I happened
to read my horoscope in the newspaper today and it said, today will be a
creative day and you will spend most of your time today in activities like
painting, dancing, writing etc... I suck big time in painting & dancing and
it so coincidentally happened that I received a whatsapp forward from my friend
at the same time which again had a horoscope in it for Virgos which said
“Virgos are known for making random shit up and are masters in story telling”.
So all these things made me think that it was a clear sign from god to get me
going to write the Malaysia blog which apparently I have been procrastinating
for too long now ;) . So I said to hell with other things and let me get done
with the Malaysia blog before the Malaysian experience slips off my memoryJ. So here goes my detailed write-up
of the places I visited in Malaysia, my experiences and my new found love for
Malaysian street food.
The Plan…..
Flash back to Childhood….
When I was a
kid(apparently my wife thinks I am a kid
even now ;) ) the Malaysia tourism ad “Malaysia Truly Asia” used to frequently
flash on the TV screens which I guess even you people might have seen. So one
fine day I tell my Dad, “Hey Dad lets go to Malaysia”, for which he said ”Padhai
pe dhyaan de nalaayak.. Malaysia jaana hai isko ;) (Concentrate on your studies
you good for nothing !!!) “. So I go back to my books sulking as usual. All my
rich school mates used to visit all the Asian countries like Malaysia etc. and
bring back worthless postcards of the places they have visited which used to
add fuel to fire. So somewhere I made up my mind that I would definitely visit
Malaysia in future to see what the hype was all about…
Fast forward to 2014….
With the
kind of toll our work life had taken on me and my wife we decided to go for an
international holiday to New Zealand. However when we looked at our bank
statement we were back to reality and decided to go for an economic destination
which still had an international feel to it ;) . So having visited Thailand already the next
destination that was looking promising was Malaysia. Coincidentally for some
reason it was a sale season in Malaysian airways adding to it there were few
resorts in Malaysia who were offering 40% discount along with freebies…. What
timing I would say, everything is written by god even our bank statements ;)
Please god add few more zeroes at the end of my account balance ;) So without any delay we zeroed in on Malaysia.
So Malaysia it was for 2014….
While
researching for various tourist locations that we can visit in Malaysia and our
love for beaches we happened to come across Langkawi also known as the jewel of
Kedah.
Langkawi is
a very big and very beautiful island in Malaysia and can be reached from Kuala
Lumpur by an hour’s flight. Langkawi has many attractions like the cable car,
sky bridge etc. apart from the beautiful beaches. There are many good locations
that one can opt to stay in the island however we decided to stay at Pentai
Cenang as it was one of the most happening places in Langkawi based on
different reviews on the internet. The best thing about Langkawi is we can hire
bikes just like we do here in Goa. We can hire bikes and explore the entire
island by ourselves and it is completely safe to do so.
So Langkawi
was shortlisted as one of the destinations that we would be visiting in
Malaysia… Furthermore how can one visit Malaysia and not Spend time in Kuala
Lumpur. So apart from Langkawi we also
decided to spend decent amount of time in KL. So the plan was we would stay 3
days in Langkawi and 2 days in KL.
Executing the Plan……
Day 0
Friday is
always a happy day as we can see happy faces all around the workplace IT
campuses etc…. people are more vibrant in their colourful clothing and there is
positive energy all around…. The reason being it was almost weekend and people
were looking forward to more happy days ahead J so for us too Friday it was, the day
we decided to travel to Malaysia…. I got off work early as I was excited to
board the flight that night. The clock was ticking and I got my bags packed and
I was ready to leave… Thanks to Bangalore’s traffic I almost missed my flight
;) We somehow made it on time to the check-in counter and checked in our baggage
and breathed a sigh of relief. After immigration and security we boarded the
flight. Malaysian Airlines is an amazing airline to fly in. The hospitality of the airlines staff is just
amazing… They cater to all the needs of the passengers however minor it is… It
is really sad to see such a good natured airline going through such turmoil due
to some recent unforeseen incidents….Anyways getting back to the journey…. I
for one always get high with the help of free drinks available on international
flights the main reason being that I am really scared of travelling in flights
and getting high removes the fear in me and I can sleep like a baby ;)
So I downed
2-3 glasses of wine and went to deep slumber dreaming about the things to come J and that ended Day 0.
Touch Down Malaysia…..KLIA (Kuala
Lumpur International Airport)
It was early
in the morning and my wife shrugs me violently trying to wake me up… with all
the untoward incidents that are happening with this airline off late I got up
screaming ;) My wife bit surprised and
bit embarrassed with my sudden outburst pointed out towards the window,” look
at those beautiful lights she said”…. Indeed it was an amazing sight that I had
to be woken up from deep Slumber ;) The entire city was covered with a blanket
of lights giving a spectacular view of the skyline of KL at night…. After that
incident people around me too became very curious about me on the flight… I saw
many eyes checking me out while I was going to the loo ;) So with that incident
I bid good bye to my sleep and started enjoying the early morning views of the
KL city. After an hour or so our flight finally landed in KL and man what an
amazing airport…. KLIA is huge and is truly of international standards… KLIA
has got an indoor park kinda setup, can you beat that?? Apparently even KLIA
terminal was not sufficient and they had to come up with a new terminal KLIA2….
With the kind of shopping ads they lure international tourists this is bound to
happen ;) we did not step out of the airport, we were loitering inside the
airport itself and exploring every nook and corner of this huge airport. The
reason being that we had a connecting flight in 2 hours’ time and we anyway had
KL planned after 3 days. So we had no necessity to utilize 2-3 hours exploring KL
city in a rush….. So after few hours and few mugs of coffee we temporarily bid
adieu to KL and headed off to our destination, Langakawi….
Langkawi Baby….
It was 12PM
and our flight landed at the Langkawi Airport after crossing some beautiful
landscapes. Malaysia has a very good transport system which is not just
restricted to KL but even Langkawi. As soon as we landed at the airport we
booked pre-paid taxi to our Hotel. Since the airport is close to Pentai Cenang
we reached our accommodation in no time & thus began our vacation in
Langkawi.
Thanks to
Tripadvisor which has always helped us to make the right choice while booking
Hotels/resorts, we zeroed in on one of the most amazing beach resorts in Pentai
Cenang. The resort was located right at the beach having sprawling lawns, a
huge swimming pool and amazing beach shacks where you could sip on your
favorite drink while relaxing at the beach exactly what I expected it to be J . Thank you Tripadvisor you did not
disappoint me and I am proud to be one of your member J .
So moving
on, unfortunately while we booked the resort beach facing villa was not
available and we had to settle for garden view rooms whose price was way below
the beach facing rooms… however when we landed at the resort the beach rooms were
available and the resort did not charge us any extra money for the upgrade to a
beach view room, talk about luck ;)… So
we quickly unpacked, freshened up and hit the beach….
Some pics of
the resort and Langkawi beach….
Langkawi is not just famous for its beautiful beaches but
also has some picturesque mountain ranges which one can experience by hopping
onto the Mountain cable car. There is also a sky bridge situated at the top of
the mountain which is now temporarily closed due to repairs and what I heard
from locals was that it is closed for almost 2 years and there is no clear
picture as to when will it reopen. However there is cable car to enjoy the
mountain views of the entire Langkawi Island… So our next stop was the cable
car at Langkawi….
Below are some pics from the cable car & Sky Bridge…
Langkawi also houses the Kilim Karst geoforest park which
also happens to have been recognized by UNESCO for its biodiversity. So
naturally Kilim Karst became our next to-do item in our Langkawi itinerary. So
we booked with Dev adventure tours for a guided tour of the Kilim Karst park.
The tour was very informative and fun…. It was almost like I was watching a
documentary on Discovery/Animal planet. Our guide was very knowledgeable and
explained every minute detail about the park…. One such story was that there
were bird houses constructed at strategic locations in the park which housed huge
speakers playing different bird sounds to create a conducive environment for a
bird to create a nest. Once the bird vacates the nest the nest would be used to
prepare Soup called the “Bird nest Soup” which supposedly is a delicacy in
China ;) I for one would never indulge in such Delicacy ;). So with more such
informative posts on various species of the park which included some Poisonous
snake sightings we moved on with our exploration of the park…Below are some
pics from the Kilim Karst Geoforest park day outing….
After the tour of the Geo park and a relaxed evening in the
Jacuzzi we headed off for Dinner…. Pentai Cenang is a Bustling city with many
options like Indian, Chinese, Arabian, Malay cusines…. So we zeroed in on a
Malay restaurant and indulged in some Malaysian food and it was yummy to say
the least….
What’s a trip without a road trip….
Langkawi just like goa has bike operators who rent out bikes
so that tourists can explore the length and breadth of this beautiful island.
Hence we too hired a bike on Day3 and planned to explore the island on our own…
We visited many places like the Big eagle, Night Market etc and had a fun
filled day….
Here are some pics of the bike ride….
After all nothing is permanent in this world and so was this visit of ours to this beautiful island. Hence we had to pack our bags and head out to our next destination.... However this experience of this picturesque island will be etched in our memories forever…. Thank you Langkawi for hosting us and providing us with a memorable experience… So until next time Sionara….
