Brief Intro...Langkawi, part of the State of Kedah, was named after the eagle (helang in the Malay language - pronounced 'Lang'), hence the imposing eagle statue at Dataran Lang (Eagle Square), welcoming visitors who arrive on the island through the Kuah Jetty.
Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 tropical islands off the north-western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, about 30km from Kuala Perlis on the mainland. The main island is Pulau Langkawi.
It is a duty-free shopping destination. Other than cameras, branded items, electronic gadgets, shop for lovely silk batik, handicraft and local products, especially those from the fishing villages. The legend of Mahsuri weaves the history of Langkawi from the past seven generations.. It tells of Mahsuri, a fair maiden who was unjustly accused of adultery. She was said to have bled white blood at her execution as a sign of her innocence. With her last breath Mahsuri was said to have laid a curse on the island -- that it would remain barren for seven generations.
Legend or myth, seven generations have since passed and today, Langkawi is an island much loved by the locals and international tourists. The island is also a choice venue for international sporting events such as the Le Tour de Langkawi bicycle race, Royal Langkawi International Regatta, the F3000 Powerboat Race and Ironman, among others.
With the recognition, Langkawi joined the Global Geoparks network of 52 geoparks worldwide.
http://www.langkawi-beaches.com/Date of travel: 5 December - 9 December 2009
No. of pax: 3 adults, 1 teenage, 2 children
Mode of travel:
5 Dec 10.25pm Fly Airasia from Senai to LCCT
6 Dec 2.15 pm Fly MAS from KLIA to Langkawi
9 Dec 12.25pm Fly MAS from Langkawi to KLIA, 5.25pm Fly MAS from KLIA to Senai
Total air ticket per person: RM300.00
MAJOR NOTE:
We fly on 6 Dec originally. Airasia rescheduled its flight on 6 Dec from 9.10am to 2.00pm. We have to change our flight to an earlier date and forced to spend extra on the overnight hotel.
Accommodation:
5 Dec Concorde Inn at 74euro for two twin sharing rooms per night
http://www.gtahotels.com/
6 Dec The Andaman, Langkawi. Offered for Malaysian RM450.00 per room per night. It's really lucky for us, the deal seems to have expired by now. They also have free DVD for rent and spa salt for soaking yourself in the bath tub.
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/andaman/
7-8 Dec Malibest Resort, RM180.00 for a 6-bed room. Right on the beach. Room is clean, air cond in good condition, worth the stay.
http://www.malibestresort.com/
Transport:
Budget Taxi from LCCT to Concorde Inn, RM63.30 midnight rate. We took two cabs.
Wira Auto with Langkawi Discovery Sdn Bhd, RM300.00 for the whole duration. (Normally cost RM40-50 per day)
We pumped to full Petrol tank at RM47.75 for the whole duration.
Food:
No. of pax: 3 adults, 1 teenage, 2 children
Mode of travel:
5 Dec 10.25pm Fly Airasia from Senai to LCCT
6 Dec 2.15 pm Fly MAS from KLIA to Langkawi
9 Dec 12.25pm Fly MAS from Langkawi to KLIA, 5.25pm Fly MAS from KLIA to Senai
Total air ticket per person: RM300.00
MAJOR NOTE:
We fly on 6 Dec originally. Airasia rescheduled its flight on 6 Dec from 9.10am to 2.00pm. We have to change our flight to an earlier date and forced to spend extra on the overnight hotel.
Accommodation:
5 Dec Concorde Inn at 74euro for two twin sharing rooms per night
http://www.gtahotels.com/
6 Dec The Andaman, Langkawi. Offered for Malaysian RM450.00 per room per night. It's really lucky for us, the deal seems to have expired by now. They also have free DVD for rent and spa salt for soaking yourself in the bath tub.
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/andaman/
7-8 Dec Malibest Resort, RM180.00 for a 6-bed room. Right on the beach. Room is clean, air cond in good condition, worth the stay.
http://www.malibestresort.com/
Transport:
Budget Taxi from LCCT to Concorde Inn, RM63.30 midnight rate. We took two cabs.
Wira Auto with Langkawi Discovery Sdn Bhd, RM300.00 for the whole duration. (Normally cost RM40-50 per day)
We pumped to full Petrol tank at RM47.75 for the whole duration.
Food:
- KLIA food garden at Level 4, the cheapest choices available
- Pasar malam at Padang Matsirat - the traditional Malay and Thai food, cheap and nice.
- Mc Donald in Langkawi Fair shopping mall - No choice...
- The Korea Restaurant at Pantai Cenang - Decoration is nice, food so so, expensive...
- A Northern India and Arabic Restaurant in Teo Soon Huat Langkawi Parade - Maqluba Chicken is really nice, Nasi bryani so so, expensive but big portion..., pizza not bad.
- The hawker centre outside oriental village - Nasi ayam and rojak, not bad at all. Price reasonable.
Sightseeing;
It's soooooooooo....hot that we don't feel like going anyway. There is only two places we went to, the Sky Bridge and Underwater World.
Shopping:
It's soooooooooo....hot that we don't feel like going anyway. There is only two places we went to, the Sky Bridge and Underwater World.
Shopping:
- Billion at Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall - the duty free items are the cheapest among all.
- Haji Ismail Group - we found something cheap in there. Not the chocolates.
- The 16 degree Wine Shop, opposite Haji Ismail Group
- Teo Soon Huat at Langkawi Parade - price are reasonable, we bought some clothes in the mall.
Here it goes...
6 Dec - Reach Langkawi airport at 3.15pm, take the map and ask around the counter for car rental.
Innova and equivalent, minimum RM600.00 for whole duration. We took Wira as its the cheapest option.
We took some time to find the hotel at datai bay and reach around 5pm++, enjoy the 5 star check in procedure, took half an hour to endure the 5 star connecting family room before going for the 5 star swimming pool and 5 star beach front.
Of course we don't dare to try the 5 star Japanese restaurant. We went to pasar malam at Padang Matsirat (Sunday only), some 45 minutes drive away...We packed the 5 star local Malay and Thai food and enjoy them in our 5 star hotel rooms.
Then we stroll along the beach for a while before going to bed. Too bad no waves on the beach...
** The swimming pool use filtered sea water, no chlorine.
6 Dec - Reach Langkawi airport at 3.15pm, take the map and ask around the counter for car rental.
Innova and equivalent, minimum RM600.00 for whole duration. We took Wira as its the cheapest option.
We took some time to find the hotel at datai bay and reach around 5pm++, enjoy the 5 star check in procedure, took half an hour to endure the 5 star connecting family room before going for the 5 star swimming pool and 5 star beach front.
Of course we don't dare to try the 5 star Japanese restaurant. We went to pasar malam at Padang Matsirat (Sunday only), some 45 minutes drive away...We packed the 5 star local Malay and Thai food and enjoy them in our 5 star hotel rooms.
Then we stroll along the beach for a while before going to bed. Too bad no waves on the beach...
** The swimming pool use filtered sea water, no chlorine.
7 Dec - We sleep until pass 8 in the morning. It was so comfortable. We enjoy breakfast until restaurant closed for lunch. Went swimming again until time to check out at 1.00pm.
**After we checked out, we found that our wira is poured with monkey urine and shits.
What to do, it's closed to 2 pm, we drive the 'shit car' to visit The Datai, which is next to The Andaman under the same company, which is less family oriented compare to Andaman, then we drive all the shits to Oriental Village. We took a late nasi ayam lunch outside the entrance.
Cable car to sky bridge: RM15.00 with Mykad, children RM5.00
We leave around 5pm++ and drive to Malibest Resort at Pantai Cenang to check-in.
After that, we search for some Island tour package around the area.
Pulau Payar RM100.00 per pax, back at 5pm, its a whole day trip.
Island hopping with Eagle feeding, back at 1pm, RM35.00 per pax.
Thought of deciding on which package to take after dinner, we drive to Kuah town, looking for food and car wash centre. We couldn't find the Eagle Square, so we drive into Langkawi Fair shopping mall as there is the Billion hypermart and the only available food is Mc Donald. I bought a sponge for car wash.
On the way back, we stop at Petronas station to clean up the car. Thanks to the pipe at the station and water host in the toilet.
We didn't decide on any tour package. This is where we ended up with the next day:
8 Dec - We eat some simple breakfast we bought from Billion the night before and go enjoy the sun and the sea at Pantai Cenang.
After the swim, we drive and park at Underwater World and walk across the road to take an early lunch at a Korean Restaurant.
Ticket for Underwater World: RM28.00 for Mykad holders, RM18.00 for children
Guess what, the penguins have moved in!!!! But I don't know why this one penguin keep holding up his right arm.
There is The Zon and Coco Valley duty free shops attached to Underwater World. Some of the chocolates are a bit pricey but some are reasonable.
It's around 3pm++ when we walk out and its burning like hell outside. We decided to hide in some shopping centre so we drove down to Kuah town.
On the way, we stop by a stall for coconut drink. We ask a local about good places to shop and they suggested Haji Ismail Group and Teo Soon Huat, where we ended up until 9pm.
We took our dinner in the Northern Indian restaurant. I think we are the only customer that night. Mind you, one plate of nasi bryani is RM20.00!
It's already late but we drove to the Eagle Square and found that there are actually still quite a lot of tourist and locals around though at this point of time. We took a group photo, look at the shopping stalls and left after a quick purchase.
9 Dec - We ate the bread we bought from a classy bakery the last afternoon. The bakery looks classy, but not the taste of the bread. It's uneatable for us who used to enjoy Lavendar and Breadtalk.
The kids went for jet ski after the early breakfast. Then we checked out from the hotel, packed nasi ayam and headed to the airport. The flight was a bit delayed but we didn't feel much about it. We ate our nasi ayam and play poker cards until time to board the air plane.
Langkawi Part I, 6-7 December 2009
Langkawi Part II, 8-9 December 2009
After that, we search for some Island tour package around the area.
Pulau Payar RM100.00 per pax, back at 5pm, its a whole day trip.
Island hopping with Eagle feeding, back at 1pm, RM35.00 per pax.
Thought of deciding on which package to take after dinner, we drive to Kuah town, looking for food and car wash centre. We couldn't find the Eagle Square, so we drive into Langkawi Fair shopping mall as there is the Billion hypermart and the only available food is Mc Donald. I bought a sponge for car wash.
On the way back, we stop at Petronas station to clean up the car. Thanks to the pipe at the station and water host in the toilet.
We didn't decide on any tour package. This is where we ended up with the next day:
8 Dec - We eat some simple breakfast we bought from Billion the night before and go enjoy the sun and the sea at Pantai Cenang.
After the swim, we drive and park at Underwater World and walk across the road to take an early lunch at a Korean Restaurant.
Ticket for Underwater World: RM28.00 for Mykad holders, RM18.00 for children
Guess what, the penguins have moved in!!!! But I don't know why this one penguin keep holding up his right arm.
There is The Zon and Coco Valley duty free shops attached to Underwater World. Some of the chocolates are a bit pricey but some are reasonable.
It's around 3pm++ when we walk out and its burning like hell outside. We decided to hide in some shopping centre so we drove down to Kuah town.
On the way, we stop by a stall for coconut drink. We ask a local about good places to shop and they suggested Haji Ismail Group and Teo Soon Huat, where we ended up until 9pm.
We took our dinner in the Northern Indian restaurant. I think we are the only customer that night. Mind you, one plate of nasi bryani is RM20.00!
It's already late but we drove to the Eagle Square and found that there are actually still quite a lot of tourist and locals around though at this point of time. We took a group photo, look at the shopping stalls and left after a quick purchase.
9 Dec - We ate the bread we bought from a classy bakery the last afternoon. The bakery looks classy, but not the taste of the bread. It's uneatable for us who used to enjoy Lavendar and Breadtalk.
The kids went for jet ski after the early breakfast. Then we checked out from the hotel, packed nasi ayam and headed to the airport. The flight was a bit delayed but we didn't feel much about it. We ate our nasi ayam and play poker cards until time to board the air plane.
Langkawi Part I, 6-7 December 2009
Langkawi Part II, 8-9 December 2009
