Penang/ Langkawi trip
<--- WARNING ---> <--- LONG POST --->
20/06/2005 (Monday)
Took an 8.00am bus up to Pudu, KL. Met up with Yi Cheng, Jiann Hooi and Wai Kit at the McDonald's beside 茨广街 (Petaling Street). Had a horrible lunch at 星马 which was located opposite McD. Loitered around the region before taking the 2.30pm bus to Penang.
It was rather late when we arrived at the Sg. Nibong Express Bus Terminal. Had dinner at Ching Mien's house. My brother, who is doing his industrial attachment at Intel, came to visit me. Ching Mien drove us around Penang at night and we took a stroll at Gurney Drive. Went to sleep after watching some TV.
21/06/2005 (Tuesday)
Woke up rather early. The ferry to Langkawi left around 8.30am from Port Sweetenham. The journey took us 2 and a half hours. We went straight to the car rental booths when we arrived. The person kept asking us to take a Toyota Unser but we insisted on a Proton Wira. They didn't have one at the moment but promised us one by 4pm, and he gave us a Proton Iswara first.
An interesting thing to note is that most car plates in Langkawi are KV ####. KV incidently, is what we usually call a friend of ours, Kok Vui. And there was a place called Pantai Kok. So I had this strange feeling that KV was with us... Haha...
Anyway, we went to visit Makam Mahsuri. Or rather, the outside of Makam Mahsuri. Makam Mahsuri is located within a compound called Kota Mahsuri, and basically to get in you had to pay. Ching Mien said it was not worth it so all we did was take photos outside.
The legend of Mahsuri is one of the many that enshroud the island with a mythical past. You can read up abridged versions of the legends here: 1 or 2
I think we went to our hotel then, just to take a look. It was not check-in time yet so we had lunch at Kuah first. Just a simple typical kopitiam. Learnt a new term... "Jit Pa Ho", which is what ppl here (or Hokkiens everywhere) call "100 Plus" (the isotonic drink). We went to Waterworld next to check the prices. It was too expensive. We noticed that there was a small notice stuck at the counter in Malay informing us that the entry fees for Malaysians was cheaper (by RM10 if I'm not mistakened). Double standards eh?
Then we went back to our hotel to check-in. Awana Porto Malai Resort has a really nice waterfront and a lighthouse. And there's also a pier for people to dock their ships or yachts.
Anyway, we had to stay in our room until 5pm before the car came (delayed). During this time, we had to decide who was going to sleep in the middle (we pushed the 2 queen-sized beds together for the 5 of us). We decided to decide by 抽签. Wai Kit commented that he was very "suey" at these games. Yi Cheng scribbled on 5 pieces of paper and placed them inside a cup. All of us got empty sheets of paper, except Wai Kit, who got a smiley face ":)"!
After that we went swimming at the hotel's swimming pool. We had a hard time looking for food. Yi Cheng was keen on "Fatty Mum" at first but the prices put us off. After wandering for some time, we decided to eat at a Chinese Restaurant. 2 Japanese female tourists were eating a steamboat course. At a point of time, i saw a black shadow floating across from the corner of my eye. I turned my head, and I saw: an Arabian woman covered from head to toe in black and wearing a veil across her face. They are a rather common sight in Langkawi.
Went to a local pasar malam after that. We also bought drinks, bread and tuna at a store before going back to the hotel.
22/06/2005 (Wednesday)
Went to Gunung Mat Cincang (Mat Cincang Mountain or literally, Mr. Mince Mountain) after breakfast for the cable car ride. Unfortunately, it was under maintenance. So we loitered about the Oriental Village at the foot of the mountain for awhile. We went to Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) afterwards. To reach Telaga Tujuh we had to climb up 500+ stairs. But we digressed halfway to go to the waterfall, where we took some photos. Telaga Tujuh itself is actually a series of "puddles" formed as the flowing water carved the rocky surface.
Group photo!
Some of the "wells"
Went to Air Hangat (Hot Water) after that. It was not hot at all! *sigh* But I still took some photos there nonetheless. There was a intricately designed wall there depicting the legend behind certain places in Langkawi. After that we went to Pasir Hitam (Black Sand). There really was a black sand shore there! Not the kena-oil-slick type of sand mind you... We had lunch at a restaurant there and rushed back to our hotel for the island hopping event.
At Air Hangat
<--- something funny happened at this point of time in our hotel room involving someone's swimming trunks, but I can't tell you
There were an Indian couple and a Malay family on the motorboat with us. The boat ride was rather rough, especially when we were far from land. Seawater kept splashing in our faces. But it was fun!!! Had our safety jackets of course.
First stop was Pulau Dayang Bunting (Pregnant Maiden Island). Legend says that women who are unable to concieve miraculously get pregnant after they drink the water from Tasik Dayang Bunting (Pregnant Maiden Lake), which is located on the island.
Can you see "her" outline?
We were given 1 hour to do what we want on the island. We decided to go on a "Banana Boat" ride (RM10 per pax-- discounted price) on Tasik Dayang Bunting. The 7 of us sat on an inflated boat that was dragged on the lake by a motorboat. We could choose to "sink" or not. The Indian couple that joined us didn't want "sink" as they couldn't swim. The ride was therefore rather lacklustre, until at one point, we capsized! I tell you, I never felt any better capsize experience in my life! (Because I never capsized before) It was exhilarating... because it was unexpected! Actually I think we were to blame for the incident coz we tilted to one side as the boat cornered. Oh well, just to let you know, all of us were fine coz we had our life jackets on. The Indian lady was somehow shocked though. Btw, and the water was nice and warm (no chlorine, no saltiness)--really nice to swim in.
Me before the ride, not knowing what was gonna hit me...
Next stop was Pulau Singa Besar (Big Lion Island). This island's activity is eagle feeding. We didn't get to do that because the island was under maintenance. But our boat did stop at a bay for us to view the many many eagles there. Langkawi was named after eagles; "Lang" ("Helang") for "eagle" and "Kawi" for "reddish brown".
Langkawi--Land of the Eagles
Last on the island hopping list was Pulau Beras Basah (Wet Rice Island). The activities on this island were snorkelling, parasailing etc. It was all too expensive, so we
Returned to the hotel around 5.30pm. We had decided to have our dinner at the hotel, taking the buffet dinner set. It was not really worth it... the food wasn't so nice. The food we saw the day before seemed nicer.
<--- Infectious Laughter attack at the hotel room --->
Went to Kuah town to look for a duty free shop recommended by Ching Mien's dad called Wawasan. Couldn't find it so we bought some stuff at another duty free shop (there are many on the island). Also visited a souvenir shop before going back to the hotel.
***Somewhere along our trip today we went to visit a "Makam Purba" (Ancient Tomb). Be warned---it is really really not worth the trouble to visit it.
***We also visited "Beras Terbakar" (Burnt Rice). Not worth it too, unless you want to read about the origins of the burnt rice.
23/06/2005 (Thursday)
Went for the Cable Car Ride (finally). Stopped by at Pantai Kok (Kok Beach) on the way for petrol. Pantai Kok seems to be a new town in the making. There's a lighthouse and the buildings built around the bay look slightly mediterrannean to me. Anyway, concerning the cable car ride, I was
Me and Wai Kit. There was a suspended bridge from one peak to another. Cool!
After
We are totally dwarfed...
Went back to Penang around 5.30pm. Had our dinner at the same restaurant as the last Malaysian trip (which I didn't blog about, but maybe will blog in the future :P). Played bridge and read before going to sleep.
24/06/2005 (Friday)
We had breakfast at a food court. Jiann Hooi was feeling quite sick already. After that we went to buy our bus tickets back home and also some Him Heang （馨香） tambun biscuits. We went to Gurney Plaza to watch a movie. Jiann Hooi was not getting any better so we decided to buy the late afternoon tix and go back to Ching Mien's house first.
After sending Jiann Hooi back to the house for some rest, the rest of us went to eat lunch. We've been to the same restaurant the last time. Geat sent me an SMS telling me that I could stay over at my cousin's house in Teluk Kumbar for a night. Ching Mien told me Teluk Kumbar was North, so I thought it would be convinient for Geat to fetch me from Gurney Drive on his way back from work at Intel, which is at the Southeast of the island. So I brought all my luggage along with me when we went to Gurney Plaza again. Jiann Hooi was feeling better so he joined us.
We watched H2G2 (HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Rather disappointing...the book is definitely better. Anyway, we had dinner at Gurney Drive. I stayed there waiting for my brother to fetch me. Apparently, it wasn't really convinient for him because Teluk Kumbar is located at the SOUTHERN part of the island. Oh well, anyway, we had wanted to visit my other cousin at first, but he had another guest at his house. So my brother just brought me touring about Penang and we also visited Tesco.
25/06/2005 (Saturday)
Woke up early, bid farewell to my cousin's family and went out to have breakfast. I went to say bye to the rest of the guys too before boarding my bus back to BP. I travelled for most of the day. The irritating thing was that the bus kept stopping at many places, including KL to fetch more passengers. I was not a direct bus back to BP; it was going to JB/Singapore. But I was told to be back at home by 7pm, so i decided to take this bus to Ayer Hitam and take another bus back home. The ticket seller told me the bus would go to Ayer Hitam. But when the bus stopped at Yong Peng, I was getting worried. When I asked the bus driver he said he's not stopping at Ayer Hitam and he said the ticketing people can say what they want. (#$#!$#&@!!! I was therefore forced to come down of the bus at the NORTH-SOUTH HIGHWAY INTERCHANGE. $#@%^&$#! Thankfully, Ayer Hitam is not too far from the interchange, so I walked there and I took a bus back home.
Bloody express bus company. Don't think I'll ever board your bus again. Made my entire trip end with me in a foul mood.
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A special thanks to Wai Kit, for helping me recollect the events that occured. Thanks!
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