more on my reflections of 2008 later. since everyone is doing that on their blogs, i must also do it wahaha..

okay, anyway Langkawi photos. yea like finally right. it was one month ago when i flew off.


our flight was early early in the morning. and the previous night i slept damn freaking late coz les came over to my hse to stay. and i had to pack really really last min, which is really really bad. coz all the way fr home to the airport, i kept feeling like i forgot something.




so anyway thinking that we only paid like $300 each for the flight, i tot it was some budget airline which will take off fr the budget terminal. by the way, if u hadnt been to the budget terminal, it totally sucks. it makes u feel like some pauper the moment u enter it because it's so badly designed and so badly facilitated, u'll be thinking "sianz, if only i'm richer to not have to take budget".

but it turns out to be NOT! thank goodness. it was at lovely T3. =)

after 1 hour's flight, we landed at Langkawi!
yes only 1 hour =( i love taking planes lar, 1 hr is too short. tat's like the time it takes for me to get fr home to NUS haha...




we placed our luggages at the resort's reception since checkin is at 12pm, and went in search of lunch.

the places near to our resort open at that time were pretty bad. the food looks really normal and it's more like roadside stalls then proper eating places. actually i have no whims abt eatin fr roadside stalls, in fact i think roadside stalls usually sell tastier food than atas places.

but the food that these roadside stalls sell in Langkawi look really unappetizing to me.
after walking around, we finally settled for this little eatery.



cai fan!!!
with lotsa flies flying around it! hahha...

it was not bad lar... i think we were all hungry haha...
went back to the resort and took pictures of the place while waiting for our room to be tidied.




and the resort!
i think it looks very pretty and it has this very resort-y touch around it.



i especially love the pathway leading fr the entrance to the rooms. and at the end of the pathway, it's the breakfast cafe and the BEACH!

yes, 98 is our room number =)
the room is soooooo much better than we all expected.
it was damn spacious and clean and the bed is, omg, so comfortable haha...

kudos to cai lin, she found this and it was damn cheap somemore...



the first thing we all did when we entered the room was to plonk our bodies on the beds haha...
then we decided to take photos of all of us on the bed.

i think it took us like a whole hr to get a nice photo haha...




that was edited using my camera by the way...




and the moment xueping said ok done, me and run plopped our heads on the bed haha... neck very suan lehz...




the weather on the first day was damn good and damn sunny. we were all so scared of how the weather will be like. so the moment the sun shows, we changed into our bikinis and headed for the beach!

our resort was located in a very good place, it was just abt 5 mins walk fr the most popular and nicest beach on Langkawi.



first thing we did was banana boat.
it was quite fun, felt more like a roller-coaster haha...

we headed towards another island on the banana boat that was 10mins away. when we were nearing it, the person driving the speedboat which was dragging the banana boat made a sharp turn to overturn it. u shd hear us all scream man.

i think i sort of broke my neck when i fell into the water haha...
no lar, not that bad, but it ached for like the next 4 days. -_-''




once we reached the other island, we did parasailing!
the first time i did parasailing was in thailand, and omg, it was one of the most fun thing ever!

not scary at all, it's supa dupa shioks!
basically, u'll be attached to a parachute by carabinas, and the parachute is then tied to a speedboat. when the speed boat speeds off, ur parachute will go up in the sky. it's KINDA like parachuting except less scary. when u're up there, u have this "on top of the world" kinda feeling...

i love it soooo much, especially when u're up there and u close ur eyes and take a deep breath and feel the wind ruffling ur hair. very nice. and when u open ur eyes and look down, u see the big ocean and tiny people dotting the beach. =)




they're all very friendly ppl!
in fact, the one driving the speedboat actually invited me and cai to climb onto the boat with him. coz both of us were the first to parasail. so we got to sit in with him while he brings the parachute around the island with lin run on it, then xueping. =)



i told him i'll post photos of him on singapore websites and help him get a pretty singaporean gf hahaha... anyway he's actually very shy when we wanted to take photos of him haha..




doesnt it look damn freaking fun to u?!?!?! hahha...
i wanna do it again and again and again!

and i cant wait to bring lester to try it. =)




anyway when u're nearing the shore, the person on shore will give u a signal, whereby u have to pull hard at one of the strings on your right, and then he'll give another signal and u've to let go.

this is to ensure that u land safely and nicely on the sand.

somehow something screwed up (i think it's me though ahah) when i was tryin to pull at the string. the parachute just refused to land. and so i overshot the shore and landed in water in the big ocean like 20 meters away fr shore... -_-'''

i felt so stoopid floating in the water, with the humongous parachute spread out all around me. and i had to wait for the speedboat to come and save me. hahaha...

it's actually quite funny la...

anyway we took the banana boat back to the beach after that... no overturning this time. =)
i dun wanna break my neck for real haha...




the beach was so nice and peaceful, we took a walk along the shoreline and photowhored.
i like life like this, so peaceful and so stress-free.



we did the typical jumping shots. the only thing is we cant take all 4 of us at the same time, coz we were very sure ppl there didnt noe how to take shots like that haha...

otherwise it'll be pretty cool to see jumping shots of all 4 in the same photo hee...




cai lin looked stretched in that photo on the right haha...




nice right! i love it lar. timing was perfect wahhaha...




the waters here are pretty clear, prob not crystal clear like what ppl claimed of redang or tioman. but definitely clearer than sentosa's haha...

and the sand is damnnnn soft and cooling to step on.
oh! and we went out to sea to sail too!!!!
in this colourful beautiful thingy here!




no lar, just kidding. i wish arhz... haha...




and i took it!
doesnt it just look like one of those photos u see on some travel agency's poster asking u to visit beautiful langkawi?!?! haha...



i think i might actually be too tanned. haha...
i cant even see my facial features here -_-'''

we lay on the deck chairs to tan and chat for like over an hour after that. the sun was sooooo good okay. i could totally feel the warmth on my skin. =)

we went out in search of dinner aft tat.




ended up back on the beach for some barbeque dinner by the beach.
perfect lar, just like how i always imagine it to be. =)




they have this selection of seafood and other bbq food in front, so all u have to do is go there and choose what u want, and they'll grill it for u. pretty cheap tooo!




and the sumptious feast we had...




the entire dinner was damn nice.
too bad they didnt have prawns and squids!




so that basically sum up the first day at Langkawi. i can spend every day like this, just walking along the beach, sun tanning, doing some water sports, barbequeing...

sighs, someone pls give me a million dollars. haha...



woke up early in the morn to get the free buffet breakfast from the resort.




the cafe overlooks the beach too! shwwwweeeetttt... =)

basically there's toasted bread with like 4 different condiments u can choose fr, cereal, tea, coffee, fruits. and egg and sausages, where u can choose how u want ur egg to be done!

personally i think the omelette is the nicest, coz there's like onions and some other stuff inside...




we booked a tour to visit a mangrove swamp, bats cave, crocodile cave, and a fish farm with a lunch included!

so after breakfast the tour van took us to the mangrove area.






it was abt an hour's journey before we reached the geographic park.






this is where our tour really begins. on the boat which is going to bring us around.
and apparently, that's saltwater that's connected to the ocean so u can actually see aquatic life in it.




and first stop - Bats cave!!!
i've never really seen a bat up close, so i was kinda excited abt this haha... yea i noe, very suagu ritez...




the opening to the cave was pretty low, it's like all of us have to stoop and bend just to get through it. for once, i'm glad i'm not that tall haha...




and omg, the ceilings of the cave are infested with bats. there's sooooo many of them! and when we first went in, u couldnt really see them coz ur eyes are still adjusting to the darkness.

so i was basically just blindly clicking my camera away at the ceiling, but when u see the photo, u realised how many of those creatures are up there.




i was so scared they'll shit on us. hahah...




and there're so many stalactites in the caves.

apparently these were formed over the years, reminds me of the time when we went to this restaurant in Melbourne and the ceiling was decorated with stalactites.



doesnt the stalactite in the center row right photo look like some freaky creature roaring away?

we came out from the cave to the mangrove swamp.




aft ooh-ing and aah-ing over some of the sightings in the swamp, and the guide telling us abt certain kinds of plants and trees we see there, we were back on the boat on our way to the next destination.



some of the photos we took on the boat ride.



and tons of the monkeys on the sides of the swamp.




the monkey on the right photo scratching his head is the ring leader hahaha... well, at least according to the guide.




then it was on to the crocodile cave.
the boat had to go through this hole in the cave that looked impossibly small.




basically, we didnt see any crocodiles inside -_-'''

i forgot what the guide said, i think something about them not being in this area of the swamp or something liddat.




photowhoring on the rocking boat. haha...




then the boat stopped in the middle of the waters so that we can witness eagle feeding.
initially when i saw that on the itinery, i thought it meant we can get to feed the eagles. but it turned out the boatman will feed and we'll just witness haha...

before this, we were still wondering how we should feed them. should we throw it up to them? haha...




and a close-up.




apparently Langkawi meant "Brown Eagle" in English. so their island is actually represented by an eagle, just like how Singapore is represented by a Merlion.

Next stop, and also the best stop, is the Fish Farm!



this, according to the guide, is one of the largest floating fish farms we've seen..



basically, they showed us the different kinds of fishes they rear and also how they feed them




look at the incredulous looks on their faces haha...

then they started to show us how to feed the stingrays!!!! the stingrays were soooooo cute okay!

basically what u do is u kinda coax the stingray to flip around so that their face is face-up rather than face-down into the water, then u stuff the food into their mouths haha... and they'll make this cute gurgling sounds.




their facial features are like damn squashed up together haha...




we were all damn fascinated by the stingrays lar... and they're very soft and smooth to touch.




cant rem what the above one is? not a crab though. some shelled fish i think...
and the guide started to tell me to put it on my head as a cap. i thought he was joking initially, but apparently he's not.

when he actually demonstrated for us haha...




and another weird-looking fish. seriously, i've never seen this before in my entire life, and it's damn hard.




when u put it on ur palm, it has these feelers (or whatever u call them) underneath that keeps wriggling and tickling u... at one point it was so ticklish i nearly flicked it away haha...




and then, there was the puffer fish!!!

one of the ppl on the farm took the puffer fish out of the water, and started to rub it... so as he rubs, slowly but surely u could see the fish puffing up... i was just wondering how come the fish could stay out of water for so long. i think that was a good 10mins or so.




aft it's all puffed up, he threw it back into the water, where it floated for sometime before it deflated and flipped back to its correct side.






aft tat the speedboat drove all of us to this secluded and quiet island at some corner of Langkawi. the waters there are apparently very clean and clear and unpolluted because the island is, well, secluded. so we were all encouraged to have a dip there...




of coz we all ended up playing with sand and fingers and jumping shots... hahah...




Zac was really nice and friendly with us, i think prob coz he can click more with us than with the other grp of ppl on the same boat (they were angmohs).




he's studying graphic design at some University in Malaysia by the way. this tour guide thingy is a company opened by his family and he usually flies to Langkawi to help out during his summer hols...

then he told us to do the following with our fingers to take photos...




i think the photo on the right is really nice...

and the usual jumping shots! with some failed ones, at that... haha...




aft that, Zac told us abt how malays in Malaysia are very conservative and even in public guys dun usually hold their girlfriends' hands because it might be frowned upon...

and we were like "uh-oh"... because before we took the jumping shots, we just grab his hand and jumped together... haha... oops



and anyway the whole place is called Kilim Geoforest Park.

after that we went to this floating Thai restaurant for lunch. it looks damn dilapidated and lok kok from the outside... i was thinkin "okaaaayyyy"...

but once we entered, omg, it looks damn nice and atas... and it was a buffet lunch lar! shioks...




aft we reached back our resort, we changed and went out for some good dinner... i was kinda hoping to get to eat some good local food... u noe, like food that Langkawi is famous for... but they dun really have any signature local food... oh wells.




we ended up at this Western cum Mexican roadside restaurant. it looks damn classy and romantic and nice from the outside. and it certainly looks like it'll serve damn nice food. i mean, duhs, if we didnt think so, we wouldnt have entered.

so anwyay, we all happily went in and sat down and looked at the menu which have terrific photos and descriptions of the food they serve. and i was all excited because i was practically starving.



but when the food came... omg...





and not only that k.

1) the food came 1 and a half hours later after we ordered
2) this damn irritating waiter kept coming over every 5 mins to tell us our food is coming within that 1 and a half hour of waiting.
3) the food tastes horrible
4) the food TOTALLY (and i really mean, totally okay) DO NOT LOOK LIKE THE PHOTOS IN THE MENU.
5) the staff did not even apologise for all the above. when we got the waiter over to tell him what's wrong, we actually had to waste so much time and energy and salive before he said "okay, sorry lar... sorry lar okay... sorry". like wah lao. i dont know if i managed to depict the tone he used accurately over words here, but u get the idea.

omg, i wish i had taken a photo of the beef steak i ordered in the menu and the one that actually came.

seriously, ur jaws will drop. i know mine did.

and whoever said Singapore has bad service. i think Singapore's service industry is like angelic compared to the kinda service we got at that restaurant.

we all went to bed that night feeling damn grouchy.



in the morning, i dunno what came over us, but we seemed to suddenly realise how bloody messy our room is. and mind you, it was 4 gers staying there, not 4 guys. haha...




somehow it actually looks better in the photos than in real life. the bed was messy beyond words lar...




so anyways, we took a cab to the other side of the island to take the all-famous cable car in Langkawi and to visit this Oriental Village that is supposedly a very tourist-y place.

the cab driver stopped by at a petrol kiosk to pump petrol on the way up the mountain. and it turns out to be a pretty good choice coz we ended up camwhoring with all the yachts there!




these yachts came from all over the world, some as far as Holland, some as near as Australia... shd have taken close-ups of some of them.




we headed down to the Oriental Village and it was so much more beautiful than i tot! i mean, judging from the shopping i've seen ard our resort, i didnt really expect much... but this is nice!




very Chinese-Garden-like, i'll say! =)

went ahead to buy our cable car tickets..




and my goodness, the cable car goes up to the top of the mountain at a steep angle of 42 degrees. mind you, i think even Sentosa's one does not have an angle at all!




when we saw that, we kept thinking "what if the cable car gets stuck halfway, what is the rescue plan then?" because it's really really high, it's impossible to even build stairs fr the ground up to the cables.






we waited for abt an hr (i think) before we finally managed to get up one cable car together =)




and some of the photos we took up there...




initially i was okay with it, i mean, i dun really have a height phobia or anything like that... but as it goes higher and higher and seemingly never-ending, it started to get to us alittle...

and when we looked to the left at the cable cars coming down, they were swinging up and down so violently and wildly like a pendulum lar... wah laos...

finally we reached the top.




sceneries from the top...




if u didnt realise, they were trying to use their hands to support the islands on Langkawi...



and i'm trying to smash it!!!!!! wahhahahah

anyway it was really nice up there... very very near the clouds... and the feeling of being so high up is amazing... not as shioks as the parasailing though ahha...




okay, see our attires? singlets and shorts with bikinis inside.

we wanted to go climb a waterfall after taking the cable car... so all of us came out in those attires because well, the weather in Langkawi is freaking hot. and so of coz, we went up the cable car in those attires as well... what a mistake MAN!!!!!!! it was so freaking cold up there, i swear my insides were freezing...

and EVERYONE else was wearing jeans and t-shirts, at the very least.
we stood out like sore thumbs... and i bet everyone's laughing at us hahah...






the photo on the left was a self-taken shot, and i tot it turned out pretty nice! even though cai lin's face is half cut-off haha...

and u tot the cable car journey is over... WRONG! that was just the 1st station. we took another cable car up to the 2nd station, which is obviously, even higher up!




and the view from 705meters high...




isnt it beautiful!?!?!?!?
how come singapore dont have such sceneries.... haix...




see how near we are to the clouds!




then there was another stairs that led up to a higher platform...




by the time we reached here, i was really freezing my ass off... like i just wanna squat down and wrap my arms around my entire body and not move... (yes, just like what i did at Virginia USA last year hahah)




didnt manage to walk that coz there was some filming done there so the entire bridge was closed to public. how lame and how suay lor...

more photos!




finally we went back to the station to take the cable car back to ground zero... haha...




we met these 2 german guys who were on exchange in Singapore SMU and are now touring around... all of us started chatting and they were really nice and friendly! and the exchange apparently did them good coz they were able to identify us as Singaporeans immediately haha...

we even shared candy floss with them! haha...

on the way down...



our cable car was shaking quite badly coz there were only 4 of us, and not 6 like when we went up... so i guess the car was pretty light...

finally, ground zero and warmth at last! =)
ate lunch at this place that sells local food...




their food was gooooooood man! so totally worth the money, which made us more pissed off than ever at the dinner place the previous night!

and the owners were siblings whose mom is a Singaporean and they'll go back Singapore during holidays... we all started chatting and the younger sis is damn friendly and hyperactive! haha...

she even got our emails haaz...

anyway, in the Oriental Village, there was this mini-farm, which got us damn excited when we saw it lar...




and the cutest of all there, the bunnies!!!!!
they were so damn freaking adorable can!




look at them! how can u not wanna cuddle them!!!!! i nearly climbed over the fence haha... but i dun wanna get thrown out of the place... coz the farm is closed and we went too late... so we could only look at them fr the outside...




i fed them with papaya leaves plucked fr a tree... u shd see them eat man, it's like they havent eaten for days or something... i love the white ones!




then we went to the other side of the farm, which was also closed, but the owner very nicely opened the gate to let us in...




damn fun lar! i love feeding and playing with animals... remind me of the time when i went Melbourne with Les and we went to this animal farm...

for dinner, to make up for the lousy one the previous night, we decided to go to an atas place this time!




even atas place in Langkawi has lizard on their ceilings... -_-'''




but the place is really nicely-decorated... and it's so atas looking it looks like their food is going to cost a bomb. but it's not, it's actually super affordable...




bought 2 pizzas and a pasta to share... cant rem what they are... =(




the pasta cream sauce was really good lar... it doesnt make u get sick of it after eating an entire plate (unlike some other creamy pastas sold in Singapore)... and luckily we only ordered 3 mains, our appetites are all actually pretty small...

Sun Cafe gave us 4 complimentary house pours vouchers to be used at Sunba (their affiliated pub just down the road)...






there was a live band there! i was damn happy when i saw it lar... since day 1, we kept wanting to visit a pub with live band, but we couldnt find a decent one...

and this band is pretty good! i mean, they played songs that all of us like... like Apologise, With You etc...

us and our drinks!




we ordered 4 shots (complimentary on Sun Cafe) and 4 cocktails... i ordered a whiskey shot and this cocktail called Melon Ball (the one in green with a pineapple on it). Melon Ball is damn nice lar!!!! it beats Pina Colada and Snowball hands-down! now i have an addition to my fav-cocktails list!




the waiter who served us is damn cheeky and damn mischievious... he's very friendly also lar... he kept coming over to chat with us... so we ended up taking photos with him! haha...




look at his left eyebrow and how arched-up he made it... damn comical lor his expressions haha...

later in the night, the same waiter came to our table with a 2nd round of the same 4 cocktails we ordered previously. turns out that some guy from another table wanted to treat us to drinks...

so we ended up having 8 cocktails on our table -_-'''




if u look at the right photo, the guy between me and cai is the guy who treated us... he's fr Penang and he speaks only Chinese...

he looks damn perverted lar... and at the end of the nite when we all wanted to go back, he kept insisting on driving us home and in the midst of him pestering me to give him my number, he refused to let me get on the cab when the other gers were alr on it waiting for me.

i was damn pissed off can. stoopid pervert.

anyway! there was a cherry on my cocktail and i managed to tie it into a knot with my tongue!!!!




ta-da!!!!! seeeeee! i'm so proud of myself hahah...

there was this other group of abt 5 guys who came over to our table later to chat with us... they were angmohs lar with a jap guy... and they're supa nice and friendly! unlike the perverted guy fr Penang.

and it was really easy talking to them lar... i mean, i usually have more things to say in English than in Chinese.




the jap guy is actually quite cute... hahah... and his english is superb lar... i've some Japanese colleagues at my office and so i noe Jap ppl usually dun speak well in Eng... but his is really fluent...


lucky for us, no hangovers the next morn haha...




those are our receptionists at the resort (also the owners i think)...

they're supadupawupa friendly! and the one in the left photo is always calling us "hello pretty girlsss!" haha.. she's damn cute...

anyway! today is our shopping day!!!!!!!!

had lunch at a chinese zi char place...




food's not bad... but i'll say Singapore's zi char easily beats them hands down...

one of the first few shops we went to, we ended up buying the same hairclip... hahaha...




i think the owner was very amused when we asked her to take a photo of our backviews...

not much photos of our shopping spree lar... too busy shopping alr haha...

aft all the shopping, we walked like 15-20mins down to look at the huge Eagle ornament in Langkawi...



one of the nicest and biggest mosque there...

we ended up at this place that looked kinda like Singapore's Esplanade... not as majestic but still very nice... what with all the night lights and waters... =)




that's the Big Brown Eagle, which also means Langkawi...



camwhored around the area...








ended up eating dinner only at 10pm... we got the cab driver to bring us to this seafood restaurant near our place...




it looks damn nice right!!!
i love all the lightings...

and the food we ordered...



there's actually more... but i think we were so hungry we forgot all abt taking photos aft tat haha...

the prawn (on the right photo) is the best food that night lar... superb lar... and it's really cheap!

at night, while we were packing our bags, we ended up taking photos of all our purchases haha...
and these are mine!





nothing much actually, the shopping here wasnt fantastic, but good enuff for me i guess =)
and not to mention the tons of duty-free chocolates i bought for family and frens and colleagues...

those chocolates are shit-cheap man!

that night, we bought beer and alcoholic drinks, took our beach towels and went to the beach to lie down on the sand. we drank and we chatted and we laughed. to me, that's the best night in all 4 nights.

and it's amazing. when u lie down on the cooling sand and u keep silent, u can hear the waves crashing against shore, u can hear the crickets, u can hear the occasional muffled laughter coming from somewhere in the resort... and u see the hundreds of stars in the sky twinkling down on u...

there were soooo many stars! i've never seen so many stars all at one go before... and during one of those quiet moments, we saw a shooting star. yes, we saw a shooting star.

A SHOOTING STAR okayyyyyy!!!!!!

this is my first time! i never thought i'll have the chance to see a shooting star in my lifetime seriously. definitely, the best night of the 4 nights. =)


the day when we all go home... =(

we all woke up in the morning and groaned "i dun wanna go back to work..."

yes, so depressing aiyoh...

last breakfast at the resort!




and for my last breakfast, i ate my fav omelette again!



the sundeck chairs in front of the breakfast cafe were teeming with angmohs...



arent those angmoh kids like extremely adorable?!?!?! haha... i so wanna go over and carry one of them home...

anyway before breakfast, i actually woke up earlier than the other gers to spend a few hours at the beach by myself...

i took my beach sundress, my storybook, my shades and my handphone and made my way to the beach... the whole feeling of doing this is so nice... this is the epitomy of a relaxing holiday, seriously...



the beautiful peaceful beach in the morning...
and some of the photos taken while i was lazing around haha...




i love my sundress lar!!!! it's actually a piece of cloth, but u can basically tie it in any style that u wan...




so anwyay aft all those morn activities, we started packing our luggage... this is the part i hate most abt a holiday, PACKING. it virtually means "ur hols is over, go back home and face reality".

in this case, reality is work. =(



aft we check out and deposited our luggages at the reception, we went for a cheap lunch! by cheap, i really mean cheap. coz we were all basically broke by that time.




i noe, it looks supa unappetizing right. but it's actually not that bad lar... haha...

and aft another hr of flight (this time i'm not complaining that the flight is short), we reach back Changi...






seriously, it was so relaxing and so slow, it's amazing... we did everything that u could possibly do on a small island like Langkawi.

and u noe what's the best thing?!?!?!
IT DIDNT RAIN A SINGLE DROP THE ENTIRE 5 DAYS!

not a SINGLE DROP okay!

and there were ppl who told me 5 days is too many a days to be goin Langkawi... but we all think 5 days is just nice! any shorter than that will be too rushed and hence not relaxing enough...

and the ppl there are generally really nice and helpful and friendly... prob partly coz we are an all-girls group, so there were actually alot of ppl who will stop and chat with us... which is really nice, makes u feel very welcomed... =)

my fav day was the very first day... the parasailing and banana-boating and the suntanning at the beach, and the bbq by the beach... i love love LOVE it! i love beach life.

and to make the trip even more fantastic, the shooting star. =))

we have to do this again, girls! let's go somewhere else next time hahaha...