Langkawi Retreat

My department has merged with two other units and we decided to have a retreat in Langkawi as our last hurrah. We finally agreed on 13 to 15 October 2023.

 

I had to wait a long time for the blinking bus on Friday the 13^th. Then I discovered I left my eye drops behind and had to detour to buy it. When I looked at my watch and calculated, I realised I was cutting it close. I hurried to Ampang Park MRT station and rode the train to Putrajaya. I bought the KLIA Transit return ticket but as it looked I wouldn’t reach the station in time to catch the 12:22 train, I booked Maxim Car. I reached Putrajaya MRT station at 12:25 and ran down from the platform and out. The car was waiting and the driver asked my ETD. I told him 13:30. He said he would try to speed. I thanked him and settled down, reciting selawat all the way.

 

We reached the airport and I glanced at the car clock, it read 12:55. I jumped out, thank ed the driver and ran to the bag drop counter. I was told the bag drop had closed but I could take my bag to the gate. At the security check, they debated if I could allowed in until I produced the text message informing flight had been delayed. I had taken off my jewellery and watch in the car to speed the bag screening process. I ran to gate A5, stopping en route to fill up my water bottle. I arrived at the gate at 13:05 huffing and panting. Whoa! I’d never run so fast in my life before. Ten minutes from when I got down from the car with the various stops all the way to gate is a record, man. But the flight was further delayed to 13:40. I groaned, I could’ve performed prayers.

 

We finally took off at almost 14:00 and landed at LGK an hour later. I didn’t need to wait for my bag so I waited for my friend before going out to join three other friends who flew Batik Air. There was another wait for the operator of rented cars and feeling fed up and impatient, I went to perform prayers. Came out and the operator had only just arrived so we followed him out to the cars.

 

We drove out finally and went in search of a pump station to fill up. Then we headed for Laksa Ikan Sekoq for our late lunch. It took close to thirty minutes to get our food. Never again!

 

We split up, one car headed for the resort and my car returned to the airport to pick up another friend who was only arriving at 17:00. After depositing our bags, we took a walk along the beach before going to the main road to find dinner. Three of them decided to drive to Kuah and I finally agreed with great reluctance to go. After chocolate shopping, we stopped at a random restaurant for dinner. Dinner was again disappointing.

 

On Saturday, I woke up early for morning shower and prayers. I joined a group heading to Kilim and we left just after 07:10. We stopped at Nasi Dagang Mak Minah for an overpriced breakfast (RM10 for a plate of nasi dagang!) before continuing on to the Kilim jetty. We arrived too early as we had to wait for the tour operator to show up at 09:00. It was a clear bright morning. We boarded the boat and took off for Bat Cave. We spent about 20 minutes there before continuing on to Crocodile Cave. The boat driver showed his skill in manouevering  the boat in the tight space. He informed that a boat had the misfortune of being trapped there for six hours when the high tide hit. We continued on and stopped at two spots for those who wanted to swim and snorkel. We were at the Kilim Geoforest Park sign when the dark clouds started gathering above us. The last stop was at the floating restaurant where we saw various fish being kept. It started raining then so I hurried back to the boat. Alas, the rain came pounding down relentlessly and it wasn’t long before we were all soaked to the bone. Seeing as we were all already wet like rats, the boat driver sped up for the jetty. I really didn’t know which part of me was still dry then.

 

Resident cat at Nasi Dagang Mak Minah

We returned back to the resort (it was sunny and hot!) and I stripped off my wet clothes, hung them at the balcony and took a shower. After prayers, my roommate and I went out to find lunch. We had an overpriced lunch before returning to the resort, stopping en route to buy more chocolates. I took a nap and woke up at 17:30.

 

I decided to stay in until evening prayers even though dinner was scheduled for 19:00. It started raining after dusk and continued on. The dinner venue was moved from by the sea to indoors. I finally ventured out after 20:15 because the rain didn’t show any signs of letting up. After dinner, we returned to our room to pack and rest.

 

I woke up after 03:00 when my roommate got up to use the bathroom and couldn’t sleep thereafter. Finally got up at 05:15 and showered before performing prayers. It was still drizzling, I think it rained all night.

 

I finished my thick book and went for breakfast. I was having stomach upset (probably from dinner) so had to be careful what I ate. We left before 09:00, returned the room cards and drove to the airport. After meeting the rent car operator, we dropped off our bags and went in. There was no delay this time and we landed at KLIA at 12:15. I missed the earlier train as my bag came out too late so had to take the next KLIA Transit train.

The Jewel Of Kedah

 I had optimistically bought a hotel stay and then air ticket to Langkawi back in 2020 and had to keep deferring my travel plan no thanks to the pandemic (with Omicron currently raging, I don’t think we can categorise it as endemic). After discussing with my friend, we decided to go there during Chinese New Year and we managed to change our flight tickets without any extra charge (thanks, MAS!). I then informed the travel agent but early last month, she informed that the hotel wanted to impose surcharge as it would be peak season. She had told me previously it’d likely be RM100/night so I was not at all happy when she informed that the hotel wanted to impose RM200/night. I told her I could book another accommodation with that amount of money. And I managed to book a room at the organisation’s resort. Ha! I could shop with the savings!

 

On Federal Territory Day (happy birthday, KL!) and the first day of Chinese New Year, I left home pretty early as I wanted to catch the 09:00 bus from Terminal Bersepadu Selatan. I reached KLIA before 10:00 (the bus headed for KLIA first) and was surprised to find KLIA was relatively deserted. The flight took off on time at 12:35 and we landed an hour later. Bags were quick to come out and we ordered Maxim car to the resort. We managed to check in on arrival (check-in time is actually at 16:00), alhamdulillah.

 

Langkawi is in the midst of months-long drought and it was hot and bright then so we decided to rest before venturing out. We left at around 17:30 but the sun was still bright and intense then. We had dinner at a food truck area. Mine was just edible. I left Anita and went to walk around Cenang area. I’m sorry to say that it was not clean, what with the dry leaves lying unswept, dust and sand, and rubbish thrown without care. I went into many shops to browse the chocolate prices and offerings. I wanted to watch the sunset but there were too many people so I didn’t stay long.

 

I turned back and walked to Aseania Resort before returning to our room.

 

On Wednesday morning, I went for a morning walk by the beach and came back with a handful of seashells. So many and so much bigger than any other beaches I’d been to! I then went to find breakfast. I bought some local desserts and had a bowl of noodle soup before returning to our room. My friend wanted to go to Kuah but after thinking about it, I decided to stay in.

 

I went out and braved the afternoon sun after 16:30 and walked up to a second-hand bookshop and left with two books. I had almost finished the thick novel I brought and didn’t want to spend the flight and trip home without reading anything, hence the purchase. I then went to find a massage place and finally had a massage but it was disappointing. And I couldn’t tell the masseuse as she was Thai and couldn’t speak Malay or English. I went to find dinner and after dinner, hurried to The Zon. I was only aware of the lightning and thunders then. According to Met Malaysia, it was due to rain the following day and not that evening.

 

I did a quick supermarket sweep kind of chocolate shopping (good thing I had browsed the evening before!) but when I came out, the rain had fallen. Torrentially. So I went back into the two shops and bought more chocolates while waiting out the rain. Thankfully, the rain had slowed down to a light drizzle within half an hour so I hurried back to our room.

 

On Thursday morning, I went out for a morning walk again along the beach and managed to get more seashells. Alhamdulillah. We checked out at noon and booked Maxim car to the airport. We had lunch at the airport before going through security check.

 

I don’t think my next visit to Langkawi will be anytime soon. It’s much too hot for me.

Teambuilding Retreat

My department was granted approval to have our teambuilding programme in Langkawi this year and after a couple of months of preparation, we flew out to Langkawi on Thursday. As part of risk management, we flew different airlines at different times. My flight time was at 18:00 and we left the office by the pre-arranged shuttle at 15:40 (the driver was late) in the pouring rain. It didn’t help that the driver didn’t know of an alternative route so we joined the building traffic and inched our way until we entered MEX. Thankfully, our flight wasn’t delayed; our colleagues who left earlier to fly Malindo from Subang had their flight delayed and only landed five minutes after we did.

We took a shuttle from the airport and went to the resort at Cenang Beach. After checking in, I immediately grabbed the iron and board and did pumped some iron. There are five rooms in every floor and I didn’t want to wait for my turn with the iron.

After prayers, we ventured out to find dinner. I walked quite a bit but ended up having dinner at a stall very near the resort.

I had planned to go for a morning walk by the beach but as Friday’s programme was quite full from 09:00 to 22:30, I decided to go for the walk on Saturday morning. Some colleagues were excited about the prospect of shopping and went to shop during the long Friday lunchtime and after class on Friday evening (!). I decided to only shop on Sunday morning. After all, that wasn’t the purpose of my trip to Langkawi. And even though Saturday’s programme ended just before 18:00, I didn’t bother going to shop then either.

We had barbecue dinner by the pool on Saturday evening but we weren’t too happy with the food. I had a tummy upset following the Saturday afternoon tea break and was a bit disappointed the food wasn’t great. Woke up on Sunday morning at 03:45, no, not to watch the Champions League final match but to use the bathroom. Yet another tummy upset. Ugh.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, I braved the blazing morning sun and went to The Zone to buy some chocolates. I didn’t bring an extra bag and didn’t want to buy a new one either so I asked the salespeople if they had a box. Thank God I asked because they managed to find a small box which fit my chocolate purchases. Walked back to the resort and left the box in the lobby (no point lugging it back to the room and then back to the lobby when I check out). I was perspiring buckets by the time I reached my room.

The resort manager called for the shuttle to the airport when everyone in our party was ready. We checked in and after sorting out some issues regarding my seat, I went to perform prayers. Had a light lunch before clearing security. The flight took off on time and we landed at 15:40. My bag and box didn’t take long to come out and I was able to take the 16:20 KLIA Express train to KL Sentral.

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The facilitators had already pre-assigned us into groups of six and I was quite disappointed that I had to sit with three people who hardly ever contributed to any discussion. They were either falling asleep, lost in their own world, in a blur, or busy with their smartphones. The other three of us had to lift the table and win cards for participating. (The facilitators awarded cards to us for participating and for arriving early as an incentive). I mean, really, what is the point of being there if you were going to daydream? And they behaved exactly how they usually behave in the office. I thought it was really pointless flying them all the way there, a sheer waste of time and money if they couldn’t even give 100% during teambuilding. To me, it doesn’t matter where you have office teambuilding, its duration and intensity. What matters is what you bring to it and your takeaways. Also, are you ready to change yourself? Then there’s another group who came back without seeming to have benefited from the teambuilding. What is the point of going there and then when you’re back, you revert to your old ways? Did you not learn anything at all or was it just a fun free trip at the company’s expense, an escapade from the office, a break from your normal schedule?

I was also disturbed and disgusted by someone who stuffed herself silly. Look, I know you’re crazy about prawns but did you stop to consider there may be others who hadn’t had their meal yet? Or were you just concerned about your own greedy self? And it didn’t stop there. It continued throughout. Ever stop to wonder why people advise for moderation in everything we do?

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I found Langkawi unbearably hot. There was hardly any breeze and the sun was merciless. Needless to say, I had a sore throat, bad cough, terrible headache and a high temperature when I returned. I know I’m not delicate because I’m not the only one to be suffering. I can’t recall Tioman or Redang being similarly suffocating and insufferable. I really can’t contemplate a return trip but hey, never say never. Maybe one fine day some time further down the road when I’ve forgotten how much I’m suffering now, I might consider a return trip there.

Enter The Tiger

Our initial plan for the Lunar New Year was to go to Padang; unfortunately the earthquake happened and my parents decided not to go (if it were up to me, I’d just go. Surely not all hotels in Padang were destroyed and surely those in Bukittinggi would hardly be affected. And true enough, this was confirmed by the Padang travel agent I met at the MATTA Fair). Unfortunately, we had since bought new tickets to Langkawi so Padang was out. And because I couldn’t secure accommodation at any of TheOrganisation’s unit, I had to book a hotel room; it didn’t help that I only learnt of the unsuccessful booking 11 days before departure and most hotels were filling up fast if not already fully booked (and as we had visited Langkawi before, my parents just wanted to be based in Kuah so that pretty much limited the choice of hotels). I finally managed to secure a room a week before departure.

We flew out early Saturday morning and arrived at our hotel before 10 am (before the shops even opened). Luckily for us, the thoughtful receptionist took pity on my parents and allowed us an early check-in. We went to deposit our bags (parents had the obligatory morning tea) before going out to check out the shops. And my, what a bright, hot day it was. It was so hot that we were back at the hotel by 2 pm to rest. I only dared to venture out again at close to 6 pm and even then, it was a hot, humid evening.

I didn’t join my parents for dinner, having decided to check out the night market instead (in front of the run-down Langkawi Baron Hotel. I bought some food to go from the night market and returned to the hotel.

Sunday was pretty much a repeat of the day before although we took a different route to the shops. By Sunday evening, I was already fed-up and bored with the dirty, dusty, hot and humid town and in fact vowed that I wouldn’t return again. The rest of the island is too touristy and runs the risk of becoming tacky – just like Bali. God, I dislike Bali especially Kuta. I found it tacky beyond words. I really don’t see what the big fuss about Bali is especially when we have equally if not better beaches here.

I braved the early Monday morning heat to get some last-minute souvenirs before returning to the hotel to rest before our afternoon flight. What a relief to be back; yes, KL is hot too but I’m very sure Langkawi was at least 5 degrees hotter. I doubt I will return to the island. There are some places you don’t mind going again and again but there are some that you just don’t want to go to ever again. And that explains why I’ve been to Rome twice as many times as I’ve been to some places like Langkawi.

Oh and we had the Sultan of Selangor and his long-time actress companion on our flight back to KL.

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It looks like we’re in for another El Niño – which should explain the unusual extreme winter conditions in Europe and the US in recent weeks. In fact – and I hope I’m not exaggerating – I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re experiencing the beginning of El Niño in the country too: it would explain the unbearably hot weather these last few weeks (give me rain over hot weather any time). And guess when the phenomenon last occurred? Twelve years ago during the last Year of the Tiger. I remember it was so bad that we had water rationing. I pray it won’t be as bad this time around.

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We all know there are ten years in a decade, a hundred in a century and a thousand in a millennium. And yet some people seem to think that 2010 is a brand new decade when it’s the tenth year of the decade – just like there were those who thought year 2000 was the beginning of the new millennium when it was the last year of the last millennium. Not a hard concept to grasp surely.

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I’m now a new follower to the drama Merlin (yes, gasp aloud all you like), having never watched any until a few weeks ago (and now in the second season too). Thanks to my nieces (because of whom, I missed the first quarter of an hour of the Arsenal-Everton match), I am now hooked to the drama. It helps that Prince Arthur (Bradley James) is such an eye-candy and I can go to bed happy every Tuesday evening. Heh. Click here for official photos of the drama, here and here for more.

In the footstep of LOL Cats, a captioned photo of Colin and Bradley. They totally dig each other it seems

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And finally (what’s a blog entry without a mention of Arsenal eh. Hey, I’m only emulating Arsenal in doing community service here), Arsenal beat Chelshit at last! Well, the reserves side did. The Gunners, bar five, are in Porto now for the match tonight; go here for their training pictures. Oh, and apparently we tried to sign Louis Saha on the last day (tsk, tsk, never ever procrastinate again, Wenger) and our to-come Chamakh will be standing in local elections next month. Chamakh Obama? Yes, we can! (Sorry, can’t resist that. Thanks to Arseblog for that line and more).

Oh and it looks like ex-captain Terry-ble and wife had kissed and made up. Amazing. But wait, there’s more scandal involving Chelshit players. Ah... that cA$hley Cow of course.

I shall leave you now with a link to great Fab moments.

The Island of Legends

I love this time of the year. Office is almost deserted. Even those still at work are planning their getaway trips. It seemed a good idea to get away myself - from office, from visitors flocking KL, from the rain - and it didn't take long for me to decide on Langkawi. Never mind the emails circulating warning of a possible tsunami which may shift northwards occuring sometime within these two months. Heck, you can die anytime, anywhere, anyhow, anyway these days.

Alhamdulillah, a hotel booking was accepted - I made bookings to 3 hotels, just in case seeing our proposed stay was over the Christmas weekend - followed by plane bookings immediately after. The northern states of Peninsular were experiencing flood and besides, we were not too keen on driving all the way to Kuala Kedah. Our journey started on the evening of 23 December 2005.

Arrived at Langkawi International Airport just before 9 pm. The first thing I noticed was the wind. Anyway, we didn't stay out too long and quickly made our way into the building to collect our luggage. We took a while deciding on the car to rent [and who to rent from] before settling on a Wira. Armed with a map and some vague directions, we set off to the Oriental Village where the Oriental Inn is. Abah was panicking as the fuel indicator was near Empty and I had to reassure him it was fine just as long as it hadn't turned red [which it did some km later]. We stopped to ask for directions at least twice and finally, after continuously assuring Abah we were on the right direction, we found a big Petronas station. After that, it was only 2 km to the Oriental Village and by then, he'd trusted my navigation. Hey, give me some credit: I am the navigator for all the treasure hunts I've been on! And girls can read maps! Check-in process was a breeze and before long, we had settled ourselves in the hotel room.

The Oriental Village is a charming, self-contained tourist attraction with its own speciality stores and food outlets. A bit like Colmar Tropicale resort in Pahang. It is sited against the backdrop of Gunung Mat Chinchang around a beautiful lake - which is fed by a stream that I suspect is a tributary of the river that forms from the waterfalls of Telaga Tujuh or the Seven Wells. The cable car station is just behind our room. Our room also overlooked a rabbits-and-fawn mini enclosure. After breakfast the next day, we drove to Kuah taking the Teluk Yu and Air Hangat roads, stopping en route at Pantai Ewa to admire the scenery. Now Kuah is the main town on the island and it offers serious shopping especially for crockery, chocolates [to name a few] at bargain prices. After lunch, we drove to the Langkawi Craft Complex before returning to the hotel to rest.





On the second day [Christmas Day], we drove to nearby Telaga Tujuh. A strenous lone hike up [Mummy & Abah stayed at the stalls; they wouldn't have been able to hike up the steep hill] and I was rewarded by a breathtaking view of the waterfall. Simply spectacular! A good thing it did not rain the day before or the tracks would be wet and slippery. Unlike the day before, there were some clouds overhead but not those that warn of imminent rain. We then took the same route to Kuah but detoured first to Datai, where we sighted the Temurun Waterfall and admired the man-made Langkawi Falls near Pantai Pebble. Pantai Pasir Tengkorak which is a few km away looked inviting but we decided to drive on to Tanjung Rhu. The Tanjung Rhu Beach was similarly lovely and the sand was so white, it almost hurt to look down. After a light meal, we drove on to Dataran Lang [Eagle Square] before heading to Kuah. Then we took a different route, i.e. Padang Matsirat/Nyiur Cabang/Teluk Burau roads back to Pantai Kok/Tanjung Burau where the Oriental Village is, stopping at some stalls near Mutiara Burau Beach Resort for a late lunch.

That evening, I decided to take the cable car up Gunung Mat Chinchang. Abah & Mummy didn't want to go so I went alone. Crazy? Yes, I must be! It was like a Fear Factor episode for me. As I was alone in the gondola, it was less stable than if it had been occupied by more passengers and this obviously made it more sensitive to the wind. I was texting a mate and my hands were perspiring in the process! After an agonising couple of minutes or so which seemed like hours to me, the gondola came to the first station. I got off here and after giving some time to calm my shaking legs and frayed nerves, went to the Hanging Bridge to view the neighbouring mountains and distant seascapes. The winds were even stronger here and I had to summon my courage to walk along the platform - see, the Hanging Bridge didn't look like it was well supported somehow! I swear that I could almost feel the platform sway at least twice. I gingerly made my way back to the station and rode off again in another gondola to the other station. There are two platforms here offering a 360-degree view of the Andaman Sea, Langkawi Island itself and the surrounding islands. After my ascend up, I thought it'd be wiser to descend at dusk so I decided to wait and catch the sunset from the top. At 7, suddenly there were fogs around me and that dashed any hopes of a sunset view. Anyway, I thought it was a good time as any to start making my way down. Only then did I have a bird's eye view of Telaga Tujuh. Magnificent!

On the third day, we drove back to, yes you guess it, Kuah again for some last minute shopping. Had lunch there before driving back. That evening, I walked to the beach at nearby Berjaya Langkawi Beach Resort.

All too soon, the last day of our stay arrived. Checked out at almost 12 noon. Stopped by at Pantai Kok for a while before driving to Beras Terbakar near Padang Matsirat. We didn't fancy waiting too long at the airport but that turned out to be the case as our flight from KL was delayed due to bad weather in Sepang. The flight finally took off after 7 pm, almost an hour later than scheduled. Reached KLIA at 8, collected luggage and took a cab home. Fortunately or unfortunately, we got a driver who drove very fast, he was definitely a certifiable lunatic ex-KL mini busdriver on parole, but hey he got us home safely before 9.30 pm without crashing into any oncoming vehicles.

Hope you had a good end-of-year break too!