Langkawi - A Nature Destination

Malaysia was my first trip abroad. I was extremely excited at the prospect of travelling abroad right from entering the airplane, visiting a new country and living in a foreign land! During our 9 months stay in Malaysia we explored almost every street in Malaysia, with our backpacks stuffed with food and drink. I will write more about my stay in Malaysia in my other posts.

Langkawi was on our "places-to-visit-at-any-cost" list, without  a second thought we were all packed and ready to go to that beachy place! Here is a post about Langkawi - one of my favourite nature destinations!

Langkawi is truly a memorable place mainly for its fantastic beaches and calm life. It's a place with pristine pure Bluish-Green beaches, a lot of cool Islands, serene lakes and streams bordered by thick green trees. The soft, chilly- fresh breeze is sure to lift up your holiday spirits as soon as you hit the city. The beauties of nature in Langkawi will make you believe that GOD lives right there with his huge hands tenderly touching the place.  You'll feel Life’s good…nope… Life’s GREAT!

Langkawi is located in Northern Malaysia, in a district called ‘Kedah’. Air Asia, Malaysian Airlines, Tiger Airways have 'exclusive offers' for trips to this place from Kuala Lumpur (Capital city of Malaysia). After you reach Langkawi International airport, you can hire taxis which take you into the city. Langkawi tourism board has setup makeshift stalls inside the airport, from where you can grab the route maps which would assist you in sightseeing.



One of the many beaches in Langkawi



Like I said, Langkawi sets you into the Holiday mood as it’s packed with beaches (Pantai) and Islands (Pulau). Beach resorts, hotels that offer classy facilities are everywhere. But ensure that you have enough converted currency (Malaysian Ringgits) in hand before you check in to the hotels or resorts, because few of them don’t have card swiping facilities (Even the good ones).

Tourist attractions in Langkawi.

Island Hopping: There are about 99 Islands in Langkawi. So Island hopping is a major attraction here where you pay for boating services and choose to visit a couple of Islands. You are considered lucky if the weather is great as Langkawi experiences rainfall from mild to heavy downpour, most of the year.

Underwater world: The smell of damp flora and fauna here makes you feel as if you are inside the Sea. This spot has exotic collections of Aquatic animals, reptiles with clear notes about them which will fascinate you to the core! 

Cable Car Ride

Cable Car ride: Get a breath taking ride on to those misty rainforest mountains sitting inside the cable Car. The entire system is meticulously constructed and it sure gives a big thrill!

Adventure and sports buffs will find numerous activities like  Trekking, Hiking, Mountaineering, Rock climbing, Eagle feeding, Jet skiing, paragliding, parasailing, Banana Boating and the list is endless. So, work up your nerves to experience the adrenaline rush in your body at Langkawi!!

Biking: Love to bike? Just hire a bike and have a ride on those lengthy, calm roads in the balmy weather. No traffic to halt you and break your back bones silently; No honks! Yes, life’s all yours!!
Eating Out: Indulge yourself with the food that will have a lingering taste! Langkawi is packed with fabulous restaurants serving international cuisines. Indian Vegetarian restaurants like Tulsi Garden, Papadam takes you to your Grandma or Mom’s kitchen inspite of living miles away from home. The aroma of the spices mixed in these dishes will boost up your appetite. Oh, you’ll think you are born only to eat!!

Unwind @ the Beach: Get comfortable in your Beach clothes, Goggles, Sandals, Beach balls and put on your trendy hats. Play in the Beach sand, plunge yourselves in the sea water or take a warm sun bath. The place is all for beachy folks.

Spas and Bars: What’s a vacation without shelling out for a superb health spa?!  Most of the resorts offer exclusive spa packages depending up on your choice. So, pamper yourselves and feel heavenly! Bars here are famous for their languid ambience.

Whether you want to curl on and sleep, or set out in thirst of Adventure, Langkawi is a place for all. So, Holidaymakers, pack your bags and set off to this Nature destination for utmost fun. What's more, your holiday album will have the best greenery and you smiling amidst it :)

Childhood Summer

How Sweet I roamed from field to field, and tasted all the summer’s pride”. That was William Blake’s quote on summer !
Summer does bring in a lot of sweet memories for everyone. During School days, Summer Holidays are no doubt the most enjoyed period. Now that Its been almost 15 years that I finished school, those summer days are unerasable from my mind. Here I sit back to rewind those childhood summer days.

Remember doing those last minute brush ups in the first few weeks in March - the feverish exam season? Ah, It was a pleasure to write those exams in a calm classroom near a big shady neem tree, listening to cuckoo’s cooing J . Well there were few exams I had dozed off because of burning the mid night oil the previous night for sake of preparations. However, irrespective of how I had given the subject papers, bad or worse, on the last day of the exam I used to rejoice with friends. We used to gather in an ice cream shop to eat softy (Cone ice cream which used to cost just rs.5) or in a juice shop to taste the juicy cool lemon.

Summer means playing with water. Taking bath in chilled water several times a day is something everyone does. Dipped till neck in a big bronze container with chilled water, we used to become bathroom poets..where lovely creative poems unfold from our minds till our moms come screaming to us seeing us waste water!

Summer means playing ...lots-  Hide and seek, catch me, treaure hunt, housie housie, carom, chess, card games, shuttle, badminton, at times cricket too ! Summer also means breaking neighbours glass windows & doors and bearing their grunts and scoldings.

Summer means eating Maavadu / Vadumaangai ( small little mangoes soaked in salty, spicy juice), Yummy Vadagams, Delicious mango varieties like Imampasand, Banganappalli, alphonsa etc., Extremely cool watermelons, Cucumber, Buttermilk.

Summer means trying to escape from the soaring temperature in all possible ways. These days to ward off the heat we have Airconditioners, Air coolers and there are chemicals that are painted on terrace floors that prevent heat. These are expensive and quite unhealthy too. Those days at the onset of summer, many homes get their roof over terrace made of dried coconut leaves and bamboo sticks termed in tamil as “Pandhal”. One can even sit under this pandhal at mid noon and still don’t feel the heat. Something very natural and the best.

Summer means sweet smelling air. The summer breeze carries with it the smell of neem flowers and neem leaves. What a delight it is to and relax under a big shady neem tree or a banyan tree!!!

Summer means traveling to cooler locations, a visit to granny's home, Listen to her stories and a stroll with grandpa….

Summer also means writing the answers for the exam question papers, attending tuitions, preparing for competitive exams and so on…ooof…which were too boring!

What do Summer Holidays mean to you ?   Pour your replies. Set the Summer nostalgia In. Kick start the Super Summer!

Early Thirty Crisis

Finally, I am back to this page after nearly 10 months. Though I am passionate about writing and wish to post blogs, I must confess that I’m a laid-back blogger. But thankfully, I am still committed to write some technology stuff regularly on Technofriends, a website owned by my friend’s friend. Well, If there has been some hold-up on writing some personal stuff in my blog here, it’s because I didn’t want to make a complete fool of myself while expressing my personal opinions and thoughts.

I’m sure many of us wanting to express our viewpoints are pretty scared of our public image, however small our circle of readers may be. After much thinking, I felt there should be a starting point for anything. So, I’m here today to step out boldly forward to write what I think! Whether you wish to offer me bouquets or throw brickbats, I have decided to take it more constructively.

Do I talk too much?

I’m now at my early thirties and for no reason I seem to be riding high these days! Off late I have started talking 'too much' and sort of trying to be a ‘know-all’. Yes, this is so recent. Because there have been years in my timeline when I used to talk less and act more. But presently, it’s like me putting all my energies into much thinking, talking, chatting, discussing, chattering, arguing and surprisingly counselling too! After too much of these, obviously I feel enervated and achieve no big purpose other than probably receiving some looks of contempt from people around me, including my 4- year old kid! J

It gets even harder when I work in a group or live in an extended or joint family. I talking a lot would often make no sense to them. Later, I go to my ‘retrospective’ mode and realize that I should have talked less. So, here I get a guilty look on my face after showing off the ‘know-all’ness! Behaving like an eager beaver to express only my views every time looks a lot of fun; but gradually I might burn my bridges with people around me.

Well, I seem to need some help, but I somehow tend to ignore advices that come my way from people. So, what’s the workaround? I have found some from my experience and here they are.

·       Light reading- This surely helps, preferably humour stuff. More the humour, lesser the pain in mind and heart. When you read silly stuff and jokes that make you laugh heartily, you will become a child. So, a good way to show the doors to a superior attitude!

·       Listening More- Of course, this task has been hard for me. But I guess, after much practising, it helps you to talk more sensibly when you listen till the other person finishes off conveying his/her points.

·       Reading philosophy. Hard thing to do! Not many of us might have the inclination to read philosophical stuff regularly. However, it’s good to start with some comprehensible philosophy stuff that you can easily relate to. At least you will gradually start believing that there is only person who is a “knows-all” and that’s your Maker- the God! Yes, it helps you to give some rest to unwanted superior thoughts.

The above list is surely not exhaustive. These are the ones that I found in my experience. How many of you sail my boat? Share your thoughts and opinions below.