A Weekend in Nostalgic Langkawi

Langkawi, is an island in Kedah (a state north of Malaysia) which I go back to every two years for the seventh year now. Also known as the Jewel of Kedah, it is located in the Andaman Sea.

The trips started off due to work in 2011 at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition. Being part of LIMA 11', 13', and '15 grew a sense of attachment to this place where I gained my first working experience and made friends I have today. The volunteer/temporary staff work life back then was pretty darn awesome, we hung out at the beach after work every evening. Read all about it here: LIMA '11 | LIMA '13 | LIMA '15

This time round, I went back to Langkawi for a holiday instead of work! My friends and I wanted to have a weekend getaway and the decision naturally narrowed down to Langkawi (also because the return flight was cheap cheap at RM197 (USD46.5).

And so, Langkawi it is!

This trip was very chill, with only an idea of what we wanted to do or see - no itinerary as I usually would have! Mainly because we've been there so many times, we're familiar with the locations and have done most of the touristy stuff.

- 20 October 2017 -

I hurried over to KLIA2 (budget airlines airport) after my Friday class, cutting it super close to boarding time (couldn't be avoided as I had a presentation). Met up with Faris and Muiz on time and found out our flight was delayed by an hour. Not cool, AirAsia.

We arrived at the Langkawi International Airport past 5pm and man, the sense of nostalgic familiarity felt gooooood.

Upon arrival at the small airport, we were greeted by the shoutingS of car rental salespeople. Immediately booked a car for mobility convenience and it was super cheap! I think it's best to just rent the vehicle at the airport instead of through websites because it's much cheaper. We got a Proton Saga for RM60 a day (approx. USD15)! Woot woot!

*Bikes are available for rent too, if you prefer that. Or you can just use Uber or Grab around the island.

car rental booths

First stop - FOOD! The food stall we patronized was by the roadside along the beach and plane runway. No legit parking, but when in Malaysia, you can just park anywhere with space haha #jk I mean, it depends on where you're at.

I've seen the Laksa Power stall for years, but never had the chance to try it. It's apparently very famous, but it was okay, nothing to jump around about. Other than Asam Laksa, they also sell Rojak and random fried stuff...and fresh coconut water!

Laksa Power

Asam Laksa, RM5 (USD1.2)

Rojak Buah, RM3 (USD0.7)

Goreng-goreng, RM17 (USD4)

Coconut water, RM5 (USD1.2)

We checked into Paretto Sea View Hotel at Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach) after dinner, dropped our bags and ran to the beach to catch the golden hour as the sun was setting. We kind of missed it, but it was beautiful anyway.

Thanks to Muiz's expert stalking, we picked Char up from the airport perfectly on-time! By "expert stalking", I mean he has this flight tracker app which he uses for work to track wherever the plane is at, so we knew exactly if she has landed or not (he was obsessed with it! hahaha).

Not much planned for the night, we booked our snorkeling trip for the following day and headed over to Yasmin Shawarma for supper.

Yasmin Shawarma upgraded from a stall/kiosk to a legit brick-wall restaurant! Good on them! Their shawarma was the first I ever had back in 2015, and it's one of my favourite Arabic food till today. With high hopes from past experience, I looked forward to it sooooo badly even before the trip!

Shawarma, RM10 (USD2.3)

But alas, it let me down. It tasted nothing like I remember, such disappointment. The shawarma was so dry, there was barely any garlic sauce, and the lettuce, fries and meat didn't blend well together at all... because it was so dry! Ugh. Well, at least I have the Bukit Bintang one closer to home, no need to crave for Langkawi's shawarma anymore.

- 21 October 2017 -

Rise and shine!

Time for free breakfast and our journey over to Pulau Payar (Payar Island)!

Pulau Payar is the only place for snorkeling in Langkawi, and it costs RM120 (USD28) - after haggling from RM150. The trick is to haggle nicely, best if you have a local with you because let's be honest, foreign tourists usually have higher currencies so they're willing to pay more than it really cost, as long as it's still cheaper than expected. If you're generous, go ahead and pay the stated price. However, if you're going cheap, haggle.

Our ride to Kuah Jetty arrived outside our hotel at 8am sharp, where spent the next hour on the mini bus picking other tourists from their hotels. It is boring bus rides like these when you appreciate good company to talk about the non-existence of love lives (tbh, we only talked about Muiz's, sorry bro).

The shuttle dropped us off at the jetty and we walked passed an array of yachts towards our designated ferry....so beautiful. Perhaps one day when we're all earning big bucks, we can chart a yacht for a day. One can dream, right?

Rich people's toys

An hour journey of ferry ride later, we arrived!

Ferry rides aren't my favourite because it's so damn slow and warm. At least I don't get seasick, so that's good.

We were on Pulau Payar for four hours, more than enough time to snorkel around, get some tan on, and have lunch. Lunch is usually provided on snorkeling and island hopping trips, but of course, don't expect fancy-ass lunch... they're more like lunch box of rice, cold fried chicken, and almost-raw cabbage and carrot.

Snorkeling mask and life vest comes in the package, no extra fees. If you'd like to keep your valuables in a locker, it's available for RM20 (USD4.7).

Once we've collected our gear, off we go into the clear waters!...except, I was terrified! So anti-climatic...

You see, although I've been learning to swim, I'm not good at it yet. And the feeling of me not being able to touch the ground with my feet scares the crap out of me. I do have the vest on...I'm just a scaredy cat.

Staying back on shallow waters to get used to the mask, I slowly gained some courage. Thanks to Char, I managed to drift away further than I would ever go by myself. We held hands and float away to see fishies and dead corals. At a point, I felt comfortable enough to let go of her hand and float around, but always making sure she's around hahaha Hey, at least I improved from three years ago in Krabi.

We saw fishies of many sizes, we even saw a school of fish froze in one spot. I'm kind of glad I didn't see any sharks like Muiz did, or I would've freaked out. The corals at Pulau Payar is quite sad, they're all dead *sigh*

Said goodbye to the island and it was time to board the ferry back to Kuah Jetty. Snorkeling and island hopping activities usually start in the morning as it gets scorching hot by afternoon. So we left at around 3pm, and the journey back to Cenang Beach via ferry and bus took more or less two hours.

I love these island activities' shuttle services. They pick you up and drop you off at the doorstep of your accommodation. How convenient! We freshened up and relaxed for a bit back in the room, before Char and I headed to the beach for some eye candy (aka sunset, not so much hot bods).  

So. Beautiful.

Despite being an island, seafood isn't really good in Langkawi. Of course there's an abundance of seafood restaurants, but they're generally expensive and not very delicious. All those you see on TripAdvisor and travel sites - all lies.

Without much hope for seafood, we asked the car rental guy on the first day for recommendations and he suggested Selera Lubuk Buaya on Pantai Tengah for its good food and cheap price tag. So we gave it a shot.

Funny thing was I saw a restaurant worker that looked like him! Could it be his second job? Or perhaps his brother owns the restaurant or works there. No wonder he recommended this place.

Anyway, the food was indeed relatively cheaper, and it tasted pretty good. Not the best, but better than the restaurants on Pantai Cenang that sucks the life out of your wallets. Perhaps due to its price tag, I'm more lenient towards the taste. I mean, don't make me pay sooo much and give me mediocre food. I'll go on a rampage.

We had rice with steamed tilapia, deep fried prawns, tom yam, and kangkung belacan for RM93 (USD22). Quite cheap for a seafood dinner for four pax.

Carrot Milk

Dinner spread

Once we've digested our food, it was time for Muiz's long-awaited massage!

Massage in Langkawi is expensive too...similar to the rest of Malaysia, but more expensive. Muiz went for an hour of foot and back massage for RM68 (USD16), while the rest of us went for half an hour of foot massage for RM28 (USD6.6).

Having gone to Bangkok, I feel the pinch getting foot massages in Malaysia because it's freaking cheap there (HALF-PRICE)! An hour of foot massage would cost me 200 Baht (Approx. RM25, USD6). Just take my money!

We went anyway because it was relaxing, and Muiz was in dire need of a body massage. Fortunately, the massage was really good, for me at least. Faris was in pain though, but hey, his masseuse told him which part of the foot represented which organs #learnsomethingneweveryday.

Ended the night with the Escape Plan movie in the living room. I like that the rooms have a separate living room from the bedroom, so spacious! I left early because I was soooo sleepy, I was dozing off (the Illegal Aliens would understand my woe). As soon as I went back to my room, I dozed off till the next morning without even realizing Char came back!

For the first time ever, I didn't feel annoyed with my bedmate, nor had the urge to kick the person off the bed! Congrats, Char! You survived! To my defense, the annoyance and kicking urge comes only because of two reasons - 1) The person takes too much of the comforter, or 2) The person takes up my already-limited space. I usually prefer single beds, but sometimes it's just inevitable.

- 22 October 2017 -

Last day in Langkawi!

It was a good day, being woken up by no alarms. We slept in a little bit because we had the luxury to do so. Char and I got ready, packed up, and went for free breakfast.

Activity for the day was to visit the Langkawi Skybridge.

The only two ways to get to the Skybridge is 1) to ride the cable car, SkyCab for RM40 (USD10), or 2) to hike via the SkyTrail. You can disembark the gondola at the mid point and reembark to get to the peak of Machinchang Mountain.

overlooking the Andaman Sea

At every point of disembarkation of the gondola, there's always a a photo session. I don't like buying Photoshopped touristy photos, so I always give it the purchase a pass. It's usually around RM20 (USD4.7) or more for a photo.

Now, once we reached the peak of the mountain via the cable car, to actually go to the SkyBridge...we had to pay again. Surprise surprise! What a money sucker.

There are two ways of getting to the SkyBridge - 1) walk a short, but steep trail for around 7 minutes for RM5 (USD1.2), or 2) take the elevator for RM15 (USD2.4).

Of course, we chose to walk since it's not a challenging path and it's much cheaper.

With half a day gone, we headed to Kuah Town for duty-free shopping! Langkawi is a duty-free island where chocolates, kitchen items, cigarettes, and booze are cheap cheap! So those are the things visitors haul back whenever they visit.

I was determined to not spend much, so I only bought what's necessary for my family to snack on. Shopping leash success!

Right before leaving for the airport, we managed to squeeze in a dessert on Cenang Beach - MY French Factory. I'm surprised we did it because 75% of our phones were dead and we were cutting it close to boarding time.

MY French Factory is a French crepe café selling well, (savoury and sweet) crepes and waffles. It was quite expensive, but that's what you get in Langkawi cafés as most tourists are European and their currency is highhhh.

We got a Strawberry Nutella with Vanilla Ice Cream crepe for RM24 (USD5.7), and a Peanut Butter Chocolate milkshake for RM10 (USD2.4) to share. Nothing to hype about, in my opinion, but if you have the dolla to spend and are craving for fancy desserts, you can spend it here.

The charging ports at the airport are such a lifesaver. We charged up our phones while waiting for our gate to open and phew! It feels good to have an alive and kicking phone.

And that's all for our short getaway to Langkawi!

Stay tuned for a vlog coming up soon!