Tag: <span>food</span>

Date: 29th September 2010

After a rather disappointing day in Penang yesterday, we woke up early today to set off on our next island destination: Langkawi.

After a rushed breakfast, we hired a taxi and headed to the terminal to board our ferry to Langkawi. We bought our tickets yesterday itself, and its advisable to do so; our boat was full.

Inside ferry from Penang to Langkawi — It’s air-conditioned inside and there’s a “first class” upstairs as well

Inside ferry from Penang to Langkawi Loiyumba peace sign — The ferry leaves at 8:15am every morning

Penang to Langkawi ferry window — Soon after the ferry set off, we decided to get up from our seats and go ‘upstairs’…

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride mushroom cloud — … and then outside. The mushroom cloud from yesterday was still there.

Leaving Penang island ferry ride — Goodbye Penang, until next time

Penang to Langkawi ferry clear sky — On one side it was clear sunny skies…

Penang to Langkawi waters clouds panorama — …on the other, dark clouds with some pockets of rain

Malacca Strait rain showers clouds panorama — In this wide panorama shot, you can see the pockets receiving rainfall in the distance

Malacca strait sea big cloud formation — There were some lovely cloud formations along the way

Malacca Strait ferry trail — The fumes are coming from the ferry

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride Loiyumba sleeping — With a cool breeze, calm waters, and sunshine…

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride Loiyumba bench — … it’s perfect for a nap

Malacca Strait Langkawi waters concentrated rain — It was cool to see rainfall like this

Langkawi ferry ride Mithun AOL Google tshirts — I wasn’t the only one on board donning our company t-shirts (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Reaching Langkawi by ferry boat — By 10:30am, we were nearing Langkawi

Malacca Strait buoy Langkawi — The water was getting clearer

Malacca Strait Langkawi ship — At this point, we were asked to go back to our seats

Langkawi ferry boat docked at terminal — This was our ferry (Taken using my phone camera)

Welcome to Langkawi ferry terminal — Hello Langkawi! (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal pier — (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal restaurant — (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal yachts marina — Plenty of yachts out here (Taken on the Nokia E72)

We hired a taxi to get to our hotel, which was on Pantai Cenang beach. (Cost us RM24)

Taxi Proton Langkawi ferry terminal — There is a pre-paid taxi booth outside the terminal

Langkawi Kuah town road — The main town in Langkawi is Kuah (Photograph by Loiyumba)

By the way, if you wondering where the iconic symbol of Langkawi (the eagle statue) is, you can find it near a park very close to the ferry terminal. We passed it while driving out of the terminal but didn’t bother stopping to take photos… as there isn’t much to it.

Langkawi taxi ride from Kuah to Pantai Cenang — The drive takes around half an hour

Langkawi islands driving by — We were quite happy to see all this

Langkawi Pantai Cenang road — By 11:30 we were at Pantai Cenang

We could see a sign on the main road pointing to Sweet Inn Motel, the place where we had reservations. Problem is, the sign was pointing to the left side, into the mainland and not to the right, where the beach was.

Sweet Inn motel Langkawi Pantai Cenang rooms — We were a *bit* disappointed upon seeing the place

Sweet Inn Motel Langkawi owner's house — This I’m guessing is the motel owner’s house (Photograph by Loiyumba)

When we made the booking via Agoda.com in August, the description read “on Pantai Cenang beach,” and though it is only a 2 minute walk away from the beach, it’s not a sea facing hotel. Oh well, at least it was cheap. Our triple room cost us Rs. 2360 ($52/€37) for two nights — that’s under Rs. 800 per person for 2 nights!

The rooms were also quite decent. The triple room was one double bed and a single bed, a TV with mostly local channels, wardrobe and a clean enough toilet with hot shower.

We couldn’t check in yet because our rooms weren’t cleaned and kept ready. So instead, we dumped our bags in the office room and hit the beach.

Babylon lounge bar Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Is there any beach on the planet that doesn’t have a Jamaica-themed bar?

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach panorama — Langkawi’s most popular beach — Pantai Cenang beach (panorama comprised of 15 shots)

We couldn’t hand around for too long at the beach. We needed to convert currency as we were running short of Malaysian Ringgits. Loi wanted to sit at the bar, so myself & Ramesh headed back to the main road in search of a money exchange.

Palace of India Malibest resort Pantai Cenang Langkawi — There are a few Indian restaurants here

The resort you see above is Malibest Resort, and it’s by the beach.

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi Malaysia — So is this place

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi bike rentals — Just about every hotel has bikes for rent

Langgura Baron resort Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Langgura Baron resort is more ‘motel’ than ‘resort’. Reasonable rates & by the sea.

When we first came across a money exchange center, they were closed for lunch. We had to walk quite a bit before we came across one that was open. There really weren’t that many money exchange centers on Pantai Cenang road. Not as ubiquitous as I noticed in Thailand. My advice is to convert money either prior to landing in Langkawi or outside the ferry terminal if you come by boat.

Money in hand, we headed back to the beach.

Pantai Cenang beach Indians Arabs Langkawi — Judging by the flags, Indians and Arabs form a large chunk of the tourists in Langkawi

Villa Idaman Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Villa Idaman Motel, I couldn’t find their official site so you’ll just have to Google for more info

Pantai Cenang beach Langkawi sand — Despite being Langkawi’s most popular beach, it wasn’t very crowded

Air Asia Langkawi flight in sky — Air Asia has plenty of daily flights to Langkawi

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach hotel — Not sure if this hotel was open yet

Melati Tanjung Motel Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Melati Tanjung Motel, this another budget sea-facing option

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi watersports — The usual watersports are on offer

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach sand art — Lovely ‘sand art’ by beach snails (I presume)…

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach snail sand formations — … and the shore line had lots of them!

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach dead jellyfish — A dead jellyfish. Felt like poking it with my fingers… but didn’t.

Babylon beach shack bar Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Inside Babylon bar

After having a beer to cool ourselves, we went back to Sweet Inn to check in to our rooms.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang village split road — Take the left road to get to Sweet Inn motel

After we checked in, we freshened up and then stepped out again for lunch.

Nasi Lemak lunch Pantai Cenang Langkawi — I had Nasi Lemak, pretty much the Malay-equivalent to India’s ‘meals’

Considered to be the national dish of Malaysia, Nasi Lemak consists of some rice, roasted peanuts, papadam bits, small dried anchovies, boiled egg and and sambal, a spicy sauce (in the above photo, it’s the red one with calamari in it). The meal is filling and is usually very reasonably priced.

Nasi Goreng veg egg noodle soup Malay dishes — Ramesh had the one on the left; Loi had the one on the right

After lunch, instead of taking a nap, we decided to rent bikes and head to the Langkawi Sky Bridge while the sun was still up.

We rented 2 scooters at RM22 (Rs. 325/$7/€5) each for 24hrs.

Modena scooters bike rent Pantai Cenang Langkawi — The bikes that were the most common were Modenas. This model is called the Karisma.

The rental shop made a note of all the pre-existing scratches and damages before handing it over to us.

It’s best you inspect the bike as carefully as possible, so that they cannot point at any scratch or damage on the bike claiming you did that when you return it.

Helmets on, we set off. Ramesh rode solo while I rode with Loi sitting behind me.

Riding bikes Langkawi helmets — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi road trip with bikes — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi mosque — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi petrol station — We stopped to fuel up. Filled up petrol for RM8 (Rs. 118). (These are self service stations by the way)

Riding through Langkawi road trip — Quite a scenic drive

Bike road trip Langkawi Loiyumba clicking — … and it kept getting better

Langkawi airfield plane landing — This is one end of the Langkawi International Airport runway

Pantai Cenang to Langkawi cable car sky bridge route map — This is the route we took. ‘B’ is Pantai Cenang beach and ‘A’ is the Langkawi Sky Bridge.

Stopping at Langkawi airfield — We had to stop to take a few photos. (Yes, I was aware of how big the helmet was on my head)

Langkawi bridge panorama — Panorama comprised of 3 shots

Langkawi airfield fishing by the sea — He’s fishing… not anything else

Langkawi scooter ride Mithun Ramesh — We moved ahead and then stopped again. I don’t remember why though.

Langkawi bike ride Ramesh — Ramesh ridin’ solo

We stopped here on the bridge to take a few photos.

We moved on.

Way to Langkawi cable car fruit stall — You reach a T-junction, from where you’ll see this fruit stall. Take the right.

Then, up ahead is a signal. From the signal, you have to take a left turn.

Langkawi yacht club marina — You’ll pass the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi Yacht Club boat — The road to the sky bridge goes all around the marina

After setting off at 2pm, by 4pm we were at the Langkawi Geopark. It’s not that the journey takes that long, we just stopped on the way quite a bit.

Langkawi Cable Car parking lot — There’s ample parking available for cars & bikes

Langkawi Cable Car Oriental Village — There are stores and restaurants below

Langkawi Cable Car entrance — You buy the tickets from here

Langkawi Cable Car pods — Tickets cost RM30 per adult (Rs. 440/$10/€7)

Langkawi Geological Park waterfall — There are few mini-waterfalls here

Langkawi cable car first stop station — This is the first station, there’s another leg to the trip to the top

Langkawi view from cable car — The view is amazing even at half-way point

Langkawi cable car sky bridge — That’s the sky bridge

Langkawi Geological Park forest trees panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 vertical shots

We got into the cable car and continued up.

Langkawi sky bridge Malaysia — Great design

Langkawi Geological Park steps to sky bridge — Once you get to the second platform, you have to take these steps to get down to the sky bridge

Langkawi Geological Park 652 meter above-sea level — That’s how high the sky bridge is above sea level

Langkawi sky bridge platform gap — By the way, there are gaps in between the platform you walk on

Apparently the final scene of the Hindi film Don (starring Shah Rukh Khan) was filmed on the sky bridge. I didn’t see the film, but that’s what Ramesh & Loi said.

Langkawi sky bridge under platform — There were steps leading under the platform. Being curious, I took it.

Langkawi geological park trekking path steps — Apparently you can trek all the way down too. But you need prior permission.

Langkawi geological park trekking path tree — Walked a few steps down and saw this. So went back up again.

Langkawi geological park second highest observation deck — That’s the second highest observation deck

Langkawi Yacht Club marina from sky bridge — That’s the marina of the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi cable car observation deck closed — This observation deck was closed for maintenance

Langkawi cable car 705 meter above sea level — So we went to the other observation deck

Langkawi cable car observation deck Mithun Loiyumba — Me showing Loi where we were staying (Photograph by Ramesh)

Langkawi Pantai Cenang view from observation deck — The first wing of the beach you see in the distance is Pantai Cenang. The one further up is Pantai Tengah.

If you want a video of the sky bridge, watch this HD capture by Ramesh:

The sun was setting, so we decided to head back down.

Ramesh took video of our journey back down:

(You can view it in HD for better clarity)

Langkawi Geopark Temurun waterfall — Temurun waterfall

Once down, we checked out the Oriental Village.

The Oriental Village mostly comprises of shops, restaurants and other services like massage spas. We were a bit hungry so we sat in a cafe to have something to eat.

Roselle flower juice beef burger Langkawi Geopark restaurant — This is what I had: Roselle flower juice (L) & beef burger (R)

It was was past 6pm, which is also closing time for the cable car ride. We wanted to make the most of whatever sunlight was available while heading back. So we set off…

Langkawi near Yacht Club — …buuut we ended up stopping again near the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi Yacht Club lighthouse sunset purple sky — A beautiful evening to close out a lovely first day in Langkawi

Langkawi Petronas station near yacht club — There’s a Petronas gas station near the yacht club

Mithun Loiyumba bike waiting — Yes, me and my big helmet (Photograph by Ramesh)

As darkness fell, we still managed to get back to Pantai Cenang beach road in around 45 minutes. Instead of heading back to our rooms, we decided to make the most of the bikes while we had them. We drove straight, on to Pantai Tengah beach and past it as well, until we hit a dead end which looked like another docking bay for boats.

So we made our way back and decided to return the bikes tonight itself.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang T-shoppe bike rentals — This is the place where we rented our bikes from

The reason why we returned them is because the next morning we had booked ourselves for an island-hopping tour which would last until afternoon. So by the time we would have gotten back to our rooms, it would have been past the 24-hour limit.

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant Pantai Cenang Langkawi — For our early dinner, we went to this restaurant which had a sizable crowd

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant interior Pantai Cenang Langkawi — It’s lovely place and isn’t that expensive

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant lobster tiger prawns Langkawi — Yum

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant mud crab Langkawi — Hmmm…

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant mantis prawn Langkawi — Errrr…

(I kinda wanted to try it though)

Chinese butter prawns dinner Langkawi — But Loi & I ended up ordering this interesting looking butter pan-fried tiger prawns

We had a large plate of fries, some beers, and some pasta; all of which came to around RM44 (Rs. 650).

Kit Kat cone ice cream Malaysia — For dessert, and in my quest to try out new things, I had Kit Kat ice cream. It was okay.

With that, day one in Langkawi came to a close! We had woken up early in Penang today morning and tomorrow, we had to wake up early again for our pick up for the island-hopping tour.

So an early good night in Langkawi it was.

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 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

I had booked my departure for Dec 13th thinking I would get my Canon 7D by then (I paid for it on November 25th). I waited and waited and as the week before the flight neared its end, I started to get worried. It hadn’t even arrived by Friday, Dec 11. I was contemplating postponing my flight but that would have cost me thousands of rupees with last minute cancellations and new bookings — and as mentioned earlier, I wanted to be back in time for Sunburn in Goa.

So I decided to go ahead with my trip — and pick up a second Canon 7D from Bangkok which I would then sell upon return. I finished my work and only left office at 10:30pm that day. The next morning (Sat, Dec 12th), the first thing I had to do was to get foreign currency. I went to the HDFC Bank close to my house only to be told they wouldn’t be issuing any foreign currency because it was a Saturday and the foreign markets are closed (they also said they can’t give dollars based on Friday’s rates). It was one of those “Oh crap!” moments — until they told me I could try UAE Exchange close by. Fortunately, they were open for business (guessing maybe because they were headquartered in Abu Dhabi. I withdrew Rs. 60,000 from my account and got it exchanged for 10,000 Thai Baht, $200 in Traveller’s Cheques and $700 in cash. I planned on carrying so much cash as I needed to buy a wide angle lens from Bangkok.

The thing is, UAE Exchange sold me the Thai Baht at a rate of 1.6:1 rupee when it was 1.3, citing that it was “high demand” currency. I really couldn’t argue because, a) first time dealing with foreign currency and b) I really didn’t have much time.

After I got my currency, I went back home and started to pack. I actually didn’t have much to pack. I wanted to travel light and I knew I would be shopping from Thailand. I was advised by colleagues at work to check out bags from Wildcraft as it would be convenient to have just one big bag instead of carrying several. But when I checked them out, I really didn’t feel like spending Rs. 2500 to Rs. 3000 for what were in my eyes, branded hollow sacks.

So I just went back and decided to take my laptop bag and a sports bag borrowed from my younger brother. I finished packing and made sure I had all my papers in order. I had multiple copies of my flight ticket, copies of my Passport and a Tourist Visa form I downloaded off the Thailand Embassy of Foreign Affairs. Instead of taking a taxi or asking my brother to drop me at the airport, I thought I’d take the airport bus (the ‘Vaayu Vajras‘) as I had always wanted to check them out.

My brother checked the routes and we decided to drive down to HSR Layout and catch the bus from there. I boarded the bus in front of BDA complex at around 8pm. The ticket fare was Rs. 150. My flight was scheduled for 12:30am and I was told the journey would take 1 and 1/2 hours. It took 2 hours. It was my first time going to the new Bangalore International Airport in Devanahalli and my lord — is it FAR! The roads to the airport was great but it felt weird sitting in the bus on what seemed like forever to get to a flight which would take me to a different country in just under 4 hours.

I checked in, finished all the procedures walked around and arrived at the boarding gate by 11pm. [Tip: Don’t bother carrying a bottle of water to the airport (unless you finish it by then), you’ll be asked to dump it at the security check-in],

My impressions on the new airport?

Meh. After all the delays and the amount of money spent, it really is just a glossy industrial shed. I do wish the HAL Airport is re-opened for at least short domestic flights. Anyway, I checked out the Duty Free, which was okay if you wanted to buy booze — and not much else. Checked out the food court, the restroom (it was clean, in case you wanted to know) and then just sat there. I switched on my laptop and logged in to the free BIAL Wi-Fi service, which took a while to figure out how to get connected. But hey, it’s free for an hour use.

Come 12am, it was time to board. I got in and headed to my window seat only to find some moron already sitting in my seat. I tell him that’s my seat and he points to his and says in his broken English to sit there instead. And then I tell the moron to get up. He mumbles something about it being ‘the same thing no matter where I sat’. (Gawd I hate such people)

The in-flight food was okay. Steamed basmati rice with nice boneless chicken curry and the usual sides you get in an economy class flight on an Asian flight route. The service was good, not that I requested it often. They had ‘Post Grad‘ as the in-flight movie. Looked like some chick-flick starring that Gilmore Girl. I didn’t bother watching it because I was busy reading through the manual for my newly-acquired Nokia E72, which I planned to use in Thailand.

The moon from my window seat. Taken on my Nokia E72.

I didn’t sleep much either. I mean, after lunch and dinner, you’re already half-way through your journey. I was scheduled to land in Bangkok at around 5am.

Other posts in this series:

Getting ready for my trip

Day 1 – Suvarnabhumi, Pantip Plaza, Fotofile & MBK

Day 2 – Bridge over the River Kwai and Tiger Temple (Wat Pa Luangta Bua) in Kanchanaburi

Taking the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok

Day 3 – Maesa elephant camp, ‘long-neck’ tribe village near Chiang Mai

Day 3 (Part 2) – Chiang Mai Night Market

Day 4 – Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai… and back in town

Day 5 – Leaving Chiang Mai for Phuket

Day 5 (Part 2) – One night in Phuket

Day 6 – Leaving Phuket for Ao Nang by bus (via Phang Nga)

Day 7 – Touring Koh Phi Phi (Maya Bay, Monkey Island & Bamboo Island)