Jacky Yong

Went on a Langkawi trip with my entire family. It marked a few firsts achievements with that feat. My first time trip to bring the entire trip on a airplane. Hui Yan and Yan Yan’s first airplane ride, although I highly doubt that Hui Yan will have any recollection of it. My parent’s first AirAsia trip to LCCT. On that early morning of 4th March 2009, Cheng’s hubby Kar Weng came to fetch us to LCCT on his hydrogenized Saga BLM 1.3. (It did not feel sluggish although it had a full load with 5 adults and 2 kids. More on that later)

Arrived at Langkawi finally after struggling to calm both the girls down. Hui Yan finally succumbed to tiredness in our lap, something extremely rare.

Upon touching down, we went to the nearest car rental counters. After haggling the price with 3 dealers, we finally settled for a …… Proton Wira 1.5 Auto! 🙁 The exact same car I drive to work everyday! Bummer! Well, it’s RM150 for 3 days, what more can we ask for?

The car is so-so only:

• It’s got no alarm, have to key-lock manually.
• Gear box is jerky going from stand-still
• The rear sensor is busted

Otherwise it’s a fine car, fuel-injected, very powerful and good for a round of hard-cornering.

4th March 2009 Wednesday

Checked in Hotel Helang immediately after that, which is just beside the airport.

We booked 2 rooms for the entire duration of our stay. The first impression of the rooms is just how big they are!

First stop after settling down, go fill up the-almost-dry Wira. Had a weird experience in the petrol station. You see, everybody was lining in rows to fill up, but there was one particular kiosk that was surprisingly empty. So I wasted no time to go there. Upon alighting from the vehicle, the pakcik beside me told me to wait for my turn. I acted dumb and asked him, “What queue?” I looked, and it seems the kiosk was empty because the next car’s owner went inside the station to pay up, even before her car was parked at the kiosk! How weird is that? You don’t see this back on the mainland.

OH, I remembered the last time I was here more than 10 years ago, price of petrol was much cheaper than the mainland. Now the price is exactly the same, RM1.80 per litre. Or was it another island that I remembered? Hmmm….

As anybody who has been to Langkawi can tell you, drinking beer is actually cheaper than drinking mineral water! Well, it’s not exactly true, but it’s close enough. Alcoholic drinks are dirt cheap, I bought a few bottles to knock myself out.

As usual, when Yan Yan sees a swimming pool, she goes absolutely crazy! We changed her into her swimming attire and jumped into the pool with her. She drank a couple of gulps of water on a few occasions, but she still insists on jumping around in the water!

Our first night’s dinner was in Pantai Chenang. It was not the best dinner we had, the food sucks, but it was the best we had under the circumstances.

5th March 2009 Thursday

Woke up to get the kids ready for our next trip today. The Mahsuri Mausoleum, Kota Mahsuri, located in the heart of the island. Getting there was not hard; there was plenty of road signs pointing there. Just that the road was winding and narrow (hehehe, which means FUN!).

The most unlikely thing happened to us when we were there. The battery died when we were about to leave! Well, it’s actually not that unlikely to happen. All rented cars are not properly maintained, if at all. I won’t be surprised if they have not change the engine oil on this thing! Urgh!!!

So there in Kota Mahsuri we were stranded while waiting for the car rental agency guy to come to our aid. Wasted a good hour or more waiting for the guy. Luckily for us, Hui Yan just slept during the wait.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guy came with a jumper cable to jump start the car. We would have though that he would have come with another car and switch with us! What a waste of time, he expects us to drive all the way to the airport where their counter is and switch with a new car there! (If you must know the name of the car rental company, it’s Teluk Yu Holidays Sdn Bhd. But I suspect that they are operating in a group. One company close shop, another company opens under the same boss opens up) We went to the airport anyway to switch to another Wira.

This Wira is worst. It has all the bad traits of the previous Wira, plus a whole lot more!

• It’s got no alarm, have to key-lock manually.
• Gear box is jerky going from stand-still
• The rear sensor is busted
• The tyres are damn noisy
• The air-cond is not cold
• It smells weird
• The glove box is welded shut

It’s a Wira, what more can you expect? *sigh*

What is a Langkawi trip without going to the famous Eagle Square? The name Langkawi derives its name from this bird.

It’s pass noon, bed time for the kids.

Next stop, the Langkawi Cable Car. I heard from Swee Shin that the best time to take the ride is when the sun is going down. So went there at 6 pm.

As you can see from the picure above, the cable car shuts down at 6 pm. We were too late, so we were contended with just taking pictures around the picturesque Oriental Village at the foothill.

The sun is failing us, it was time to leave the area. On the way back, we stopped by this quaint little place with a harbour. Very European feel to it, if you ask me.

The area is called Telaga Harbour Park, where there are a lot of yatches and ships docked at the place. Later only I found out that there was a movie set for “Anna and the King” nearby that location. Maybe that explains it.

6th March 2009, Friday

Early next morning, we went back to the Cable Car. This time my mom did not join. She’d rather stay at the hotel and sleep. My mom volunteered to take care of Hui Yan, so only myself, Yan Yan, my dad and Mei Fen went.

It was still closed, due to some maintenance check. It was hit my severe lightning, so it was closed for a few hours. Tough luck. No wonder a lady at the area suggested us to visit this place as soon as possible, since the visiting hour of this place is so restricted by the weather.

We went to the Telaga Tujuh waterfall instead. Good place to do some photography.

There are two stops. One at the middle, and another at the top of the stairs. We stopped in the middle for a while. Even that is a tiring climb.

Upon seeing the waterfall, immediately I had a flash back. It struck me that I have been here before! No, not in my previous life. Just 10 years ago, I was here with Pei Tze, Jean, Jack and his then girl friend. I still remember a picture that we took together at the top of the waterfall, so I climbed up there alone to reminiscent.

Next we went back to the cable car station. The cable car is finally ready. So we went to the top, Yan Yan, myself and Mei Fen. My dad choose not to go.

The place is simply breathtaking! If you go there, do not miss to go to the Sky Bridge, which is a suspended platform 700 metres above sea level! Contrary to logic, this bridge is actually very stable, even in the high winds blowing from the sea.

Back at home, Hui Yan was already pondering when we were coming back.

Next we went to the Langkawi Bird Paradise in the East Coast of the island. It was not a place to shout about, but it was enough to keep the girl’s attention distracted on the birds for a while.

Next we went to the northern regions of the island, Tanjung Rhu.

7th March 2009, Saturday

It was time for us to leave. We packed up everything to go back to KL. And as usual, we bought a few bottles of wines, liquors and lots of chocolates back home.

The flight was delayed by half-an-hour, still bearable. And in the LCCT, it was Kok Leng’s turn to pick us up.

All in all, a great trip. It was not an exceptional trip, but for the kids and my parents, I think they had a great time. Yan Yan now fears taking the airplane, although she was very excited to take the plane before this. Can’t wait for the next family trip again! 🙂

View the entire album here.