on weekend / public holiday. For those who plan to have supper late at night, it is advised to bring your own food or buy take away for later consumption. (We bought a Pollo pizza for that purpose!)

On the day time, the place do offers some activities for the visitors. There are a few shops selling souvenirs, custom made souvenir and hand wax sculptures. One of the shops that really caught my eyes is the plaster figurine painting shop. The shop offers lots of varieties ranging from action figure to scenery for painting. Being a DIY person, I can’t resist but ending up buying 3! Being here means definitely has to buy something as a token of remembrance. So I choose a plat with the scenery of this resort and not yet to paint it! (Caution: it is not as easy as it looks, especially in blending the color tone part!).

At the centre of the resort, situated the main stage where visitors are treated with performance of dancer and other activities. The performance held twice a day, noon and night on particular day only. Other than that, the place does not offer much entertainment. For visitors that wanted to get away from hustle bustle of the city, this is certainly the place to be. It is peaceful and scenic enough for relaxation and to relieve stress.

As a part of our room package, we were treated for a breakfast ala French the next morning in La Blason. The buffet breakfast offers a variety of sausages, French pastries and some local food. All you can eat!

After that we headed home with memories of Colmar Tropicale! And lots of photos too!

Hope to be back here soon!