Petronas Twin Towers top half

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Date: 1st October 2010

After two wonderful days in beautiful Langkawi, it was now time for the last leg of our journey. We reached Langkawi airport for our morning flight to Kuala Lumpur. After having our breakfast at Kenny Rogers Roasters (not a whole lot of options at the airport), we checked in and waited for our 11:45am flight.

Langkawi airport runwayLangkawi airport flying school hills

Langkawi airport Air Asia morning flight
Our flight was on time (Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

We all sat together but Ramesh chose the window seat. The following are his photographs.

Leaving Langkawi Malaysia by flight

Langkawi wave breaker from plane Malaysia
That’s a wavebreaker

Langkawi islands from Air Asia flightLeaving Langkawi for KL Air Asia flightAir Asia Langkawi to Kuala Lumpur cloudsKuala Lumpur Malaysia river from skyKuala Lumpur Malaysia river from planeKuala Lumpur outskirts Malaysia from planeKuala Lumpur palm forest from sky MalaysiaLanding in Kuala Lumpur budget terminalAir Asia landing runway LCCTKuala Lumpur airport budget LCCT terminal

We landed at Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Terminal nearing 1pm and was out in 30 minutes. There were plenty of buses from KL LCCT to KL Sentral, which is the main transportation hub in Kuala Lumpur city.

KL LCCT to KL Sentral bus Manchester United believe
We got a ManU fan for a driver
LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur bus journey
The bus ride costs RM8 (Rs. 117/$2.7)
LCCT to KL Sentral Kuala Lumpur heavy rain
Soon after, it began to rain heavily
Kuala Lumpur city highway powerlines
But halfway through the journey, the rain stopped

Kuala Lumpur airport to city roadKuala Lumpur city airport highway

Kuala Lumpur city highway Petronas in distance
Malaysia’s landmark in the distance
Kuala Lumpur construction near KL Sentral
After nearly an hour, we arrived at KL Sentral

After reaching KL Sentral, we then hired a taxi to where were staying.

Kuala Lumpur city Proton taxi
It cost us RM35 from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square

Kuala Lumpur city apartmentKuala Lumpur city overbridge

Kuala Lumpur luxury building
(Above photos taken on Nokia E72)

After a 15 minute journey, we reached Berjaya Times Square. There is a metro service from KL Sentral to Berjaya Times Square, but with our luggage, we decided to just take a cab.

Kuala Lumpur Irsia bed and breakfast hostel
The tiny white building was where we would be staying: Irsia Bed & Breakfast

We chose Irsia after much deliberation and researching on the location. We made our booking for a triple room.

Irsia bed breakfast hostel triple room Kuala Lumpur
Which by the way, looks like this

After freshening up and making our payments, we headed to Berjaya Times Square for lunch.

Berjaya Times Square is relatively old but still remains one of Malaysia’s biggest and popular shopping destinations. It’s pretty huge, with 7 floors of shopping — high ends brands in the lower floors and more affordable stuff in the higher up floors. There’s also a 5-star hotel, Berjaya Hotel — among other things.

Kuala Lumpur Berjaya times square mall info lobby

Berjaya Times Square hotel escalator floors
(Photograph by Loiyumba)

We headed all the way up to the 10th floor to the food court. We chose our meals from a place selling ‘mock non-veg’ food.

Kuala Lumpur Berjaya Times Square soya food court
Pick and choose

By that I mean, stuff that looks like chicken and fish but are actually vegetarian because they are essentially soya-filled made to look like non-veg items.

Berjaya Times Square mock chicken fish

Kuala Lumpur city SJK Julimbi building
The view from up here

When I mentioned “among other things” earlier…

Berjaya Times Square indoor roller coaster
… there’s also an indoor theme park with a rollercoaster inside the building

Berjaya Times Square indoor roller coaster ride

Berjaya Times Square indoor theme park
I tried to the get the whole theme park section of the building in one frame
Berjaya Times Square mall Kuala Lumpur
We stepped out
Kuala Lumpur Times Square monorail line
And decided to check out the area we were in

We chose to stay at Irsia because it was close to a lot of places we wanted to go. One among them being Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur’s famous IT mall.

After crossing the road, it was a short walk to Low Yat

Kuala Lumpur Plaza Low Yat side entrance
This isn’t the main entrance
Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza five floors
6 floors of gadgets

I couldn’t get to spend much time in Singapore’s IT malls to pick up the things I wanted, so I consoled myself assuming I could get them at Low Yat.

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza IT store cafeSadly, the selection of camera tripods weren’t very exhaustive and I couldn’t really find everything I wanted. Also, more importantly, the prices we found for some items were far more than what we saw in Singapore. There isn’t an incentive for tourists either via a tax refund scheme like Singapore has with its GST refund and Thailand has with its VAT refund scheme.

Kuala Lumpur Low Yat Plaza stores
I checked out pretty much every floor

After lingering around for nearly 30 minutes, we left.

Kuala Lumpur Plaza Low Yat entranceKuala Lumpur street food hotel capitolWe were soon on Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur’s popular shopping district.

Kuala Lumpur Changkat Bukit Bintang streetA short walk from here is Jalan Alor, also nicknamed ‘Food Street’.

Kuala Lumpur Jalan Alor food street Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur Jalan Alor evening
Not buzzing just quite yet

Kuala Lumpur alley near Jalan Alor

Kuala Lumpur city CBD traffic
Quite a lot of malls in Bukit Bintang

Kuala Lumpur Lot 10 mall junction

Kuala Lumpur monorail train
KL’s monorail service (Photograph by Loiyumba)
Kuala Lumpur monorail HSBC branch
We were walking towards Malaysia’s world famous landmark
Kuala Lumpur Hotel Istana Menara KL tower evening
It’s tall, but it isn’t KL Tower
Kuala Lumpur Petronas towers Monorail
That’s where we were headed — Petronas Twin Towers
Kuala Lumpur Menara KL Malaysia
I had plans to go to Menara KL too

Kuala Lumpur CBD road sign

Kuala Lumpur Menara Shangri La hotel Malaysia
Menara KL (or KL Tower) is in fact taller than Petronas towers, but that’s because it’s perched atop a hill
KL Petronas Tower Canon street ad
Even half of one tower is impressive to look at

Kuala Lumpur street to Petronas TowersPetronas Tower single tree shadow night

Kuala Lumpur Suria KLCC shopping mall
Suria KLCC is the shopping mall (KLCC is the convention centre I believe)
Public Bank AmBank headquarter building KL
Plenty of bank headquarters in and around Petronas Towers
Petronas Tower KL side angle
Stunning

We walked into Suria but there was a sign saying at certain sections of the mall, photography is prohibited. So we just kept our cameras in and walked through the mall and out the main entrance of Petronas Towers.

Petronas towers 1malaysia 1matlamat fullPetronas is the Malaysia’s national oil company — and one of Asia’s largest companies.  Petronas Towers is the company’s headquarters, thought I’m not sure if all 88 floors are Petronas’ offices.

Petronas Twin Towers bottom angle
But what an office to work in!
Petronas Towers building entrance lobby
The lobby is quite nice
Petronas Towers observation deck bridge at night
That’s the Skybridge observation deck. We planned to go check it out in the morning.

The reason why we we didn’t want to go up to the skybridge is because, one, we were already late as the skybridge closes at 5pm and two, there is a particular method to which you need to get the tickets to visit the observation deck — which I’ll get to in a later post.

Petronas Towers higher floorsPetronas Twin Towers top half

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers Malaysia
I had to step back a bit to get the whole building in my wide angle

Petronas Twin Towers top floorsWe attempted a portrait shot of all three of us in front of the Petronas Towes, but because we didn’t have a tripod with us, Ramesh fit the tripod on his camera and used his Kata bag to stand the camera.

Petronas Towers glowing Mithun Loiyumba charity girl
Me donating some money to some Chinese school girl
Loiyumba Ramesh Mithun in front of Petronas Towers full
After a few attempts, we managed to get the shot

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers fountainsPetronas Towers entrance fountainsPetronas Towers KL angle shotPetronas Twin Towers glow treeThe Malaysian MotoGP was happening the following week, and they had some competing superbikes on display.

Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha bike Petronas MalaysiaFiat Yamaha superbike MotoGP display Petronas MalaysiaPublic Bank head office in front Petronas TowersKuala Lumpur BSN Bank headquarters Menara KLAfter nearly an hour just staring at this beautiful building, we finally left the base of Petronas Towers.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers full shotThe Petronas Towers are a symbol of modern day Malaysia. Just like Burj-Al-Arab signifies Dubai, and now Burj Khalifa, the Petronas Towers are an architectural icon. Inaugurated in 1998, even to this day, the Petronas Towers design stands as ‘modern’ – and yet, truly Asian in its influence as it can be. No visit to Malaysia is complete without having seen what was once the tallest building(s) in the world.

Kuala Lumpur KLCC Suria parking entranceEven though Taipei 101 took over the throne of “Tallest building in the world” in 2004 (until Burj Khalifa did the same in 2010), the Petronas Towers are still one of the best looking skyscrapers in the world in my opinion. It shows how important good architecture is in creating a true global landmark. You can play the game of attempting to build the tallest structure in the world, but unless it looks good, the investment is futile.

If you disagree, just go around and ask people if they are aware of ‘Taipei 101’.

Kuala Lumpur Petronas Towers night sky cloudsKuala Lumpur Convention Center building MalaysiaKuala Lumpur Prince Hotel Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur city TANGS store
TANGS is a department store

We walked back and through some of the malls in Bukit Bintang district.

Kuala Lumpur Pavilion Mall street musicians
Musicians performing in front of Pavilion Mall
Pavilion Crystal Fountain, the Tallest Liuli Crystal Fountain in Malaysia
Pavilion Crystal Fountain, the Tallest Liuli Crystal Fountain in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur Uniqlo store Bukit Bintang
Japan’s UNIQLO is now in Kuala Lumpur’s Fahrenheit 88 mall
Ferrari F430 parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
This Ferrari F430 was parked in front of Fahrenheit 88 mall

Ferrari F430 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Bukit Bintang street performers at night
There are a few street performers at Bukit Bintang
Bukit Bintang street dancers Kuala Lumpur at night
These guys were trying to perform street dancing but looked nervous when the crowd grew big
Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang monorail station
Bukit Bintang monorail station

From Bukit Bintang other KL landmarks

Bukit Bintang street KL at night
It was time for us to now figure out what to eat
Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant tourists
So we headed to Jalan Alor a.k.a ‘Food Street’
Jalan Alor food street Kuala Lumpur at night
Quite a change of scene from earlier isn’t it?

Jalan Alor food street KL Malaysia nightlifeJalan Alor food street beef street food

Jalan Alor food street water sprinklers
These restaurants even sprinkle water in the air to cool off its guests

Jalan Alor food street Vietnam food KL MalaysiaJalan Alor food street food courtJalan Alor food street Budget Inn Kuala LumpurJalan Alor food street Kuala LumpurWhile myself and Loiyumba found enough options for dinner, as was the norm on this trip, Ramesh didn’t. So I ordered what I wanted to eat, so that we could head to some place Ramesh could get his dinner.

Jalan Alor food street KL kitchen
I ordered some duck dish, forgot what it was called
Jalan Alor food street fried fish
Was tempted to order some seafood too
Jalan Alor food street Chinese restaurant
A lot of the restaurants on Jalan Alor are Chinese

Jalan Alor food street KL crowds at nightJalan Alor fresh fish seafood on iceIt maybe a bustling place by night, but if you feel like staying amidst all the food, here are some hotels on Jalan Alor:

Hotel Alor street restoran yan kuala lumpur

Jalan Alor food street Apple Inn hotel KL
Apple Inn (http://www.appleinn.com.my/)

Once I got my takeaway, we headed back to our rooms only to stop at the 24-hour Subway store on Bukit Bintang where Ramesh picked up his dinner. (There’s also a 24-hour KFC on the same road)

We also pick up a few drinks from a convenience store on the way and had our dinner outside our hotel, where Irsia had put up a few tables for its guests.

KL street food duck meat Anglia shandy
My dinner
Berjaya Times Square from behind at night
When I say we stayed right behind Berjaya Times Square, I’m not kidding

Dinner over, we hit the bed early. Our plans were to go see the famous Batu Caves tomorrow, which we knew were on the outskirts of KL… which meant getting up a bit early.

So what was our first impression of KL? Not so good, to be honest. In fact, after a whirlwind 3 days in Singapore during a buzzing F1 weekend, it’s understandable we were a bit disappointed with Kuala Lumpur. But the fact is, things are a lot cheaper in KL, so it’s no surprise Malaysia’s capital city isn’t as glamourous as glitzy Singapore. Unfair comparison I’d say.

Oh well, we still had two more days in the city to change our minds about the place.


Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Re-living the 90s: My favourite songs from 1990

Dick Clark once said: “Music is the soundtrack to your life

That statement, for sure, holds true for my life.

I was born in 1982, but growing up in Bahrain in the 1980s, me and my older brother were more interested in cartoons about transforming robots, transforming automobiles and transforming jets. Not Michael Jackson or 80’s hair metal. It wasn’t until I grew into the next decade that my interest in music slowly started to grow.

I remember my brother getting a tiny Black & Decker radio which my dad won at some company party, and that pretty much became our introduction to the music broadcast over Bahrain’s airwaves (mostly Radio  Bahrain 96.5fm). Since the radio, we moved up to a Sony hi-fi system, got cable, and then as the internet became a part of my adult life, I ended up listening to so much music that I link moments of my life to the songs from that period.

For the past few months on my Facebook profile, I’ve been sharing songs I grew up listening to under the ‘Re-living the 90s’ headline. It was pretty well received by my friends who, like me, reminisced about the music and went: “Man, I haven’t heard this ages!”.

So, this is the first of 10 posts. One post for every year of the decade that was the 1990s.

Now, these songs weren’t necessarily the top songs of the 90s, best, or even the greatest songs of the 90s — but yeah, they surely were big hits from the 1990s.  I’m including them in my selection because I remember them as “favourites”.

So here we go:

NKOTB Vanilla Ice Cathy Dennis MC Hammer Maxi Priest 1990s chart music
All of these guys (yes, even those pants) were cool... back in 1990

New Kids on the Block – “Step by Step”

In 1990, I was 8 years old. NKOTB was my favourite group at the time. Why? I don’t know, maybe it was because their songs were simple, catchy pop songs — or I thought their dancing was “SO AWESOME” at the time. They even had their own cartoon I used to watch. Whatever it was, I had their cassette tapes… and I loved songs like “Right Stuff” and “Hangin’ Tough” as a kid.

The last NKOTB song I heard was “Dirty Dawg (1993-94),” their attempt to break away from the cheesy pop that made them famous. It wasn’t a huge hit and NKOTB eventually broke up after that. Jordan Kinght and Joey McIntyre came back to the music scene in the late 90s and in 2008, NKOTB re-emerged with a new album and tour. But as I grew up in the 1990s with the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, I now realize how much more vocally talented those two boy bands were compared to NKOTB.

DNA feat. Suzanne Vega – “Tom’s Diner”

Do you know that song that goes: “D0-do-doodeh, do-dodeh-do, do-de-do-do, do-dedo-do…” Yeah, that’s how I used to remember this song 🙂

Maxi Priest – “Close To You”

Maxi Priest‘s biggest hit. He also did a decent reggae cover of “Wild World“.

Vanilla Ice – “Ice Ice Baby”

The 1990s saw rap hit the mainstream. Unfortunately, it was through rap hits like this:

I was among the millions back then who loved this song! I have a fond memory of when we first got our Sony hi-fi stereo (with karaoke mic!) and my older brother rapped the lines while I was snuggled in excitement on our living room sofa. Oh the things that excited me back then.

Now I’m among the millions who laugh at the guy whose real name is Robert Van Winkle 🙂

MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”

Besides Vanilla Ice, the other laughing stock of early 90s pop rap was MC Hammer. Once again, everybody loved him when he was a chart-topping success. He too had a cartoon, Hammer Man. He lived the high life, bought a multi-million dollar home, a Ferrari — and then his career fizzled out after his second album, ‘Too Legit to Quit’. Then he went bankrupt. He’s still around though.

Cathy Dennis – “Too Many Walls”

Her biggest hit — and probably the only song of hers I remember. She didn’t last too long in the public eye as a pop star. Most of you may have never heard of Cathy Dennis, but if you heard songs by S Club 7, or number 1 hits like Kylie Minogue’s  “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” “Toxic” by Britney Spears, or Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” that’s all Cathy Dennis. She wrote those hits.

So that’s all for the inaugural post in this series. I know it’s not a lot of songs, but I was only going on 8 then.

Cartoons were still a bigger priority for me.

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Loiyumba jumping water

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Date: 30th September 2010

After a great first day in Langkawi, today morning we were up and ready for our island hopping tour.

Langkawi roti canai
For breakfast, I had ‘roti canai’ which is similar to Kerala parota, but fluffier. To drink, Milo, which is waaaay more popular in Malaysia than it is in India.

We were picked up by the tour operator at 8am and dropped off at a pier where other tourists were gathered as well.

Langkawi island hopping tour pier

Langkawi island hopping tour private speedboats
These were the kind of boats we were going to be driven around in
Langkawi island hopping cloud sunny skies
It was a lovely sunny day to be out on a boat trip
Langkawi island hopping tour boat steps
All the tourists were divided into groups and we got into our boat

Langkawi island hopping tour boat driver

Langkawi island hopping tour limestone rocks

Langkawi island hopping tour wave splash
Given my past experience going on a similar trip in Krabi, I was more careful this time in protecting my camera equipment

Langkawi island hopping tour speedboat wavesLangkawi island hopping limestone hills

Our first stop on the tour was to get a glimpse of the Pregnant Maiden Island, called so because it looks like a lady lying down with a pregnant tummy.

Langkawi island hopping tour Pregnant Maiden island
Took me a while to make out where the ‘pregnant maiden’ was
Langkawi island hopping Pregnant Maiden island panorama
This is a panorama comprised of 6 shots. See if you can find her. (Hint: Head is on the right)
Langkawi island hopping tour tourists speedboat
We moved on

Langkawi island hopping tour limestone cave

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble geoforest park arrival
Soon after, we arrived at our first major stop on the tour

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park boatsLangkawi island hopping tour boats parkedWe were at the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, which is located inside the Island of the Pregnant Maiden.

Langkawi Dayang Bunting monkey at pier entrance
Our welcoming party. The monkeys, not the old guy.

Langkawi Dayang Bunting monkey scratching

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park monkey on tree
Needless to say, there were going to be a lot of monkeys here

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest parkThe stop was for us to check out a lake inside.

Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island park monkey opening bottle
But I was more amused watching monkeys

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest steps upLangkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest steps down

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest lake
The lake inside is famous because despite being in an island located in the sea, the lake’s water isn’t as salty
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake
You can also swim here
Langkawi Dayang Bunting Loiyumba jumping water
… or jump in, like Loi did
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake paddle boats
There are also paddle boats for hire

They also have one of those “fish spas” here with small catfish ever ready to nibble away at your feet’s germs.

Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island lake tourists catfish spa
Plus it’s free
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake catfish massage
The water is cool, but the nibbling at your feet can be ticklish… and slimy
Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island lake catfish spa
But when people throw bread crumbs near your feet…. it can get a *little* too much!
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake swimming
We had nearly an hour to spend here
Langkawi Pregnant maiden island changing rooms
They have changing rooms for men and women here itself
Langkawi pregnant maiden island women's changing room
… but it kinda helps to know English

Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake sign45 minutes in, we made our way back to the pier

Langkawi geoforest park monkey by lakeLangkawi Geoforest park trees

Langkawi Geoforest park monkeys on stones
Like I said, lots of monkeys here

You have to be a bit careful though. Yes, they are more afraid of you than your are of the monkeys. But if they see anything enticing in your hands — like juice bottles or food packets — sometimes they will come at you and just grab it. Also, I saw some idiots throw things at them. Please don’t do that.

Langkawi geoforest park monkey coke bottle
2 seconds ago, that Coke bottle was in that old man’s hands. He didn’t fight for it back… because that would make human race look inferior.

Langkawi maiden island geoforest park pier

Langkawi geoforest park boats leaving
We got into our boats and moved on

Langkawi geoforest park islandsOur next stop was a short trip away.

Langkawi geoforest islands

Langkawi island hopping tour fish feeding farm
Next up was a fish feeding farm…
Langkawi island hopping tour fish feeding farm arriving
… which was also a restaurant. Hmmm.

The thing was, you had to pay to feed the fishes. This isn’t exactly included in the package.

Langkawi fish feeding farm baskets
But we didn’t go for it

Langkawi fish feeding farm payWe didn’t opt to feed the fishes because, 1)  all 3 of us weren’t interested 2) the concept of paying to feed fishes, fatten them up  and who then (possibly) end up on the restaurant menu didn’t sound right to me.

Langkawi fish feeding farm tourist
Boring huh?
Langkawi fish feeding farm teal water
Fortunately it was only a 30 minute stop, so I continued clicking

Langkawi boat Malaysia flagLangkawi sea small fish

Langkawi geoforest islands blue sky huge cloud
We moved on
Langkawi island hopping tour guide smoking
Our boat driver, smoking

We rode up to what looked like a mangrove forest, where we would witness an eagle feeding session.

Langkawi eagles grey sky
Langkawi gets its name from eagles. Malay word ‘lang’ = eagle, kawi = reddish brown colour
Langkawi island hopping tour eagle feeding mangrove
The island is inhabited with a lot of eagles of that colour

Langkawi island hopping tour bald eagleThe eagle feeding session works as such. The boats all float apart from each other and the drivers/guides throw some eagle feed (bread bits or some meat) into the waters, and the birds of prey come sweeping in with their beaks ready to eat.

Langkawi island hopping tour eagle glidingProblem was, I didn’t have the right lens for this part of the tour. The most zoom I had was with my Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, which as a macro lens is great, but isn’t much when it comes to photographing fast moving birds.

Langkawi island hopping tour eagle feeding

Here are a few shots Ramesh got using his Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens.

Langkawi white breast eagle Photograph by Ramesh
(Photograph by Ramesh Iyer)
Langkawi brown eagle Photograph by Ramesh
(Photograph by Ramesh Iyer)

After the eagle feeding session, we moved on to our next and final stop on this tour.

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island
Beras Basah island
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island sign
If you wanted to swim in the sea or just hang around on the beach, here is where you are allowed to do it
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island beach
We were all keen to hit the water!
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island swimming
But I didn’t feel like leaving my camera on the beach
Langkawi Beras Basah island sea level
So I took it with me into the water! But I trod very carefully so as not to get a drop of water on the lens.
Langkawi Beras Basah island Loiyumba coral reef
Loi and Ramesh found broken corals
Langkawi Beras Basah island Ramesh Loiyumba corals
So I asked them to make use of them and pretend to be reindeers!
Langkawi Beras Basah island Mithun corals
Because you know, reindeers in water are… ermm… 🙂
Langkawi island Loiyumba Davidoff ad
Couldn’t help but turn this into an ad 🙂
Langkawi Beras Basah island Mithun floating head
Attempting the ‘head floating in water’ shot
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island hotel
After some time, we made our way back to shore
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island overcast skies
Overcast skies in the distance

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island boat bouy

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah private property
Not sure if this was a hotel or not
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island dock
After drying ourselves up, we headed back to the pier

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah trees

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island monkeys
Monkeys inhabit this island too
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island monkey
Amazing how they survive on the island, considering there are no human residents here.

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island pierLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island blue waterLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island poles

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island forest
We left Beras Basah island

Langkawi island hopping tour islandsLangkawi island Malaysian fishing boatLangkawi island hopping tour long islandLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island boat tripLangkawi island hopping long sea bridgeLangkawi island lighthouse pier

Langkawi island Malaysia yacht
We got a bit of rain as we neared the pier from where we set off in the morning
Langkawi island resort hotel
Pretty cool looking resort

The rain was mostly a drizzle once we got back. They were selling memorabilia plates of everybody who went for these boat trips and since they were only RM10,  we all picked up our respective plates.

This was a half-day island hopping tour and it only cost us RM30 (Rs. 450 approx.) per person. I’ve done a similar tour like this last year in South Thailand. Of course, that trip didn’t start of well, with my camera getting wet and all, but I doubt I’ll ever get sick of seeing clear blue water and less crowded beaches far away from civilization.

As we were walking to our vans, Ramesh and I were talking about visiting the Langkawi Underwater World, just when one of the Sri Lankans who was on our boat overheard us. He turned back and advised us against it, saying that the Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur is “much better”.  So we decided to take his word for it and dropped the idea of going to Langkawi Underwater World.

The tour company dropped us back to our hotel.

Langkawi Sweet Inn Motel chairs lobby
The lobby downstairs at Sweet Inn Motel
Langkawi motel cat licking
One of the many cats that visit Sweet Inn
Langkawi Pantai Cenang village
It had just finished raining

Langkawi village house jeepWe stepped out again, this time for lunch.

Langkawi Skol beer Chang beer
We stopped by a restaurant to quench our throats first with some chilled beer. I tried SKOL which I never had before. It was average in taste.

Unfortunately, looking at the menu, it offered very little in terms of vegetarian for Ramesh. So after beer, we sought some other restaurant.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang lane
So we went further down Pantai Cenang road to check out other restaurants
Langkawi Underwater World Malaysia
This is Underwater World Langkawi
Langkawi restaurant soda pop iced tea
We sat down at a restaurant in front of Underwater World after Ramesh found something he could eat
Langkawi Malaysian chicken curry rice
But the food wasn’t particularly good. I didn’t like my chicken curry rice.

Post lunch, we checked out some Duty Free stores. Langkawi is a Duty Free shopping destination, so one would assume you would find some great bargains. But as we hopped from one shop to another, that wasn’t the case. Especially with electronics. We walked into the Canon store at a mall adjacent to Underwater World and found the prices to be far higher than that of Singapore. We were aware Malaysia isn’t as cheap as Singapore when it comes to electronics, but still, the prices we came across were a bit exorbitant. Some even higher than prices back in India.

I feel Langkawi businesses were taking advantage of the “Duty Free” label and jacking up the prices because you never know, some less-informed tourist would buy into the whole gimmick and assume they got a good deal here.

At this point, Ramesh and Loiyumba wanted to head back to our hotel in Langkawi for some rest. This being our last day on Langkawi, I didn’t feel like resting, so I told them I wanted to roam around a bit more.

I was contemplating heading to Kuah, Langkawi’s main town, just to see what that side of the island had to offer. But since we had already walked quite a bit, I decided to head further on and visit Pantai Tengah beach. In the process, also share some more beachfront hotel options on Pantai Cenang in case you wanted to know where to stay (I highlighted some places in the previous post).

Langkapuri Inn hotel Langkawi
Langkapuri Inn to the left; the yellow building is a BBQ restaurant
Sugary Sands Motel Langkawi
Sugary Sands Motel
Tanjung Malie Beach Motel Langkawi Malaysia
Tanjung Malie Beach Motel
Green Hill Beach motel Mali Perdana Resort Langkawi
Green Hill Beach motel is the one with the green sign
Sunset Beach Resort Langkawi Malaysia
Sunset Beach Resort (http://www.sungroup-langkawi.com/sunset/)
The Cabin Langkawi budget hotel
The Cabin Langkawi (http://www.thecabin.com.my/)
Aseania Resort Langkawi Malaysia
Aseania Resort, not on the beach though (http://www.aseanialangkawi.com/index.html)

Langkawi road to Pantai Tengah

Langkawi Durian fruit melons stall
Durian (similar to Jackfruit), is the national fruit of Malaysia (I think)

Chiew Turkish restaurant Pantai Tengah beach

Langkawi way to Pantai Tengah beach
Head straight down this road to get to Pantai Tengah beach

Langkawi The Lighthouse restaurant Pantai Tengah

Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach Malaysia
This is Pantai Tengah beach
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach grey skies
It isn’t as big as Pantai Cenang… and the sand isn’t as soft either
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach sand Malaysia
In fact, the sand was mostly broken shells. Not the best for walking barefoot then.
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach shore rain
At this point, it began to rain
Langkawi Pantai Tengah field
Fortunately, I had my umbrella in my backpack. So I walked back instead of taking cover.
Langkawi Sri Kijang Bank Negara resort
This nice looking resort isn’t open to public
Langkawi Sri Kijang Bank Negara resort Pantai Cenang
Upon research, it belongs to a bank and is meant only for its employees. Posh.
Debbie's Place Irish pub bar in Langkawi
Debbie’s Place Irish pub on Pantai Cenang

Breakfast Bar Langkawi world directions

Langkawi Sweet Inn Shida Laundrette
There’s a laundry shop very close to Sweet Inn, very reasonable rates for service

I went back to the room to drop off my laundry, and to see what the other two were up to. Ramesh and Loi were taking a nap and so, I decided to step out again.

Way to Rasa Eksotika The Palms guesthouse Langkawi
I wanted to explore the area behind the motel

Langkawi timber wooden village house MalaysiaLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house for rent

Langkawi Pantai Cenang house lodges
Some of the houses here have been turned into budget accommodation for tourists. Good income for villagers.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang village house carsLangkawi Pantai Cenang cows grazing farmLangkawi water buffalo field MalaysiaLangkawi field wooden picket fenceLangkawi Pantai Cenang field flowers

Langkawi village field water buffalo
Apparently all water buffaloes do is stare at you

Langkawi village home MalaysiaLangkawi village life Malaysia

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malay house
I had reached a main road at this point

Langkawi Malaysia village life moped family

Langkawi weekend market fish Malaysia
I saw this market by the main road…
Langkawi weekend market Nasi Beriani Malaysia
… and since there was a lot of food on display, I had to check it out!
Langkawi weekend market fish balls Malaysia
I forget if these were fish balls or cheese balls… or fish balls with cheese powder coating
Langkawi weekend market Apom Balek Malaysia
Apom Balek, sweet stuff. I sampled a few of these. (‘apom’ sounds like India’s “appam”)

Langkawi weekend market barbecued fish Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market Nasi Beriani price Malaysia
‘Nasi’ is Malay for rice and ‘Beriani’ is well, biriyani (RM 3.50 = Rs. 50)
Langkawi weekend market van vendors
Seemed like this was some sort of weekend market, not a mainstay

Langkawi weekend market hawker tentsLangkawi weekend market fish vendor Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market sotong kangkung Malaysia
Guess I knew where to bring Loi for dinner

Langkawi weekend market fruit stall Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market fruit stalls Malaysia
Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on offer

Langkawi weekend market vegetables Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market dried fish
Dried fish… lots of it!
Langkawi weekend market cempedak goreng Malaysia
‘Cempedak’ is a type of fruit, ‘goreng’ I’m guessing means fried
Langkawi weekend market lychee Malaysia
Not sure what these were
Langkawi weekend market juices Malaysia
All these colourful juices made me thirsty
Langkawi weekend market corn juice Malaysia
So I had corn milk juice. Weird choice, I know. But I didn’t come all the way here to strawberry milkshake.

Langkawi weekend market chicken vendor Malaysia

Langkawi road cow sign

Langkawi economic rooms village
You got budget accommodation out here as well

Langkawi road tourist cyclists

After spending some time at the market, I knew I was coming back here for dinner. Great street food at very low prices — who am I to complain? I headed back to let the other two know about my ‘discovery’.

Langkawi village road Honda AccordLangkawi village wooden fence shadowsLangkawi village boy girl cycleLangkawi village cat three headLangkawi village mosque MalaysiaOnce I got back to the room at around 6pm, Loi was still napping. So we forced him to get out of bed and get ready. We set out by 7:30pm.

Langkawi Palms guesthouse at night
It was pitch dark and there weren’t any street lights on this route

Langkawi village night market

Langkawi street market orange susu air kelapa
‘Susu’ is the Malay for milk (yup); ‘kelapa’ means coconut and ‘air’ is water (seriously)
Langkawi street food spring potato
Wondering what this is?
Langkawi night market spring potato
It’s potato
Langkawi night market putu mayong
Keralites, looks familiar?
Langkawi Malay street food putu sign
Puttu! Albeit, a slight variation
Langkawi street food making putu
This is how they make lots of it
Langkawi street market fried fish
This is fish apparently
Langkawi street market pizza vendor
I ordered a seafood mini-pizza from here
Langkawi night market seafood pizza
Mostly crab meat and prawns; RM 5 (Rs. 75) for one

Langkawi night market toys tourist

Langkawi street food fried rice noodles
A lot of the food was already sold out
Langkawi night market boiled meat
You take the basket and tongs, pick up whatever you want and you will be charged accordingly
Langkawi street food Loiyumba boiled meat
After you choose, you cook it in boiling water
Langkawi street food baby octopus
… even stuff like this (Yuck)

Langkawi night market fruits

Langkawi street food spring rolls samosas
Picked up some chicken samosas and vegetable spring rolls (RM 2 = Rs. 30)
Langkawi street food fried chicken bbq
Was tempted to get some fried chicken too but I didn’t want overeat 🙂
Langkawi street food burgers
Picked up a beef burger as well. ‘Daging’ = beef, ‘ayam’ = chicken, ‘benjo’ = egg (RM1 = Rs. 15)

Langkawi street food popia fried meat

Langkawi weekend market stalls
The night market was a lot more crowded than earlier

Unfortunately, everybody except Ramesh got what we wanted. There was very little in terms of pure vegetarian on offer at the night market. So we headed back to the main road so that Ramesh could pick up his dinner from a proper restaurant.

Langkawi night market lightsLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house lights reflectionLangkawi village road nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang open air restaurantLangkawi Pantai Cenang taxi at nightSince this was our last night in Langkawi, we hit the beach to the feel wet sand on our feet one last time.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach nightlife

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang Babylon bar night fireLangkawi Babylon beach bar at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang Resthouse night lights

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Rasa restaurant
This is the restaurant from where we had lunch yesterday and breakfast today morning

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Thai SpaLangkawi Pantai Cenang Palm View seafood restaurantAfter checking out a few restaurants, Ramesh ended up picking up a vegetarian pizza from Italian coffee chain illy Cafe, which cost as much as all the food myself and Loi picked up from the night market.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang illy cafe

Langkawi stray cat Loiyumba petting
While we waited, Loi petted stray kittens
Langkawi Pantai Cenang Mithun Divakaran
As it is this post has over 200 photos, might as well squeeze in one of me. (Photograph by Ramesh)
Langkawi stray cat fight scar injury
Wonder what animal this cat fought with
Langkawi Sweet Inn Zee Cinema
Back at our motel, this guy was hooked on Hindi movies
Langkawi hotel dinner street food beers
Dinner! 🙂

And just when you thought we had seen enough cats for one day…

Langkawi Sweet Inn cat eating
This came to our door. We had to share our food with it too.
Langkawi Sweet Inn cat Loiyumba
We kept referring to the cat as ‘it’. So, Loi felt the need to check. It was a ‘she’.

Dinner and drinks done, I ended the night satisfied with all that I saw today. Actually, I did want to head to Kuah town after we came back from our island hopping tour. But given that it ended up raining in the afternoon, it’s a good thing I stayed put in Pantai Cenang.

With 208 photos and over 2000 words, this is the largest post I’ve worked on. There were still some more photos I felt like using because they looked good, but in the end decided not to.

It was good day today, but tomorrow onwards, it’s four days in Malaysia’s capital — Kuala Lumpur.


Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Unseen Malaysia | 41 Bucket-list-worthy Destinations. View the interactive version here

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