cuti-cuti malaysia, take #1.

it's been ages since i got on a plane. but each time it accelerates for take-off, my heart jumps into the throat, & i feel a knot in the neck. every time. without fail.

that's still how it was when i went with the family last weekend to langkawi. i don't think anyone noticed that i was squirming in my seat, partly because it wasn't a full load & partly that it was only a brief flight (45mins from KL). during those few moments aboard, i made a few mental conclusions :
1) even though everyone can fly now, many are turned off by the haze,
2) or prefer to stay at home during the fasting month;
3) those stewardess in red tops & matching skirts look neat & yet stunning, and
4) stunningly sporty if they put on those crimson baseball caps as well
(all hail, Tony F, ceo & fashion guru), &
5) nobody asks for food/drinks on-board when they have to pay for it.

the best way to explore the island is probably to rent a vehicle & there are no less than 12 vendors lying in wait to snare....er.......i mean, attract travellers at the arrival hall. on their brochures, a wira 1.5A goes for rm120 a day but in off-peak season (fasting month, no school or public holidays) i got one for RM45 without bargaining. & the air-con worked, too! as the fuel tank was nearly empty, the 1st stop was the petrol station. the nearest was petronas at telaga harbour park, a scenic man-made bay where a handful of yachts were docked. above the convenience store is the petronas smart, a science-themed play area similar to petrosains at klcc, except that it's smaller & does not charge for entry. anyway, the kids loved exploring the various exhibits & the brief body-snatching experience. i heard the harbour is managed by a certain datuk azahar of solo-circumnavigation fame.


after checking in the hotel & a quick, late lunch, we drove towards kuah town, passing by tanjung rhu & stopping at a hot spring appropriately named air hangat village. it was here that we learned the origin of kuah. according to history, a couple from 2 rich families on the island were forbidden from marrying by their parents. the families fought each other, leading to bitter quarrels & public brawls - faces were slapped, fists were hurled, clothes torn & hair pulled (this was before the existence of MCA Youth). also pots of gravy were thrown & jugs of hot water broken. the spot where gravy was spilled came to be called kuah, & where the hot water jugs landed, a hot spring sprouted & villagers called it air hangat.


the jetty at kuah has changed tremendously since the last time i was there over 2 decades ago. gone are the wood & plank & in its place, a spanking new concrete building, which housed duty-free shops, & watched over by a very large inanimate eagle.


after a bit of shopping, we settled for a (what else?) sea-food dinner. the fish & prawns were fresh & prices reasonable. not cheap, but reasonable.

the next day, we headed for one of ex-PM's pet project - the cable car. in a bid to promote local tourism, the rates are slashed down to RM15 & RM5 for adults & children, respectively, if you can produce the mykad. otherwise it's RM25 & RM15, respectively. now, this is definitely different from the cable car at genting or even sentosa in s'pore because it's one heck of a steep climb up gunung macincang, which i estimate at about 60 degrees (but actually 42 degrees, according to the cuti2 m'sia website) .



at the upper viewing station (there are 2 viewing stations) 710m above sea-level, there should be a panaromic view of the andaman sea, the surrounding islands & kuah town, except that it was a little misty (not hazy) that day.



even the suspension viewing bridge, accessible via steps carved out on the side of the hill, which looked impressive during the accent,


was barely visible by the time we reached the peak.

now, don't you wonder where Tun M got the idea for the (cancelled) scenic bridge??

after another round of shopping at kuah, we again had seafood dinner at pantai cenang, a "touristy" area lined with restaurants ( at "touristy" prices, i presume) & craft shops, very much like batu ferringhi in penang. oh yes, we stopped by the underwater world
located nearby, but was turned off by the (prohibitive?) admission prices - rm28 & rm18 for adult & child, respectively!! mind you, this is already reduced from the rm38/rm28 meant for foreign tourists. we definitely didn't fly no-frills just to splurge on such steep admission prices!!

we were back home the next day. it had been a thoroughly enjoyable break for us but i concluded that it would have been better had we extended our stay by just one more day, to be spent going on a round island boat trip plus a spot of snorkling thrown in. the 1st time i snorkled decades ago, it was at pulau payar, just south of langkawi & the memory of diving into crystal-clear water amidst fishes, corals & sea-urchins has not been lost on me.

of course, nobody leaves langkawi without stocking up on cheap, duty-free chocolates. lots of it!! yummy!