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

do aco krismas!

25 Dec 2009

dear Mark,

it's Christmas!! :) guess what...we didn't attend service on christmas eve morning.. hahaha...'ponteng'... instead, we followed a family from Long Langai to their 'resort' at Fa' Langai (Sungai Langai)..they have a fruit orchard so we ate loads of langsat and buah beritam.. the buah tampoi wasn't ripe...and the buah terap trees were sorta far away... there was some ponds in his land so the guys went fishing in the ponds after lunch... i think you might have joined in if you were here..

there was no 'tarian lilin' or any spectacular fireworks performance on christmas eve but thanks to L, we had a 'private' viewing of fireworks at the airport! However it started raining so the fireworks show was a short one.. the sky was perpetually cloudy so couldn't see much stars, not like the 1st trip.. :I kinda sad la cause I was really hoping for fireworks and skies filled with stars...

This year's Christmas celebrations seems to be slightly different from our first experience.. this time they had quite a lot of praying in the beginning..and they sang more BM songs.. and L even sang English songs during tonight's service!.. not many carols were sung in L Bwg (dang! I was so looking forward to nani carols in the L Bwg language :P ).. pastor preached in BM (so we actually could understand what he spoke on)..

I managed to learn some L Bwg words during my 3 years in Limbang thus this ability to understand questions by the org kampung..and some of the announcements made in church truly made my whole trip this year more meaningful..

can't wait to go back again...some day... :P

the exploration continues...

22 Dec 2009

dear Mark,

we made it to L. Bwn this time! :) and we didn't go on foot or motorcycle.. we used to 'idolise' A but now both WA and myself agree that L's driving skills are amazing as well.. he drove on terrains that you would never imagine possible!

L. Bwn reminds me a lil bit of Bario's white sands..like 'padang pasir'.. there isn't much to do there and walking around the whole village only takes about an hour..

of paddy fields...and buffaloes..

21 Dec 2009

dear Mark,

Anon bala?... :) still remember these words?

it's really nice to be back in Ba' Kelalan.. you should have come with us.. the 'keluarga angkat' is asking about you..


thank God the ride was alright - this time we took a different route.. passing through some villages like Long Luping, Long Semadoh, Long Tanit, Long Beluyu & Buduk Aru (where the Theology Seminary is located)..our driver this trip is a young chap from Long Langai.. prob not as skilled as Agung but he did bring us safely to Buduk Nur.. :) overall it was an uneventful ride... only 'exciting' event was to get out of the vehicle when crossing 2 particular bridges that is not completed yet..

Ferdinand is turning into a fine young man..taking after his dad.. think he's going to look very 'yeng' in the near future.. he's going to Std 1 when the new school term begins on 4th Jan 2010. Guen has also grown into a fine little lady.. she doesn't remember us but she warms up to us pretty quickly. Her brown cute bear is still around though she's more fond of another bear nowadays.

some parts of the house has been renovated - especially the bathing and toilet facilities thus making the stay even more comfortable :P

oh oh..there's MAXIS connection now at the village.. but since I'm not a Maxis subscriber, doesn't make any difference to me la.. i guess the mobile phone accessibility will make the village similiar to any other place now...'reachable'... 'connected'...

in search for (3)....

waterfalls!

@Kampung Sikog

it's been such a long time since i swam at a waterfall...it was a fun day indeed! :P

gayu guru gerai nyamai....

....which means....

LONG LIFE, HEALTH & PROSPERITY…

...a phrase often used among the native ethnic groups of Sarawak celebrating Hari Gawai.

It can be quite a tongue twister…but after practising a few times, you'll get the hang of it :P

I celebrated this year's Hari Gawai in Kuching...visited a total of 5 houses (some as far as Serian!) and feasting on the abundance of pansoh manok and babi :)

pansoh babi

pansoh manok (chicken cooked in bamboo)

a rather modern method to cook the pansoh

p/s: BTW, Hari Gawai is celebrated on 1-2 June of every year. This post is long overdue... hehe.. :)