The Lagendary Island

My trip to Langkawi with my family from 19th - 25th December 2009. The photos in this blog were all taken by me and my son and they are all originals and neither have they been edited nor superimposed.

I went to Langkawi for work purpose and so, decided to bring my family along. We left for KLIA in the early morning (6am precisely) of 19th December 2009 as our flight was scheduled to depart at 8.30am. Despite having to wake up early, the kids were excited as this would be their second holiday trip after Bali.

We arrived at KLIA around 7am and proceeded straight to drop-in luggage counter as I had already checked-in the night before. We had no spare time for breakfast and after clearing the check point, went straight to gate B7. Around 8.15am, we boarded the aircraft and as I was traveling with kids, I had the luxury to board first before the rest of the passengers. But you know the name.... MAS.... all of the passengers were made to sit in the aircraft for 45 minutes before I could hear the captain announced.."Cabin crew, arm and cross check all doors", meaning we were about to take off. And that was after FORTY FIVE long minutes and there was no announcement during that period as to why there was a delay. I suspected it was due to connecting passengers from London as the last group of people who boarded were all Mat Sallehs and I could tell from their British accent. It wasn't their fault of course but the airline they flew from London..... you know lah which airline. The aircraft took off safely at 9.00am.

The flight was smooth...Alhamdulillah and 55 minutes later we landed at Langkawi International Airport. As soon as we were outside, I was greeted by two representatives of the company I was going to work at and there was a car waiting. I was given the key to use the car during my entire stay here. Toyota Camry lagi.... (not the new model like mine of course but who cares.....janji ada kereta).

We went straight to the hotel (Bayview Hotel) in Kuah. I chose the hotel so that it would be easy for my wife to wonder around the town when I went to work especially to get food. As we arrived we were told the room was not ready (well...of course, it was only 11am) and I decided to treasure nearby areas.

First stop....... mana lagi kalau bukan.... IDAMAN SURI - kedai jual pinggan mangkuk terbesar di Langkawi.

Well.....my wife was excited and she initially could not compose herself. Kedainya memang besar dan layaknya dipanggil gudang. See photos.

Macam-macam range of pinggan mangkuk ada kat sini, dari set yang murah sampai yang paling mahal. Mahal pun taklah mahal sangat sekitar RM700 je. Frying pan jenama Tefal pun ada dan tersangat murah. Yang saiz sedang tu cuma RM70. So, belek punya belek, tengok punya tengok maka mana yang berkenan di mata pun dipilih. Kata orang jangan tidak, we all pun beli jugaklah dinner set satu, Tefal frying pan, adalah lagi a few things. Dalam tengah sibuk memilih tu pihak hotel telefon. Depa habaq bilik kami dah siap. Dari sini we headed to Kuah town (which was just 5 minutes away) to look for chocolates for my kids and for me????...... Of course....you're right....sireh pinang la apalagi. Kat sini duty free, so murah la. Anak-anak aku nak bermacam chocolates but I said beli sikit dulu, nanti on the last day before we leave home then baru kita beli lagi untuk stok. Kat rumah nanti tak payah makan nasi, makan cokelat aje.

Selesai semua we went back to the hotel. The time was 3.30pm. We had to rush for Zuhur prayers cause mengikut peraturan dan garis panduan ulama-ulama, we all tak boleh jama' dan qasar sebab kami memang telah merancang dari awal untuk berada di Langkawi ni lebih dari 3 hari. Sila rujuk laman web JAKIM dan majalah Solusi Isu No. 10.
Once in the room, we all pun settled down and after semuanya siap, the kids pun apa lagi....swimming pool.

Weather pun cantik. Kebetulan kat swimming pool tak ramai orang so lagi seronok la budak-budak ni. Even I myself am a little bit uncomfortable if there are too many locals (especially Malays) around. Jangan kecik hati ek.... Read on and you will know why. After spending about an hour at the pool, we went up to our room, sembahyang asar and yessss..... pegi shopping lagi la. Window shopping dulu. We didn't need to rush cause we had plenty of time as we would only be going back on 25th December 2009 (which was 6 days away).

We all pusing-pusing kat pekan Kuah ni yang taklah besar mana pun (besar lagi Bandar Muar) tapi sana sini semuanya duty free shops. Lepas satu kedai ke satu kedai and finally my wife pun meluahkan rasa di hatinya yang dia teringin nak set Corelle. Memang harga Corelle di Langkawi ni jauh lebih murah dari di Jusco. And I said..... "kalau rasa nak beli, beli ajelah". Untungkan dapat suami macam ni. Tapi account isteri laaa.. In the end beli jugak satu set. Dah jadi dua set dinner. Emmm........ tak pe... bukan selalu ye tak..... Teringat pulak Rasululah dulu makan minum share pinggan dan gelas dengan isteri baginda...... Astaghfirullah...jauhnya dari sunnah. Lepas tu beli pulak casserole, glassware.... hinggakan bekas sudu pun beli. Ishhh..ishhh...ishhh. Dalam kepala aku cuma dok fikir macam mana nak bawak balik. Memang la allocation by MAS 100kg sebab kami berlima tapi nak mengangkut tu satu hal. So aku decided untuk belikan anak-anak aku beg sekolah kat sini so that boleh masukkan barang yang kecik-kecik dalam beg depa ni.

Salah satu duty free shops di Pekan Kuah, Langkawi.

Our first tourist destination spot was The Underwater World in Pantai Cenang. My last visit here was 10 years ago. So, memang banyak perubahan la dalam tempoh tu. Entrance fees for Malaysian citizens with Mykad were RM28 for adults and RM18 for kids but we got further discounts being a government staff (yesss....rakyat didahulukan..... porrrraahh). So if you are a government staff or even GLCs, make sure you carry your ID here because the discounts are quite significant. My kids were all excited especially my boy as he is so fascinated about animals. Dalam ni macam-macam species hidupan laut yang tak pernah kita fikir dan lihat dan dalam pelbagai bentuk dan rupa. Itulah dia kebesaran Illahi. Ada African Penguins, sharks, sea horse, sea lion, anaconda etc.

Some of the photos taken at The Underwater World, Langkawi.

Satu species udang

Kuda laut

African penguins

Ikan pari - yang ni memang besar. Kalau dapat hati dia dibuat sambal pais dibungkus dengan daun pisang, masyaAllah sedap tuuu....

We also went to see the cable car. Nak naik rasa gayat pulak. Tinggi (about 2000 ft above sea level). Anak-anak aku pun tak push sangat nak naik, so, tak naik. Tengok je. The locals said kalau angin terlalu kuat depa stop operation. So, kalau hang tengah kat dalam cable car tu tergantung aje la sampai angin reda semula. Ye ke???? Di Gunung Machincang pun sama. Kami tak naik sebab masa mendaki lebih kurang 2-3 jam. Gunung Machincang merupakan gunung kedua tertinggi di Langkawi dengan ketinggian lebih kurang 800m dari paras laut. Istimewanya gunung ni sebab ada telaga tujuh. Kisah di sebalik telaga tujuh I'm not sure. Gunung tertinggi di Langkawi ialah Gunung Raya dengan ketinggian 2800 kaki dari paras laut. Haaa.... read on to see photos of Gunung Raya as I went up (by car of course) for work purpose laaaa....

Antara tempat yang dikunjungi pelancung-pelancung ke Langkawi ialah Dataran Lang. Kat sini boleh tengok replica burung helang. Again there is a history behind this and I think one can refer to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa for details. Kat sini boleh gak tunggu sunset bagi yang berminat but I took sunset photos from the comfort of my hotel room. You have to focus when taking the shots during this short period as you do not want to miss the beautiful scenery of sun set. I took around 50 shots and my son about 30 shots between 7.10pm and 7.16pm (Maghrib time in Langkawi).

Sun set photos.

23rd December 2009; 7.10pm








23rd December 2009; 7.12pm








23rd December 2009; 7.14pm








23rd December 2009; 7.15pm








23rd December 2009; 7.16pm (Maghrib in Langkawi)

Bersebelahan dengan Dataran Lang ada satu tourist spot yang dipanggil Lagenda Langkawi. Dalam ni terdapat bermacam replika berkaitan dengan keistimewaan Langkawi seperti Tasik Dayang Bunting, Telaga Tujuh, Makam Mahsuri dll. Malangnya masa kami di sana tempat ni ditutup untuk renovation works. Maybe next time.

Talking about Makam Mahsuri, we went there as well. Initially, I and my wife did not want to enter but my two kids were so eager so we decided to go in. Dulu masuk free je tapi la ni kena bayar. Adults RM2.50 and kids RM1.50. Tak de discount for Malaysian citizens (kata rakyat didahulukan....porrraahhh). Bila sampai kat makam, aku tengok ramai orang sibuk bergambar dengan macam-macam posing. Dalam hati berkata gak yang depa ni dah sedekah Fatihah ke belum. Patutnya kita ambik iktibar dari makam ni betapa bahayanya fitnah. Orang yang bukan beragama Islam pun ada. Pakaian dia orang jauh sekali dari menutup aurat. Yang Melayu pun ada yang pakai shorts dan yang perempuan pulak pakai jeans ketat. Apa ni.... nak kata bodoh marah pulak nanti. Pihak pengurusan pulak satu hal. Patutnya kena sediakan dress code bagi sesiapa yang nak masuk. Ni kan kawasan perkuburan. Dalam kawasan makam ni adalah model rumah-rumah yang kononnya didiami oleh golongan bangsawan di zaman Mahsuri. Ada juga muzium mengimbas kembali zaman Mahsuri. Kami singgah di sebuah gerai untuk minum hilangkan penat. Aku macam biasa la cari kopi o. Wife aku pulak pi order sosej goreng. Kena que. Bila dah siap, alih-alih ada satu kutu Melayu ni mai terus ambik je. Eh..eh...eh... Tak sekolah ke apa? Kata bodoh karang marah. tapi perangai macam orang yang tak de ilmu. Ni antara sebab kenapa aku tak suka tempat yang ramai Melayu. Memang la aku ni pun orang Melayu tapi aku Melayu London.

Dalam kesempatan yang ada, I decided to take my family for a two hour boat tour covering the mangroves, crocodile cave, bats cave, fish farm and eagles feeding. It cost us RM200 for one boat.

Aku sendiri tak pernah tengok mangroves secara dekat dan bila tengok tu rasa betapa Allah tu memang hebat. Cuma ngeri jugak la sebab biasanya buaya memang suka tempat yang macam ni. Tapi Alhamdulillah tak de.

Photos of the mangroves










Gambar di bawah ni pulak pemandangan nak ke crocodile cave. Memang cantik dan macam kat Europe gitu.



Gambar kat bawah ni lah crocodile cave. Mengikut cerita, hundreds of years ago memang banyak crocodile kat gua ni. Kata pemandu bot, kalau air pasang penuh tak boleh masuk sebab entrance tertutup dengan air.





Dari sini kami ke bats cave. Nak masuk kena bayar RM1.00 for adults and RM0.50 for kids. Memang banyak kelawar kat dalam gua ni. Semuanya tergantung pada dinding dan lelangit gua. Kat dalam memang gelap and nasib baik aku sewa torch light masa kat entrance tadi. Gambar boleh ambik tapi tak boleh guna flash. So, agak gelap jugaklah. Inside the cave (another section) you can see stalagmites and stalactites. Alaaah.... masa kita belajar geografi kat sekolah dulu. Lupa ke?


Next stop was the fish farm. Kat sini tak de apa sangat. Ikan-ikannya lebih kurang species yang kami tengok di Underwater World. Tarikannya cuma you can feed the fish using your finger and the fish will junp to catch it.


The last stop was eagles feeding. Helang memang banyak tapi yang frust tu tak de siapa yang organise tabur makanan kat atas air. So, all the eagles tak landed lah.




On the way back to the jetty, the boat driver kata kita ikut jalan laut (open sea) sebab ombak belum berapa kuat dan angin pun kurang. So....okaylah. Tapi melambung jugak. Mulut tak berhenti berzikir. But all in all it was a good journey. Highly recommended to those who plan to visit Langkawi.




Ni pulak gambar bukit yang diberi nama Bukit Gorilla sebab rupanya macam gorilla.




On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the hot spring. Seronok jugak rendamkan kaki dalam air panas. Masuk sini masih free tapi I think in the near future kena bayar jugak sebab depa tengah develop this area including sediakan so many jacuzi units. In one of the ponds ada sejenis tumbuhan yang aku sendiri tak pernah tengok sebelum ni. My kids wanted to stay longer but I told them air panas yang keluar ni disebabkan deep underground ada larva. So. it is dangerous to stay lama-lama takut meletup nanti susah pulak. Depa percaya. He...he....

While working on sites, I took the opportunity to stop at some places like Datai Bay, Pantai Pasir Hitam, Tanjung Rhu, Gunung Raya, Teluk Ewa etc. See photos below.

Tanjung Rhu beach.

The tunnel leading to Datai Bay.

Pantai Pasir Hitam. Pasirnya memang hitam. Satu lagi kebesaran Allah.

Pantai Ewa.

Perkampungan nelayan di Pantai Ewa.

Hah... macam kat overseas kan? Tapi sorry le I cannot recall apa nama tempat ni.

Dua buah pulau yang unik. Gambar diambil dari Pantai Tanjung Rhu.

Pemandangan dari puncak Gunung Raya.

Gunung Raya, dari Dataran Lang.

Dataran Lang.

Pantai Beringin.

This photo was taken by my son secara candid di Pantai Beringin. Anyway, kalau dah handsome tu ambik la ikut lagu mana pun tetap hadsome.

There is another tour package from Pantai Tengah (near Pantai Cenang). Package ni pergi ke Pulau Dayang Bunting, Fish feeding and Eagles feeding (this is the actual feeding place for eagles where they spread food on the surface of the water and the eagles will land to catch). The tour would last for 3 hours and costs RM35 for adults and RM25 for kids or RM250 per boat. We did not take this but perhaps next visit.

On board the aircraft on my way home, I met one Englishman from Oxford seating next to me. He and his wife were on the way to New Zealand (his wife is a New Zealander). He told me it was his 14th visit to Langkawi. I asked him what was so special about the island and he started telling me the stories and interesting places in Langkawi some of which I didn't even know. Well what do you expect....aku kan Melayu London. He....he...he....

I hope my family especially my kids are happy. Right at the start of the school holidays I took them to Bali and towards the end of the term, it was Langkawi. If one asks me which one I prefer...Bali or Langkawi??? The answer is ........... Bali.