Langkawi, A Paradise Island

Many years ago, before our 3 girls launched into our lives and tied us down forever, hubby and I and two of our closest friends went to Langkawi for a holiday. We chartered a fishing boat and went round the island fishing. It was my first fishing experience and I loved it. It was a bountiful fishing trip and we harvested a big bag of fresh fish. After the fishing trip, we then proceeded to the restaurant in the Langkawi Yacht Club and got the chef to cook the bag of fish for us in a variety of styles. Those were the freshest and tastiest fish dishes we had ever eaten. Since the memorable trip, hubby and I had always wanted to return to Lankawi for another fishing trip and to visit all the famous places of interest. This time our 3 rascals will tag along and it will be 3 times the fun.

Langkawi has always been in my radar for traveling with our girls and our parents. With a total of 8 of us traveling (9 if my younger brother is following), choosing a local destination will be much more kinder to our wallets 😁.

When we went to Langkawi years ago, we stayed at the Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort.  We rented a car and drove round the island. We drove up to the Andaman Luxury Collection Resort and were mesmerized by the enchanted beauty of the resort and the surroundings.  The resort is perfectly perched on the hill overlooking the bay and we love the view.  Located in an idyllic tropical setting, it is cosily tucked away between a 10 million-year-old rainforest and the tranquil Datai Bay and an 8,000-year-old fringing coral reef.  Till today, I can still remember the mesmerizing view of the resort. The next time we visit Langkawi, we will seriously consider the Andaman. I am waiting to drown in the magical wonder of the resort and its surroundings.

Andaman Langkawi:








One of the island’s highlights that I really want to visit is the Langkawi Sky Bridge (picture below). It is a 410ft-long curved pedestrian bridge located 2,300 ft above sea level with stunning views.



Other popular tourist attractions in Langkawi are the Seven Wells Waterfall, Mahsuri’s Tomb And Cultural Center, Temurun Waterfall, Crocodile Adventureland, the iconic Dataran Lang (Eagle Square), taking the Langkawi Cable Car on a vertiginous 15-minute ride to the top of mount Mat Cincang, Langkawi Wildlife Park And Bird Paradise, Pulau Payar Marine Park, Langkawi Arts in Paradise 3D Museum and Taman Laganda Langkawi.

Langkawi is Malaysia’s ultimate escape from the country’s frenetic cities. From trekking into the rainforest to wildlife-watching to tucking into the seafood – all between spells of relaxing on a wide, sandy beach while sipping on coconut water and pina colada  – there are so many reasons why I should escape to Langkawi.

Pristine beaches and vast mountains aside, Langkawi’s duty-free shopping is the next best reason to visit the tropical island. With a large concentration of duty-free stores that stock in-demand items ranging from cigarettes, liquor and chocolates to luggage, sports shoes, perfumes, and cooking utensils, Langkawi is undoubtedly a shopper’s paradise. Handmade souvenirs and apparels are aplenty in this island as well, where visitors can get authentic batik and songket prints at attractive prices. For those who enjoy bargain-hunting, Langkawi hosts a night market which is held at different locations each day of the week

There are many cheap Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi flights that one can book from the internet.  You can even book your flight tickets from a travel agency if you wish but be sure to compare the internet rates with the travel agency's rates to get the cheapest fare.

A flight and hotel booking website that I love browsing whenever I am planning for a holiday is Traveloka.  Traveloka is  now offering a 14%  discount off all domestic flights booked from 12 - 15 April 2018 for travels between 1 - 15 May 2018.  They also have loads of deals and promotions on their already low-fare flights. Do check them out and see what deals you can get.

Cameron Highlands Trip (9-10 June 2014)

For the life of me, I have never ever liked going to Cameron Highlands.  To begin with, I am born a very very poor traveler -- with the most dreaded motion sickness striking me when the road is windy and sea sickness when I am on a boat or ship.  As fate has it, my dad's hometown is Cameron Highlands. Ever since I was a newborn baby, I was destined to travel to the highlands to visit my grandparents. Even as a newborn baby, I would puke in my sleep, in my mom's arms.  I would dread going up to the highlands during CNY each year and during my grandparents' birthday.  I would puke all the way up and puke all the way down *bleh*!  My younger brother, Roy is just as bad a traveler as I am! I remember vividly that my dad would stop his car to let us puke at the waterfalls and sometimes, he would wash the potty filled with stinky vomit at the waterfalls.  I have never hated anything more than going to Cameron Highlands.  I was so glad when I married my husband and do not have to make yearly trips up to Cameron Highlands again  haha!

But after more than 10 years of not visiting Cameron Highlands, I started to miss this place slightly. My girls have been bugging me to bring them there.  No doubt, it is a place with lots of places of interest, breathtaking view and jaw-dropping view of the tea plantations.  So this school holidays, I inally agreed to bring the girls to Cameron Highlands!  We took the new road up, via Simpang Pulai, which is not that windy. I felt only a little nauseous.  However, we had to take the old road down, which is the snaky and windy roads, so that we could exit from Tapah and head back to KL.  And shiats, I was darn nauseous!  And I hated it!!

Thank God, my girls are blessed to be really good travelers. They can read books and watch movies in the car without getting dizzy and nauseous.  And they enjoyed their stay in Cameron Highlands SO much that they are already talking about the next trip.  I told them that in our next visit, I will bring them jungle trekking and also trek up to Robinson Waterfall.

For the love and sake of my girls, I think I will have to endure another nauseous trip up Cameron Highlands.  This time, we will exit from Simpang Pulai and use the new road to get back to the low land and then return to Ipoh for a night before heading back to KL.

Here are some of the pictures taken during our Cameron Highlands trip. Enjoy! :)

Alycia and Sherilyn with my mum at my Aunt Irene's house in Tanah Rata





The girls with their doting grandparents at Aunt Irene's cozy cottage. The girls were amazed to see a fire-place inside the house and a cute little chimney outside the house.









The girls with their Irene koo por, posing in front of the fire-place.


Thank you Aunt Irene for your warm hospitality and for arranging the horse rides for the girls :)


We stayed at Hotel Casa Dela Rosa while my parents stayed at Aunt Irene's house.

 




Cass calls her granny her 'best buddy' and my mum calls her  'honey bunny', LOL!!


Upon arrival, we visited different tea plantations and took loads of pictures. We were all awestruck by the awesome view of the tea plantations.









Aunt Irene arranged a horse-riding session for the girls at the Race Horse Spelling Station.




Sherilyn and Cass enjoying their lavender ice-cream at the House of Lavender.




At the House of Lavender with mummy dearest :)



Enjoying melt-in-the-mouth scones with fresh cream and strawberry jam and teh tarik at the Bharat Tea House.  The tea house overlooks the breathtaking view of the Bharat tea plantation.









Photography time at the Smokehouse Hotel, after a tucking into some really delish scones and tea at the Smokehouse coffee house.








Be warned that if you want to enter the Smokehouse Hotel solely for photography purpose or to enjoy the beauty of the lush greenery and flowers without patronizing the hotel or the coffee house, you will be nicely told off by the hotel staffer to leave.




We had a blast in Cameron Highlands despite the nauseous 1.5 hours journey going downhill.  Seeing how much the girls enjoyed themselves plus the precious bonding with my parents, the nauseousness in the car was all worth it!

Singapore Trip Pictures (16 Decenber 2013)

The residential area  that we stayed at in Marina Cove @ Sentosa Island  during our stay in Singapore at our friend's house reminds me very much of Beverly Hills in the US.  The bungalows are built just next to the sea.  The majority of the residents are Caucasians and some of the eye-catching, excessively and fancifully designed units are owned by Malaysian, China and Hongkie tycoons.  Even cars parked at the front porch can be transported to the basement at the touch of a button, just like an elevator!  Every unit of bungalow has a private pool. And almost every owner has a private buggy parked at their porch. Maids walking very well-fed and well-groomed pedigree dogs throughout the day is a common sight. Even the maids look very well-fed and dressed.

Cass, Alycia and I went for a morning walk by the beach on the last day of our stay in Singapore. As I was walking past these mansions and admiring them, I knew that the hubs and I would never for the life of us be able to own one unit. Not even a unit of the apartments there. At least, not in this life of ours haha!

 




 









 



     

I wonder who on this earth owns the below unit...

   



Are you drooling already over these mansions? :P

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