Pulau Langkawi vacation 2012 (Part 1)

**I started off writing about my four day trip to Pulau Langkawi and in the end realised, I had too much to write about it till I have to split the post into parts. This is Part 1. I have so much to share and so many lovely memories in this island that it seemed like a waste to just have it etched in my memory and not on my blog.**

Almost every year I hope for a trip to Pulau Langkawi and I am glad to be able to make a trip there ever so often. Its like a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city because Langkawi has no traffic jams, no congestion and its just rows and rows of greens. No, the island does not have nice beaches - the not-as-clear-as Redang's seawater and Langkawi's sand on the beach are not as soft as Redang Island's one. Its more like millions of tiny stones. But, I'd still rather make a trip to Langkawi than Penang, Malacca or Port Dickson.

Getting there:

This time round I took a flight to Langkawi Island with Air Asia. The ticket price was not as cheap as the first time I flew there because I booked quite late and it was a school holiday. So, rule number 1 to save travelling cost is to book early! Since it was only two people going to Langkawi, taking a flight would be a bit cheaper than driving. Of course, it also saves travelling time. I would have preferred to fly with Berjaya Air since their departure airport is much nearer than LCCT, but their airport tax was so high that the ticket totaled up to not being that worth it after all.

The one hour flight to Langkawi was a bliss. No crying babies. No stinky people. No kiasu people. And I offered help to an old lady in the plane to put her luggage in the compartment. She was like "Its so heavy because its 7kg." I was like okaayyy, prepping myself mentally to carry 7kg but sheesh, it was sooooo NOT 7kg. It was much much lighter!

Accommodation:

When I stay in Langkawi, I would either stay at Leisure Holidays Apartments or Berjaya Resort. Berjaya Resort, which is obviously a better choice is always fully book and needs advance booking. But, I was in luck to stay in Berjaya Resort this time. There are pros and cons to staying in a hotel than an apartment. One mainly being there are no cooking facilities in the hotel unlike at the apartment. Anyway, staying at Berjaya Langkawi Resort is always an amazing experience. I have stayed there a number of times and it is this resort that makes Langkawi so lovely to stay.

*the word 'lovely' was never part of my vocabulary until I stepped foot on Scottish soil......

A better glimpse of Berjaya Langkawi Resort is in my previous blog post.

Transportation in Langkawi:

I was a bit worried about car rentals in Langkawi because it was a school holiday. I learnt from my previous experience of travelling to Langkawi during a school holiday that:

- A road trip to Langkawi means getting stuck in horrendous traffic jam, bumper to bumper crawl on the highway.

- Car rental prices were hiked up by Langkawi rental companies because it is peak season. One experience I had was when I arrived at Langkawi's Jetty and one of the car company charged RM120 daily rental for a proton saga and we tried to bargain but all he said in Malay was, "If you do not want it, I can easily get another customer." At that time, the other rental companies were charging the same price too. So, we reluctantly rented the car.

So, being a bit more experienced, I tried googling car rental companies or see if other travellers had recommendations on how to rent cars at affordable prices in Pulau Langkawi. I managed to get two mobile numbers of two rental companies and I called them to ask their prices. One was RM120 and the other RM140. I even enquired at Berjaya Langkawi resort and it was RM150 and they wanted to charge more if I wanted them to send it to the airport! It wasn't cheap to arrange a guest hotel pick-up from the airport or hire a cab. I finally gave up on trying to find a cheaper alternative and I was prepared to fork out that amount for car rental when I reached the island.

Alas, when I told my dad about it, he called his friend who was a frequent traveller to Langkawi and he advised me that it was easier to bargain when I am at the airport. Bargaining over the phone does not work. Hence, with 'positiveness' I arrived at the Langkawi airport and there were so many car rental to choose from -Left, Right, Center! I have rented an Avanza before at the airport the last time I went to Langkawi with my friends and I managed to bargain my way to a very decent rental deal. As I stood in front of all the car rental companies with all those rental people screaming for my attention, I opted for the company that was most isolated. I mean, IT WAS still Malaysia. Usually, even in KL, the more famous a shop is, the more expensive it was. So, I went to the row of rental companies on my far right. Lol behold, they were indeed 'desperate' to rent. It was an added bonus too when my partner and I both knew how to drive manual cars. RM150 for three days for a viva manual.

A funny thing was while we were waiting for out car to arrive, we realised that the two other groups that rented after us received their cars first. We were a bit worried what happened. We waited for like 25 minutes for our car. It did dawn on us that since our car was a manual, not many visitors to the island chose manuals to drive. Therefore, our car was parked really inside, blocked by other auto cars. When the lady who rented us the car told us the the car was less than one year old, it was hard to believe to. But, it was believable when we saw the car mileage which was less than 5000. I was satisfied.

Food:

Food are abundant in Langkawi. Rootian Restaurant was the recommended chinese restaurant where they serve really good crayfish. Well, I didn't have a taste of Rootian this trip. We get free Langkawi maps at the airport. On the map, it stated the location of the pasar malam and there were pasar malam every night! So, daily dinner was settled ;)

Langkawi's Pasar Malam (Night market) daily locations:

Monday - Jalan Makam Mahsuri Lama (off Ulu Melaka)

Tuesday - Kedawang

Wednesday - Kuah

Thursday - Bohor Tempoyak (off Pantai Cenang)

Friday - Padang Lalang (Near Tanjung Rhu)

Saturday - Kuah

Sunday - Padang Matsirat (1km from Airport)

Day 1's lunch was KFC. We were pretty hungry, after getting our car, there was a KFC at Telaga Harbour, on the way to Berjaya Langkawi Resort. Berjaya Langkawi Resort is located 5 minutes away from Telaga Harbour aka Harbour Park. The KFC chicken tasted really good. I had a lunch plate which consisted of two pieces of chicken. I was full after the first piece. Somehow, the pieces of chicken were bigger than the ones in KL. We tapao-ed the leftover chicken. Then, for dinner we went to a pasar malam at Padang Lalang. We bought satay, rambutan and mangosteen. We ate in the comfort of our hotel room.

On Day 2, we ate at The Loaf Bakery for lunch. Since TF hasn't tried The Loaf in Langkawi and KL, I decided to bring him to The Loaf at Telaga Harbour. Outside The Loaf you can see a row of sailboats parked. Some looked extravagant. Some were available for rent. I did do some raving reviews on The Loaf in Pavillion. I have dined at The Loaf in Langkawi a couple of times too. But, this time round, I was dissapointed with the food. We ordered a sandwich, crayfish bisque and tomato spaghetti.

The Loaf's Club Sandwich. This sandwich makes you full, but RM22 for this kind of sandwich.. uhmmm

Chunky Chicken pasta. It is tomato based. I had a taste of it in Pavillion before and it was to my liking before due to the bland taste and it still wasn't my favourite this time round.

The Laof's crayfish bisque was supposed to be the highlight of the meal because that tasted so fantastic the last time I tried it years ago when I was there. Unfortunately, this time round it had a bitter taste, like it was burnt. It definitely did not taste or look like the crayfish bisque I used to have years ago. If I could find the crayfish bisque picture last and compare it, there will be obvious differences. RM25

Day 2 and Day 3 we had lunch at a Thai Restaurant at Kuah Town. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of the restaurant. All I recall was that it was located on the same row as Maybank, but the next block. Its a corner shop and its walking distance to Plaza Langkawi shopping mall. I really wanted Thai food when I was in Langkawi because I knew the Thai food would be good since Thailand is located near Langkawi. I have tried Barn Thai and Wan Thai restaurant on my previous trips. This time on Day 2, before we began our shopping at Kuah Town, we stumbled upon a Thai restaurant. I am really guessing its called Thai Town, Thai Seafood Restaurant. I tried to google but almost all the reviews were about Wan Thai Restaurant.

Anyway, the Thai food there was so delicious that we went there again for lunch on Day 3. On Day 2, we ordered Red Tom yam seafood and salted egg squid. It was just as snack since we ate at The Loaf before that. I only took a picture of whatever was left after we finished because I was really enjoying the meal till I forgot to take pictures.

The aftermath of gobbling down delicious Thai food in Langkawi

On Day 3, we came back for lunch and ordered the Red Tom Yam Seafood again, fried squid and dried chilli crayfish. This time round I did take pictures.

Red Tom Yam Seafood - Consist of squids, fish, prawns, tomatoes drowned with red, spicy , sour tom yam. It was really spicy because I asked for extra spicy. Spicy but delicious!

Fried squid- Tastefully fried till crispy on the putside and soft on the inside

Dried chilli crayfish - Was good but not fabulous. In my opinion, Rootian restaurant's crayfish dish tasted better.

On the Second day, I have been looking forward to head to Tanjung Rhu for a really good nasi lemak. I stumbled upon this delicious nasi lemak when I was in Langkawi 6 six years ago. At that time my dad was having a meeting at Four Seasons Hotel. So, after dropping off my dad at that hotel, we took a drive to Tanjung Rhu beach, situated nearby the Four Seasons Hotel. The first time I had the nasi lemaks, it was 7am in the morning. The shop is more like a shack because its dark. Somehow they never turn on the lights in their shop. It doesn't really give a first good impression. But, their nasi lemak bungkus, which cost RM1 was the bomb! Its a hard to resist craving I cannot get enough of.

The yummy nasi lemak

Tanjung Rhu beach

The place to find good nasi lemak in Langkawi

Day 2's dinner was pasar malam food again. This time we went to Kuah Town's pasar malam. We did see a few familiar foodseller faces that we saw at Padang Lalang's pasar malam. This time we had satay, roti jala and something else I don't remember. Coconut water for Rm1 was a necessity. Near Kuah Town's pasar malam there is a food court where we sat to eat the food we bought. Drink stalls were only open at the food court at that time. After pasar malam, we did go to Langkawi Parade shopping mall, situated near Kuah Town. We parked along the road. There was this burger stall which was really good. It has always been there since I first came to Langkawi. RM4 for a burger was pretty decent. The way it was cooked was also good.

Day 3's lunch was the Thai food. For dinner we could not go to the pasar malam because it was raining cats and dogs. Therefore, we randomly scouted for food. We ended up at Telaga Harbour ordering a pizza. There was this new restaurant called Artisans Pizzeria, which was opened a few months ago at Harbour Park. They do have other branches at Pantain Cenang and Kuah Town. TF was amazed by the generous amount of toppings the pizza chef puts on our pizzas. Artisans Pizzeria do delivery too.

The open concept of the kitchen at Artisans Pizzeria

TF watching the chef in action

Hawaiian Chicken Pizza... so so so delicious

The second pizza we ordered. Don't remember the name, but it was good.

When we were decideing which pizza to order, their sample size of the pizza for 8 inch looked small. But when we received our pizza, it was very filling and satisfying.

Day 4's breakfast was instant noodles before we went to the airport to fly back to KL.

Click: Langkawi Part 2