Malaysia Adventures
Three days after returning from HK, I went to Malaysia with Feijie, Shahid & Sufiyan.
Initially our plan was to go to Hatyai and Penang. However, after reading many reports about the violence in Southern Thailand, we made the decision to skip Thailand and headed to Langkawi instead.
Tiger Airways got some really cheap flights to KL (50 bucks). KL was fairly near to Singapore and within half an hour we touched down at KLIA LCCT.
The airport was about 50km away from the train station. We took the shuttle bus between the two and arrived with enough time for dinner and some walking-around. At 2045, our train left the station and slowly chugged northwards in the night.
Our destination was Alor Star, 12 hours ride on train but only 5 hours by bus. The train ride saved us a night accommodation but the night wasn't very enjoyable. The upper bunk sleeper (43 rm) was quite narrow and the corridor lights were always on. The train attendant would make announcements when arriving at every station. Hence these all made an uncomfortable night.
The rather run-down Alor Star station welcomed us when we disembarked and we transferred to the Kuala Kedah Ferry Terminal in a taxi. The taxi driver was planting thoughts in us when he said that were many Russian babes sunbathing topless on the Langkawi beaches. The Russian babes became our obsession throughout the stay on the island.
At the Langkawi ferry terminal, a tout Jan got us to rent a car from him. Being the designated driver, I had bad vibes when our Proton Iswara's stiff clutch failed me at a steep slope. We couldn't make it to our hotel as we lost our way and the car ran out of petrol.
Jan came to our rescue with additional petrol and we barely made it to the hotel. I felt more confident after driving the junk for a while and made the decision not to change to a different car.
It turned out to be a wrong decision.
We decided to go for a spin and the car could barely climb up slopes. In the end the gears all gave way and the car rolled to a stop in the middle of nowhere. After failing to contact Jan (who was having nap), Shahid & FJ hitched a ride to the ferry terminal and requested for help.
The staff was very unhelpful but somehowe we managed to get another car with a much less stiff clutch. We had to pay an additional 10 rm per day on top of the 40 rm which were already paying. In between we wasted about 3 hours and we barely caught the sunset at Tanjong Rhu beach which was already deserted by then. (No Russian babes...)
We drove to Pantai Cenang where we had our dinner. The meal cost only 66 rm for 4 of us inclusive of drinks. "Cheap sia" became our pet phrase for the rest of the trip.
I hadn't introduced the hotel which we stayed: Citin Hotel. The room was dirt cheap (60 rm) and I can understand why. We seemed to be the only guests throughout the stay. Our rooms had no windows (sounds like a prison cell) and its only saving grace was that there was a 24h prata stall next door.
The second day started with the cable car excursion. 15 rm for Malaysian, 25 rm for the rest and it was a rather interesting ride. No Russian babes again but plenty of Middle Eastern women which were covered from head to toe. The summit was foggy and we could not see anything down from there but the ride up and down compensated for the lack of view up there.
After lunch we went to swim at the Pantai Cenang beach. (No Russian babes) The day ended with multiple dinners and shopping (chocolates are cheap; alcohol is tax-free but we didn't get any obviously) at Kuah. (No Russian babes as well) We would leave Langkawi the next day for Penang.
After pestering Jan for the return of our deposit, we managed to catch the earlier ferry to Penang. The 3 hour ferry ride was enough for 2 Rambo movies and we felt like illegal immigrants when we disembarked at the temporary ferry 'terminal'.
Upon arrival, the notice at our hotel (Hotel Mingood) warned us of snatch-thieves on motorcycles in the vicinity. It seemed that Penang wasn't half as safe as Langkawi. Our time in Penang was short and the only notable thing was watching 2 movies at night: Get Smart and Red Cliff. (Cheap sia!)
The last day saw us check out early for the flight from Penang to JB. We had a late lunch at City Square before arriving at Singapore.
Photos 1
Photos 2
Initially our plan was to go to Hatyai and Penang. However, after reading many reports about the violence in Southern Thailand, we made the decision to skip Thailand and headed to Langkawi instead.
Tiger Airways got some really cheap flights to KL (50 bucks). KL was fairly near to Singapore and within half an hour we touched down at KLIA LCCT.
The airport was about 50km away from the train station. We took the shuttle bus between the two and arrived with enough time for dinner and some walking-around. At 2045, our train left the station and slowly chugged northwards in the night.
Our destination was Alor Star, 12 hours ride on train but only 5 hours by bus. The train ride saved us a night accommodation but the night wasn't very enjoyable. The upper bunk sleeper (43 rm) was quite narrow and the corridor lights were always on. The train attendant would make announcements when arriving at every station. Hence these all made an uncomfortable night.
The rather run-down Alor Star station welcomed us when we disembarked and we transferred to the Kuala Kedah Ferry Terminal in a taxi. The taxi driver was planting thoughts in us when he said that were many Russian babes sunbathing topless on the Langkawi beaches. The Russian babes became our obsession throughout the stay on the island.
At the Langkawi ferry terminal, a tout Jan got us to rent a car from him. Being the designated driver, I had bad vibes when our Proton Iswara's stiff clutch failed me at a steep slope. We couldn't make it to our hotel as we lost our way and the car ran out of petrol.
Jan came to our rescue with additional petrol and we barely made it to the hotel. I felt more confident after driving the junk for a while and made the decision not to change to a different car.
It turned out to be a wrong decision.
We decided to go for a spin and the car could barely climb up slopes. In the end the gears all gave way and the car rolled to a stop in the middle of nowhere. After failing to contact Jan (who was having nap), Shahid & FJ hitched a ride to the ferry terminal and requested for help.
The staff was very unhelpful but somehowe we managed to get another car with a much less stiff clutch. We had to pay an additional 10 rm per day on top of the 40 rm which were already paying. In between we wasted about 3 hours and we barely caught the sunset at Tanjong Rhu beach which was already deserted by then. (No Russian babes...)
We drove to Pantai Cenang where we had our dinner. The meal cost only 66 rm for 4 of us inclusive of drinks. "Cheap sia" became our pet phrase for the rest of the trip.
I hadn't introduced the hotel which we stayed: Citin Hotel. The room was dirt cheap (60 rm) and I can understand why. We seemed to be the only guests throughout the stay. Our rooms had no windows (sounds like a prison cell) and its only saving grace was that there was a 24h prata stall next door.
The second day started with the cable car excursion. 15 rm for Malaysian, 25 rm for the rest and it was a rather interesting ride. No Russian babes again but plenty of Middle Eastern women which were covered from head to toe. The summit was foggy and we could not see anything down from there but the ride up and down compensated for the lack of view up there.
After lunch we went to swim at the Pantai Cenang beach. (No Russian babes) The day ended with multiple dinners and shopping (chocolates are cheap; alcohol is tax-free but we didn't get any obviously) at Kuah. (No Russian babes as well) We would leave Langkawi the next day for Penang.
After pestering Jan for the return of our deposit, we managed to catch the earlier ferry to Penang. The 3 hour ferry ride was enough for 2 Rambo movies and we felt like illegal immigrants when we disembarked at the temporary ferry 'terminal'.
Upon arrival, the notice at our hotel (Hotel Mingood) warned us of snatch-thieves on motorcycles in the vicinity. It seemed that Penang wasn't half as safe as Langkawi. Our time in Penang was short and the only notable thing was watching 2 movies at night: Get Smart and Red Cliff. (Cheap sia!)
The last day saw us check out early for the flight from Penang to JB. We had a late lunch at City Square before arriving at Singapore.
Photos 1
Photos 2
posted by shyh jie at 1:17 AM
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