Monday, March 2, 2009

Valentines @ Langkawi Day 1

Langkawi!!! That's where we spend our first Valentine's celebration together. We decided to go to Langkawi because everyone seem to be crowding within the town areas, and restaurants during this period tend to be really packed with couples. The other reason also is because AirAsia had an irresistable promotion several months back, which prompted us to make use of it =P

Although we had a lot of time to plan our trip, we did it in minimal time (being busy with other stuff doesn't really help with vacation plannings). We decided to make it as relaxing as possible, not to cramp too many activities within this short period, as Langkawi is full of activities and things to do! And having 2 days and 2 nights doesn't really provide us with sufficient time to do all that Langkawi has to offer...






For the first day of the trip, we didn't do much as the flight was in the evening, so exploring was out of the question. We took public transportation from Cyberjaya to go to AirAsia's Low Cost Carrier Terminal (a.k.a LCCT).

As a reference guide, there's a fellow blogger who posted 3 alternate methods utilizing public transportation on how to go to LCCT from Cyberjaya. For your convenience, I'll alter it slightly and translate it to English.

LCCT is less than 20km from KLIA. LCCT is home to several airlines such as AirAsia, Tiger Airways and a few other low cost carriers. There are several alternate methods to go to LCCT via public transportation:

  • First Alternative
  • Taxi. Most obvious. Fastest. Between 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic condition. Most expensive alternative, between Rm50-60.
  • Second Alternative
  • Combination of bus and KLIA's Express Rail Link (ERL). From Cyberjaya, take the RapidKL bus number T429 to the West Transport Terminal in Putrajaya Central. Usually cost about Rm1, and it takes approximately 15 minutes to arrive. At the Putrajaya Central, take the ERL to KLIA with a ticket cost of Rm6.20, and a travel duration of roughly 20 minutes. Once you arrive at KLIA, take the KLIA-LCCT shuttle bus service located at Platform 8, whereby the bus station is located on Ground Floor of Car Park C, at the Main Terminal Building (MTB). The shuttle bus is operated by Nadi KLIA. The bus fare is around Rm1.50 with an estimated duration of 25 minutes. In conclusion, the total travel cost is Rm8.70, and the travel time is almost an hour, NOT including the waiting time.
  • Third Alternative
  • This is the alternative for those who have a lot of time in hand. From Cyberjaya, take the RapidKL bus number T429 to the West Transport Terminal in Putrajaya Central. Usually cost about Rm1, and it takes approximately 15 minutes to arrive. At the Putrajaya Central, take the ERL with a ticket cost of Rm9.50, or take the RapidKL bus number E1 to KL Sentral with a fare of RM5. From KL Sentral's Lower Ground floor, take the SkyBus which heads directly to LCCT with a fare of RM9 and a travel time of around 1 hour and 30 minutes. The total travel cost is between RM15 and Rm19.50, and the travel time is usually around 3 hours, NOT including the waiting time.

We took the second alternative, and as it mentioned, it took us almost 1 and a half hours, due to the waiting time for the bus and the train.



A the airport we went straight to the check-in counter to get our tickets, and board the plane. It was the first time experience for J in LCCT, so it was a bit weird for him seeing a line at the boarding gate to get into the plane, as he was more accustomed to the allocated seat system. It truly makes it a "bus" atmosphere at the LCCT. The seating is free, as in it's on a first come first serve basis, although now, AirAsia provides seat allocations with their new "pick a seat" service, but with a price.

In the plane itself, it was rather cramp, with very little leg room. I guess it's expected, being a budget airlines and all. Food, drinks, and souvenirs are all pay-by-order basis. You want it, you order it, you pay for it. Simple. Direct =P

Moving forward, we touched down at Langkawi International airport around 7pm. We arranged for a car (rental, naturally) beforehand, so we picked it up upon exiting the airport, and drove to our hotel, which was ridiculously near (we didn't know, looking at the map prior to arrival, we thought Langkawi was geographically larger in land size, as it was portrayed as such =.=""), less than 5 minutes drive !!

Our accomodation of choice is named Langkasuka Beach Resort. The nice thing about the hotel is that it's really near the airport and it has its own private beach. The shocking part about the hotel though, is that our room (supposedly for 2) had two QUEEN-SIZED beds!! We felt it was a bit too much for us... but hey, if they want to pamper the hotel guests, we have no compliants ; )



As we didn't have our dinner yet, we decided to go look for some food. We drove to Pantai Cenang, about 10 minutes drive from our hotel. This is one of the more tourist-populated areas, with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants, and night pubs. We stopped by one of the more known restaurants, Orkid Ria. It was packed when we arrived, so we had to wait a little for a table. The price of the food we guess is reasonable by the island's standard, and the food itself was rather delectable.



After dinner, we had an evening stroll along the road of Pantai Cenang. We walked into several souvenir shops to see the things they sold. After that, we proceeded back to the hotel, where we had a good night's rest before the start of the activities on the island.

It was quite a nice first night in Langkawi, with mounting excitement of what's to come =)

There was one weird feeling we had when we arrived in Langkawi though... the majority of the populace within the vicinity were in fact tourists. The foreigners outnumbered the locals where ever we turned! It was a different feeling for us, since we don't really travel.

The first day event is yet to come =D

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