Perlis & Langkawi November 2013 - GO ADVENTURE!

First and foremost, this is from my mobile (12 November 2013) ... I wanted to bring my netbook to Langkawi, but I figured that I'd be returning to Kuala Perlis with one too many bags (which is right 'coz I went on my trip with three bags but returned to KL with FIVE bags)  ... As it turned out, finding an internet cafe in Langkawi, specifically in Pekan Kuah, is like trying to find a soulmate for myself, which is, in a phrase, all words synonymous with 'difficult' ...

Last night after coming back from Pantai Cenang, I searched high and low for a CC near the motel ... I had directions from at least four sources who pointed me to what seemed to me a non-existent internet cafe ... At the end of it, I felt like I was being jerked around ... Where the hell is the f**king cafe?! ... Apparently, from the most "reliable" of the sources, the CC near the motel is closed for four days ... * me with an expression that belies nonchalance* What? ... You will not see that in KL, in fact they put up the word Internet in big bold letters huge enough you can see it from fifty metres, at least ... I guess it sort of gives the big picture of how important online communication is to those who live in KL and Langkawi ... Having said that, the majority of those who visit such establishments in KL are those undearage gamers who shout F**K at the top of their lungs every time they missed their target ... So, this afternoon, after coming back from my visit to Makam Mahsuri, I tried looking again for an Internet cafe ... Found one, near Plaza Langkawi, which was, guess what ... There were three other people there as well, including two foreigners ... They also had the look I had earlier when I was informed the cafe near my motel was closed ... Because of my looking for the cafe, I missed the 4.00pm ferry and could not get the 5.00pm one as it was full ... I reached Kuala Perlis well after dark and could not get pix of a mosque nearby in sunset ... Lesson learned: Next time you wanna go to Langkawi, BRING YOUR OWN F**KING LAPTOP ...

Anyway, here to talk about Day 1 of my Langkawi visit, which was 11 November 2013 (Hey, it's Leonardo DiCaprio's birthday! Muahh, love you) ... In a word, no, it's beyond words ... I'm not exactly referring to the beauty that you can find on the island, which I'm pretty sure is aplenty ... I'm talking about the thrill of riding a scooter on a leisure island trip ... There were a lot of cars on the road but I didn't feel like I might get hit any time ... Mind you, people here are actually a lot less concerned about traffic manners than those in KL, the irony of that ... My friend langgar the red light a few times already ... This is not when the light is already yellow, and she's at a speed that is impossible to slow down unless you wanna get hit from behind ... The car is already at a full stationary stop, and she just langgar the red light ... Her excuse? "I'm from here" ... Heheh, if you're in KL and you say you have every right to ignore the red light because you are a KLite, one, you most definitely will get hit from at least one side because everyone else pretty much has the same mindset, and two, if by some miraculous luck that you don't get hit, you will get the kind of honking that will most certainly wake up Alkyoneus ...

Anyhoo, back to my story ... There I was on the scooter, like Easy Rider, heheh ... I think the best way to enjoy a foreign place while you're actually on the road is either with a bike/moped/scooter, or a convertible with the top down ... You get to soak up everything around you, man ... Though motorcyclists here have a tendency to use the emergency lane to go the OPPOSITE of traffic, which I find very irksome as it is very dangerous - I can hit the moron while trying to avoid traffic on my right - the exhilaration of riding without a care in the world is just what I said, beyond words ... I have been to a lot of places on my own, but this by far is THE BEST, because I decided to just follow my whim ... Instead of my mind planning on where to go, I just hop on the bike and GO ... I mean, I already have a general idea of what to look out for since my friend circled some must-see places on a map, but did I refer to it? ... Only once ... I am just SOOO glad I decided to get my B2 license :) ...

However, you're exposed to the elements when you're on the bike, and on Day 2, the rain just, well, yeah ... So, there I was at Starbucks, trying to type using this crappy mobile with network speed that is not so good ... I really wanted to blog since everything was still fresh in my mind, but it was just not meant to be ... Maybe it's a good thing, because then I would have typed a lot more crap than I what I'm typing up now ...

Now that we're on the subject of renting scooters for island trips, I think I made a boo-boo with the locals while getting my bike ... You see, I'm the type of person that insists on a receipt, more so when it involves major transactions such as renting a scooter ... Anyway, there I was, all by myself with an almost pathological phobia of getting ripped off ... In the end, I must have given an impression with the scooter guys as I call them that they must think that I thought they were trying to cheat me ... But don't you find it weird that the customer does not get a copy of the business transaction? It's kind of a common practice, isn't it? I dunno, but I could feel that I've made them uncomfortable, from their body language and all that ... As it is, the guy who booked the motel room and scooter for me at the jetty in Kuala Perlis prior to my Langkawi trip did not mention anything about a RM 20 deposit which I would get back once I returned the scooter ... Well, at least I think that was the case as I could not remember with enough clarity whether they explained or not about the key deposit ... So when I went to pick up my scooter after reaching Langkawi the next day, there was some sort of confusion on my part ... In the end, the guy at the counter just crossed out the RM 20 deposit and put a round figure of RM 30 ... Now, for the life of me, I did not comprehend at all what this meant ...

Okay, basically, I paid RM 150 overall for a one-night stay at the motel and unlimited scooter use ... Not bad, right ... I paid RM 70 at the guy who booked everything for me at Kuala Perlis ... But, instead of writing down on ONE reservation receipt that I ALREADY paid RM 70 for both room + scooter, he wrote down on two separate  receipts of the remaining balance that I was to pay for the room and scooter, which was RM 30 for the scooter and RM 50 for the room ... I find this system pretty confusing ... Why can't you write down on one receipt that I paid RM 70 and break it down to exactly how much in advance I'm paying for the scooter and room, as well as how much I still owe them? Now, I don't have an inkling as to how much exactly is the scooter rent and room fee separately ... It could be RM 100 for the room and RM 50 for the scooter for all I care ... However, I do recall the guy who booked everything saying that the room fee is RM 80 and the scooter rent is RM 70 ... Yeah, but the point is, I want that in writing ... Okay, so I have something stuck up my ass, but seriously, don't you think their system is a bit weird? Furthermore, they actually take the reservation receipts (both scooter and motel room) and give you another receipt which states that you paid the balance ( I wanted a copy of the reservation receipts so I insisted that they make a copy of them ... This was where I made the scooter guys uncomfortable) ... Whatever it is, I did not get the back the so-called RM 20 deposit, so I think I got cheated somewhere here ... However, rather than let all this spoil my trip, I just decided to let it go ...

Anyway, I discovered along the way that the Islanders here, even those who are not originally from here, but have sort of migrated here are very friendly and helpful ... I got lost on the bike quite a few times, so I just asked for directions, and everyone, from the makcik at the roadside stall, to the sales assistant at the duty-free shop, would go out of their way to tell you the way ... In KL, people are only helpful like that to foreigners, not to their fellow Malaysians ... This is how I see it, maybe some of you disagree, but this is my blog, so I can say whatever I want ...

Anyway, there I was, on the road, no GPS, no nothing ... I had a map, but didn't bother looking at it ... As it is, Malaysian maps are pretty confusing ... Well, in my mind, I kept saying "I really wanna see the beach" ... With the wind whipping at my arms and face and my eyes protected by my cool shades, I went on the hunt for a beach, and by the grace of Allah, I ended up at Pantai Cenang ... My friend said this is where all the Mat Sallehs hang out ... Did not specifically go there to hunt Mat Salleh, but I might as well be, seeing all the hunks in their own cool shades and Bermuda shorts ... But most of them were attached anyway, damn ... While I was walking along the beach, I saw somebody parasailing over the next beach ... I was looking at the parachute with the person hanging from it and asked myself, "Do I dare do that?" ... HELL TO THE YEAH ... Mind you, I do get a little agitated when seeing everything from a certain height, but with my mind made up and my heart emboldened, I just went to where the parasailing guys set up shop and before I could change my mind, there I was, like maybe two three hundred feet above the beach and the feeling was just ... Again, beyond words ... I was practically having my own mini Amazing Race adventure! ... I wanted to shout "I'm King of the World", in hindsight it was DiCaprio's birthday, but thought better of it ... After all, the guy who flew with me in tandem may think I'm off my rocker ... Naah, who cares ... Anyway, just before we took off, they did not warn me to skip a bit while the boat was pulling the rope ... So, what happened was I fell face down into the sand ... Sand went into my mouth and eyes ... I think I looked pretty ridiculous and I could have screamed murder at them for not warning me, but you know what, I just let it go ... As you get older, you realize there is no point getting your panties all in a bunch over the teeny weeny details when doing so will only make you miss the big picture, which is, you are ALIVE, and while I was up there parasailing, that is exactly how I felt, Alhamdulillah ...