Langkawi trip

Langkawi Geopark. Langkawi Geopark! Its so famous now since it was awarded by UNESCO. Don't ask me what it is. I came for the greenery place, relax & rejuvenate and chocolate shopping and the fact that the last time i was there, i was twelve.

Since the weekend was a Public Holiday, Papa was so generous to take us on a family getaway but all the flights were fully booked. Therefore we had to drag ourselves to the Kuala Perlis jetty which in my opinion was the last resort to go to Langkawi. I'm not really a fan of water transportation. Maybe cos my work revolves around water and travelling on boats. Perhaps. Luck Adam and Edros they escape the boat ride since Adam has his exams going on so they'll be Fireflyz-ing that night.

Our ride

After an hour ride from the jetty to Kuah Jetty in Langkawi island, it was lunch time and the modernized jetty had a lot of cafes or restaurants to choose from. So while waiting for our ride and since it was drizzling, we had lunch at Kenny Rogers Roasters. Just a note for those who would want to travel with the ferry; it may sound like a short ride but please make sure you brought something to eat and drink with you cos i didnt and the 5 of us were thirsty and hungry throughout.

A momento for Mr Boyfy

Langkawi is a small island but don't underestimate it. Make sure you get the map and GPS ready as the signboard, sometimes, is no help at all. To get to Holiday Villa Resort which was in Pantai Tengah of Langkawi, took us a good 40 minutes ride. But the greens never failed me. Its good to see lots of great landscapes.

Mama, Adam, Edros and Elly!

The kitchenware i would love to have, yes its pink!

Since it was the monsoon season, it rained a lot. Papa had to cancel his game that evening and followed us for some shopping. Poor Papa. For those shopaholics, expect nothing much but kitchenwares and chocolates. It may be a duty free place but nothing much thrills me more than the cheap chocolates and maybe ciggies. For the first time in my life, i had a MYR500++ receipt worth of chocs and ciggies, for the brother of course. After Eight, Toblerone, Daim, Hersheys, Cadbury you name it, everything's there selling below market price!

The Holiday Villa courtyard

Holiday Villa as a whole was a great place to stay despite its old age and eventhough its far from the city, the beautiful surroundings will never put you down. A four star hotel and very well recommended by me and the breakfast? Great. I love the waffles, sangatlah sedap and the buffet as well. For those of you who wants to rest and relax, its a great place to be as well as there are a lot of indoor and outdoor activities you could do there too. The best thing they had there was the indoor swimming pool for the ladies and kids. Cool eh?

The beach

I was thinking of some 'rejuvenating', yes spa and more of it, but the price was ohmy expensive. Perhaps to cater to those not-from-Malaysia tourists. Usually, my full course spa would only cost less than MYR200 but at Amoaras Spa, the in-hotel spa the full course would have you pay double or triple the price. So cancel that off my to-do list, i had to settle for other activities like swimming. As Papa had warned us earlier, the location of our hotel (Pantai Tengah) was not a suitable place to beach-swimming. I'll spare the details as its far too complicated to explain. And since pool-swimming does not really interest me at the point, i had to watch the two brothers do. Yawning!

The boys

On the second day, after another round of 'touring' shops, we fetched Papa from the Gunung Raya Golf Club to the Mahsuri Musoleum (Makam Mahsuri) which holds the greatest legendary of Langkawi and has become a tourist attraction on the island. To visit, the admission for the Mahsuri city is MYR5 for adult and MYR1 for kids.

The story of Mahsuri

During the time of the powerful Sultanates of the Malay archipelago there lived a young woman named Mahsuri. She was the most beautiful woman in all of Langkawi, and the wife of Wan Darus, a brave warrior. As was required of him, her husband had to go to war, leaving Mahsuri behind to fend for herself. It was during this time that Mahsuri befriended a young man named Deraman.

Their close friendship lead others in her village to believe that their relationship was sexual in nature. Some versions of the legend claim that the parties who perpetuated the gossip were those who were envious of Mahsuri's beauty. Eventually the rumours grew strong enough that the villagers openly accused her of adultery. Mahsuri pleaded her innocence, but no one believed her.

Following the old Islamic punishment for adultery, Mahsuri was to be tied to a tree (or pole) and stabbed to death. When they stabbed her, white blood flowed from her wound, signifying her innocence. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi to have seven generations of bad luck.

When we stepped in the "Mahsuri city", on the right was a museum and there were also girls who played the caklempong, a traditional music instrument. Believe it or not, i played it when i was in Music Class during my high school. So as you stroll the place, you would see a few houses on stilts believed to be the kampung of Mahsuri surrounded by its beautiful flowers and trees.

Mama found a resident artiste who draws portraits at a price for MYR29 and sketches in less than 20minutes. So while waiting, the 5 of us had to go on the tour, without our parents but in there was also a mini bird park and Adam had a lot of fun teasing the birds. There was the peacock and eagle, belibis and the rest i forgot their names, sorry.

Double click for larger view of the birds

Loving the oversized cage

As much as Adam had fun so did we, photographing ourselves, of course. Too bad Mr Boyfy could not join us or it'll be double the fun. Thirsty we were, we settled for cokodok at a gerai nearby the paddy field. An experience too expensive to let go. :) On our way out, i spotted a tree, name Bongok. Funny isnt it? Bongok like stupid tree.

The stupid tree

After another ride on the ferry, we were on our way back to Penang, hungry as we were always, we stopped at Changloon for yummylicious food and Chendol. So yummy that i finished it all on my own. We had a great weekend despite the weather, but the greatest of all was the sunset shot on the highway, in the car by the non-pro photograher with not DSLR but a normal digicam, Me.

XOXO.