Hi...
Last June, I had the most wonderful opportunity to spend 5 days in Langkawi.
It was my first time there.
I was invited by my best friend, Ard to visit him as he is currently working in one of the 5-star resorts there.
I was in JB prior to my trip to Langkawi. I was there spending my time with my beloved grandmother. We didn't do much. Just keeping each other company. That's all. So, I was sent to the Larkin bus station by my uncle and my grandmother on the moring of June 19th 2008. My bus from JB to Kl took approximately 5 hours. I was nervous a bit as I was afraid that I might miss the flight.
I reached Puduraya and took a taxi to KL Sentral upon arrival. As soon as I reached KL Sentral, my main objective was to fill in my already grumbling stomach. So, I rushed to the nearest McDonald's. That's done, I went loitering at one of the bookstores in KL Sentral (The Nile, I think). Flipped through a few magazines and left.
I bought the ERL Express ticket to KLIA. It was an easy process. Then, I checked-in at the virtual airport and boarded the train to KLIA. It was boring. I don't like the idea of travelling alone. I had no one to talk to. I had no one to entertain me taking pictures. So...
So I hopped on MH1450 from KLIA to Langkawi on the 19th of June at 1710 hours and reached the beautiful island of Langkawi at 1805. It was a very interesting flight since there were a few turbulences as we were reaching Langkawi. I was not as scared as my first experience with a turbulence. My first experience of a turbulence was when I was inflight from Bayan Lepas to Sultan Abdul Samad, Kuala Terengganu last April. 11th of April to be exact. As it was a small aircraft, it was a Fokker (Firefly), even the slightest turbulence was felt by all passengers on board.
Back to Langkawi. Upon arrival in Langkawi, I was being received by my best friend, Ard. We didn't spend much time at the airport. So, off we went to his place in his brand new Toyota Vios. Thus, my journey in Langkawi begins.
I liked it there in Langkawi. It's a quiet town. It's also a beautiful town.
Thanks to my best friend, Ard, I get the chance to visit some if not all of the interesting places. The land of the burnt rice or Beras Terbakar is merely a village. I didnt get the chance to really see the burnt rice. But according to Ard, you have to do some serious digging to get to the layer of the soil that contains the burnt rice. I vow to myself that I would definitely dig some soil next time I set foot on the legendary island of Langkawi.
The ride up to Gunung Machinchang was a breath-taking experience. Although we spent the whole time chatting, I still managed to get a glimpse of what the land looks like from above. I have always loved flying. So, I could relate the journey up the mountain on the cable car as flying. It was totally interesting. The journey uphill was made more interesting as the cable car stopped twice. I panicked a little when it stopped for the first time. My friend, Ard told me that the reason for the system to stop is the system notices some instability caused by people moving around in other cable cars. I must mention that I am sentimental, too. That's why even the journey in a cable car can be considered as breath-taking.
As soon as we reached the second station, we get out from our cable car. Ard and I decided to hike down to the suspension bridge. So...in a way, I can say that we also managed to hike down-hill and up-hill the mount of Machinchang. It was quite an experience to the both of us. You need to be at least average physically-fit to really enjoy the experience. Otherwise, you'll just end up feeling exhausted and gasping for air all the time that you are hiking. Hehehe.
When I was up there, it reminded me of the movie Puteri Gunung Ledang. I now understand why the princess had decided to stay on top of Mount Ledang. The air is fresh up there in Gunung Machincang. The view is to die for. The surrounding is so peaceful. The sunrise and sunset is magical -- it's not that I witnessed any of that while I was there...but I am sure everything is just beautiful.
While I was on top of Gunung Machincang, I observed two eagles soaring in the sky. They were magnificent. They were huge too. I'd say that their wing span could be at least a metre. But then again, I too felt lonely up there. Because of the complete serenity, I guess.
Enough about my trip to Gunung Machincang. While I was vacationing in Langkawi, I also had the opportunity to snorkel. This time, it is a new experience. When I was in Pangkor, we were taken to the shore before we start snorkelling. But, in Langkawi, we arrived at a dock which is located almost in the middle of the ocean. So, you can imagine that our starting point to snorkel was actually deep. I learned about it the hard way! After putting on the snorkelling-gear, I immediately and excitedly go to the end of the dock to start snorkelling. I was cnfident that I will be safe. I had the safety-jacket for God's sake. So I went into the water just like that. I did practiced my breathing of-course. As soon as I hit the water, I noticed straight away that the bottom of the sea is at least 2-metre deep. I panicked. Seawater got into my breathing-pipe and I swallowed quite a bit. It was not fun at all. Then, I started to paddle wishing that I could reach the dock. That proved to be too difficult, so I decided to float there, and perfect my breathing technique -- since I was breathing like mad. It took me at least a good ten minute before I started to paddle to the shore to meet my friend, Ard -- who was already enjoying the view of the fishes and also feeding them biscuits that I brought.
