The Macbook Pro is notoriously hot. There's not much you can do about it.

Apple considers the Macbooks "portable" computers, NOT laptops and as such they don't recommend you put the Macbook on your lap.

Cop-out? Maybe. But that's the state of the Macbook as far as I'm aware.

I should add that one thing you can do about it, is purchase a laptop fan pad. Go to Amazon and search for "laptop fan pad" or "laptop cooling" and you'll see some of the products available. Not feasible while travelling, but useful when you are at a desk or at home.

Try Fan Control for Lobotom software, which allows you to adjust the minimum fan speed (set at 1000 rpm by default). It installs as a preference panel on your Systems Preferences, which gives you baseline control on your fan speed and temperature. I've set mine to 2000 rpm, have noticed no significant increase in CPU noise, and now the metal above my function keys are just warm instead of blisteringly hot. You can download Fan Control here: link

Very nice, thanks for the link john.