Pulau Langkawi Trip 2013

Waiting to get on board for our night flight

My first flight with this guy.

It's very common for tourists to rent cars in Langkawi and it's cheaper if you rent there at the airport. Don't need to book or rent online as it will be more expensive. We got ourselves a Mazda2 car for 3 days and it cost us RM80 per day. We also used a total of RM45 for petrol and still have some left when we returned the car. 

Ricca Inn

For the first and second night, we decided to stay in this inn. I liked how that sound. "Inn". Ooooh, reminds me of Final Fantasy games. It is situated in Kuah Town and we got a very cheap deal too! I made my booking on Agoda so it cost much more (RM80). The owner said that if we made a booking with him personally, it will only cost RM60 for a night. So, be sure to call up the hotels before you make bookings online to get cheaper rates!

The place was very new, and is situated above a pub. Fortunately, that didn't interfere with our sleep. It wasn't noisy as I thought it would be when I saw the place. Alex, the caretaker/owner of the place was very friendly too. Originally I booked a regular room that has only a queen size bed but he gave me a room with an extra bed without any extra charges. Actually, our situation was quite complicated but I did called and asked him about the rooms and told him we have an extra person. I didn't know he would upgrade the room for us, I thought it was enough for 3 person to fit into the bed since they don't provide extra beds. He was very considerate and friendly too. Recommended place to stay if you're planning to stay in Kuah town as the room was very clean and also comfortable. The only downside of the place was the absence of a mini fridge. Other than that, it was a pleasant stay for us.

Restoran Kauboi

Despite the "wild wild west" name, the restaurant serves a fusion of Chinese and Thai cuisine. We actually wanted to go to Wonderland, but it was already closing when we got there as we went food hunting very late at night (as in 11.30pm or so).

Yang Yue -- Joey -- Xiao Ming

Langkawi version of Hokkien Char, Seafood Tom Yam, Thai Fried Rice

I didn't really like the noodles, but the fried rice was okay. The tom yam is a must try! I think this was one of the best tom yam I have ever tried in my life.

Woke up pretty early for the first day as we have some island hopping to do in the morning! Gotta get some breakfast before heading out to the other islands.

Cactus Restaurant

This restaurant is recommended for breakfast as they are open at 8am. They have really special decoration and it was pretty cozy as we were welcomed by the friendly faces of the locals there. Football fans may be delighted to see this place I think. 

The Farmer's Breakfast ~ Dutch Cuisine (RM16 and comes with a cup of coffee or tea AND a glass of orange juice), Medium Banana Pancake  (RM6)

Viv's Borneo Omeletto(RM18), Si Baby Long House (RM11)

The dishes has normal ingredients like eggs, hams, potatos and bread but they served it in a very special way I think. They tasted pretty good too.

Island Hopping Tour

I booked myself an island hopping trip for RM25 per head. I think I got a pretty cheap deal considering the normal price is RM35. Those interested, can click on this link for more information. They provide free pick-up if you're staying at Cenang Beach area. Since we're staying in town, they offered to pick us up at McDonalds, Pantai Cenang instead. We arrived there at 9am (meet up time was 9.20am) and the driver was waiting there already.

at the jetty waiting for our boat

The "I ❤" t-shirt guys

Speed boat was super fast and I like it!!! Vrrrrrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooommm!!! Hahaha~

Dayang Bunting Island

Keep taking pictures wherever we go. lol.

Welcome to the Pregnant Lady Island!

Climbing up up up

Camera shot this by accident

This too. LOL. This candid is too funny! and EPIC!

Many were sun-bathing and taking a dip in the lake. Originally these two fellows just wanted to dip their foot in the water but I wanted to swim. But of course not alone. 

Luckily, our excellent swimmer went down with me. Swimming in a lake is definitely much more different than in a pool. It was so tiring since I was having trouble finding for things to support myself with. I only swam for a few minutes then I gave up. Hahaha.

So many monkeys were waiting for the tourist to give them food and definitely not afraid of people.
One even aggressively tore down a bottle in half to drink the leftover juice.  

Crocs, Flipper and some cheap slippers I bought at Jusco. XD

Eagle Feeding near Singa Island

Nothing much to say about this part of the trip. It was kinda boring actually. We didn't took part of the eagle feeding. The boat just went somewhere open and stop there for awhile. There were already many food floating on the lake. We can only observe the eagle swooping down for the food. These birds are cautious of course, they wouldn't go near the boats. After 10-15 mins, we were on to the next destination.

Beras Basah Island

The water was so green, I thought it looked like it was glowing. 

Idk.

Alien shadow!

Why ang moh likes to tan so much???

A must do when you're at a beach. Hehe

I caught a...............!!! Aw, I can't remember the name for this creature. :/

Showing his muscles when we're talking about "Unbeatable" the movie

Yy trying to emulate Cheung Kah Fai's boxing moves! 

Nothing to elaborate about this beach. Only pictures. Just have fun with it! 

Red Tomato Restaurant & Lounge

Lunch time at this popular eat-out along Cenang Beach. We ordered Mediterranean pasta (RM26.50), Pizza Margherita (Pineapple, Bacon, and Turkey Ham topping), and a Wellness Salad(RM26). All of them were delicious! I ordered mango juice(RM10) and the guys ordered Asahi and Saporro (both only cost RM6 a cup). Couldn't get enough of the juice and food. Definitely a must-eat place if you're there!

After our lunch, we went back to take a rest then did a little window-shopping in Kuah Town. I bought some alcoholic chocolate. But unfortunately, I only ate one and left it in the hotel, and I forgot to bring it home with me. Wasted 13 chunks of alcoholic chocolates. Huhuhu.

Legenda Park

Went to Legenda Park for a walk before the sun sets. The place was pretty huge as it took us quite a long time to walk around the area. We didn't get to explored the whole place but it was very enjoyable. We were so immersed with the sceneries. You can see a lot of statues that tells the tales of Pulau Langkawi. Enjoy the pictures of us and the awe-meh-zing view! 

Being a creeper because I wasn't tall enough to fit into the picture.

Perfect if I was holding the camera. Lol. T.T

Doesn't the scenery behind us look like a painting??

It's a real view! Makes your hair stand if you see it in real life! 

I don't know why, but this reminds me of Korean dramas. I can almost imagine one being shot here.

I apologize for the exposed tummy. 

Another breathtaking view

Falling from the edge!??!?!

Fake one.....

Stupid face.. hahahaha!

He thinks he is ultraman

Another poser! 

I think we were having a bit of "too much" fun with the giant crocodile. Can't figure out why though.

Filming for Bollywood audition. 

The battle of The Giants!

:X

Heheee

Since the sun was setting and Dataran Lang was just next to the park, we decided to take a long walk there. A really. Really. Really really. Long. Loooooong. Walk. A really long walk. Cannot emphasize enough.

Scenery next to the beach

The road not taken. Hahaha.

Eagle Square (Dataran Lang)

The pictures on this blog post are not edited in anyway but just re-sized and combined. Saved me so much time to tweak the lightnings and color contrast. Plus, can you believe the photo quality??? This picture didn't even look so glamorous in my eyes. Oh hail compact camera! Thank you Jason for borrowing it to us!

Excuse me for the tummy exposure again. 

The giant Eagle Statue!

Wan Thai Restaurant

We had our dinner here. This place was actually quite popular with tourist. A lot of people recommended this place for yummy Thai food. We had to try it of course. Hehe!

Tired after all the activities from our first day on Langkawi Island. There is so much to see and eat!

Mango Sticky Rice as our appetizer 

Green curry beef(?), Tom Yam soup, Crispy soft shell crab

Chicken wrapped with pandan, and the very unique Otak-otak in coconut

We had quite a high expectation from the food here seeing there are so many positive comments and reviews of the restaurant. Unfortunately, I think this place is overrated. The tom yam didn't have enough aroma to it. Maybe because we tasted the ones in Kauboi before eating here, so we started comparing. The others were just pretty ordinary. The only dish worthy of being sung praises of is the Otak-otak. Which was SUPER SPICEEEYY and in a good way. A very different and out-of-the-world taste. I don't eat spicy food, yet I keep craving for it! The total cost of our dinner was RM96.80.

Went back to the hotel and opened a bottle of alcohol. Yy said we should drink all of it in one night. I am not really keen on drinking, so after a cup or so, I couldn't take it. I fainted. Soon after, they followed too. Leaving the amount of alcohol (As shown in the picture) untouched. 

P.s. Are you tired of reading this super long post yet? I know I am when I'm doing my last read before I publish this. DX

Water Garden Restaurant

Woke up pretty tired on the second day. Couldn't waste time sleeping though when we're on vacation! Got ready and went to town to have some chinese-styled breakfast. Unfortunately, I think we were all pretty hungry and zonk-ed out a little as no pictures was taken during breakfast. No fear though! Please click the link above, that is next to the kitty paw and you'll see short reviews and recommended food served there. 

Personally, I really like the Penang Char Kuey Teow. I thought it was really comparable to the Penang's ones. I wonder why it got bad reviews for it. 

Pantai Kok

We had to check-out from Ricca Inn and check-in into another hotel which is situated near the Cable Car. I'll talk about the hotel in a bit. But for now.....

I actually had no idea where we were, I was asleep in the car when we were driving there. Suddenly they stopped and told me to get out and see the view. Here are our attempts in taking some jump shots!

Winner goes to Lim Yang Yue for the awesome flying kung fu kick shot!

Second goes to Siow Ming Qian for the cannonball pose and also some flying pelican(?) kung fu move. 

Last place goes to Joey Kuan for... the Klonoa jump (gamer will understand me!) and a side.. flying... erm.. idk. Hahaha!

OMG, I HAZ BUTT IN THIS PIC. HOLLYYY!!

Bye-bye superman~!

Yy made us do this. *blush*

Langkawi Sky Cab

Can you spot the Segway? They are available for rides in exchange for money of course

Super packed!

The queue was pretty damn long. But it didn't took a very long time till our turn.

Stopped at Middle station to look at the high view of the island.

Welcome to Malaysia! So patriotic!

Caught munching! Was pretty hungry as we didn't plan where we would take our lunch. Just ate what we bought from mini mart.

This time, going to the Top base for some HIGHER view.

Sky Bridge. Under maintenance for a year ++. If you plan on taking a walk here, too bad for you..
Don't really think it would be fix in a jiffy.

Take me awaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy~

Temurun Waterfall

The Telagah Tujuh waterfall is just near Oriental Village but we surveyed the place. According to the locals, Temurun Waterfall is the best one among the three major waterfalls. It is said that the area near Telagah Tujuh is being constructed, so the water was very dirty. So, we opt for Temurun instead. It's quite a long drive there even from the Sky Cable. But it is definitely worth the time. After arriving there, we just need to hike for a little and then... magic happened.
Lucky for us, the place is not packed with people. Spotted like around 10 people there. People come and go, but the number didn't increase much.

Behold! The majestic waterfall!

"Hello? Call you later. I'm going for a little dip."

Super refreshing! Best part of the whole trip in my opinion!

This was actually the level 2 jump. I attempted the level 1. We saw people jumping from a crazier height but the camera was out of juice by that time. 

Instagram instagram instagram.

Geopark Hotel

The reason I booked this place was because I thought the room would be so much better as it cost us RM128 for a night (compared to RM60 for Ricca Inn). I was attracted to the swimming pool and some pictures of the place posted online. But when we arrived..... super disappointed.

The room had a very... strong smell. I was literally choking on it when I went in. I called it the International Student (IS) perfume smell since it reminded me of them. The room has really poor lighting and spotted one that didn't work. TV reception was horrible. The floor tiles was like the common tiles that are used for the outdoors. The toilet is kinda dirty, I felt sands on my feet when I went into the shower. Extra bed cost RM30, and it felt horrible on my flesh. Need I say much? Though they did provide a mini fridge. So much fail for one win. Oh, I didn't even checked out the swimming pool, didn't spot them on our way in or out.

Definitely, not recommended. Banned in fact. 

I think it costs this much because of the location of the place considering it IS only a few steps away from the cable car. However, I really don't encourage people to book any hotels here. Be it at Kuah town or Cenang beach, since it is easy to find 24 hours mini market, but not in the Oriental Village. Everything is close down at night, the nearest place to buy stuff was Petronas which isn't very near and it closes at 11pm. Any later than that, you need to drive to the big area.. which will take at least 20 mins. *Smack head* I should have known. Oh well, we learn from mistakes and experience right?

Sunset watching at ???

I haz no name for it because we didn't follow any direction or any POI. We just drove to a place where we thought we could find a really nice spot to watch the sunset. This is my first time watching the sunset. Even though it happens 365 times a year. And hey! Let me show you the map and tell you where we were! I was surprised when I found out.

I feel as though as I am an explorer and adventurer now. This was another LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG walk for us.

Celebrity wannabe!

We had to go through this pile of something

As I said, looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnng walk

Understand what we're doing??

Someone is feeling a little romantic. Hahaha.

And like a little kid, I was busy catching crabs.

Succees!

These little critters ain't no joke! If they spot you they will run with their tiny little 8 legs like there is no tomorrow! I tried to corner them with rocks and my slipper and here is the unlucky bastard. It was fun though. Hahaha!

Uncle, jangan emo lah. Jangan jatuh leh, nanti banyak orang sakit hati.
HAHAHAHHA
Just two very epic and emotional picture from a very photogenic guy.

This is love!

Kept getting scold when my pictures was taken.
Cause I kept moving around and fidgeting. :P

Ran like the wind and back to our car as it was super dark! No street lights yo! Not forgetting it's kinda far too. My feet were dying because my slippers was smacking my foot when I was walking. Gah!

Privilege Restaurant and Bar

Hunted for another popular place to dine. This place is popular on Trip Advisor and it is definitely categorize as a high-end dining bar. I felt like a hole was burning in my pocket but oh well. It's a vacation that is meant to be ravished and enjoyed.
It is located at the second floor and it's kinda small but the atmosphere is really good. They even played Joana Wang's song, my favourite!

Please forgive me if I didn't refer the food as to how they are named. I didn't take note of what we're ordering by the second day here. So I'll just refer them to how I remembered them. 

The first picture of the spoon food wasn't in the menu. We ordered fried crab meat from the snack menu and for the main course, we ordered steak(medium) and lamb shank. The steak made my tummy flew up to the sky (exaggerating much). The flavor was there and I didn't pick up any bloody scent. The tenderness is just perfect. On the other hand, I don't have any comment on the lamb shank. It wasn't good nor bad. Didn't know which to decide for the dessert, so we ordered the trio. Where we can taste all of them. Their caramel pudding is the killer! The cendol and cheesecake doesn't suit my taste. Even though I'm really big on cendol, this tasted kinda weird and not cendol-like for me. 

This meal cost us a whooping RM160++ (if I remembered correctly.... or more).

Back to the hotel after we stocked up some junk foods to accompany us with the alcohol. The second night of drinking really took a toll on me. I don't remember how much I drank but it wasn't that much but I drank quick. I felt dizzy and couldn't walk. My breathing had problem and I was freezing. I shivered like crazy even when I wrapped myself with the blanket and with me hugging him (body warmth is not enough too). I dozed off during my suffer and woke up feeling sick. Ran to the bathroom unsteadily and all the glory that is made unto the toilet bowl is.... very disturbing. I wished I could just hug the toilet bowl and slept there but.... nah. Stumbled my way back to the bed and continue to let my dying body restore itself. Never again shall I drink this Auchentoshan. It's a monster. 

Gosh, I made it sound so dramatic. It did happened though. I just decided to narrate it with detailed explanation to tell you the seriousness of my dislike towards bitter alcohol. I don't get it. Why do people drink this disgusting stuff and make themselves suffer so much? If it was sweet, I won't give any complains though. LOL 

Breakfast Bar

Our last day on the island! *sobs sobs*

Planned to eat at La Chocolatine but we didn't really felt the "oohmp" to savor the taste of bread and cakes for breakfast. So, we drove for a bit and just simply decided on a place based on the comments in foursquare. Then, we're here.

You can actually spot my drooping eyelids. I looked so dreamy for breakfast. Hoho. 

The breakfast sets are self explanatory. It looked simple and... honestly, I could do the exact same meal at home. Kinda disappointed actually, was really expecting something that you don't normally see or make at home. Considering what they served, it was kinda expensive. It's around RM8++ for set. Meh~ for me. 

Kuah Town Shopping Time!

Nothing much to say or show here. We did all our chocolate shopping in Langkawi Saga centre. Even though we surveyed like 10 or more shops the other day to find which one sells the cheaper goods. It's all actually around the same price, so there isn't any difference to where you're going to buy it. Just choose a place that has loads of selections and be sure to look at the expiry date before you make a purchase! We also went to 16 Degree Wine Shop to buy the alcohols as it looked like a place that sells genuine items.

Here's a picture with an inside joke!

He's actually holding a bottle of alcohol (the unfinished Auchentoshan!!!) and not green tea. Super camouflage! 

Thai Town - Thai Seafood Restaurant

Although our stomach was still very full, we decided to take our lunch before we head to the airport. Originally, we were suppose to go to the Underwater World, I just didn't felt like it. Looking at fishes in this kind of place. Hmm... Maybe I will opt for it if I can do that while snorkeling or diving.

The food that this restaurant serves were... meh~. The tom yam soup didn't have sotong/calamari in it. Sad. Pineapple fried rice was okay but the other one wasn't winning over anybody's heart. Mango salad, too tangy and the mango isn't crunchy. This lunch wasn't cheap though. And again, didn't take note and forgot the price of the meal. 

Such a long post regarding the trip. So much memories was made and felt pretty awesome and sad at the same time as I had to face the reality of exams and assignment right after I flew back to Selangor. And I'm only writing this blog post today after all the procrastination. Can't believe I took 7 hours for this post. 

Will be gone for a hiatus or maybe will update some short posts.

Finals is around the corner, gotta hold up the activities and outings for awhile.

But I'm going out tomorrow, whatthe...

With much love, 

Joey.