the langkawi adventure!

HAHA. That's seriously an understatement. Though, for the life of me, I don't know why I found it rather enjoyable though something regrettable took place.

Ok, so we arrived there at around, hmm, I think 8pm. Had dinner at this Italian bistro in the hotel which served surprisingly good pizza. So that was nice. And the hotel as well! It was really decked out in the nicest and most expensive-LOOKING marble I've seen so far. I've always had a soft spot for luxurious but NOT gaudy interiors. Except the exterior of the hotel looked like it was transported from the gaudy '80s. So that wasn't too good.

Anyhow, the next day we basically just lounged around in the hotel. Ok no, it's more of a resort actually, by the oh-so-fantastic beach which means that isn't like one of those places that looks exactly like downtown Singapore and I was glad for that. Took a swim in the pool and trooped off to the steam room after that to open up some pores! Felt really refreshed after that, and really clean. I've always liked to be clean. Dinner later on was at some famous seafood restaurant which lived up to its name, but the flies there were not to be trifled with.

On the third day, we tried to go for a cable-car ride, but was denied it because of the strong winds. Later on, we went to this waterfall, but had a really bad experience there. Two bags were stolen! And as I type this I am reminded of the sorrow and regret, of just turning our heads away for only around two minutes as we enjoyed the cool waters (it really was a nice place to take a dip), and of the huge amount of valuables that were lost. I wouldn't type it down here, but it really is a big deal. Seriously. Perhaps some may say to get over it and move on, but it's really a huge event for me because it is the first time that such theft has happened to me/my family, and to turn up empty-handed after a rather fruitless search for the culprits, it really is saddening and heart-wrenching, to say the least. It spoilt the holiday for me, at least a little. I couldn't sleep well that night, and kept committing the incident to God. Hopefully, at the very least, I hope whatever was stolen was put to good use, in that it was used to help a desperate father whose wife was swollen with pregnancy and the loot used to raise the child in future, or that it came in handy for perhaps a family with too many mouths to feed. And not to sustain some drug addict or perpetuate a criminal syndicate of whatever sort. That would be bad. And I would be sad. We made a police report later on, and the officers were really nice and all. I had thought that Malaysian police were not really dependable or reliable, since there are many corrupt officers and all, especially the traffic police during the peak periods. Anyhow, these officers were really patient, and even sent down plainclothes policemen to try to nab the culprits (that's what they said though). At least they were nice, and didn't brush us off. During the trip, many of the locals we came across (and who got to know our story) suggested it was monkeys who took our valuables. But it was really obvious it wasn't those animals (though they do have itchy hands), because there was no noise and no mess made of all our other belongings. Monkeys wouldn't leave behind our food and towels and make off with our valuables. Ok, moving on.

The next day, we went for a mangrove tour. I noticed that my parents didn't look too affected by the theft, so that was good. I had thought they would have been brooding a lot over it, since they were the main 'losers' from the theft (personally, I only lost my bag and my pair of goggles). Anyhow, the mangrove tour was enjoyable! (:(:(: (I'll try to smile more. (: ) We went eagle feeding, touring bat caves, looking for monitor lizards, crabs, snakes, monkeys, kingfishers, mudskippers, various kinds of fish, and finding them. Sad that we didn't see any crocodiles. It was nice to be back with nature, but kind of sticky as well. If I remember correctly, we went to this expensive al fresco restaurant for dinner, where only tourists go and locals stay away. The food wasn't too bad though, and I suspect it was a Singaporean outfit, because of its arty design, alright service and exorbitant prices. Plus they had some Singaporean dishes. Sometimes I don't get my father though. While he strives to save money (I think I got my prudent genes from him), at other times he's quite willing to splurge. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (:

Ok, the next day we went fishing! Not my favourite activity, but I was all for it since my father was so interested in it, and I thought that it was a good distraction from the previous unpleasant memories (if you don't know what I'm talking about I suggest you take reading lessons and a test for dyslexia). We chartered a boat and went around the different parts of the sea to fish! I didn't catch anything though. The SISTER caught one, my father caught three fish (one big fish, one small fish, and one small grouper) and a squid, while the BROTHER was the 'hero'; he caught seven fish (one big fish, two small groupers and other small fish). But I got sunburnt feet. We later gorged on our ocean harvest. Dinner was simple at an zichar restaurant in the town area; cheap and good. The deep fried 'pork limb' there gives the German pork knuckle a serious run for its money, I tell you.

And now we come to the last day! We basically just lounged around in the resort again. After sleeping in, I went to open up my pores with some steam again. Dinner at the Italian bistro again (couldn't get enough of the pizza!). And as I type this, I'm back in Singapore. (Duh, the Internet charges there are exorbitant - RM 5 for 15 minutes, like hello, what are they thinking!)

This brings me to my next point, about Malaysian service. Ok, not that I have anything against the service people there; some of them are really nice, like the lady waitress who was enthusiastic to suggest places for us to visit and kept on asking us whether we were happy with the food, the cab drivers there (who no doubt charged us high fares; Malaysian cabs are like that, especially those called by the hotel) who advised us on the best ways to spend our holiday and sympathised with our predicament, or the mangrove people who were so entertaining with their tidbits of mangrove knowledge. But certain people there seriously spoil the entire Malaysian image as a place welcoming for tourists. Like the guest relations manager who couldn't stand to see the darts drop to the ground even once, the sniffly van driver who insisted that we should pay more because we had 5 and not 4, or the salesgirl who somehow couldn't stand helping us pack our purchases into hand-carry friendly boxes and had to mistreat, no, abuse our goods. I especially don't fancy the ones who only fawn on the ang mohs and the Middle Easterners. Yes, they are tourists, but so are we! Just because we come from the ASEAN region (including the Thais and the Indonesians and other Singaporeans), does not mean we do not deserve equal service standards. We pay for the same services too! Ok, enough venting. But I guess service standards do not really seem to be up to par for many destinations around the world. Such is life.












Ah ok, I hope I seriously put the unpleasant experiences behind me (way behind) and remember only the good bits.