Thursday 24th April
We are still
planning on joining the East Malaysian Rally, which is at least a month ahead
of us. I am a bit doubtful about our
ability to catch up. But last night at
the beach bar I caught up with Cecilie (SV Delphian) who laughed and said we
would probably catch up with many boats, stuck along the way for various
reasons. One of the boats is in Admiral
Marina (Port Dickson) waiting for parts…A few others are broken down along the
way. And one poor sailorman is all
strapped up in plaster – he fell and broke his wrist while playing a lovely
friendly game of basketball. The way
things are going we might catch up with the whole fleet!
When we were at
the cable car, we had our attention drawn to a large display of Cable Car Kit. You could, if you wanted, be clad entirely in
Cable Car merchandise… And we discovered, to our delight, that Gavin was
wearing the exactly correct green & black combo!
Yesterday was a
land-based day. We hired a 6-seater car
– NOT a Mr Din Special. This was a
Serena, and perfectly OK, if a bit bumpy in the suspension. Our Langkawi Serena* became our refuge from
the fearsome heat. Occasionally we would
all pile out to do our tourist things, move swiftly from one patch of shade to
the other, and then rush back into the car to turn on the aircon, each uttering
faint cries of relief.
Thank goodness
Langkawi is not a big island… We managed to cover a lot of territory in not too
much time. First stop was Pantai Cenang,
where we had the most miraculously wonderful breakfast – best restaurant EVER! said Angus.
 |
| Second serve of chocolate pancakes - Angus |
I said I thought
Maharaja’s Indian restaurant at Telaga was best
restaurant EVER! He looked at me
pityingly, and said, That is best DINNER restaurant!
 |
| Second serve of chocolate pancakes - Hamish |
We went down on
the beach which was achingly bakingly hot, but very beautiful. Nicky asked a random passing girl to take a
photo of the six of us:
Look at Pete’s
face – bliss! The random passing girl
happened to be a glorious Amazon in a tiny bikini…
Gavin took on the
role of navigator – oh thank goodness; when I am navigator it is very bad for
Pete’s and my relationship, one way and the other… Gavin did a sterling job
even though our first foray into the roads away from Pantai Cenang led us into
a dead end. A very fortuitous dead
end! On the side of the road, just
hanging out, there were monkeys!
Different ones!!
Seeing them made
us all very happy. They swung from tree
to tree just above our heads, posed prettily on branches, and were generally a
total delight.
Next stop, of
course, the Langkawi eagle in Kuah – compulsory! We joined the throng of tourists posing in
front of it, went oooh and aaah, and then darted back into Serena for cool air.
We stopped in the
old part of Kuah so that Pete could go to the hardware shop and so that the
boys could look at the duty free chocolate displays, which impressed them very
much. Then off to Galeria Perdana…
I knew the only
way we could get the boys to spend a whole hour in a gallery when there are
monkeys to see, waterfalls to climb, pools to swim in, was by making it a
MISSION! They each had a list of things
to find and photograph, and one hour to complete the task. They took photos of various beautiful and/or
strange works of art, but I think what impressed them the most was…the Formula
#1 car.
We had lunch at about 2.30, at the Scarborough Fish & Chips restaurant on the beach. Hamish found a soccer ball and a small patch of shade…
We had lunch at about 2.30, at the Scarborough Fish & Chips restaurant on the beach. Hamish found a soccer ball and a small patch of shade…
Our last touristy
thing was a visit to the Four Seasons resort.
Oh WOW, said Angus. You
would have to be a very spoiled person to say, “oh no, I don’t think this comes
up to my standards!” He looked around admiringly at all the beauty
and said, You know, I think it is all the
unnecessary extras which make this place so attractive. Well yes, Angus…Pete had the idea that e
might all stay there for a night – it is VERY wonderful. But he came out a bit chastened…no it isn’t
$120 per night per room…it is over $800 (2490 Malaysian ringgits.) So we won’t be staying there! But we were very welcome to wander around,
and to swim in the beautiful pools.
When we shared a
van with Simon, on the way to Lake Toba, he told us about places he had stayed
in when in Singapore. He said he always
chooses a small, cheap hotel, and then goes off to spend the day poolside in
ritzy 5 star resort hotels, swimming, using the free WiFi. Because,
he said, that is what you can do, when
you look like us. Oh sad but true…We
were more than welcome, all very Australian-looking. If we had been a local family, we wouldn’t have
been allowed through the first doorway…
And on the way
home – a quick dash around PL Soon, our Matsirat supermarket, to stock up on
cold drinks.
Today is a Rebak
day, with a small excursion for just Nicky and me to Pantai Cenang.
* The Thomas
family car in Hobart is also Serena…but not by brand name, by choice. Leo and Eva chose this Disney Princess name
for their first van, and I think every Thomas family car from now on will also
have to be Serena…Tradition!
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