Saturday, December 17, 2005
Langkawi Squared
Going to a holiday island is an exciting endavour, but going there twice in the span of two days is murder.The story goes like this: The first was LIMA. it was on saturday, the tenth. It was a single-day affair. Go there, go see the exhibits, go see the planes, go see the aerial shows, get back home.
Like always, it sounds easy on paper, but it was hell, in terms of energy spent. The weather was blazingly hot that day, a complete opposite from what we heard from the weather forecast on that very morning. We got a nice tan, alright.
The show itself was fun. Though it lacked the Sukhoi SU-30 acrobatics, we were entertained by the RMAF's MiG-29 showcase. The weather was apologetic to us today, thank God. And we were tired as hell by the end of the day.
Sunday was more like Dullday. The only highlight was the news that a relative from Johor was to come on Monday. Housekeeping mode was initiated, as protocol was initiated.
The relatives came, and we got to talking. My uncle threw some ideas for their vacation, and considering I got some knowledge about Langkawi, he roped me in as his tour guide, and take his family for a vacation there.
I thought he was joking.
He didn't.
So off we go again. Tuesday morning, I found myself at the Jetty again, barely two days since I was last there.
I guess I was a pretty good guide for my uncle's family. We avoided the regular tourist traps that could easily swallow my uncle's family. They're first-timers to Langkawi too. Only the wife has been to Langkawi, and that was twenty years ago. Basically the family of six (3 sons and a doughter) are Langkawi virgins, and it's up to me to show them the good places.
One of the traps is the car rental trap at the jetty. Throngs of people come out from the belly of the ferry, just to be greeted by hecklers who peddle rental car services. It is easy for any newbie tourists to fall for this obvious trap: they're a tired from the boat trip, and they don't want to struggle with the hassle of going to the car rental booths outside, so let's just get a damn car from one of these people.
I know this scam. I'd experienced this once, and I know how to bypass this scam: just ignore them and go straight to the counters outside. My uncle dutifully followed me and we got ourselves a van, together with the reciept and other paperwork. This proved to be a right move later that night.
We checked in into a motel, and later, we went to the Cable car at Mat Cincang Mountain. That's my second time there. As like any other Langkawi spots, there's a trick for everything. There are two stations on the mountain peak. The cable car will reach the first station and then continue it's way to the 2nd station, which is higher at the peak. Then the car will make a U-turn and then return to the first station and then back down to the base station.
The trick is that we don't get off at the first station. That station is small and unimpressive. The best is at the top station. It's larger, higher, and has the impressive cable bridge. So there we are, admiring God's creation at 700m above sea level.
That was the highlight. The low point happened in the night. We went back to the motel and freshen up for dinner. When we were ready to go, the van was missing.
So there we were, going crazy. To cut things short, the van was retrieved half an hour later. It was a big case of misunderstanding. The "thief" mistook our van was his, and that the van was easily accesible. I saw someone use his motorcycle key to start the van. Go figure.
The next day I brought the family to Pasir Tengkorak beach. It's another secret of Langkawi. Get there early, and you get your own private beach, clean and unspoilt.
I also rented a motorbike. It's a Jaguh, and I had fun riding it. I wanted to take the bike to the beach that morning, but was hampered by a burst tire less than halfway to the beach. Dammit. And the road leading to the beach was great. And I missed the chance to ride a bike there. Chiss.
Nevermind la. So we had a great day, and by noon, we are ready to leave the island. I thought my role as tour guide was over once we got back, but my dad gave this great idea to take the family to Padang Besar, a shopping mecca over here. Oh great.
We officially ended the day at 6pm as we reached home. And I had to send Emec to the bus station later that night. I sent him with sand still stuck between my toes.
So there you have it. Langkawi Squared. Yes, I had fun being a tour guide. I had fun that I went to Langkawi TWICE. But it wasn't all fun, cos I'm missing someone. Thankfully she's always in my mind...
As of the time of this entry, my legs are still sore. Arh...
(uploaded pics from LIMA)
RLC
I'd prefer MiG 29 with thrust vectoring, Macross zero style! :P