Second day in Langkawi – 21/2/09

Naomi strongly resisted on the idea of hiring a scooter. There was not much faith there in my driving and I am not sure why. It was impossible to get around the island without either a scooter, a car or a taxi-ride. In the end, we decided to hire this bomby old car for double the cost as a scooter.

It actually turned out to be a brilliant idea on getting a car considering that it rained heavily later on that afternoon (thank you Naomi~).

Langkawi Island is actually quite beautiful to say the least. It wasn't just a normal beach island, there were volcanic mountains, gorgeous waterfalls and of course, plenty of shopping and food. The beach in the main part of town (Pantai Cenang) was very ordinary by Aussie standards. There seemed to be a lot of Europeans here for beach holidays. We haven't met one Australian yet in Langkawi. But then why would you want to come here for the beach when you have the best beaches in the world in your backyard??? BRING BACK BYRON!!!!

In our quest for a decent beach on the island, we found a pristine beach with crystal-blue water that was occupied by many locals and a few foreigners. Maybe there is a reason that the locals want to save their best beach from the invasion of others. Oh, there were also a lot of monkeys in the surrounding which seemed to act as natural garbos.

We went to a place called the “Oriental Village” that had heaps of duty free shops and this cable car thing that take you to the summit of a mountain (750m). Unfortunately, we decided not to do it because it would have cost us around AUD$11 each. I was kicking myself when someone later told us it was one of the highlights of Langkawi. :(

The night market was absolutely awesome. We had Malay pancakes, chicken satay sticks (Naomi had 10), tempura chicken and prawns, deep fried chicken legs, fried noodles etc. The food was excellent and it only cost $9 for both of us.

The next day (22/2/09) we found a new hotel that was also right on the beach (beach view from our balcony) and to Naomi's delight, it was insect free, except the mossies of course. I decided to go on a Island-hopping tour in the afternoon while Naomi read and relaxed on the beach.
Island hopping was very uneventful besides that 3 Swiss girls that I met were apparently attacked by the monkeys on one of the islands. Apparently the monkeys grabbed their towels and attempted to rob them of their handbags. The girls also lost their blank DVDs for their Camcorder to the monkeys whom ate them in front of the girls. It was a pity that I wasn't there else to rescue them. There are coming to Oz in a few months, maybe you can show them around Angus.

The eagle feeding was pretty majestic. Langkawi apparently means land of the eagles in Malay. It was amazing to see 40-50 wild eagles with wingspan of a metre flying around you. They put up a good show for us tourists.

We also saw the sunset that day. I really enjoy sitting on the beach watching the sun set over the horizon and the colour transformation of the sky from blue to yellow to pink to purple. One of Borat's favourite sayings - “Very Niiiice”.

Naomi fell in love with the beach surrounding and the relaxing atmosphere. After we got out from our first hotel, the island suddenly became a lot more beautiful and like the holiday destination that they brag about in the in-plane magazines.

Angus for your information, there is an awesome reggae bar right next to our hotel serving some of the cheapest drinks in whole of Malaysia. Langkawi is duty-free and has drinks cheaper than water. A Tiger cost around RM1.50 which is roughly 70 cents. They also have some very very cheap cocktails too. Told you should have come over here! I even had a drink in memory of you. It was packed with backpackers at night when they have live reggae music playing. It was pretty funny how they turned Knocking on Heaven's Door and some of Blondie's songs into reggae. Nevertheless it was just nice sitting there listening to the music and looking at the boats and listening to the waves hitting the beach. You could have a whole carton for less than $20! Maybe next time mate. - P