28th May 2006 1410 hrs - The trip to Langkawi Island is becoming a sort of an annual hide-away cum holiday or is it the other way around for my family. This one is probably the 5th time I've been to the island. Why? The in-laws are in Kuala Kedah. About 10 minutes drive to the jetty. Transport to and from the jetty is not a problem. One less thing to worry about.
I am in the ferry when writing this log. The ferry keeps on rocking back & forth or rather side to side. On the last trip I throw up after disembarking at Langkawi Island. Yeah, luckily into the ocean.
The ferry is at 1.30 pm. and there is a commotion at the beginning. Nothing big, just some passengers get into the wrong ferry. I guess they were late. Luckily the afternoon ferry is not full unlike the late evenings. Those ferries are packed.
Inside the ferry is stuffy & I cannot feel the air-conditioning. Lots of kids & they are noisy (kids will be kids). Most of the adults are sleeping or reading the newspaper and minding their own business.
Almost 45 minutes into the ride on the ferry. I'm feeling a bit light-headed & dizzy. Hope that I'm not going to throw-up. Took Haziq from the Mrs. He's sleeping on my lap. Have a row of seats for ourselves until the kids sitting next to me came back from the rear of the ferry (is it the bow or the stern?). The Mrs, Harith and Dhamirah enjoying the ride; sleeping.
1530 hrs – Arrives at the Langkawi jetty after a long boat-ride. I’m not sure why ride is taking too much time. May be the ferry is damn slow. May be the weather. May be.
I was surprised when arriving at the jetty. The arrival hall is totally changed. It just had a make-over. Talk to the car rental people. They said the make-over is done early this year. Have a high-class look. More like an airport but on the outside it is still the same though.
First thing first. Get some wheels. Yeah, made some arrangement to rent a Proton Wira at the Kuala Kedah jetty (had to pay RM20 as deposit) for RM80 (24hrs) once in Langkawi. But it came no surprise to me the renter unable to get me a Wira at Langkawi. There is supposedly to be one Wira at Kondo Istana, but when we get there, someone else had hired it. It’s business. Once you had somebody to rent from you can do anything (remember the deposit!!!).
Then, they promised me a Kia Sephia. But have to wait for another 30 mins. Knowing visitors visiting the island, I know it’s the minimum time that I can get the car. It could be longer. The mrs do not wants to wait for the Sephia and we hired a Nissan Sentra for RM110. I know we are getting screwed.
The car is in drivable condition. But the tuning is way off. The automatic gear change is jerky. The engine indicator when you turned the key to ON is ON. (I think it should be off. If not, something wrong with the engine). Unlike last one we hired when we visited Langkawi. We get a brand new Sentra for RM80. Then again it is on the off-season. Now it is the school holidays and SUKMA (I’ll put something on the badminton finals later) is on-going in Kedah. Langkawi is venue for sailing.
Most of the cars in Langkawi are Nissans & Protons. I can see them everywhere. Cars are cheap in Langkawi. No taxes. Unlike in the mainland, to see a Honda in Langkawi is a rare sight. Even a Beemer & Merc. But I do see those new Mitsubishi Colt. A few of them infact.
1640 hrs – Next thing is the hotel registration. So I drove to Holiday Villa in Pantai Tengah after filling up on petrol. I took the long route (I think so) to Holiday Villa. I should’ve taken the route at the Restoran Kampung Nelayan junction. Took my time driving. Still trying to familiarize with the road. On thing for sure, you just cannot get lost in Langkawi. And car theft is not many (I think). How the hell are you going to take the car out of the island? May be in bits and pieces.
1730 hrs – Checked in at Holiday Villa. After resting for ½ hour we went out for our lunch+dinner.
1830 hrs – We went to eat at Mc Donald’s at the shopping complex near LADA. Do a bit of shopping and went back to the hotel for some R&R.
