Langkawi, and other stuff

Been quite some time since the last post, had been very very busy for the last few weeks. Much had happened since; Langkawi, mad work, bad relationship, party.

I was at Langkawi few weeks back with my family, and when I say family, it includes my 3 aunts, 2 uncles, my grandfather and a hoard of cousins, all together 17 people. We stayed at the apartment serviced by Leisure Holidays Berhad at the north-east side of the island, rather secluded and hidden unless you know how to get there. The place wasn't that big, a modest 2 room unit with all the comforts of home. We booked 2 units and somehow managed to squeeze all 17 people inside comfortably, probably broken a record somewhere. Another record breaking feat performed when we're there is the ability for us to squeeze ALL 17 of us into ONE Toyota Hi-Ace van, luckily there are a few children and most of the adults are rather on the wiry side, except for me of course, but I'm sitting in front so there's no squeezing at all.

Most of the tourist spots in Langkawi are rather far apart, and the roads wasn't exactly perfect and the road signs are like every other road sign in Malaysia; confusing. So going anywhere in Langkawi is rather problematic, and with 17 people tagging along everywhere is downright disaster. It takes a full 5 minutes just to climb into the car and position themselves comfortably, and another 5 to climb out. The van itself also wasn't in her best condition, the van had probably been driven a thousand times and the engine is just around the corner from the scrapyard.

The last time I'm in Langkawi was with friends more than a year back, spent more time at the beach and in the sea than anywhere else. We barely went to any of the tourist spots at all, just the Underwater World and a few other free entrance places and then left soon. But this time, I'm with the family with old people and kids, beach bumming and bar hopping wasn't exactly what they have in mind. The very first place we visited was the old Mahsuri Tomb, that doesn't very old now. They, whoever they are, had build the place up to look more like any other generic tourist spot than a historical location, complete with a air-conditioned museum and gift shops. It's probably a good idea to beautify the place a little to make it more tourist friendly, but I personally think a historical site should remain a historical site image and not look like a bloody shopping mall, albeit one with an ancient tomb in it. The next spot we visit is supposed to be Pantai Pasir Hitam, or Black Sand Beach. But we got lost and ended up at Tanjung Rhu beach instead, so we got off the van and walked around abit, looking around and let the kids play around awhile before we're forced to climb back into the van because the weather doesn't look very friendly. That night, we went down to the jetty and walked around near the huge eagle statue that is now the symbol of the island.

The next morning we went to Telaga Tujuh, or the Seven Wells waterfall, basically its just like any other waterfall anywhere else, unless you're willing to climb up the god-knows-how-far I-think-it-looked-too-step-for-comfort stairs to see the actual seven wells. Apparently, the top of the waterfall is actually a lake that looked like seven interlinked wells, or at least thats what the tourist brochures said, never really bothered to go look for myself. The next place we went was probably the highlight of the trip, for some of us that is; the Underwater World. Most of the adults, well actually all the adults are reluctant to go inside, in the end, there's only me, my sister, my aunt and the children that goes in. In the beginning, I was also reluctant to go because the entrance fee is RM28, and since I've already been in there before, I decided to give this place a skip. But after looking at the tourist brochures and the pictures of the interior displayed at the entrance, and noticing that the place had been renovated and is alot bigger than last time, I decided to join the children and go in. The new wing now housed a semi-outdoor area with swans and flamingos and a huge anaconda, slightly further in is the brand spanking new arctic section with penguins and seals, of which we spend the most time gawking at the penguins dive bombing into the water. A new addition to the place is the 3D theater show that wasn't really that interesting at all, although the seats was very welcoming after walking around the place.

The last place we visited was Galeri Perdana, or Perdana Gallery, displaying the various gifts and items owned by our previous prime minister; Tun Dr. Mahathir. It displays everything from the gifts from various foreign visits and visitors from foreign countries to the the potraits presented to him by famous artists around the world to even his and his wife's doctorate certificates he got years ago. That's all the places we visited, and of course no trip to Langkawi would be complete without a visit to our favorite duty free shopping place; Teow Soon Huat. Bought loads of chocolates and liquors, which I probably cost more than anything else we spend at the trip. My only encounter with the sea was dipping my feet in the sea water for a few short seconds when we walked to the beach of the resort next door to our apartment.

That's pretty much all I did in Langkawi, which is rather boring to be frank. Probably at my age, anything you do with your family won't be much interesting compared to what we did when we're with friends.

The very next morning after we got back to KL, I've to work at the promotion, this time at the Homedec '05 exhibition in Mid Valley for 3 days straight, followed by the same roadshow at different locations at the weekend and another 3 days straight at the CD shop in Mid Valley; 8 days straight working non stop from day to night. Today is actually the only day I'm free and is able to actually rest since I got back from Langkawi, I just got back last week and I felt like I need another vacation soon.

Had a slight fallout with my dad last week, wasn't really serious, I'm not even sure what the hell happened. But then again, the old man is known for his bad temper, I think I'll just be a good boy and just stay low for a few days for things to cool and pretend nothing happened. It worked before, will probably work again this time. My relationship with my dad was never really a perfect father-son relationship, I never really understand what he wants and he is just, well, being him.

Today was Nelsen's birthday party, not his actual birthday, which is a few days away, and it wasn't really a party at all, but just sort of a get together with a few friends and had dinner. Had a good laugh with them when we reminiscense the last time we're at Langkawi and of course college times. It was a pretty nice break from the pressures I've to face for the last several days, a time where we can just hang out and chill and talk cock and forget about work, even if its just a few short hours.

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Before this, I was: Just got back from Nelsen's party

Currently listening to: Pete Teo - Arms of Marianne

Currently feeling: Bored, emo, sleepy