the jewel of Kedah..

Langkawi Nature Tour Review

My last trip to Langkawi was more than 10 years ago, hence, I was elated when I was invited to participate in the Langkawi "Go Green Nature Tour" day trip program recently. 

The day started off with meeting up with the rest of the group at the entrance to Swettenham Pier opposite Fort Cornwallis. As I didn't know any of the other group members, I was slightly apprehensive initially but relaxed a little bit after meeting up Chan and Mary.  When all the group members were accounted for, we met up with our tour guide and boarded the ferry with high spirits although the skies were very cloudy and grey.  

The ferry ride from Penang (which leaves at 8:15am) to Langkawi is 3 hours long, stopping at Pulau Payar for around 15 minutes to drop off some passengers. The ferry that we took did not have an upper deck so we could not soak in the beauty of Mother Nature while on the way to Langkawi. Nonetheless, it was a good time for me to get to know the other group members.  We arrived Langkawi at around 11am and was whisked off for a scrumptious lunch at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.

The view from Charlie's Place

Clockwise from left: Fish & Chips, Club Sandwich, Chicken Burger, Fried Rice Kerabu Style, Tomato Soup, Spaghetti Bolognese

After lunch, we headed to Langkawi Oriental Village where we were supposed to enjoy the cable car ride. Alas, cloudy skies, light drizzles and strong winds did not permit us to experience the cable car ride that would take us up to Mount Mat Cincang to enjoy breathtaking sights of the whole of Langkawi island. We left Langkawi Oriental Village with much disappointment though some of us found a wee bit of joy taking photos of ducks at the small pond =). (Tip: Contact the management prior to making a trip there to avoid any disappointment)

"Whatcha looking at?"

Next on the itinerary was a visit to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park located at the eastern part of the Langkawi island.  We took a boat ride along the Kilim River and was treated to amazing sights of God's creation, namely mangrove swamps, limestone hills, sea creatures, bats and eagles. We stopped by a fish farm and were given some time to explore the place. 

After the fish farm, we were brought to a certain section of the river and to my delight, we saw eagles hovering above us. At times like this, I sure wished I had powerful zoom lenses to capture images of these majestic creatures soaring in the skies.  

We proceeded to Gua Kelawar (aka Bat Cave) and as I cautiously entered the dark cave, our tour guide reminded us not to touch the railings of the man-made pathway in the cave to avoid touching bats' droppings. =) We also saw formations of glorious stalactites and stalagmites in this limestone cave that is home to hundreds of bats. (Tip: a torchlight comes in very handy if one is afraid of the dark, and when one wants to take a photo of the bats as flashed photography is banned in the cave)

We headed back to Kilim Jetty where our trustee van driver was patiently waiting for us to whisk us off to our next destination, ie Langkawi Underwater World. We were only given about 45 minutes there so I didn't have much time to fully experience all that is offered at the Underwater World. However, I must say that my favorite sea creatures there are the seals, penguins and the beautiful colorful corals. I was quite enticed by the jellyfishes too!   

As we were running real late and had to make our way back to the Jetty Point for our ferry ride back to Penang, we could not stop by at the Eagle Square near the ferry terminal (although it was in the itinerary). We barely made it to the ferry that was scheduled to leave Langkawi at 5:15pm. Thank goodness our van driver reached the terminal in the nick of time! 


I must say that this day trip tour is quite hectic and time spent for travelling surpasses the amount of time spent for sightseeing. Shopaholics may be very disappointed as we hardly had time for shopping! (Tip: Very quick shopping can be done at Oriental Village, the Zon [outside Underwater World Langkawi] or at Jetty Point) Perhaps ferry operators could consider a slightly later schedule for the last ferry back to Penang?

crossing the Andaman Sea

Although I wished the skies were bluer that day, or that weather permitted us to go for the cable car ride, or that I had more time at Underwater world, I am glad that I had the opportunity to participate in this 'Go Green Nature' tour. Thank you Langkawi Saga Travel and Tours!


Those who are interested in experiencing 'Go Green Nature Tour' can check out Penang CC's website or contact: 
Langkawi Saga Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd
16 Jalan Tanjung Bungah, Georgetown, 11200 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 604-899 8822
Fax: 604-890 6068
Email: sales@langkawicoral.com

it's the most...

wonderful time of the year.....=)

this Christmas, Penang folks have a new seafront retail marina at Tanjung Tokong where they can celebrate this joyous occasion.

Although there are still many vacant lots plus current ongoing renovations, Straits Quay will definitely be one of the most happening places on the island in a few months' time.

I was particularly intrigued with two shops selling interesting merchandise. Smidapaper offers paper craft lessons for those who are interested whereas those who are looking for personalized cupcakes with fondant icing can contact the owner of Sugar.

There are other notable attractions but personally, I can't wait to sink my teeth into yummy chocolate brownies from Delicious cafe and appreciate theater plays at Penang Arts Centre of Penang when both opens next year!

Despite all the nice Christmas decorations and Christmas carols played throughout the malls, Christmas will be meaningless if we forget the real meaning of Christmas...

"...Christmas...isn't Christmas...till it happens in your heart...."

would you pay...

20 cents for a plastic bag?

It takes awhile to adapt to the 'Plastic-bag-free Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday' policy in Penang (especially for those who do not live in Penang), but I must say that residents of Penang (both Penangites and Non-Penangites) seems to have adapted quite well to this policy, and thus, the success from the 3 days have probably resulted to a bold decision of extending the policy to 'Plastic-bag-free DAILY' come January 1st, 2011.

I didn't know that KFC restaurants in Penang also support the plastic-bag-free policy and I ended up carrying the box of fried chicken without a plastic bag. Do they observe no plastic bags just on Tuesdays? or is it for the entire 3 days? Is it just the KFC restaurant at Jalan Sungai Dua, or it includes all KFC branches in Penang? Hmm... I forgot to ask.... oh well...

So what if the whole neighbourhood knows I'm having KFC for dinner... :)

in search for...

shepherd's pie with minced lamb..

When you hang out with people like SL and SY who are gamed for randomness, it doesn't matter if we just had dinner at Soho Free House the night before. The more important issue here is to be able to sink our teeth into Soho's shepherd's pie with minced lamb even if it means going into Soho Country House at Autocity the very next day! Soho Free House Penang didn't have the minced lamb during both my visits there.

Earlier in the day, we brought SL to eat yam rice and pork in preserved vegetable soup somewhere at Taman Chai Leng. I seriously think pork and preserved vegetables goes VERY WELL together.. :)

After lunch, we decided to 'ronda-ronda' at Autocity and saw Soho Country House.

Straightaway we marched right in and asked if they had the minced lamb Shepherd's pie... Guess what...they did!! woohoo! we ordered a portion and had it as our 'dessert'... :)

Verdict:

The minced lamb Shepherd's pie is DEFINITELY nicer then the minced chicken one..I would recommend the lamb over the chicken any day..