simple but exquisite: Langkawi, 99 magical islands in the sun

Recently, my family and I went to Langkawi for a holiday. haha. yeah. Overall, it was a lovely place and I'm gona share it on my blog.

bird's eye view of Langkawi. Check out the blue waters and the cluster of islands nearby

As you all know, Langkawi's famous tagline is "99 magical islands in the sun". (the most catchy tagline Malaysia can come up with) *bravo*. But it does suit Langkawi as there are clusters of island surrounding the main island and it's a pretty sight. If you choose to get to Langkawi by air, you'll get what I mean. The air ticket costs RM300 including return ticket and airport taxes.

posers.. *now everyone can fly*

Ok, the first place we went was SHOPPING! duh rite... duty free and you don't shop, people will think that you're nuts. Our guide brought us to this place called the Zon, said to be own by Datuk K. lol. They had a wide variety of chocolates, liquor, cigarettes, cigar, perfume, cosmetics, jewellery, beer and also Fila! Everything was dead cheap. A bar of Hersheys was only RM***. (can't reveal price coz I bought it for a few ppl) LOL. And they had miniature Absolut Vodkas too. (can't reveal price again...) You could also get Kahlua and Bailey's each below RM50. madness!

absolut vodkas

After shopping for I don't know how long, we then headed to our next destination which was Galleria Perdana (A gallery featuring all of Mahathir's gift from foreign dignitaries and local leaders). I thought it was like any other boring museum trips but this one was unique. seriously. The collection of dolls were really freaky like this one. p.s. the museum charges RM2 to bring in your camera and Rm4 for a video cam. Entrance fee I think is RM5

javanese doll

the last samurai...

Besides the gallery, our tour guide also brought us to the Mahsuri Tomb. Entrance fee was RM2. LOL *Waste of TIME* grrr. why would I wana visit a tomb which has no connection to me??? So i ended up walking around and doing nothing. No choice la, had to follow tour. bah. OK, when you say Langkawi, people will think of the giant eagle statue which the government constructed to be a "daya tarikan pelancong" (I can also build one in Macau, Singapore, Zimbabwe and also on my roof ... SO?) ok nvm, that's not the point. Declaring 2007 as Visit Malaysia Year should be accompanied by adequate facilities and sufficient tourist attractions rite?... lol. when we got there, all we could see was its backside and scaffolds surrounding it... bah. wasted like 40 minutes travelling there and the bus parked bloody far...

Fine.. next on the itinerary, was Gunung Mat Cincang where the Langkawi Cable Car is situated. The price is RM15 for adults if I'm not mistaken. This place is a haven. No kidding. It kinda compensated all the mess earlier. Up here, one could see the whole of Langkawi and also parts of Thailand which includes Koh Ta Ru Tao. When we got there, it was partly cloudy as it was gona rain. It was accompanied by gentle breezes and a thin layer of mist. But all these did not affect our vision. It was very relaxing instead. It was what I needed after 3 months of suffering in HELP. hehe.

look who's taller...

The breathtaking view atop Mount Mat Cincang was enough to take one's mind off the hectic lifestyle of KL. That night, we checked in at our lousy 4-star hotel named Langkasuka. It sucks. trust me. It really does.

Ok. that was Day 1. Day 2 is much more exciting. If you realized, we did not visit any beach on Day 1. So Day 2 was all about it. haha. Our tour included the Island Hopping Adventure which literally means visiting one island to another. Out of the 99 islands, we only managed to visit 4 islands. lol. But it was an unforgettable experience.

fishing boats near Awana Porto Malai

The boat ride was funny and exciting. haha. because our tour group was so big, we had to go in 5 different boats and all of us raced to our first island which was Pulau Singa Besar. This island is a must-go for those adventure seekers. As for us, we did not enter the heavily wooded island instead we were brought to a peaceful cove named *I forgotten* lol. The reason why we were brought there was to feed the eagles.. At first I thought we were only gona see like 1 or 2 or the most 3 eagles. lol. In the end dozens of them hovered above our boats when the skipper threw live fishes and meat into the sea.

It was a memorable experience for me as I've not gotten so close to a wild eagle in my life. What more watching them feed. After watching the works of mother nature for nearly an hour, we were brought fishing. Yes! Fishing. OK.. something was wrong that day coz' no one on our boat managed to catch anything except for my dad. Boooo. Even some nooby girl from another boat caught one. grrr. Beginner's luck la..

This is the damn fish he caught. lol

check out the turquoise coloured water

After waiting for like 45 minutes without any fish, the boat skipper (driver) and the tour guide took us somewhere else to another legendary island... It's called Pulau Dayang Bunting. According to a legend, the name of both the island and lake is attributed to the legend of a lovely fairy princess who married an earthly prince. Her first child died shortly after birth. She was so sad and depressed that she buried the child in the crystal clear waters of the lake. Before she returned to her celestial abode, she blessed the waters so that any childless maiden who bathed naked in the lake would conceive thereafter.

the "evidence" of the legend, apparently

As mentioned earlier, we were brought to the lake. To get there, we were dropped off at the jetty and had to climb a hill. Despite the strenuous climb, the journey was worthwhile. There were lots of activities to choose from at the lake such as jungle trekking, canoeing, swimming, boating to stoning. yeah. lol. I chose to canoe and it only cost my RM15 for one hour. I did swim too but it was boring swimming in a lake where you can end up getting pregnant. lol.you scratch mine, I scratch yours..

We spent about an hour at the lake before going for lunch. We had a barbecue lunch by the beach on another island which I don't know the name. haha. The meal was prepared by the natives on the island and it was really good. We were served with scrumptious satays, mouth-watering prawns and grilled fish. haha.

a native in the sea

the water is cleaner than the taps in pj...

a secluded bay

The beach where we had our meal was lovely. The water was clear and there were schools of fishes swimming by the shore. That was the end of the day tour. We took a boat ride back to the jetty and were transfered back to our hotel. At the hotel, I just lazed around at the beach and watch the sunset. Too bad I left my cam in the room. lol.

the only nice thing about Langkasuka; pina colada =)

The next day was the last day. The whole day was dedicated to shopping and more shopping. To our dismay, our flight was delayed by 4 hours so we just lazed around at the airport. Exhausted, i fell asleep and woke up when a group of jakuns shouted MAHATHIR!!! lol. The premier walked passed me but I was too sluggish to notice him. lol. Lansi la he... get his own private jet and attract damn alot of attention. bah.