After I’ve known that, just like me, Vennus loves to spend a short vacation in beaches, I immediately, without hesitation, asked her to fly with me just a few weeks after I arrived Singapore. Since she’s been in SG a couple of years before me, she must have known (and wanted to go to) nice places around the country. She had been eyeing Langkawi, Malaysia so we went there.
We flew to Langkawi, Malaysia from Singapore via Malaysia Airlines sometime in July of 2011. We booked air tickets and hotel, but actually no idea where to go around the island. What’s important for us is we can spend the weekend in the beach. Haha. .
She’ s pretty meticulous when it comes to hotels so I had let Vennus book for our accommodation. We got a room at Tanjung Sanctuary Resort Langkawi, a 5-star hotel with nice and quiet sandy beach on one side and a very rocky shore with drastic waves on the other. Atop of this rocky shoreline is the hotel’s dining area where, at night, you can zip your favorite fruit flavored frozen margarita while listening to the sound of the splashing waves and staring to the infinite darkness of the night. From the lobby, to the room, the room’s balcony, and the squirrels playing around the trees, I fell in love with this hotel. . 🙂
As soon as we checked in, we asked the receptionist if they were offering island tours, a short one just good for 2 half days. As expected, they did, and I had regretted that we decided to stay there for only a night. . There’s so much more to explore in this island. The hotel hired a cab for our whole trip.
First in our itinerary is the Oriental Village. This place has a variety of shops selling anything from Langkawi souvenirs, to dresses and beach wear, to lots of handicrafts. This is also known as the home for the Langkawi Cable Car – the highest and the craziest-scariest cable car i have ridden so far. Haha! As the car moved up, I was more than astonished by the scenery Langkawi has to offer. At the top, i had enjoyed the sight of the vast sky and ocean, the cool hues of green of the mountains, a sight of a waterfalls, and the community way below where people seem to be of size of the ants. The cold wind that blew unto my face at the viewing deck gave me chills though, for a minute I thought I got acrophobia. . Haha, kidding! 🙂
Next, we had our Mangrove tour where we saw some remote villages of fishermen, mischievous monkeys awaiting to be fed (beware, if you look like you got something for them, they will try to get into your boat and just grab anything! haha!) and of course, mangrove trees. We also went to a lake and fed the eagles. Yes, the eagles! Oh how can I forget to mention that the island’s emblem is an eagle? The island’s name is taken from 2 Malay words helang (eagle) and kawi (reddish brown). There is a very recognizable monument of eagle in the island. Feeding the eagles was a nice-to-try, but didn’t really knocked me off my feet. 🙂
Vennus is pretty scared of the dark, I still forced her though to come with me inside a million year old bat cave. Since it is almost sunset, we didn’t see any visitors except us, I guess everyone’s heading back to the hotel. I enjoyed scaring Vennus though we were advised not to be loud inside the cave as it might disturb the nocturnal flying creatures. We took pictures out of the dark, pointing anywhere. And as soon as Vennus saw the bats hanging from the ceiling when the camera flash lit up, she hurriedly ran fast out of the cave. haha!
We also island hopped but because we didn’t have that much time, we hadn’t really stayed for long nor had a picnic in the beaches. The islands were beautiful though. We ended our day with a tiger prawn dinner and a glass of, ehem, fruit flavored frozen margarita while listening to the sound of the splashing waves and staring to the infinite darkness of the night. Did i just write it the second time? No way!! haha. .
The next day, we headed to the waterfalls, yey! I wanted to take a dip but the cold water in the falls just always give that grrrrrr feeling. . every single time! Hehe. .
And finally, the main event of the trip. . . . . . Playing and sun bathing at the B-E-A-C-H.
Truly Langkawi is an island rich in natural wonders. If I can go back, I’ll definitely stay longer and visit more islands. And oh, it’s no secret that the island is duty-free. . Cheers to cheaper alcohol and cigarettes! haha. .
The Restless Firefly 
