Since we lost a bit of money for the Bangkok trip - thank God it was all at unbelievable promotional rates - we weren't feeling very benevolent for the Langkawi trip. That, and also because the hotels were either obscenely pricey to begin with, such as The Andaman and The Datai or they were too shabby for a 4 star price. Finally we decided to settle with a reasonably priced hotel along Cenang beach - Fave hotel as we were impressed by the exterior and interior of the rooms, plus looks new and clean.
New it was, but clean not up to standard. Probably Malaysian clean, but not Korean-hotel clean. If that means anything.
We left the kids in good hands of Mama Yeh Yeh, and took the late afternoon flight to Langkawi. When we arrived the airport, our car was ready (thanks to some people and a few phone calls) and we took a slow drive to our hotel, stopping along the way for a quick look-see-look-see at the stalls.
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| We travelled on this during our stay on the island... most grateful! |
Prices were not cheap, and goods were old and dusty with no variety. Put it simply, nothing we've not seen before. I think even our local night markets here offer better. Yes... that badddd!!
The pool at the hotel was nice, only that it was too open for people walking in and out of the lobby or hanging around the cafe to see. Plus I forgot my
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| Enjoyed a local coconut and a plate of rojak by the road side. |
At night, hubby didn't bring me far for dinner. We merely had to walk down to the pool side, where he had pre-arranged and fully paid for the dinner even months before. The hotel arranged a special table with candle lights at one corner of the pool just for us. Although it was a nice quiet corner, we were not alone, because the mosquitoes decided to join in the fun! The waiters thoughtfully brought 4 mosquito coils to stink them away.
During the dinner, a cricket jumped on our table, and in the midst of our main course, I saw movement behind hubby's back and almost screamed my lungs out... it was Frederick the Frog (or the Frog Prince if you like) who sneaked up behind him, and jumped near my Coach, and that freaked me even more... thank God my bag was zipped up because I wouldn't want to bring home a frog as souvenir!
That aside, the dinner was very pleasant, because it's rare times like this that we get served without feeling hurried, no kids to hush or mind over, and full privacy to ourselves. Hubby, when he made the booking - did asked for a butler to be nearby throughout dinner, but I guess the hotel staff didn't understand him clearly.
After dinner, we went out to check out the night life - there was almost none.. by this time I was really disappointment with Langkawi... c'on, it's a tourist area with beaches and duty-free liquor, so where's the dancing and music and gwailos?? We chanced upon a small shop offering fish spa, and this being our first time, dipped our legs into the aquarium of garra rufa fishes. It was initially so ticklish for me and I was really tempted to take my feet out if not for the vain pot in me to have my dead skins exfoliated!! Total RM10 for 10 minutes for 2 pax... reasonable mou?
The next day, we went to town for shopping. Was nice that we had a mission - to buy a Yamazaki 25 years, on top of shopping for our own liquor. I was too excited at the prices and almost planned to buy half a dozen wine plus a bottle of Sheridan coffee liqueur (cheapest was RM57) when hubby reminded me that we are only allowed 1 litre each through customs. Wanna take the risk?
Well, at the end, no shops had Yamazaki 25 and we brought back only 2 bottles of wine, plus a lot of chocolates and a little souvenir for the kids.
We visited Nusantara selling traditional remedies made by jungle harvested herbs and a sea cucumber species where we bought some to try (help local industry mah)
Massages in Langkawi were all full and no opportunity for walk ins, plus they were really expensive. In my mind, I was still comparing Bali and Thailand with Langkawi where massages and shopping was so invitingly cheap.
On Day 2 dinner, we ate at Porto Malai Langkawi. Hubby used to hang around here during his bachelor days and short stint in Langkawi.
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| Mine |
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| His |
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| Pleasant place for a stroll and dinner |
On our last day, we strolled along the Cenang beach again where hubby caught a baby crab ( because of my sharp eyes, hehe ) then we checked out and drove to the Crocodile farm (but didn't enter) and went hotel hopping. We checked out Four Points by Sheraton and then lazed around in The Andaman before moving on briefly to The Datai and then down to town again to return the car.
Honest to the bone, we were both missing our kids even at the end of Day 1. We called them a few times, and they were happy and didn't sound like they missed us. Before leaving, William asked hubby if we didn't bring them along was because we didn't love them... awwww... that really broke our heart but it was good he asked and not assumed.
Well, the next two holidays will be as a family... and I'm looking forward!!
