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June 05th, 2009 | Author: gabriel

I spent two nights in Langkawi as a holiday trip together with my girlfriend. I’ve never actually been there before and I heard a lot of stories about super cheap booze and nice corals. As I don’t really have lots of time to blog about it, let me categorize the things I do instead of doing it chronologically.

Accommodation
We stayed at this place called Zackry Guesthouse. It’s a very friendly and decent place where it’s mainly for backpackers. Lots of Caucasians hanging around there and it’s at Pantai Tengah. The people there are very friendly.

zackry_guesthouse

Activities As we only have like two days there, the things that we can do are quite limited.

  • Island Hopping
    We purchased the island hopping package at Kuala Kedah itself through an agent there. They charged us like RM45/pax for it only to find out I can easily get it for RM35/pax from the guest house itself.
    The island hopping includes a boat ride to three different islands.
    First is Pulau Beras Basah

    beras_basah

    We are given 1 hour to do our own things there.
    People there just hang around on the beach
    hang_around

    Sun Bathe
    suntan

    Ride on the Banana Boat
    banana_boat

    Or if you’re really that bored, you can find a group of people and carry rocks
    carry_rocks

    Then, the next place they bring us is Pulau Singa to see Eagles feed on fishes
    pulau_singa

    eagle

    Lastly, to Pulau Dayang Bunting where the shape of the island resembles a pregnant maiden
    pulau_dayang_bunting

    They took us to the lake within the island. The scenery at the jetty was beautiful.
    dyng_bunting

    Then at the lake itself, people just chill there. You can even swim in the lake. And to my surprise, the water is not sea water. It’s not salty at all. When it enters my eyes, I don’t feel a thing. Oh, and legend says that if a girl who finds difficulty in getting pregnant drinks water from the lake, they can get pregnant easier. Or something like that. haha
    lake

    Then, there’s a small location where you can dip your feet into the ‘mini pond’ and feed the catfish! haha.. It feasts on your deadskin but to me, it feels like they’re having fun tickling our feet with its whiskers.
    catfish_therapy

  • Pulau Payar
    Paid RM140/pax for a return trip to Pulau Payar, lunch, Snorkeling and shark feeding. It was not as great as what people hyped about it. Compared to the islands that I’ve been in Sabah, the water is a bit green and ‘commercialized’. In Sabah, the water is crystal clear and the marine life are actually in the ‘wild’. The fishes in Pulau Payar to me are like reared. But because the fishes are ‘bred’, there are more concentrated.

    pulau_payar

    The density of fishes is very high. Especially when you feed it bread, you can see the fishes swarming towards it. So there are a few times where the workers managed to ‘bully’ yin sin. She was snorkeling near the jetty when the workers threw bread near her. Then, the fishes all swim towards her scaring her away. And as she fled, more bread landed around her and wherever she goes there are always fishes swarming towards her and biting her. haha..

    Then, the corals are quite nice as well. But can only be found deeper in the ocean. There’s also the shark feeding session. The workers lure the baby sharks near the shore with dead fishes and feed it to them.

    shark_feeding
    baby_shark

  • Tanjung Rhu
    This is the place where you can walk from one island to another island in the ocean. Too bad, by the time we went there, it was high tide and wasn’t safe to walk in the sea. But at least, we get to see the sunset there.

    sunset_tjg_rhu

Transportation and Island Exploration
We rented a scooter from the guesthouse at RM30 for 24 hours (A car costs RM70 per day). Started the rental from 2000hrs. We went to Kuah town for dinner and some alcohol + chocolate shopping. The beers are dirt cheap. Can get a 6 pack carlsberg for only RM9.90. A bottle of Chivas is RM68.

alcohol bottles

Renting the scooter is a very good idea. Rental is cheap and petrol is cheap. We rode from one end to another, taking a few wrong turns. One good thing about Langkawi is that you won’t get lost cause no matter where you go, it’s just round the island.

Eateries
We ate fried rice at Kuah town and Ramly burger at a roadside on the way back from Tanjung Rhu. And of course, the usual tuna bread, cup noodles and junk food. =)

The trip is quite enjoyable especially if with the right company. Only bad thing is, i got sun burnt real bad… =(

note: For a great selection of places to stay with discount prices visit Langkawi Hotels for more information

Category: holidays, photography, travel  | Tags: , , ,  | 2 Comments
June 04th, 2009 | Author: gabriel

yes.. there are lots of paddy fields around here. The first thing I did when I reached alor setar, is to see a paddy field nearby yinsin’s house. But I must say, it’s really very nice. Like those korean dramas where they have paddy field as their setting.

paddy1

paddy_field

paddy2

For a city as a whole, I think that Alor Setar is like Ipoh; 10 years ago. Very laid back, very safe.. Not that many cars and still many stalls by the road side. Think they only have one main mall and I think that’s it. =P Of course, it has its few landmarks.

There’s the Telekom Tower

telekom_tower

From up there, you can see the cityscape of Alor Setar.

alor-setar

Then, there’s the Zahir State Mosque

masjid_zahir

A nice fountain

fountain

A clock tower

clock_tower

And an unknown monument

scene

There’s that for sight seeing. On the personal note, yinsin’s parents are real nice. Although a bit shy, they take the effort to strike up conversations. A bit tough for my side also as mandarin isn’t my first language but I think kinda pulled it through. haha. Her younger brother is damn funny. On the net (when I chat online with him), he seems like the kind of person who talks a lot and who always bully the sister. But it turns out otherwise. He didn’t talk much. He just eats a lot. haha. He also became our driver who fetched me and yinsin everywhere to sight see. =)

Overall, I guess the trip to Alor Setar is quite fun. Get to meet her family and it’s my first time in Kedah (and most-north of Malaysia that I’ve been). Get to see so many nice paddy fields. haha.. A nice laid-back city.

Category: holidays, photography, travel  | Tags:  | 3 Comments