On an island in the sun...

Langkawi Island…

A land with an epic legend.

A land with a town named Gravy (in Malay).

A land of duty free liquor, cigarettes and chocolates.

But most importantly… it is an island. Yes, with beaches and all; palm trees, smooth sands, refreshing winds, killer sunshine, gentle waves and seagulls or the likes.

How could I pass up an opportunity like that? Though it did take me a considerably long time to decide on the offer; I’m not fond with postponing another lunch with Rachel and the exams are close.

Yup, so I’ve been there and back. Langkawi Island. Land of the freaking cheapest can of beer I’ve ever bought (RM1.20 per can, which is DIRT cheap compared to the price you get at restaurants. Not that I drink anyways, but heck is it cheap).

left on Monday and came back Friday morning (yeap, skived a lot of classes in the process), though I just spend 3 days on the island. Monday was a day reserved for paying a visit to my great grandmother at Butterworth. She’s still fine, to my relieve. 101 years old, and she can immediately recognize me as the silly great-grandson who would return home from school and slide around the floor in his school uniform. I can’t understand a word she says though; she speaks in traditional Teochew, but she understands a great deal of Cantonese. As in every of my visits, she cried when we left. It’s painful to see her eyes well up in tears… those eyes that saw so much and so far, and so gentle yet fragile. And she’s so lonely now, and so far away, so it’s hard for us who lives at the southern side of the country to constantly travel up and visit. Sigh.

Spent the night at my eldest aunt’s house… on a sofa which tormented my neck... without mercy.

For some reason, I found the journey to the island somewhat arduous. The jetty at Kuala Kedah was shrouded in a stench that reminded me of decaying prawns 100 times amplified. The ferry was swarming with cockroaches, not to mention packed and stuffy, and I had the unfortunate pick to be seated right next to my grandfather who is grumpy, boring, and very feisty (and smells of the cigars he smokes… oh God). We rented a van at the island, which was a rusting microwave oven without power steering, and had lunch at Kuah town under the immensely murderous heat (I had 4 glasses of iced barley drink, and guess what the food was? Fried Keow Teow, Asam Laksa and Prawn Noodles. Oh lordy). Then there was that 30 minute drive to the hotel… well at least the scenery is beautiful.

Right, I was very, very patient and tolerating throughout the whole thing, because I know that soon I get to beach… and there’s nothing like the beach; sands like wheat flour, the serene falling of the waves, the winds with the sweet scent of the ocean and the bikini clad hotties basking under the sun… all these soon and very soon, as soon as I we reach the hotel…

What the fuck?

Hath mine eyes deceived me, cruelly and as relentless as Darth Vader force-choking an imperial pilot? Is that the freaking airport I see right behind the hotel, with its planes and stretches of tracks, and around it was nothing but trees, growths, padi fields and murky puddles of mud? And with the airport so near… it means…

Where’s the beach? Where are the smooth sands, the serene falling of the waves, the winds with ocean-smell and bikini clad hotties?

Miles away from the hotel. MILES.

What’s even the point of going to the island in the first place? What’s an island WITHOUT a beach? What in the bloody damnation of hell is this? Holy shit.

First day wasted on… shopping. Oh, look at the joy as my ignorant relatives frolicked to the plethora of duty free shops buying the cheapest fags, booze and those brown sweet stuffs in the nation while I tag along like a walrus being told that the artic had melted. Well I took time to time to grab a couple of Smarties and keychains, so it’s not all that bad… but they had to do it EVERY FREAKING NIGHT. When you wanna buy a cheap luggage bag, you buy the cheap luggage bag. Don’t waste the beautiful star filled nights of a tropical island returning to the same damn shops contemplating the same bags over and over again, when we could’ve driven to the closest beach and have a nighttime stroll. C’mon people! You were in a bloody beach-haven and you’d prefer to shop for luggage bags which are probably imitation goods because of the price tag. What the bloody hell is wrong with you?

(You might realize that I’m thoroughly biased to the beaches, ignoring the fact that my relatives are all adults in a land of duty free stuff. But try and understand…).

The second day fared better, at least. Had a complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel, and I believe I tasted every single thing at the buffet table except for the fried noodles which looked like my high school rendition of “worst noodles ever”. We went to the Underwater World aquarium, which was somewhat disappointingly lackluster compared to the ones at KLCC or Sentosa Island, but I had fun all the same. Instant noodles lunch at the hotel (if you’d believe it), and at 2 we went island hopping. This boat took to a couple of famous islands around Langkawi; we went to Pulau Dayang Bunting (Island of the Pregnant Maiden, with the hills forming the image of a pregnant lady lying down. Legend has it that if a woman bathes at the lake in the island, she will conceive a child), Pulau Helang where sea eagles gather and this island with a beautiful BEACH where we spent an hour at.

That was about the only time we got to a beach, and I’m not in swimming apparel. Damn.

That night we played cards with drinks and snacks at the hotel corridors, and I drank my first Vodka with orange, which got my head woozy when we wrapped up (I’m not good with alcohol), but I cleared it up with a good, long soak at the tub with a novel.

We were supposed to leave the next morning, but my aunt decided to have some last minute fun, and we went and took the cable cars to the highest grounds on the island. And man was the view magnificent… I almost forgot the fact that there were no beaches in this trip. Well, almost…

It’s sad that we didn’t visit the Telaga Tujuh waterfalls and the Anna and the King movie set (which was a waste, because I wanted to see the set when I heard that they shot the movie there, and I liked the movie).

Well the fun at the cable cars caused us a considerably long delay to head home, and by the time we arrived to the mainland it was already 7, which means I reach Kajang at 2 in the morning, and thus I had to spend the night at grandmother’s house (and had to postpone Rachel’s lunch for the second time). We had a late dinner at Tambun; seafood at the seaside. I didn’t arrive home until Friday afternoon, and by then I was already homesick. No place like home…

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun this time around… I just wished we saw more beaches. Well my aunt is planning for another trip there, and this time we’ll be staying at a BEACH resort. YES!

Now’s just the matter of waiting.

Oh shit, my exam’s 2 weeks away.

Goodnight people.

Word of the day:

habitue
One who habitually frequents a place.

Movie of the day: 50 first dates (sweet, funny and charming… what else can go wrong? 3 ½ stars out of 5).

Anime of the day: Bleach ep 97.

Currently reading: Tall Stories by Tom Holt (which contains ‘Expecting someone taller’ and ‘Ye Gods!’)

Currently playing: The matrix: Path of Neo.

Dirge of Cerberus.

Battle Stadium D.O.N