KEY POINTS:
"I said hey! What's goin' on!" Beach singalongs are nothing new, but this was the first time I'd been led in a rousing rendition of the 4 Non Blondes' What's Up by an esteemed member of the Idol fraternity.
The lovely blonde girl playing the guitar as we
sat under the setting Malaysian sun claimed she'd been a finalist on Norwegian Idol, and although she was doing a great job hitting the high notes, it was still pretty funny. Because here we were, on a pristine Southeast Asian jungle island with 30 beachgoers singing like their places in the final 10 depended on it.
Luckily, this wasn't a reality show but, like the girl on the guitar, this was a place that was beautiful, hilarious and unexpected all at the same time. The resort, Nazri's Place, is the focal point of the Air Batang village on the island of Tioman - a one-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur. My buddies and I had come here knowing that once this place has been high on the priority list for seekers of paradisical tropical islands, though it's been decidedly more under the radar in recent decades.
If we could whizz back to the late-1970s, we'd find Tioman glowing in the sunny praise of Time magazine's announcement that it was one of the 10 most-beautiful islands in world.
The travel guides of the day would also say that you'd be wriggling your toes in the sands of the mythical Bali Hai from South Pacific - Tioman has long been rumoured as the setting for the movie. Back in the 1970s, you'd also discover that just about the only decent chalet accommodation on the island was Nazri's Place - run by the young and charismatic Nazri.
I know all this because of the various travel articles pinned to the walls of the reception at Nazri's Place. But our decision to stay here had less to do with 30-year-old reviews and more to do with the photos on the website: in one, Nazri has his outstretched arms saying "Welcome to Nazri's Place" with a big grin.
The photos of the beach didn't look half bad either, nor the fact that for less than $50 a night we'd have beachfront accommodation, with water perfect for snorkelling right on our doorstep. Not to mention the resident turtles that swim in the bay, the jungle treks, the beach-volleyball or the ridiculously happy happy hours at the Sunset Bar.
Indeed the numerous happy hours would become quintessential Nazri's Place moments. This is a corner of Southeast Asia where poverty is not obvious: there are no beggars lining up on the beach, no children selling trinkets.
"Happy hour finishes in 10 minutes," announces Anita, the heavily pregnant granddaughter of Nazri, who runs Nazri's Sunset Bar. This normally means a rush with everyone trying to drink up quickly, but at Nazri's it just means you buy enough beers at happy hour prices to keep you going for a couple of hours. You don't have to worry about them warming up in the tropical heat because, with the full compliance of Nazri, you move the drinks from the fridge behind the counter to the fridge in front of the counter.
The accepted shuffling of beer from fridge to fridge cracks us up almost as much as the latest episode of Norwegian Idol. Just as good is when the guitar's been put to rest and Anita is only too happy to let us plug in our iPods and supply the night's soundtrack. Sunset Bar is so welcoming that there couldn't be a better place in the world to take a load off after a day of snorkelling or exploring the jungle.
Nor is there a better place to ring home. Toey is a 50-something Australian hippy who every year sails to Air Batang and inevitably finds himself socialising with everyone - locals and tourists alike - who congregate at Nazri's.
He tells Anita it's his son's birthday and that he really should ring him in Australia, and asks how much would it cost. "One ringitt should be fine, as long as you like, too," she smiles.
In case you don't know your ringgit from your dong, baht or rupee, that's about 40 cents for a toll call from a bar on a beach in the middle of the South China Sea.
We had four days at Nazri's Place and swam with turtles, saw the most brightly coloured fish in the clearest water, hiked through rainforest and spent hours in the glorious tropical sunshine. As stunning as all that was, there are thankfully still many places in the world you can do that.
But there was something about this place that makes the cliche "the whole being greater than the sum of its parts" true. So true that of all the beaches I could go to next year, this is one I've already locked in. Hopefully they've made room on the wall for me.
Tim Roxborogh is a breakfast announcer on EasyMix. He flew to Southeast Asia courtesy of Flight Centre.
Tim's Tioman Island Top 5
1. Nazri's place the most laid-back and friendly resort
any of us had ever stayed at. I have already booked in for
next year.
2. Snorkelling at Air Batang: Stunning snorkelling
straight off the beach with clear waters and two resident
turtles.
3. Monkey Island: A small island nature reserve off the
coast of Tioman, with chalk-white sand, coral reefs and
several friendly reef sharks.
4. Jungle trek to Juara: a 7.5km walk through
untouched rainforest to the quietest beach on the island.
5. Tekek duty-free shops: Tekek is the largest village
on the island and is also the home of some of the
cheapest duty-free goods in Malaysia.
- Detours, HoS