sudah tutup (already closed)

i did my research before heading out to Langkawi for the weekend- wanting to check out new eateries as Alee is quite adventurous with food. came across a 'not-to-be-missed' Thai restaurant 'Barn Thai' on the island, which is supposed to be right in the middle of a mangrove swamp. The reviews were really good on yahoo travel, tripadvisor etc.

So should check out right? Being the suaku traveller- OF COURSE mah!

So since the place was quite ulu, i downloaded the map from google maps, which had the point to point directions from our hotel to the restaurant. Alee and i set off at about 5pm, completely starved, and drove for a good 20 minutes towards the north-east side of the island (we were in the south-west).

When we got to that point which google map said the restaurant should be, we found nothing but the Langkawi Eco Park. When i asked a makcik if she knew where this restaurant was, she laughed out loud saying, ' Tempat tu dah tutup!'. By this time, i was starved and totally emotional- F*** lah...closed liao!

What to do? 

Drive another 15 min to Kuah Town to a seafood rest i visited before. Luckily the food was still good. Saved the day!

Bamboo Beach Restaurant
Turn left right after the Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall (from Kuah Town towards the Jetty Point),
Up the hill, and then lookout for signboards!

GOOD LUCK!

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spread your wings and FLYYYY!

if you flap hard enough, you may just take off!

Berjaya ...untuk menawan hati saya (Victorious in winning over my heart!)

The eveel peeps recommended the Berjaya Resort and Spa to me when Alee and I were planning our holiday. And so, we said- Why not? It helped that there was an offer for 30% off or something like that for reservations made 2 months in advance!

Alee booked us in a premier suite, with a gorgeous sea view. With very comfy deck chairs on the verandah, it was a perfect place for us to chill with our books and take daytime naps while it rained, and the birds serenaded us to sleep. The eveel peeps warned us about the monkeys in the area, and so did the concierge- reminding us to always always keep the sliding doors and windows closed when we leave the room- just in case the monkeys decide to throw a party in our suite! But thankfully, none of the monkeys in the area decided to visit, although i could hear them from afar.

the view from our hotel room.

In fact, the morning before we left, we heard a frightfully scary sound, which made me run right back into the room and lock the sliding door tight. The concierge told me later that it was the sounds of a hornbill- pity we didn't get a chance to take a look since it was still dark. Sure would be pretty!

I'd love to come back to Berjaya Resort- it was such a treat with the sea before you, and the lush mountains behind the resort providing cool shelter. The beach is private and secluded and is really next to a Bay, so the waters are calm and perfect for all sorts of sea sports- if it was nice and hot i may have ventured out to sea- but with the light rains in the mornings and evenings, we were contented to stay in our hotel room, enjoying the view and enjoying our books!

But be warned- it's damn ULU. So make sure you rent a car, cos you'd regret it if you didn't. Unless of course you're quite contented to eat hotel food all day long- which at Berjaya is pretty reasonable in prices. Rent a car lah- its cheap and  Langkawi's really easy to navigate!

  gorgeous views from the hotel's beachfront!

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Telaga Harbour Park- Langkawi

We chanced upon this harbour park last year, in our hunger, on the way back from the Langkawi cable car station. Looking for food, we found that the harbour park was a nice quaint little area- a kampung version of Cannes? lol.

check out the Fleur de Singapour!!

Anyway, the website tells of the vision of the harbour park:

"Welcome to Telaga Harbour - a gateway and destination for the many yachts plying the region. This safe and sheltered harbour that has evolved from a small fishing village, feature a self-contained township accessible both by road and sea. The facilities and services available also make it an ideal destination for transient, and home base to yachts of various sizes including mega yachts. The on water activity and yachts berthed at the harbour will provide picturesque background to the harbour, creating a lifestyle and attracting tourism. Telaga Harbour Park is the one and only such harbour town within the region."

 all empty shops!

Ya ya, very nice- but like a lot of beautifully penned visions- this vision didn't quite translate from paper to reality very well. The place is really pretty, that i must admit. But it's so sleepy, with very few shops opened and the place looking very run down since my last visit last year.

In fact, a condo building we saw last year under construction, is STILL under construction and seriously, it didn't look like there had been any progress at all since last March.

the Danna- Opening Soon (Yaah! Said the same thing in March last year!)

Alee said- 'Raining lah, how to work?'
Seriously?

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Mare Blu- the Italian Restaurant

On our way to our hotel in our beat up rented 1.5l Proton Wira, we stopped for lunch at Telaga Harbour Park. I recommended that we stop at Mare Blu, an Italian Restaurant, which i recalled (from my trip last year) was pretty decent.

I wasn't that hungry as i had wolfed down a curry puff just minutes before our plane took off from Changi International, so Alee and i decided to share a plate of clam pasta and a salad. Now, the pasta was gorgeous! I find pastas like this really tricky- either too dry, too tasteless, but this one hit the mark! It was yummilicious- with many many MANY plump juicy clams. I was slurping it up and certainly ate more than my entitled half portion.

The salad was another story completely- i was really disappointed, cos last year i ordered this same salad and it was beautiful with freshly shaved parmesan cheese. This time, it was obviously the bottled parmesan you find at Pizza Hut, etc. And dunno where they pulled out the salad leaves from lah...it was like eating a bush (almost came with its roots and all!).

Anyway, pasta was good, and salad was ok after you got used to the chomping on a bush feeling- certainly got my appetite going so we ordered a seafood pizza to top it all off. OH MY! YUMz...the mussels were plump and juicy, and the prawn was sweet. Alee didn't like the crab stick bits, but i did, as it soaked up all the tomato sauce and just dissolved in my mouth.

Yum! All for a decent 90 ringgit= SGD38.

Mare Blu

Italian Ristorante

Perdana Quay, Telaga Harbour Park

Langkawi Kedah 07000
Malaysia
Tel: (04) 9593830

AWOL

i've been away. a quick weekend getaway with the girlfriend in Langkawi. i had for almost 4 days, no internet connection although i had lugged my laptop all the way there. wasted.

anyways, i'll be blogging about my trip..so watch out for some of the next few posts.

but i'll leave you now, with a pic snapped on the tarmac, just before we climbed the stairs into the Air Asia flight bringing us home to Singapore. so sad right? the ah bengs and ah lians would have surely been a fun bunch to party with.

come to think of it, i wonder by ah bengs and ah lians, the malaysians were referring to Nestle Singapore?