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Revisiting Langkawi 2015 : Places to visit

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel, Reviews by

We all have different agendas when we visit a place. Ours were more of to Eat, Sleep and Shop. A pinch of history lessons here and there. And something for the kids of course.

DATARAN LANG (EAGLE SQUARE)

This is where the iconic eagle statue is. We went there to have a stroll – loving the big space where the kids could run around. Nearby is the jetty and one could see the sea and boats. We spent less than an hour here. Took some photos, the kids were pretending to be eaten by the eagle. Then we left. For dinner.

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UNDERWATER WORLD LANGKAWI

Website : Underwater World Langkawi

As an adult, I felt this was an amazing place. Perhaps I haven’t been to a more extravagant facility but this was a visit worth many times. This centre is located at Pantai Cenang, a popular beach to the south of Langkawi Island off the north western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. We love it as a family because it has a variety of species to look at which is arranged in a manner where it’s difficult to miss out on any species and also offers reasonably good Government Rate. All I had to do was flash my work pass ID!! My parents in law got senior citizen fees as well. Yeay!

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If you go to their website, you can see that they also provide educational services to the public such as for practical training and research development programmes. Perhaps it can benefit those studying Zoology or anything animal related.

My son was really excited to see the penguins being fed. He was a bit disappointed though that elephants were not part of the Aquaria.

PANORAMA LANGKAWI

The best place to click is this page : Panorama Tickets – as it provides a lot of options for combo fares especially if you intend to spend the whole day here. We just opt for the SkyCab + SkyDome. The SkyDome was strange. It’s basically visuals of moving roller coaster rides trying to mess with your head and vestibular system while you sit still in the chair. Throughout the mini show I wasn’t sure whether I was genuinely impressed or feeling a bit ‘duh’.

The SkyCab ride was just like how I remembered it. That ‘hamba kerdil’ feeling as you see the majestic forest and waterfalls beneath you. Just wowwww.

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The SkyBridge is now opened to public. There’s also a 6D cinema – was warned early on not advisable for pregnant mothers and elderly customers. We totally forgot to have a look at their 3D Art Museum and send a postcard from the SkyPos – that is soooo Seoul Tower.

MAHSURI TOMB

You may have heard of the curse towards Langkawi that extends to 7 generations – where the land will not prosper and wither. Well Mahsuri cast the curse.

The story begins with the beautiful Mahsuri, a maiden (or princess by some accounts) born over 200 years ago, who married the love of her life during a time of conflict with the Siamese. Her husband went off to fight in the war and her mother-in-law, jealous of her beauty, vengefully accused Mahsuri of adultery.

Mahsuri protested her innocence but the village elders tried the young girl, found her guilty and sentenced her to death by stabbing. She was tied to a stake but when she was pierced with the ceremonial dagger she bled white blood, a sign of her innocence.

With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed the island with seven generations of bad luck. Later the Siamese conquered Kedah and invaded the island – the inhabitants of Langkawi set fire to their staple crop and poisoned their wells in order to halt the advance of the invaders. Legend has it to this day traces of burnt rice can be seen in nearby Padang Matsirat (The Field of Burnt Rice) especially after torrential downpours.

Source : MakamMahsuri

This attraction is not that big. Perhaps one of the few interesting thing is that we get to splash our faces with water from the ‘sacred well’ of mystical benefits across the decades. It ironically has a pipe attached to its walls. It was also said that the real resting place of Mahsuri is not the one decorated nicely, for fear it will be used for pemujaan purposes – instead is beneath one of the two trees planted near the area.

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KOMPLEKS HAJI ISMAIL GROUP

You might want to look for Klinik Kesihatan Kuah as your landmark on WAZE. The complex would be this big white building with a hotel just next to it. This is the best shopping destination for most Malaysians. It sells all this Corelle stuff, tax free chocolates and bedding sheets. Of course this may be nothing for those who hails from overseas but for us here, this is like murah kowtt.. 

This is also the place for one who wish to experience homegrown products – tongkat ali coffee, oil based perfumes (minyak attar), lemongrass balms, gamat products etc..

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I bought my souvenirs here – my chocolates and keychains and what not.. then of course we had a meal at the nearby food court. Which brings to my next post. A very short one on Food in Langkawi.

Revisiting Langkawi 2015 : The itinerary

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

This is not the best itinerary around. But I hope to offer a different perspective to anybody’s visit to Langkawi be it for the first time or god knows the 20th time throughout your entire life.

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The last time we went here as a family was less than 4 years ago, so we did skip the island-hopping trips and most of the tourist-y stuff this year. Instead, we took a more relaxing approach to our trip and enjoyed more of the gastronomic experience in Langkawi.

As usual, with AirAsia “everyone can fly” and we booked our tickets through the website 6 weeks prior to the trip on AirAsiaGo.Com. The total payment for our return tickets (4 adults, 2 kids) from KLIA2 to Langkawi including the hotel stay at Tok Senik Resort for 4D3N amounts up to RM 1519.08.

I will be sharing in my next posts about our experiences at the resort and of course our very little activities in Langkawi. Here is a brief outline of the trip.

ITINERARY

Like any other trips via KLIA2, we would park our car at Putrajaya Sentral first before then taking the KLIA TRANSIT train to the airport. Putrajaya Sentral offers good overnight parking rates for a maximum of 14 days. This is not only a convenient way to start our travels but also comfortable. However if you intend to hog along a lot of luggage with you, especially after shopping at your holiday destination- using this mode of transportation is not advisable.

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Hope this kickstarts things. Next I’ll tell you about the Tok Senik resort.

Spell of Saigon

Posted in Everyday Life, Leisure & Travel by

The trip to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in December 2014 was to commemorate our 4th year marriage anniversary. It was impromptu. I did not think that Mr Husband would be serious to book the trip in less than 3 weeks but he did. Anything is possible with AirAsiaGo.Com. This time we didn’t manage to score a freebie but it was still a relatively cheap trip.

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Ho Chi Minh is a sea of people. A small world stuck in 10 years ago maybe more. I was drawn to its spell of simplicity. Its spell of trade. It interest me to see these people going through the same routine daily which probably have been going on since the times of their grandparents.They take pride in the history of the Vietnam War and claims most citizens would eat anything that moves including rats especially when they are in season hence the ‘Mouse BBQ’.

For this mini holiday, we stayed at Duna Hotel.

We booked day trips to the Mekong river and Co Chi tunnel through a tour agency. They were very kind to accommodate our special diet restrictions as Muslim tourist which is acknowledged as ‘tak boleh makan babi’. Ha ha.  We shopped for clothes and fabric at the Ben Thanh market and enjoyed simple Vietnamese meals at the Malaysian street. Most of the time it was a free and easy schedule. No rush, no lush.

Here are the pictures ;

A day trip to the Mekong river. Took the 'sampan', watched the coconut candy making sessions, drank fresh honey in tea sprinkled with what looked like pollen. On the way to the river, stopped at a beautiful temple.

A day trip to the Mekong river. Took the ‘sampan’, watched the coconut candy making sessions, drank fresh honey in tea sprinkled with what looked like pollen. On the way to the river, stopped at a beautiful temple.

Co Chi tunnel : Many displays of human torture machines. And guerilla tactics and weapons.

Co Chi tunnel : Many displays of human torture machines. And guerilla tactics and weapons.

Pho noodles, fried rice with soy sauce, tapioca, honey tea drink.. to name a few.

Pho noodles, fried rice with soy sauce, tapioca, honey tea drink.. to name a few.

Ho Chi Minh – a small city with an interesting story. I would go there again more prepared next time. How was your experience?

Kuching 2015 : Where to Eat

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Here’s the thing about being in your hometown. I just tend to stick to something I’m familiar with and less adventurous. However, this should get you started on anybody’s culinary adventure.

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RUMAH HIJAU (24A-24D, Jalan Rubber,93400 Kuching, Sarawak) 

The risk of stumbling into ex-colleagues are there but hey.. it is a good moment to catch up. We had to visit the place twice because we were actually aiming for 2 dishes – The briyani ayam madu and the pisang chocolate cheese pancake. Sadly, these must-try dishes are only available on weekends. So plan your trips wisely.

They also offer Nasi Ayam Penyet, Penang laksa and other forms of roti.

KETS KITCHEN (Lee Ling Commercial Centre (Lorong Lee Ling 1B), 93050 Kuching, Sarawak)

Perhaps going there for brunch is not really a good idea as most vendors have not opened their stall. But thank god the mi kolok is there.

Other mentions would include : Kueytieaw basah (udang), Laksa Sarawak, Nasi goreng daging.

KOPI O KORNER (No. 139B, Bangunan MARA, Jalan Satok, 93400 Kuching, Sarawak)

This place serves a lot of choices of breakfast and lunch. Every year we come to this place without fail as the place is clean and service is quick. It can be a bit expensive to frequent to everybody but the food is worth it. We had the MI Kampua Special and the famous 3 layer tea.

Other dishes you may want to try include Mee Jawa Special, Mi Pok (its not pork mind you) and of course the Laksa Sarawak.

SINGAPORE CHICKEN RICE (EXPRESS) (Jalan Rubber (Lot 476-477, Sect.10 KTLD), 93400 Kuching, Sarawak)

Our latest visit is a tad disappointing. We used to adore the Steamed chicken rice set but this time the chicken looked and smell old. Even the Midin Goreng Belacan tasted odd. I had the ‘new dish’ which is called Corn Soup. It turned out to be a normal fishball soup with sprinkles of corn and what looked like leftovers of carrot slices and lettuces. Not to recommend. The only thing that has the ol’ same aura of greatness to it was the 3 layered iced tea.

MADAM TANG’S LAKSA ( THE SPRING )

I barely recognised the suffocating ‘makeover’ to Madam Tang’s Laksa. Prior to the food court in The Spring Mall being renovated and standardized, this particular eatery had its logo and all put up big and high enough for people to see from afar. Now, I had to literally ask the generalized LAKSA STALL ‘are you previously Madam Tang?

To which the cashier happily replied ‘AOK”

The LAKSA SARAWAK was price-y but the taste was worth it. I am willing to shut one eye as I paid RM7.50 for a bowl of its normal laksa.

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Of course, there are other places once should try like TOP SPOT seafood centre, Teh Tarik Kafe, MOM’s LAksa, Bla Bla Bla cafe, Sambal Planet etc.. we just did not have enough time. HUHU..