Malaysia Diaries, Part 1 - Langkawi the jewel of Kedah…..

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….