2010 + 1

As 2010 slinked dejectedly away into the night, 2011 came and rudely kicked sand in my face. I take this to be a good omen of sorts. Perhaps. Thoroughly enjoyed my 2 week vacation. Ironic how I planned my annual leave right down to the last day only to have no concrete plans on how to spend it. So, a big thanks and a warm virtual bear hug to Jason for our very memorable 4D3N Langkawi trip. It was meant to be an impromptu, budget trip. However, it turned out more of the former than the latter. Final cost was approximately RM 650 :( Budget gone bad.




Langkawi was just so full of fun. Might I add that it is always fun when you are amongst friends, no matter what the decision nor where the destination. We managed to get economy seats on the north Senandung Malam train to Arau. Cheap for rm23, but it took all of 11 glorious hours to reach Kuala Perlis. Have never sat a long distance train ride. The seats were acceptable by my standards. The toilet seat, however was another story which I refuse to elaborate on. I'll let your imagination run wildly dirty here...("dirty" being the operative word) Does our urine and defecate drop directly on the tracks? Rather primitive.


Shanky doing the usual, camwhoring away



the head honco

 

Us standing in the train carriage looking out into the great nothingness...


Finally set foot on solid, soggy ground in Kuala Perlis in the rain and cabbed ourselves to the jetty. We were then conned by a certain En. Rosli. He was quite the glib salesman, so we took a room @ a seedy motel called CD Motel at rm100 and rented a car for 3 days @ rm200. (we tried to book ahead, however all decent places were packed out for the new year) 


The Ferry ride was rm18 for 1.5hrs. Patience has never been listed in any of our virtues book, so the slow moving ferry tested my resolve as badly as my bottom was sore. I just wanted my clean bed and to rest and a hot shower. Little did I know that the worst was yet to come....

Unknown to us, CD Motel IS friggin' Tanjung Malie. *&@!((&)!!@)(*** Remember that super gross motel/shack? The hobo loving fest-nest is now renovated. However, still did not look at all stayable despite being, literally, right next to the waves. Memories of its windowless stench and insect filled bathroom came rushing back. Damn you En Rosli! I spit in what's left of your greasy hair! 

It also still has that stupid warning sign "LELAKI DAN PERUMPUAN MUSLIM YANG TIDAK BERKAHWIN TIDAK DIBENARKAN SEBILIK" . (This sign certainly brought back warm thoughts of Anand and Kavitha. We miss you both. Wished you were all back in Tanjung Malie with me).

Malie No Star Shack. Enter At Own Risk

Yes, history had repeated itself. There was no way I would allow the same grubby Tanjung Malie snake bite me twice on the same butt cheek. The experience still leaves a bad taste on my tongue. Like biting into a rotten apple fished from the brown Senandung Malam toilet bowl. Yuks. An apple even worms would snub.


Oh wait, before that, we had to pick up Damian - our rental Iswara. Let me the pleasure of introducing you to Damian. We named him after the creepy devil-child from the OMEN. In fact, when we broke down the cost for Damian, it was rm66.66 per person. What are the odds?


Damian had holes in his 20 yr old cushions, cushions that look like they'd been trampled on by a hoard of horny seladang, a loud rattling engine (no matter that gear you are in), sand and dirt everywhere, windows that take ages to screen up/down, rust, a bonnet that refuses to open and weird creaking suspensions. No power steering meant curses from the driver when parellel parking. As a gift, its steering wheel was replaced with a smaller sports steering which looked like it was some toy car reject.

Damian and his best friend

Damian and his worst enemy.

Worst of all, Damian was stick. There are sticks and then there is Damian. I maintain that sticks only look good on a Volkswagen GTI. Stick means horrible start-stop-jerk-jerk-must I press the clutch now? journeys. His clutch and brake pedals felt like they were made for people with left legs transplanted from Samson himself. None of us qualify. None of us even want to qualify. So our days were peppered with cutesy little "You drive?" "No, YOU drive!" "NO, you drive" arguments.

You drive? He drove

Sticks and stones... whatever.

Anyways, my thanks to Jason for driving 80% of the time. I attempted to drive Damian for 20 minutes and then gave up. Of course the experience would not be complete without Damian running out of fuel and dying in the middle of the main road. We had to push him in the hot sweltering sun, after a 11 hour train ride with no rest. That's a first for all of us. It felt like the "adventure" we all yearned for came and flashed us its ugly, hairy backside in our tired faces.


Thankfully, fter hunting up and down Pantai Cenang, we managed to get AB Motel for the same price. It was decent, new and clean with lovely lovely lovely hot water. Ultimately God sent. Thank you! As an added bonus, there is housekeeping every other day. A bonus of new sheets and towels.

The rest of the days were filled with many stress free strolls, sand buried feet and wave gazing with drink in hand hours. There is something very therapeutic about zoning out to the sound of waves and thoughts of not much else. Late nights and silly conversations. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Cheap cocktails @ the Brasserie on the beach

and even cheaper beers

How I got burnt, I dunno

Hygiene issues have always dogged her...

and then there's THAT hat.

Pantai Cenang was also 90% tourists. Aside from the beach bums, we were mainly the only locals around. It had been a long time since I had set my eyes on so many blue-eyed, dirty blond, toned, men since the beaches of Sunshine Coast. Was reminded on how an ab should look like. Tanned and toned. :) Exactly what the optometrist ordered. Ocassionally  my view would be tainted by a beer bellied balding elder, but it was a small price to pay.

Cenang and it's white sands

Brooding about something or other.

Dirk in action.

We also said "hello!" to our teh tarik drinking Dirk who joined us and must've loved us too... attracted to our addictively famous Malaysian hospitality. Charming, eh?

Getting our bearings right and wrong

Lunch @ Cocomo Restaurant. This was the view.



Inevitably, I traded my t-shirt tan for a singlet tan. I cannot decide with is worse looking. :( Well, on the bright side it reminds me of the awesome time I had. On the downside, I looked like a abandoned project with a bad paint job. Half done and rusted brown. Gah!

New year's eve was a beach party at a dodgy looking reggae bar. There were fire breathers throwing flames into the air and live bands in rastas as thick as my fist. Jamaicans really know how to partayyy!

Fire breathers on NY Eve

Of course there was the usual drinks and shots. What's a party without that? My Chinese blood only took in 3 shots. Naasty stuff...

Tequila shots in coke "glasses".

At the beach countdown party, before the alcohol cause significant memory loss to some

Tequila + Me = Sleepy buzz.



Our first picture on Day 1, 2011. Fireworks in the background

 Next day was relaxing. Drove to the crocodile farm and wasted rm15. All they do is bask in the sun quietly... After 5 minutes, we were already bored.


 Here's Rosemary looking exactly like the Crocodile Logo.


Drove on to Pantai Pasir Tengkorak - the beach where the locals go. Hardly any tourists. Just the beach and the open sea. The islands beyond is actually Thailand.

Skull Sands Beach. Beautiful.



Saying our goodbyes



Ushering in 2011 with a beach party (another story for another day) with some of my best friends - I cannot put a price on that. I don't think any of us could.

Or ever will.

Happy New 2011



With Love