SECRET CORNER OF THANATOS

after ending the first part of fun and excitement in pulau pinang….min yuen, john and me decided to continue the fun in pualu legenda—LANGkAWI….

this blog is dedicated to those of my friends who thinks langkawi is boring…..esp charlie and candice…and those who wanted to go very uch but couldn’t make it….ie: diana and shu yu…

xiao tian fetch us to butterworh bus station on her way home. we took a bus to alor setar .then took a taxi to pelabuhan kuala kedah…to take a ferry to pulau langkawi…(so many kinds of transport in one day…)

in alor setar…on our way to pelabuhan kuala kedah….we saw a car burnt down…lots of fire truck went to the rescue…5 or six…many people were surrounding…looking from a distance …as if expecting something to happen… we joked about the amount of fire truck… tot that at last they have something to do after sitting in the office for so long…( no kidding…oni 1 truck was putting off the fire while the rest were juz there to block the way…the fireman like keluar yam cha…)

we reached pelabuhan in 30 minutes…

after buying the ticket. we took our lunch at the nearby warung…415pm…we boarded on to the ferry..this is the first time i sat on ferry since long long time ago when i went to penang….the ferry was noisy…we had to speak in the top of our voic to hear each other…

after about 1 hour…we saw the eagle…YES! we finally reached the pulau lagenda…

LANGKAWI got its name from the combined word of LANG and KAWI (LANG=eagle, KAWI=batu kawi..u know…the one we learnt in sejarah form 1)…it means an eagle sitting on a batu kawi…

we went to the car rental section to rent a proton iswara..manual…rm50 for 24 hours….we rent it for 2 days..

this trip is a new experience for all 3 of us…this is the first time min yuen drive in his vacation, first time john goes out to trip with friends…as for me…i’m not sure whether i have done this before with my melaccan friends….but it’s definitely new and i was juz excited thinking about it..

we’ve decided to drive on our own to explore the island on our own…without tour guide to control our schedule…coz we oni have 2 days of limited time….

the car came in an empty fuel tank….so went to petrol station to pump lo…it’s a self service one….hehe…this is the first time i pump petrol…all these while my mum do it one….it wasn’t that hard…..very fun actually…hehe…

with the small and unclear map we got from the car rental, we struggle a while to find the hotel we were staying…went though a long way before reaching…. the place was called best star resort…a new hotel..quite small…very little service provided…but they are very friendly and the price is cheap…we got a 2 single bed room for 3 of us….so combine bed lo…. then went to the nearby shp to buy a more complete map

before unpacking…we went to the beach juz behind the resort as the sun was setting…a guy came to us to asked whether we wanna play the "parrachute"…they use speed boat to pull us around the sea with the help of the wind….it was fun…REALLY….it feels like flying in the sky…i could see the bluish water below…and many tiny tiny people swimming near the beach…,ngam ngam when we went up…the sun was juz setting…the scenery was juz breathtaking….should have juz brought a camera up there….all 3 of us went for it…we believed that it was better than the one in ferringi beach when charlie tried it…it was too hot back there…

after that…we took some group photo in the sun set…with the help of some foreigners…..we even drew pictures on the beach….and took photo of it..(oh ya…forgot to mention the sand is very smooth at the beach…)

went back to take a bath. then it was time for dinner. we din’t search far as we found a "LUCKY" reataurant juz beside the resort….it’s a HALAL chinese restaurant….we ordered tomyam prawns, vege, claypot tauhu…and the shop’s famous crab…..it was delicious…we ate 3 bowl of rice each….hahaha….and we’ve decided to come back again tomorrow…

after dinner we drove to the KUAH town….to the statue of the eagle sitting on the batu kawi and took some photos from different angle….the eaagle looks awesome at every angle….very impressive… we could see many people pat toh near the lake opposite the big screen tv beside the statue too…

there’s a LEGENDA PARK near the statue…but it closes a 7pm….so we tak sempat pergi lo…

ZZZZ………

the next day…early in the morning…after breakfast..at 830…we drove our way to the center of the island,where the MAKAM MAHSURI was located…it was still early and the place belum buka..and there’s no people at the ticket counter…but we have another plan coming up in an hour…so decided to sneak in first…and then pay on our way out lo….as the place was still closed…we din’t get to see many stuff…other than the perigi, the makam itself, the museum, and the mini zoo…took some photos of it….in the museum i finally recalled the legend of mahsuri…those which i read in std 3…

we came back to hotel before continuing on to our next event—"ISLAND HOPPING"…

the 1st island that we went to was pulau dayang bunting…it was so called because the island itself looks like a pregnant lady…we stopped there for one hour…we went in to tasik dayang bunting..the famous lake where according to legend…women who drink water from there will get pregnant….i dunno about that…but me and min yuen went in to swim…hopefully we won’t get pregnant…hahaha…. there were many monkeys there..some snatching food and shoes from people…there’s one lady who battled with the monkeys who snatched the shoe from her…she spent quite some time to get it back….myuen, john and me sat down watching the people "playing" with the monkeys…

2nd island…..we went to see the island where there were many eagles…white and brown ones…they were flying above us…occasionally came down to catch the prey in the sea which are locked by their sharp and accurate eyes…. i tried to take picture but they were too fast…so decided to juz sit down and watch them fly…

3rd island..  PulaU BERas BAsaH….a stretch of long beach…the water was clear but to our dissapointment…no coral….sigh…many people were sunbathing and swimming there…and we saw a few wildboars….my 1st encounter as well…they were not tht ganas as i expected….but they stole a foreigner’s food from her bag..and ran back into the bush….hahaha….min yuen built a pyramid out of sand and all 3 of us put our palm on it…hehe…

after lunch (nasi campur)….went to UNdeRWAter WOrld…very nice..place…dunno about the singapore underwater world…but this place amazes me…(although been here adi 10 years ago)…i love the seal…they way they swim are cute…and the penguins too..love the way they walk…they are camera friendly too…post for every tourist that came…there were many jaws, turtle and many other dangerous fishes living in one tank…wonder why they don kill each other….and we juz discovered that although turtle are slow…they are extremely fast and accurate when they feed on fishes….i discovered the world smallest monkey too…so kawaiii…

went to buy ferry ticket home at the jetty….

then we drove to north east where GAleri PErdaNA is situated…here is where the former prime minster keep all his award and gifts from other country…seriously…he has everything from practically every single place in the map….if he sells it all… he would be the richest guy in malaysia..(maybe he is..or maybe i’m wrong..but wat the heck…who else in malaysia keeps his stuff in the building of the size of 2 bungalow double storeys"…he has many series of car collection….which is one floor by itself….wat impresses me more is the award received by his wife…she got a degree and recognition from many many institution in medicine….wonder how she achieved that…

on our way home….we decided to finish our petrol before tomorrow…so drove around the island on our way home…went to AIR HANGAT VILLAGE…..but we were abit late…the place was close…so din’t get to see the hot spring that we doubt exsisted in that place…

then went to the Durian Peragin waterfall…the stairs were made of rock…and we took some time to make it to the top…we were dissapointed to see the waterfall which looked like a big drain…the stone looks black…maybe it’s algae…but still we daren’t dip out feet in it….so cam down lo…

then went to TANJung Rhu….from we map i tot that the famous thing about this beach is that there’s a big rock in the center of the beach looked like splited in to 2 and the view is nice when the sun set between the rocks….we went there and saw the rock….but we din’t wait for the sun to set….there u could go visit the bat cave, feed eagle, and other water sport….

next stop–"BeraS TerbAKAR"……heard of it’s famous name….but when we went there…we oni see the remnant of beras terbakar..it’s a house of some historical people….long time ago when there was war…the people burn all their grains so that the ememy won’t get any of their food…it’s the "taktik bumi hangus" we learnt in sejarah form 3….(wasn’t impressed about the beras terbakar…i could burn my own rice at home..)

on our way home…went past langkawi airport….

before dinner…saw the news…was shocked to see how teruk the haze condition in kl and other places…they even istiharkan darurat….we were lucky coz langkawi wasn’t affected..the sky was still clear…

ate dinner at the same "LUCKY" restaurant…thistime we ordered pepper chicken, sour vege sup, vege,oyster,and tauhu….delicious…the oyster is fresh…

after dinner…saw a show before sleeping….but i missed the climax….dunno how that happened..

ZZZZ………….

on our last day…after breakfast…went to TELAGA TUJUH WATERFALL…..the scenery was more magnificent than the yesterday’s durian peragin waterfall…the water is clearer…and cool…swimmed for a awhile..then we hike through 367 stairs to the top of the hill…to see the famous "7 telaga’….its 7 small pons merging into the waterfall…many people camping there…..fresh air up there too…

went back down 367 stairs…went to the "cable car" at langkawi ORIENTAL VILLAGE….it was GUNUNG MACHINCANG( i dunno about this…this is according to john)…it’s twice as high as Penang Hill…the cable car is diff….luckily we came earlier…4 more days and that place is closed for service….the view up there was like "walau"…….dunno how to describe….the air is cooland fresh too…on topof the hill there’s a suspension bridge too…connecting to the other side of the hill….another "walau" scenery…

we took our lunch before proceeding to the Duty Free Shop near the jetty…before going back to penang…

the journey took 2 hours….min yuen’s mom fetch us from the jetty and we went to his house for dinner…(thanks)…his baby Ian is super cute…and smart too….

then go Sg. Nibung Bus Station to send john home first…..as my bus is at 1230….we went to diana’s house to chat for awhile…her mom served us tou fu shui….nice….wanted to ajak her for bak kut teh…but too bad she’s sick….so 2 of us went oni lo…..

min yuen fetched me to bus station….i waited there for my bus…an achievement : i finish reading my first ever newspaper…..hehe…

the bus reached kl at 530 am at kl….bought a ticket to mlk at 7……reached home around 9…

this trip has been meaningful to me…partly because the wonderful places in this magical island…but what makes it fun is the people that join this trip… thanks min yuen and john who make this trip a wonderful memories for me….i’m sure it wouldn’t be the same if i’d came here with other people….

it’s a miracle for me that we managed to go round the whole island in juz 2 days  ….haha…never have such compact holiday before…every minute there is precious to me….

this is a memory that would last in me ……….forever……