Monday October 6, 2008

Ahh, Langkawi ( pronounced: Lang-cow-wee )! First let me give you some information about the island itself. Langkawi is a cluster of 99 islands separated from mainland northern Malaysia by the Straits of Malacca. Pulau Langkawi is the main island where we stayed and is only about 15 miles long with a population of around 60, 000 with the locals being mostly Malays. Only 4 of the islands are inhabited with their source of revenue being padi, rubber, fisheries and mainly tourism. So many people travel here from Kuala Lumpur because it is one of the most affordable and closest beach destinations in Malaysia. It's only an hour's plane ride away plus the entire island is duty free which makes for cheap shopping, drinking, eating, & cigarettes. Of course we took advantage of this perk. Even though it's a tourist hot spot and only a ferry ride away from either Thailand or Penang Malaysia, Langkawi is still considered a rural area with 2/3 of the island dominated by rainforest mountains, hills and vegetation. Most of the structures are located next to or nearby one of the many beaches ( or pantai ), with Pantai Cenang being the most popular. We stayed in Pantai Tengah, which wasn't very far from Cenang at the Holiday Villa Resort which has it's own private beach. Most people come for the beaches and of course duty free shopping but a lot also come to go hiking and scuba diving. Everyone knows how I feel about nature so this of course was not on our list of things to do. I was already afraid because of all the stories of jellyfish infestation but fortunately I did not see any. There's also a huge population of eagles, it is not out of the ordinary to have an eagle fly over your head and if you'd like you can take a tour out on a boat and feed them. There's also another island called The Isle of the Pregnant Maiden whose mountain tops look like a pregnant woman lying on her back from a distance. There are several legends and myths of ogres, gigantic birds, warriors, princesses, battles and romance about Langkawi, one of them being about the pregnant maiden. The lake on the island is supposed to have been the favorite bathing place of Princess Putri Dayang Sari, one day a prince Putera Teja saw her and fell in love but he could not win her over. So he asked a wise man what he could do and was told to wash his face with the tears of a mermaid and soon after they were married and she became pregnant. The baby died and that's when the princess found out her marriage was through trickery so she buried her baby in the lake and blessed the water with fertility powers so supposedly if you swim there, you can become pregnant ( I'm assuming men are excluded ). So naturally this is popular place with tourists wanting to have babies.



Our first day we hung out at the beach and eventually made our way to the pool which has a swim-up bar ( Jim's favorite ) and we met 2 girls. Both were traveling alone and had met at the hotel. Becky was from London and on her way home after living for a year in Australia, and Samantha was from New Zealand and was seeing the world. Since both of them had been there for a couple of days we asked about where we could go and so began our friendship. That night we had dinner at the Boat restaurant where we met the owners Tang and Lim who were both funny and good cooks. Tang explained to us the squatting toilets in detail that had us crying with laughter. Next to the Boat was a place called the Reggae House which Becks and Samantha said had a live band so of course we're going to go there! Walking up to it was creepy, it was a long driveway of mud ( it had rained ) and it was dark with forest on either side and then you saw a shack with lights. It was an open-aired bar with Bob Marley posters everywhere and everyone was friendly. I had to use the bathroom so I walked around back and had to turn around because one look at the "facilities" and I decided that I needed an escort. I got Jim, imagine an outhouse with a toilet and running water on a concrete slab but dark and surrounded by jungle. I had to "hover" and "air dry" while Jim held the door closed and kept watch for any snakes or monkeys. The band did not start until after midnight and they were good, not great. It became really interesting when Samantha left and Becks was approached by a local who just sat down at our table, drunk, and started talking to her. He kept falling asleep and waking up talking, it was so funny! He gave Becks a bracelet and we warned her that she should ask if she should pay him for it because nothing is free. He told her it was a gift, and if she returned tomorrow he might have a necklace for her. Next thing you know, the music stopped, the lights were turned on and the bar became quiet. No one said anything and were just looking around wondering what was going on. Becky's admirer got up, grabbed his unopened beer Jim and just bought for him and said goodbye. After about 5 minutes everyone was whispering that the police were in the bar and were checking the bar's documents and everyone's I.D.'s, then after about 15 minutes they rang the bell and said "Last Call!" Our bartender came over and told us that the police were shutting them down because they were open past 1 a.m., but to wait a while and maybe after they left they would stay open, so we ordered 2 rounds and made ourselves comfortable. I mentioned in my last post that the 27th day of Ramadhan was considered especially holy and technically it was the 27th day since it was past midnight so the police were going around and shutting down all the bars that were still open. The police left and the bartender said we could stay but the band was packing up and it was already late for us so we finished our drinks and walked back down the muddy driveway in the dark back to our hotel across the street. Already we were excited to see what else Langkawi had to offer considering our first night theatrics.



The next day Jim and went exploring the shops that lined the main road. I don't know if I could say shops because most were shacks offering everything from batik prints to scooter rentals and island tours. We were looking for a place to have lunch. Most of the eateries were open-aired and offered a variety of food from Malay, to Chinese and American cuisine. We chose the Sunday bistro which looked brand new, chic and most important, clean. The place on the inside looked like an art gallery with various statues and rattan decor. I told Jim I could buy things for our house only to discover that they did have a store in the back, of course it was pricey. After lunch we found the duty-free store and it was like Christmas for Jim. Normally we would pay RM130 ( $40 U.S. ) for a bottle of Capn Morgan in Kuala Lumpur, here it was only RM30 ( $9.50 U.S. )!! We got a couple of bottles to take home and some to drink during our stay. We spent the rest of the day lounging at the pool bar because the weather had turned and it was cloudy and rainy. That night we met up with Samantha and Becks and had dinner again at the Boat then walked down the street to a place called the Sunbah. Jim and I had discovered it that afternoon but it was not open during the day. It's in a stripmall that one person owns and in addition to the bar there are 2 other restaurants, one I know is called SunKumatra and the other Sun-something I can't remember. The great thing about Langkawi is that it's a party every night. If a place has a band on Friday and Saturday, they have a band Sunday thru Thursday too. Sunbah has a tiki hut feel to it with concrete floors and wooden tables and chairs and a mock thatch roof. They also had a live band and the atmosphere quickly became lively once they started playing. It also became our favorite place to hang out in for the rest of our trip since somehow no matter where me and Jim go, we end up being known by everyone and become "celebrities". Becky again was extremely popular with the men and soon had admirers coming up to her wanting to buy her drinks and dance. We ended up telling everyone Jim was her brother since he is such a big guy, the admirers seemed hesitant to approach her. We met a guy named Sam who was British but had lived in Santa Barbara for a while and we eventually figured out that Sam was "that guy". You know what I mean, "that guy" who everyone knows, who has connections, who has information about anything, who can get you WHATEVER you want?. He invited us to his party on Monday and he and Jim clicked immediately. We ended up going back with him that night to his house for an "after party" and his house was definitely prepared for a party anytime. He had bottles on top of bottles of liquor, cases of water, juice, red bull, beer, you name it, he had it, except diet coke. Becky came with us, Samantha had left Sunbah a while ago because she was leaving Langkawi the next day and was on her way to Hong Kong. Here's where I'll have to be vague because I'm not sure who will be reading but short version: Sam drove, we almost hit some pedestrians, had a few drinks, I'm sure there were some unmentionables floating around, decided it was getting late, Sam drove us back, plopped into bed sometime after 6 a.m. Whew!! End of 2nd day...it's only been 2 days!!



The next couple of days we basically did the same thing: sleep, go to the beach, eat, and then go to the Sunbah at night. The next story I'll have to change the names, again because I don't know who's reading. Unexpectedly, we had a friend fly in from KL, we'll call her Lori. We met Lori at the airport because Langkawi only has one ATM in town and it was broken so we had to go all the way back to the airport to get cash. Lori had another friend, we'll call her Tish, picking her up from the airport so she agreed to pick us all up. As soon as we met her, I knew she was a lil wacky and "out there". We're driving back to our hotel and all of a sudden she slams on her brakes and pulls over. Now, we're out in the country on a dark road and I have no idea what's going on. Tish, jumps out of the car and disappears. I look at Jim like "what the hell?". She returns and she's holding 2 kittens. Somehow she saw them in the middle of the road and decided to rescue them. So instead of going back to our hotel as planned, we had to go to Tish's house to drop off the kittens. Tish does not have a house, she has a compound, there's all this land with 3 or 4 houses built that she owns. There are other people there, all preparing the dinner for the big Hari Raya celebration. Her house again is like a tiki hut but bigger, the living room is actually a covered porch with a pool table, couches, chairs, tv, and refridgerator. Everyone welcomes us with open arms and then it dawns on me that they are Muslim, but I'm confused because they are all drinking and Tish has like 3 dogs which I thought were a no-no. Lori doesn't say much about how she knows Tish, just that she is a friend from KL but somewhere during our stay I hear something about Tish being the wife of a Malaysian politician. WHAT!! It was never confirmed so I'm not sure if it was true. She did apparently have some influence because we spent a couple of days partying with her and once when she went on the dance floor at the Sunbah, all the men cleared the dance floor for her. We also spent Hari Raya with her and ate some of the best food I've ever had along with some Moet champagne.



So the rest of our vacation we spent enjoying all of our new friends. We never did make it to Sam's party. We heard through the grapevine that he is a hustler of sorts and if he asked Jim for investment money to just say no. We ended up staying 2 extra days because we weren't ready to leave, it was just that fun! Jim has plans to spend Christmas in Langkawi and that's fine by me even though it will be peak season, I'm sure we made impressions there and everyone will instantly recognize us once we return. In the meantime, we're back to our daily routines, I think our bodies have detoxed all the Capn Morgan we drank, and now we're looking forward to our trip home in November. So much for "what happens in Langkawi, stays in Langkawi!".