Chapter 105 - Birthday + Langkawi + Mardi Agricultural Technology Park + Eco Tours Dev's Adventure Mangrove Ride

Holla!

Birthday celebration. And it means no work on that day, hooray!

Langkawi, a place where many of us have been there and it is the place where we opt for until today. There are so many hidden gems in Langkawi and there are so many things to explore. Personally, I have discovered the ins and outs of Langkawi, visited most of the tourist attractions and even, spent a day before on snorkeling, under the hot sun.

This time around, our main objective was to explore the nature side of the Langkawi. Upon reaching Langkawi, we booked a car and went all the way to MARDI Agricultural Technology Park. 

1. MARDI Agricultural Technology Park

Developed in 1990,  this park is designed as an eco-tourism spot for visitors in Langkawi. In fact, I was pretty surprised that there were so many people who visited this place, not only locals but tourists alike. Upon getting our admission ticket, we waited for a "truck" to bring us around. 

The farm covers an area of 14.2ha with more than 20 fruit types but unfortunately, for this around, there were only selected fruits which we can sample.

Aiks! And there were no durian nor mangoes.

The truck took us to a so-called canteen and allowed us to sample the fresh taste of the tropical fruits while feasting our eyes with the greenery view. The fruit spread was served in a buffet style.

Admission fee is RM 7.00 for Malaysian with MyKad.

Fruits that we had on that day: watermelon, honey dew, rambutan and pineapple. 

Indeed, fresh and sweet.

Taking my own sweet time while eating the fruits there.

Once my tummy was filled with so much of vitamins, we continued our journey - it was rather unfortunate that they did not allow us to walk on our own but we were asked to hop in the truck and they brought us around.

 Mimosa Pudica..

I was together with a group of foreigners and it came to my surprise that the foreigners did not know about Mimosa Pudica. They were amazed on how these plants reacted once they touched them. I wish I could record down their reaction as it was quite funny actually. Haha!

For the benefits of tourists, our tour guide introduced them to pineapples as well as bananas. 

Coming towards the end of the trip, I toured the sheltered vegetable production farm. This include rain shelter structure for fruit vegetable production, hydroponics and others. I couldn't really find out more because there was no tour guide with us at that time hence, we were playing and roaming around in that area. Haha! 

2. Flora and Fauna of Langkawi (Geopark Mangrove Trip)

I must give credit to Dev's Adventure Tours where it offers trips that allow us to go close to the beautiful flora and fauna. Thanks to Potato's recommendation, we truly enjoyed our experience there. Although their price is slightly higher as compared to other tour operator, it is certainly worth it especially if you are looking for a quality yet an educational tour.

Langkawi is indeed the place for one to seeks tranquility away from the hustle and bustle of the city. As we were there for 3 days only, we took up a package of Geopark Mangrove Boat Trip with Dev's Adventure and we did not want to tire ourselves with kayaking later.

This package took about 4 - 5 hours. An experienced tour guide was with us to explain every single thing that we came across and brought us to see limestone outcrops and caves. During our ride, we saw snakes, eagles (but we don't feed them), special birds, dogs along the coast of Langkawi's various islands. Unfortunately, we were not able to watch monkeys, otters and monitor lizards during our ride.

Our starting point! 

The package includes of transfer from and back to hotel, mineral water, set lunch on a floating restaurant, insurance, experienced guide, well-equipped  boat with canopy, visit bat cave, visit eagle area, visit fossil location and swimming stop.

Price is RM 160 per person.

 The trip is focused on nature and wildlife in the mangroves.

 Can you spot a snake?

 Eagle feeding area (but we don't feed them).

According to the tour guide, the eagles in Langkawi are pretty much pampered by us which causes them to be lazy to hunt for their own food. I spotted a few resting on the tree. Due to that, the ecosystem in Langkawi becomes imbalance because the number of animals like snake has increased tremendously over the years. Therefore, only one tour operator is allowed to feed the eagle to ensure a balance of the ecosystem in Langkawi.

 Bat cave

Can you see the bats?

Clearer view here. 

In evening, bats go out and hunt for their food hence, at the time of our visiting, they were resting. By the way, our tour guide did mention that bats are really good with "traffic" system - they have a one way in to the cave and another way out from the cave (SO, accident don't happen).

 More bats!

 Can you spot the wild dogs?

 I'm in love with Langkawi's nature :)

I highly recommend Dev's Adventure. I'm sure the next time I return to Langkawi, I will take another package of this tour operator again, probably nature cycling trip.

If you don't fancy Geopark Mangrove Boat Trip, you can opt for other packages offered by Dev's such as nature cycling trip, Geopark Mangrove Kayak Trip, bird watching, morning / evening walk or jungle trek. 

Click Dev's Adventure if you want to find out more about them.

And that sums up my short getaway in Langkawi. Ended my holidays with packed, simple food accompanied by bottles of beers and wine while watching the badminton finals of Olympics - hoping that we could get a day off after that. Haha!

But that did not happen after all.

And here I am, in my mid-twenties! Another 4 more crazy years to go before hitting 30s! Thanks to my family and friends who wished my birthday, be it from Facebook, Whatsapp, call or message and gave your time to celebrate with me. My birthday celebration had became a memorable one, thanks to all of you! It meant a lot to me.

Kamsahamida...Arigatogozaimas..

A bowl of soothing and nutritious mee suah during my birthday! Look at the amount of mushrooms and meat slices that I got - truthfully, that's a real present for a birthday girl. Thanks Mummy!

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 91 - 72 hours in Koh Lipe, Thailand

Glad that I had my first ever trip this year recently to Koh Lipe, Thailand. It was not in my plan to visit this island but well, peer pressure won this time. I was joined by another 7 of my friends including my bestie in this trip. 

It is really up to the individual on where they can board the ferry, be it from Langkawi or from Thailand. There is no direct flight to Koh Lipe, considering that it is a small island. Knowing nothing about this place, I leave it to my friends to take lead. We left Kuala Lumpur on Thursday evening and touched down in Langkawi at about 9++pm. Pretty much, Langkawi was just a transit for us to sleep in. When the sun rose, we checked out and headed to Telaga Harbour.

It was very early in the morning that we had to force ourselves to wake up. This is me, bringing my luggage to catch a taxi to drive us to the jetty. My breakfast at that time was just 2 slices of Gardenia bread while bestie had a bottle of Somersby ..Imao

A must wefie shot before we departed to Koh Lipe. Everyone was really excited to feast our eyes with clear blue water.

Pretty much, it took us a few hours from checking in all the way to waiting for the local immigration to open and board on the ferry. We literally wasted half a day to be transited to Koh Lipe. After touching down in Koh Lipe, we were greeted by the unfriendly immigration staff. We were waiting in a clueless state, hoping to collect our passports soon.

By the time we collected our passports, it was already past noon. Dragged ourselves to the hotel and rested a while before we headed for our late lunch. After lunch, we roamed around Koh Lipe and signed up for a snorkeling package the next day. 

The rest, I shall leave it to the photos to tell the story.. 

Upon arrival to Koh Lipe. We boarded a big ferry from Langkawi however, the big ferry couldn't stop us at the island itself. Hence, we were picked up by the famously Thai longboat to chauffeur us to the island itself. After that, we dipped our legs in the cool water and walked to the beach.

While waiting to get my passport, my eyes were also feasting to this beautiful scenic view. A calm and peaceful view despite that it was really really hot on that day.

A must-to-have drink in Koh Lipe. Thanks to the scorching sun, I was fortunate to at least have a coconut drink when I was in Koh Lipe. I still managed to source for a coconut on the first day in Koh Lipe. But after that, I couldn't find any from one restaurant to another. Apparently, it was sold out! So, bestie and I had no choice but to grab coconut drinks in bottle, sold at 7-11 to quench our thirst.

Wefie with bestie upon arrival. Barely able to open my eyes widely

Strolling along the beach while heading to Budhaya for a massage, I spotted some love stones. Pretty interesting and cool hence, I squatted to take a few shots of it. Here is my selfie post with the love stones.

Mandatory shot for a tourist to take photo with Thai longboat

Breakfast in Thailand was really simple. Not sure whether it applies in my hotel, San Pita or this is just the way their life is. It was my second day in Koh Lipe and I ensured that I had enough since we had snorkeling on that day where we were supposed to visit 10 islands.

A mandatory group shot when we visited the first island. All with sunnies, indicating how hot the weather is. In fact, before I left to Koh Lipe, I read NST and saw the news that the temparature in Thailand exceeded 40 degree celcius.

One of the shots that was taken during our island hopping and snorkeling session.

This is a very unique rock! The rock stands strongly albeit the roaring waves and strong wind - bear in mind, the upper rock is not glued to the bottom hence, can you imagine how does the upper rock balance itself?

 

Besides snorkeling, I had a very good massage session there. I literally used up my leisure time to get myself pampered and at the same time, suffered! Each day, I visited the Bundhaya Resort for massage such as foot massage, Thai massage, coconut oil massage and etc. It was not cheap compared to the massage session I had in Krabi and Phuket the last time. All massage rate is the same which is 300 baht and no bargain is allowed. Not sure whether is it because of a peak season.

Another shot with bestie on the final day in Koh Lipe before we bid farewell. In fact, this was actually after our Aloe Vera + Coconut Oil massage.

View from Bundhaya

Weather was freaking hot and it decided to leave a mark on me. It was just a day of snorkeling and look at what I got. Sunburn! The photo does not really show how bad my "burn" is but those who have seen me face-to-face would realize how tan I have been.

So, that pretty much sums up my Koh Lipe trip! Oh ya, not forgetting about the food - well, I still find that Malaysia food, be it Malaysia Thai food is still the best! The taste is more flavorful as compared to the food in Koh Lipe. 

When comes to night time, there is no particular night life here in comparison with Phuket. So, what you can do at night is simply have a bonding and chatting session with your friends at the beach while accompanied by the sound of waves. 

The next island that I would like to visit will be Khao Lak! :) Let's see when....

Regards,

Foodiestravel

Chapter 39 - A Short Getaway to Langkawi Island

                                     

Photo credit to Chua Soon Hong

Langkawi Island is one of the perfect gems for one to relax, snorkel and at the same time, indulging your soul with lots of chocolates as well as soothing yourself with a bottle of beer. Despite the fact that I was bothered with work during my trip, I indeed enjoyed myself there. It was a real, good time for me to reflect about my life too.

                                    

Photo credit to Teo Kean Leong

On the second day of my Langkawi trip, I went snorkelling with a group of my friends at Pulau Payar. We were given the opportunity to snorkel for at least 3 hours there, watching and experiencing the beautiful sea creatures and coral reefs. I felt so serene and calm actually. However, the weather was really hot that I excused myself from snorkelling and sat by the beach while watching locals and tourists alike spending their leisure time there.

At that split second, my mind wondered around – indeed, life can be very simple and fun but humans have chosen to make life complicated. We tend to value money more than anything else and choose to neglect our feelings as well as dreams in life. Instead of chasing our dreams, we help others to achieve their goals. Sometimes, you wonder whether is it worth to do all these?

                                       

Photo credit to my Iphone 4S

Back to my Langkawi trip, here is a quick summary:

• ·         I spent about RM 1, 000 in Langkawi

Believe it or not, all of us overspent actually. I didn’t foresee myself to overspend though and now, I just have to put my travel plan aside since my budget had exploded for my Langkawi trip. Lesson learnt here is to plan your budget ahead!

• ·         Chocolates and liquor are SO, SO cheap there

I bought about RM 300.00 worth of chocolates and I was quite amazed with my shopping pattern. I couldn’t believe that I bought so much – perhaps, I thought of creating my own Thanksgiving Day and giving out chocolates to the ones that I treasure.

• ·         Snorkelling at Pulau Payar

Starting from 1 May 2014, the price has doubled up. To snorkel at Pulau Payar, one needs to pay RM 180.00. If you were to go in group, you will have the bargaining power to ask for lower fare. I personally feel that it is not necessary to snorkel at Pulau Payar because you don’t really get to see many fishes there. Since I have been to Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian, my vote for snorkelling goes to Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian – at least, it was worth paying that reasonable amount of money while feasting your eyes with wonderful creatures.

• ·         Perdana Quay

Not sure if you are familiar with this place but it is located quite near to Langkawi Sky Cab. At night, the place was very peaceful with few shops operating at that hour. While having your dinner plus chatting session with your friends, you get to enjoy the night scenery with a row of yachts there.

• ·         Say NO to midnight flight

It was a torture actually to travel back in the midnight. Our flight was supposed to depart at 10.40pm from Langkawi however, we experienced flight delay. Hence, we left Langkawi about 11.00pm and reached LCCT at about 12am. In addition, we had to fork out extra money in order to get a van to chauffeur all of us back to our place and we finally reached home at 2am. Our eyes were 80% shut off and we longed for our beds.

Additionally, I feel that the number 1 question that people will always ask when travel to Langkawi is how many bottles of liquor can one bring home? After speaking to the flight attendant as well as people at the airport, one can bring a bottle of liquor (1 litre) only. No liquor shall be put in your check-in baggage and you must hand-carry them.

All in all, a short getaway to Langkawi helps to rejuvenate my soul and body; till then, I look forward to more trips in near future. Thanks guys for the memorable trip!

Photo credit to Chua Soon Hong

Signing off,

Foodiestravel