MALAYSIA, Kuah Town, Langkawi Island, 25-27 January 2013

Friday January 25th 2013

Still at Concorde Inn Hotel near KL airport.

Woke up early again at 5.45 a.m., must still be jet lag, heavy rain. Yesterday we found all Malaysians friendly and very helpful and all spoke very good English, we tried out our pigeon Malay whenever we could to try and be good but in general their English was way better than our Malay. Annie did Indonesian at school in Australia and said many of the words were similar.

We had an excellent breakfast at the hotel, Keef did some online banking and emails, we then when swimming / sunbathing at the hotel pool. It was very hot and then like clockwork the rain clouds gathered and around 6 p.m. there was another terrific rainstorm with thunder and lightening. The rain was tremendous, and we mean TORRENTIAL!  

Anne had a little siesta as was suffering from jet lag and tired.

We then had a lovely evening meal in the hotel restaurant, Annie had chicken satay with rice, curd cake and carrot cake for pudding, Keef had nasi lemak , chicken, rendang sauce, coconut rice, with an anchovy and nut garnish followed by cheesecake for pudding, all very yummy and hugely well prepared, thanks Concorde Inn Hotel staff, much appreciated.

We then organised the taxi pickup for the next morning to take us to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Kuala Lumpur for our Malaysian internal flights at 10 a.m. (arriving at the terminal 2 hours earlier as directed) Never know what that is all about, mostly to get you to spend money at the terminal.

Night night we will be up early tomorrow.

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Saturday January 26th 2013

Today we travel onward to Langkawi Island, Malaysia, a chocolate (tax free) holiday paradise island for all Malaysians and the place where our youngest son is due to get married. Tick!

Got up at 6 a.m. and had breakfast at 7.15 a.m. we then got the taxi to Kuala Lumpur’s LCCT terminal to catch our 10 a.m. flight on Air Asia to Langkawi. We had to be at the terminal 2 hours in advance.

In the end the plane left at 10.15 a.m. and took about 1 hour to get to the island.

It was very hot in Langkawi, about 30 degrees C, we checked in at the De Baron Hotel , a 2 star hotel, having picked up our hire car from the airport for 1 week. It cost about £230. The hire car had air con, 4 doors and seemed very good.

Apparently, there are monkeys and buffalo on the roads away from the main Kuah Town although on our journey to the hotel we didn’t see any. Cars drive on the left in Malaysia.

We unpacked our bags in the hotel room, which was not as good as the one at the Concorde Inn in KL. We then went for a stroll around the hotel and grounds to familiarise ourselves with where we were.

We then walked to the nearest shops to find a restaurant for some food. This is hilarious, we ordered fish and chips, but the waiter only bought one plate. He naively assumed it was only the man eating, wow now that is a cultural difference. 😉 We asked for the 2nd meal which duly arrived, but the fish was not cooked properly. We left in disgust and found another restaurant.

Anne had lemon chicken (not very good) and pineapple rice which was wonderful. We then found a wine shop and bought both red and white for D&P’s wedding.

Both of us has a siesta as knocked out by the massive heat or more succinctly humidity. Keef took sunset pictures from the hotel grounds.

Brian and Gina arrived at De Baron Hotel, Kuah Town, Langkawi Island at 10.15 p.m.

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Sunday January 27th 2013

Went for a swim and met up with Brian and Gin who had got up early and had breakfast and walked along the bay to the Eagle Square statue (famed on Langkawi and visible in all the tourist brochures).

It was again very hot today.

We all got sunbeds around the pool which had 2 lovely slides. K&A went off to collect Craig and Leanne from the airport at 12.15 p.m. and then once they had both checked into their room they joined us on the sunbeds which we had rotated to be in the shade, a very good move for us pasty skinned Brits abroad, ha ha.  😉The only 2 awake around the pool were Annie & I as we had now arrived in the right time zone body wise.

In the evening we had dinner at our hotel outside in the gardens overlooking the bay a bit cooler and a lovely romantic setting and great company, what more could you ask for.

We took some sunset photos over the bay. Hotel had wonderful and beautiful views of the bay which is part of the straits of Malacca. Being a Muslim country, they did not serve alcohol, but we took along some beers etc. and sat along the bay frontage and watched the sun set, just magical.

That afternoon Keef & Brian had walked 10 minutes to the quay to book an island-hopping boat tour trip for 9 a.m. the next day, so looking forward to that.

This is an extract from a tourist brochure from Langkawi.

“Kuah, the main town of Langkawi, is a good starting point for visitors who travel via ferry. While clear white stretches of beaches are non-existent here, ships are ever-present in the distance and the looming mountains on the nearby islets are visible during the day. The town is well-regarded as a shopper’s haven, housing many excellent duty-free stores selling everything but the kitchen sink.

Due to its relatively large population and the number of hotels in the area, visitors can also find a good range of dining venues to choose from while places of interests that are great for picture moments can be found in Kuah. 

Kuah, Kuah Town or Bandar Kuah is a town, mukim and district capital of Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia. It is the entry point for those coming by ferry from either the mainland or Penang Island. The town is centred on its jetty, which is a point of arrival for tourists from the mainland. Kuah has become a major town due to the growth of visitors after Langkawi developed into a tourist centre since 1986.

Kuah is the most important town on Langkawi Island. Though it is not an actual city, local people from Langkawi refer to it as a city. Kuah is a nice and small town with a relaxed atmosphere. There are no big malls, no heavy traffic and no places to eat on every corner but more than enough to satisfy your appetite. Langkawi Island has a duty-free status. You can buy cheap liquor, cigarettes, fragrances, and other souvenirs in Kuah. Kuah has a couple of hotels, but you will find better accommodation outside of the city. “

The hotel address was de BARON resort, Bandar Baru BARON,07000, Kuah Langkawi, Kedah Darul Aman.