Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Malaysia Trip 2 (Part 2: Langkawi)
The bus ride to Perlis was comfortable despite the cheap price of the ticket. Most of us slept the entire trip, I couldnt sleep for some reason. It wasnt that I was not tired, just too excited about seeing new scenery and new type of country. 2 lanes of highway, nothing but farms and plantations everywhere, so different.... Peaceful compared to what I was used to.
The bus went off the highway into Alor Star. I thought we were going for a rest stop at the bus station. I was wrong. We stopped at the bus station a total of 2 minutes before taking the small roads to Kuala Perlis. Its kinda like speeding through a neighbour at 100-110kph. Had a quick bread snack in knowledge that the next meal was at least 2 hours away. When we got off the bus, we walked around Kuala Perlis looking for the Ferry Terminal and a toilet.
What we did find was a tour agent who was offering us a car and other packages. We werent interested, so he got angry and called our Malaysian friend names. Since the Singaporeans were clueless about Bahasa Melayu, we were puzzled at what the guy was shouting at our friend, JK. In the end, it did not matter. We bought our tickets for the ferry to Langkawi, then went to the nearby food centre for a coffee. The coffee was drinkable but only barely....
The ferry ride was at best boring. So boring, I fell asleep with the full uncomfort of my barang on my lap. You can only watch Westlife and Britney MTVs for only some many times.....
When we disembarked at Langkawi Terminal, JK took over arranging our transport and tour packages. The rest of us just watched as JK secured a Nissan Vanette and the services of a tour agent for 70 RM per day. The next stop after getting our transport was to the petrol station to get some fuel for our adventure then went to the hotel to drop off our stuff then we explored the island.
The first stop on our tour of Langkawi was the southwest beach. There we saw the Underwater World but just the outside and strolled through the beach. The sand was so fine that when mixed with water could be used as a face mask for spa.
We went back to the van to go to our next stop: the place of seven wells and a waterfall. What we didnt know was it was a 45 minute drive from our location. When we arrived at the parking lot, we realised we were alone there, not a single other vehicle was there. We decided to see both the waterfall and the seven wells. Half way to the seven wells, we realised seeing both might be quite hard due to the fact that the seven wells was 300+ steps more from our location! We reached the top of the stairs to realised this: Seven Wells is the name of the place not a description of the number of wells. Being too tired to walk the trail, we did the next best thing: we took photos. The descent was a bit challenging due to the diminishing light and steepness of the incline but we made it!
The trip back was uneventful and we had dinner at Lavazza. I had a Fish and Chips while the rest had Steaks and Pastas. Yummy... The food was great but the company was fantastic. Its rare to actually have dinner with your team mates in a holiday setting.
Then it was back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. Everyone slept by 2am and stayed asleep till 7am. I of course woke up a bit earlier to have a soak in the tub.
By the time we all woke up and were ready to go, it was close to 8am. We then decided to go for breakfast at the nearby food centre because we did not have enough breakfast tickets. In the end, the three guys ate their 32 RM's worth at the buffet. I would say the food was filler-type rather than quality but then again it is buffet...
After breakfast, we went window shopping. Didnt really buy anything but saw quite a few cool shirts and shorts. Oh well... The poor cant buy much... HAHA!!!
Island-hopping came next. I would say it was uneventful because we saw a lot things like the formation that looked like a pregnant woman, the inland lake which is bordering the sea and the eagles. The eagles were shy as we didnt have food for them so we waited for other boats to arrive to feed them. Nice to look but a bit too commercialised....
Snorkelling was fun though I didnt see much fish, mainly coral and Sea Urchins. We then went back to the mainland and our hotel. We changed into clean clothes before going for dinner at a Sze Chuan Resturant. The food was okay and the prices were reasonable. After dinner, we went around to look for a massage parlour at least the rest of them. We could not find any so we walked around the shopping mall till around 10pm.
We then returned to the hotel for a team bonding session. We talked about our lives and about each other in a frank manner. It was refreshing and enlightening. Then we went to sleep.
The last day was what I would call a slack day. We slept in till late before TM and Sin Yan went out to get breakfast from Mac's. I soaked in the tub as usual and then went to check my emails. Breakfast was a quick one and then we packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel. We left our stuff at the hotel before we went for the Cable car ride.
The cable car was fun. We saw a lot of fantastic scenery and the view was breath-taking. (Though I wonder whether it was just the altitude?) Took photos and walked around the summit before descending to the bottom and lunch. Lunch was a simple fare of Char Kway Teow and other local fares. We went back to Bayview Hotel to collect our bags and then stopping by the shops to buy some chocolates. We then returned the car and waited for our ferry.
The return ferry to Perlis was boring.... They were showing some lame Wong Fei Hung spinoff... Slept as usual.... We then walked to the bus station and boarded the bus after eating some bread. We chatted till we stopped at some weird station in Perlis/Kedah. The influx of new passengers changed our arrangements temporarily. We then talked about life and other things till midnight. Sleep overcame us and we slept till the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. I went out for a toilet break before going back to rest. I fell asleep at around 4am just as the bus exited KL. It was nice to see KLCC and Petaling Street again!
Woke up again at 6am to go have a quick breakfast at Yong Ping. We then all returned to the bus and slept till Johor. We past through customs and then took a bus to Kranji MRT. We said our goodbyes and went home.
Thus ends a holiday I would remember for a long time. The friendship strengthen during the trip, I pray will last till after our University days and into our working lives.
LANGKAWI GANG FOREVER!!!!!
The bus ride to Perlis was comfortable despite the cheap price of the ticket. Most of us slept the entire trip, I couldnt sleep for some reason. It wasnt that I was not tired, just too excited about seeing new scenery and new type of country. 2 lanes of highway, nothing but farms and plantations everywhere, so different.... Peaceful compared to what I was used to.
The bus went off the highway into Alor Star. I thought we were going for a rest stop at the bus station. I was wrong. We stopped at the bus station a total of 2 minutes before taking the small roads to Kuala Perlis. Its kinda like speeding through a neighbour at 100-110kph. Had a quick bread snack in knowledge that the next meal was at least 2 hours away. When we got off the bus, we walked around Kuala Perlis looking for the Ferry Terminal and a toilet.
What we did find was a tour agent who was offering us a car and other packages. We werent interested, so he got angry and called our Malaysian friend names. Since the Singaporeans were clueless about Bahasa Melayu, we were puzzled at what the guy was shouting at our friend, JK. In the end, it did not matter. We bought our tickets for the ferry to Langkawi, then went to the nearby food centre for a coffee. The coffee was drinkable but only barely....
The ferry ride was at best boring. So boring, I fell asleep with the full uncomfort of my barang on my lap. You can only watch Westlife and Britney MTVs for only some many times.....
When we disembarked at Langkawi Terminal, JK took over arranging our transport and tour packages. The rest of us just watched as JK secured a Nissan Vanette and the services of a tour agent for 70 RM per day. The next stop after getting our transport was to the petrol station to get some fuel for our adventure then went to the hotel to drop off our stuff then we explored the island.
The first stop on our tour of Langkawi was the southwest beach. There we saw the Underwater World but just the outside and strolled through the beach. The sand was so fine that when mixed with water could be used as a face mask for spa.
We went back to the van to go to our next stop: the place of seven wells and a waterfall. What we didnt know was it was a 45 minute drive from our location. When we arrived at the parking lot, we realised we were alone there, not a single other vehicle was there. We decided to see both the waterfall and the seven wells. Half way to the seven wells, we realised seeing both might be quite hard due to the fact that the seven wells was 300+ steps more from our location! We reached the top of the stairs to realised this: Seven Wells is the name of the place not a description of the number of wells. Being too tired to walk the trail, we did the next best thing: we took photos. The descent was a bit challenging due to the diminishing light and steepness of the incline but we made it!
The trip back was uneventful and we had dinner at Lavazza. I had a Fish and Chips while the rest had Steaks and Pastas. Yummy... The food was great but the company was fantastic. Its rare to actually have dinner with your team mates in a holiday setting.
Then it was back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. Everyone slept by 2am and stayed asleep till 7am. I of course woke up a bit earlier to have a soak in the tub.
By the time we all woke up and were ready to go, it was close to 8am. We then decided to go for breakfast at the nearby food centre because we did not have enough breakfast tickets. In the end, the three guys ate their 32 RM's worth at the buffet. I would say the food was filler-type rather than quality but then again it is buffet...
After breakfast, we went window shopping. Didnt really buy anything but saw quite a few cool shirts and shorts. Oh well... The poor cant buy much... HAHA!!!
Island-hopping came next. I would say it was uneventful because we saw a lot things like the formation that looked like a pregnant woman, the inland lake which is bordering the sea and the eagles. The eagles were shy as we didnt have food for them so we waited for other boats to arrive to feed them. Nice to look but a bit too commercialised....
Snorkelling was fun though I didnt see much fish, mainly coral and Sea Urchins. We then went back to the mainland and our hotel. We changed into clean clothes before going for dinner at a Sze Chuan Resturant. The food was okay and the prices were reasonable. After dinner, we went around to look for a massage parlour at least the rest of them. We could not find any so we walked around the shopping mall till around 10pm.
We then returned to the hotel for a team bonding session. We talked about our lives and about each other in a frank manner. It was refreshing and enlightening. Then we went to sleep.
The last day was what I would call a slack day. We slept in till late before TM and Sin Yan went out to get breakfast from Mac's. I soaked in the tub as usual and then went to check my emails. Breakfast was a quick one and then we packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel. We left our stuff at the hotel before we went for the Cable car ride.
The cable car was fun. We saw a lot of fantastic scenery and the view was breath-taking. (Though I wonder whether it was just the altitude?) Took photos and walked around the summit before descending to the bottom and lunch. Lunch was a simple fare of Char Kway Teow and other local fares. We went back to Bayview Hotel to collect our bags and then stopping by the shops to buy some chocolates. We then returned the car and waited for our ferry.
The return ferry to Perlis was boring.... They were showing some lame Wong Fei Hung spinoff... Slept as usual.... We then walked to the bus station and boarded the bus after eating some bread. We chatted till we stopped at some weird station in Perlis/Kedah. The influx of new passengers changed our arrangements temporarily. We then talked about life and other things till midnight. Sleep overcame us and we slept till the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. I went out for a toilet break before going back to rest. I fell asleep at around 4am just as the bus exited KL. It was nice to see KLCC and Petaling Street again!
Woke up again at 6am to go have a quick breakfast at Yong Ping. We then all returned to the bus and slept till Johor. We past through customs and then took a bus to Kranji MRT. We said our goodbyes and went home.
Thus ends a holiday I would remember for a long time. The friendship strengthen during the trip, I pray will last till after our University days and into our working lives.
LANGKAWI GANG FOREVER!!!!!
# posted by Ian @ 7:44 PM 
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