The Adventures of Bruce and Ian

Langkawi’s many islands are ringed with countless stretches of beach. Some have white sand, some have golden. Some are hotspots for watersports, some are secluded getaways. Some are located along the most luxurious resorts imaginable, others appeal to backpackers on a budget. We couldn’t hope to experience anything resembling a representative sample of the full scope of Langkawi’s beach life in a single afternoon, so we made the decision to check out two very different beaches: the popular Pantai Cenang strip, and the serene Pantai Kok.

Pantai Cenang is lined with dozens of restaurants, with most offering seafood freshly caught from Langkawi’s waters. Shops offer everything from trinkets and souvenirs, to sandals and swimsuits (for those who forgot their own at home). Most of the resorts sit right on the shore, allowing vacationers to walk straight from their rooms right onto the white sand. We noticed plenty of families at Pantai Cenang, with children splashing in the blue waters while parents relaxed under palm trees. Stalls sold drinks and rented out equipment for the more adventurous – we saw plenty of people jet skiing and a few trying their hands at parasailing – with mixed results.

The sun was starting to go down and so we headed for Pantai Kok on the northwest coast of Langkawi. There was barely anyone about, just a few couples slowly walking along the sand as the water gently lapped against it. We’d planned on eating the market food back at the resort, but the scene at Pantai Kok, with its calm waters and wide open sky, was too tranquil and relaxing to pass up. We decided to have a picnic on the beach and watch the sun set.

We had a feast of bihun (fried noodles with veggies), char kway teow (noodles, chili puti and bean sprouts), nasi kandar (curried chicken on rice), murtabak (meat, curry and cabbage rolled in a light pastry) and putu mayang (rice flour pressed into fine threads and eaten with shredded coconut and brown sugar) and soft tofu with gula mulaka (the palm sugar syrup we’d slowly been growing accustomed to) for dessert. Ian liked the savory flavour of the murtabak the best, while I, being a sucker for anything with coconut, was particularly taken with the puta mayang.

Watching the sky turn a magnificent shade of pink as the sun fell beneath the waters at our feet was breathtaking: we’d arrived at the beach just in time to be treated to a magnificent display of Malaysia’s natural beauty, prompting us to wax rhapsodical about our trip thus far:

Next, we visited Kuala Lumpur’s two most famous architectural landmarks: the spire of the KL Tower and the sparkling Twin Petronas Towers. We’d heard that the view of the city from the KL Tower was unparalleled, and decided to ride up to the top to get a bird’s-eye view of the city we’d been roaming around.

We were hustled into an elevator, which began to shoot skyward and whose LCD didn’t give us our height in floors, but in 50 meter increments which whizzed past at an alarming rate.

Getting off at the observation deck, we were afforded a fantastic panoramic view of KL city from 276 meters up. We spotted plenty of buildings we’d driven and walked past, but whose impressive design we could now see much more clearly.

Throughout the KL Tower I kept noticing posters for a race or marathon of some sort which was named after the tower. Initially I assumed it was just a course through the city that started or ended at the tower, but then I realised the race wasn’t to the tower, but up it. Craziness. I suggested to Ian that he register for the next race up all 335 meters of stairs given his masterful summit of the Batu Caves steps. He did not take kindly to said idea.

Back on terra firma, we walked to the Petronas Twin Towers, which held the record for tallest buildings in the world between 1998 and 2004. The steel and glass of the towers’ facade seemed to pulse with energy and activity, and made for a powerful contrast with the Batu Caves which we’d just visited: the latter a symbol of the ancient religious traditions still maintained in the country, the former the face of Malaysia’s recent ascendancy in the global business world. Unfortunately public access to the Petronas Towers themselves was very exclusive – you had to line up as early as 6:30am to acquire tickets to the Skybridge – which were still limited to only 30 tickets a day! Fair warning if you’re planning on hitting up the Petronas Towers on your own trip to Malaysia.

We didn’t let that keep us from exploring urban KL, and instead we made do with wandering through Suria KLCC, the massive, six-storey shopping mall housed in the base of the towers. We checked out camera gear and passed by KLCC’s Louis Vuitton outlet…where we noticed a significant markup in price from the fabulous deals on the same LV merchandise we saw at Jalan Petaling. Go figure.

We had an early flight to catch the next morning, so we bid adieu to KL for the time being and started preparing for our next Malaysian adventure on the sandy beaches of Langkawi.

After breakfast, we walked a short distance to Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur’s open-air Chinatown market. Attracting a mix of locals and tourists, the market offers a full range of Chinese cuisine, handicrafts and clothing, in addition to peculiarly low-priced DVDs ... [Continue reading this entry]

After roaming around the streets of Kuala Lumpur and our...unique experiences at the fish spa we decided to go for a midnight snack.  We'd eaten a huge dinner just a few hours previous, but we had a job to do, ... [Continue reading this entry]