As usual PS loves to cut it close. He arrived just in time for the 8.45pm train. The queue was long but brief. We got on and I showed him the ropes since it was his first time on a train in decades, i.e. where our bunks were (both top and mine was right across from him), where to smoke (between the coaches) and where to pick up girls, i.e. the cafeteria (though tonight's selection was dismal: no cute office chicks only makciks and pakciks).
Soon as we got settled, the train started off. We had a drink at the cafeteria where PS bought some grotesque looking nasi goreng then went back to our seats/beds. But not before discussing our approach to Langkawi. We had 2 days and no real plan- as usual. We spent some time looking at the brochures and maps we got the previous week. In between I told him about the vaginal reconstruction by Muslim girls in the Middle East, how difficult it is for people to get laid in the Middle East and thank god we live in Malaysia – Not that getting laid is that much easier. Sigh.
On the way back to our bunks, we passed by the First Class cabins. PS hatched a scheme to open a mobile brothel/ sex salon for couples: “Is your relationship off the rails? Let us put it back on track.” PS says: These cabins would be perfect for trysts. Though he didn’t exactly use that word. Amazingly, I could see it too. Equally amazing was that the train left Sentral on time. I tried to sleep but was too excited about our holiday. Whereas PS continued reading Confessions of an Old Boy.
We arrived at Butterworth Station almost on time at about 6:00 a.m. the next day Saturday.
I had texted KBW a few days earlier about meeting us at the Penang jetty. Apparently he had returned to his hometown Penang just a day earlier. We were supposed to meet KBW at 7:00a.m. Even though we had reached Butterworth on time we had to wait another hour before we could board the very old ferry to Penang. I was getting anxious. How the hell are we going to make the 8:15a.m. ferry to Langkawi at this rate?
The crowd started coming in and by 6:45a.m. we were on the ferry to Penang. As we got on: KBW texted me: Get on the ferry that says Pulau Langkawi. He could have told us earlier. I was too tired and could not be bothered. I just assumed that the universe will sort it out. I told PS that as soon as we get to Penang we must check the availability of tickets for Penang-Langkawi. Good thing we called KBW because he knew exactly where it was. Sort of.
After buying the tickets KBW bought us breakfast: The Best Roti Canai in Penang. While I was quietly stressing out about the cleanliness of the warung, PS and KBW talked about their careers and the economy. Why the Best of Anything is always served by a smelly drain in Malaysia?
It was almost 8:00a.m. and we needed to get a move on to the Langkawi Ferry. While sauntering leisurely across the road to where he had parked, KBW turned to me and said, Faster! Malaysia, the Land of Ironies. Or is that just Penang? We arrived just in time at the gate to be greeted by the ticket dude that totally looks like Alfonso Poon. PS confided in me: Does KBW look bigger? A few years ago, I could have taken him down. But now I am scared of him. He seems bigger. I said: Maybe that is what being a dad is all about. Or words to that effect as I plotted how to use this new and essentially useless piece of information offered by PS.
The ferry ride to Langkawi was horrible because we were the last people to board and therefore had the worst seats. The seas were not that rough but everybody seemed to want to throw up. One family (hereinafter “the Vomits”) actually did. I mean the whole family hurled except for the father who sneaked off upstairs where it is less choppy. It was a lousy experience as half-way through the ferry ride we were being tossed up and down many times until I could actually taste The Best Roti Canai in Penang coming back up from my stomach.
It was a long trip: almost 4 hours. The poor guy sitting next to the Vomits was reading a book until he could not ignore that awful sea-sickness. His choice of remedy was to alternately balance the book on his forehead and nose while leaning back. PS was fast asleep. At one point, I also dozed off and fell asleep on PS's shoulder. Which woke him up. Thank God I was leaning the right way or else I would have been eating Mrs Vomit’s ass. And she had a lot of ass.
We finally reached Langkawi and used old-school trick photography to take pictures of the Eagle at the Langkawi Park. One to make it look like it was sitting on my head and another of it perched on PS’s shoulder. Then we rented a car: an old Iswara. The best idea that PS had so far apart from the Railway Brothel. You really need a set of wheels to get around the island.
After having assured the owner that we’ll take care of his car he passed us the keys. Soon as he left, PS said: Let’s rev this baby! With those knightly words, PS drove us out to the most boring adventure anyone ever went on: trying to find a petrol kiosk. We found one after getting a bit lost and promptly filled her up. Afterwards, we decided to head for Pantai Cenang. We chilled there for a while.
By then we were really hungry, so naturally we went to the Duty Free Zone to buy more alcohol and cigarettes. We decided to look for the cable car place. Being expert map readers, we ended up very near it. In our hunger and exhaustion, we decided to go to the Telaga Tujuh waterfalls. Of course before going swimming, it is always important to have a heavy meal. And you should always line your stomach with some booze before lunch. Or maybe that should be the other way around.
That would explain the detour. Instead of turning left towards the waterfall, PS had this great idea of going to the highest peak in search of pristine waters. Luckily Oceanic Flight 815 did not have PS as their leader because we ended up in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately the lady at the gift shop said there were no tigers in the jungle only short buffalos. As we ascended higher and higher into the mountains, my shirt became completely wet. That was when we ran into Jack, Kate and Locke. Plus a lady whom I assume was another character to be revealed as the mastermind of the whole Lost in Langkawi episode. Jack told us that there was nothing up there. I was mildly disappointed but I figured, we could still go skinny dipping at the waterfall when we get down. PS was not very keen.
While we were crossing this particularly treacherous 2 feet-wide river of a depth of about half a foot, I suddenly lost contact with one of my slippers. It floated away down the rocky stream as I helplessly looked on while PS yelled at me to chase after it. Just as I thought it was a goner, it then swirled back around into a pool taunting me to reclaim it like the Prince from Cinderella. And like Cinderella reclaimed it I did.
Finally we reached the waist of the hill where there was an actual signboard that says: Waterfall This Way. Being Malaysians, we naturally ignored it first time around. As usual, the place was damn dirty. But I finally had the chance to show off my speedos. We swam a bit until people started jumping from boulders into the really shallow pools. Insane!
On our way down, we were greeted by hot chicks and again monkeys. PS had earlier taken some pictures of them (the monkeys) vowing to photoshop me into compromising positions with them. The primates are quite vicious but cute. I would really love to bring one back. Which PS finds disturbing and stares at me in disbelief followed by a simian-like laughter.
We then checked into the Bella Vista Hotel.
After a bit of TV, we went for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I was disappointed with the small portion of the beef tortillas initially until I realised that the beef had not arrived yet. We drove around aimlessly afterwards trying to find women to chat up. We had no clue where they were. So we ended up going to the Westin Resort and Spa, which overlooked the sea. It would have been a nice view if it weren’t so dark. A couple of B-52s later, I was ready for bed. PS kept worrying about the budget. Which had been blown the minute I ordered the first batch of B-52s methinks.
The next day, we were more organized. We had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel which was so bad, they should have paid us to eat it. Plus, the staff there were so sour-faced. And decided to head to the Cable Car Place. We both agreed that it was a cool distraction/attraction. It is probably the only thing that Mahathir built right. PS insisted that if we had soldiered on with our hike yesterday we would find ourselves at the peak of the Cable Car Place. Yeah. Riight. This from a guy who could not find the goggles hanging from his neck. Sigh.
Some interesting highlights:
- A makcik giving motivation to other old-timers who were panting all the way up some of the steps leading to an observation platform. “Tarik nafas!’
- A park employee going on a completely uncovered cable car. It looked like a metal bathtub hanging off the cables with a piece of slim metal!
- A bird hitching a ride on the cable as it pulled it towards the peak - Look ma no wings.
- A giant teddy bear that has been sat on by many a tourist.
- Foot reflexologists at the ready to serve you at the highest observation deck.
- Jumping off the cable car at the last minute to the first observation deck. And jumping back on!
Thereafter, PS decided that we need to do some kayaking. I was not too keen as it seemed like a lot of work not to mention water. Plus it would mean combining my fear of depths, lost at sea, getting a cramp in mid breast-stroke, eaten by sharks and being lost without a paddle. By the way, that was apparently a horrible movie. We drove around trying to find a place to go kayaking. I suggested going to the Datai and Andaman. These were damn posh places. PS felt threatened. Understandably because his whole life was falling apart. Well, I exaggerate, only anything he owned that has zippers. Those zippers are falling apart. He figured that he could get a sewing kit to fix the matter. I said we could find one at the hotel Reception. He was not convinced. The poshness of the place was intimidating.
I told him not to worry because I could fake a posh English accent. I could ask the Reception for a sewing kit. I would tell them that PS was my tailor. PS retorted as I rehearsed my English accent: Yup. (pretending to be me with his best English accent) He is going to make me a suit (dangling an imaginary sewing kit).
After driving all the way to the very secluded beach resorts, we were pretty low on fuel. That reminded us that we needed to fill our tummy ourselves. Our plan was to get to Pulau Dayang Bunting which has a bottomless lake, according to Peksan. I was torn: on the one hand, I love lakes and on the other: I hate bottomless anything, except those nice juice drinks at Chili’s. I made a few phone calls to book the island trip and it was decided that the Pulau Dayang Bunting death-wish should be attempted the next day.
As we were running out of petrol, PS thought it would be a good time to look for the Langkawi Waterfalls. We did not manage to find it. Instead we found Temurun Waterfalls. I concluded that the Langkawi Waterfalls had dried up since it was man-made. I reckon the only time it worked was probably on launch date. The Tumurun Waterfalls was much nicer than Telaga Tujuh. I wanted to go skinny dipping, But PS again said that he was not keen. I think I’m wearing him down. TW was the highest in the country and you could climb up the rocks and make a big splash. We were kinda early and had the place to ourselves. So we took turns pretending we was David Craig.
Daniel and Craig.
Later we were joined by a Middle Eastern dad and his brood of good-looking young boys (hereinafter “the Qaeedas”). Then a group of Mat Rempits minus their annoying motorcycles came and started doing backflips into the pool. We were there very briefly. One minute Mr Qaeeda was yelling at his kids in presumably Arabic: Get your ass in the water, it is not that deep. Be a man! The next minute he was yelling: Get your ass out of there or I am leaving you here. We left at the same time.
Soon we were back in our car. While trying to look for petrol we got distracted and ended up at the Hot Water Springs and Kota Mahsuri. The latter theme park about the famous Mahsuri Legend was pretty crappy though somewhat informative. We thought we would give it a skip because it looked boring. Besides, Teresa was in a play in the titular role of Mahsuri. I figured we could get her to act out some scenes when we get back to KL.
However, it was the former attraction - Air Hangat Langkawi - that totally sucks. I had to use the toilet which had obviously been used. There were floaties and when I flushed the toilet started to overflow. Argh!!! They should have put up signs stating that the place is closed for renovations. All they had were some really crappy souvenir shops. I was so looking forward to some hot spring action. This was the 1,943rd most devastating disappointment in my life. But I still took it hard. PS tried to console me. But it was no use. My Life was ruined. Then I heard a voice deep inside me saying: There are more important things in life, like petrol.
We found a petrol pump and in an inspired move, PS bought Twisties. Yummy. We drove around and decided to go to Pantai Cenang. We had a pretty decent lunch there. Decent meaning cheap but sorta good. We walked along the beach cruising for babes. PS chatted up one of them while I went to the toilet. Or maybe he just overheard one of the babes being chat up by the beach bums there. We decided to have some drinks as it was getting way too hot. The Lyla Café was a nice place that played reggae. I decided then that I was moving to Langkawi.
PS went swimming while I chilled at the café. Coming back he chirped happily: You should swim while drunk. It is more fun. Sigh! I hate beer. Then the moment that PS has been waiting all his life. Or maybe just this trip: Death Kayaking. I told PS whatever it is he is paddling in front. PS asked Why? I said: So that you can’t see me Not paddling. PS was not amused: Bugger.
We rented a kayak for RM30 per hour and PS convinced me that we should try to paddle to another island about 1km away. It did not sound like a good idea. But I didn’t want to look like a wimp. So, I agreed. Though the crying mid way did little to dispel that. I find steering damn difficult in those waters. I was damn scared that the kayak was going to capsize. But we made it to the other island safely. The paddle back to the Pantai Cenang was easier because we were not going against the flow. It actually felt fun. But I knew it would not last long because I was getting tired. And from where we were, I could not tell where should we land. It turns out we were about 500m off course. Brilliant!
The kayak people praised us for our strength and speed. I think we did okay for city-folks. PS and I did a post-mortem:
- We were not very coordinated but we got the hang of it.
- It hurts when your fingers get squished between the paddle and the kayak.
- It would have been brilliant if we could have landed on the other island except it was too rocky to get the kayak ashore.
- We made pretty good time.
- I am still scared of deep water.
We hung out at Pantai Beach until the evening. Swimming until night time. That was nice. We had dinner of BBQ chicken and squid at Lyla’s Café. Then we went back to our room supertired.
The next morning was like Rush Hour minus the kungfu moves. We got up at 8:00am, packed, bathed, checked out, had breakfast at the hotel and drove to Awana Porto Malai- the pick-up point for the island hopping- all in one hour. We had 3 islands to go to.
The grandfather and proud father to-be.
The first was Pulau Dayang Bunting which as the name suggests looks like a pregnant maiden. At the island there was a lake. One fella said to his male friend: Yay! Now you can get pregnant! Intimating the legendary powers of the lake. Upon arriving, I immediately stripped down to my speedos. There was a gasp when I did that. I take it the makcik was impressed. It was pretty scary knowing that the lake was more than 10m deep. I dare not swim too far from the edge. PS kept trying to get me to rent a life jacket so that I can swim to the middle and enjoy the splendid view from that vantage point. Did the crying on the kayak not convince him I dislike deep water?
The second island was not really hopped on. We just kind of sat in the boat while the boat driver threw bird feed on the water. The attraction was the swarm of eagles that would swoop down and grab the food off the water. Eagles are pretty majestic even though these looked kinda small. The biggest had about a 5 feet wingspan. It was quite a sight. It felt very Discovery Channel.
The last island was like a nice break. We watched our boat driver go para-sailing. While some South Asian dude got chased by a very vicious monkey. He was screaming like a girl. It was highly amusing. We also made a new friend. The white kid from England needed a ride to his car from Awana Porto Malai. He said the car was in Pantai Cenang. Naturally we listened to his directions. It was very colonial of us. We ended up getting lost, of course. But in the end, I took charge. It was very symbolic: A Chinese (PS) was like driving the car (the economy) as instructed by the Englishman and in the end the Malay guy (Me) had to tell them to fucking listen to him to reach Pantai Cenang (independence).
After we dropped our new acquaintance off, we went back to Lyla’s Café. I really liked that place. We were going to leave soon and I was beginning to miss the place already. We could not change our ticket from the 5:15p.m. to 2:30p.m. So it was once again cutting it a bit close. After a shower we headed to the jetty to return the rental car and board the ferry back to Penang.
This time the boat was bigger and no one threw up. We watched the sunset on the top deck. A couple of foreigners were already drunk when I went up while PS slept. When PS joined me, they were dancing and singing. One of them was a fat dude doing a pole dance minus the pole. It elicited smiles, giggles and heckles by those present. PS shuddered.
We reached Penang at 8:30p.m. Our train was scheduled at 9:45pm. That meant we had to get to the ferry to Butterworth quick. It was so Amazing Race. We started walking to the other jetty for the ferry to Butterworth. It was about 500m away. KBW had lied. He said it was 1km. Good thing we did not take a cab. After a while, we could see the jetty and started half-running towards it. It turns out we were going to wrong way. We were headed towards the entrance for cars. Fortunately an old lady put us back on track by yelling something in Hokkien. I didn’t wait for PS to translate and started rushing towards the other direction. As we neared the ferry, people started running. PS thought he should too. I managed to catch up. One second later, the ferry moved. PS: We are not moving silly. That is the other ferry. I am always getting fooled by such optical illusions. After 2 minutes, we really did.
Yay! We made it in time for our train. It was kind of anti-climactic in the end though because the train was late by freaking 2 hours! We finally reached KL safely at 11:00am. After a cab-ride to my place, I drove PS back to his apartment and we watched Shoot Em Up!
Conclusion: This holiday was hard work. Thank god I have another 8 hours to take a break from it before starting work again tomorrow.
