4th Feb, 2010
Me and my wife started for our first trip to Malaysia. A sunny afternoon of winter at Kolkata, we took a flight of AirAsia to Kuala lumpur. This was first time, we were flying with AirAsia, I was a bit worried about what the experience going to be as they were operating international flights at a cheaper rate compare to flying domestic. With my utter surprise, they were above expectation in all aspects! Leather seats, comfortable leg space, overall neatliness were really cool to find in an Low Cost Carrier (LCC). Amazingly there was no delay in taking off and we were all set for truly asian Malayasia. We had our on-board meals pre-booked. They are served hot and tastes pretty good. The food served is majorly east-asian cuisine. Carrying packaged drinking water from airport may work out smarter :). The flight time is around four and half hours. By the way, there is no in-flight entertainment, so carrying your reading companion or music-buddy will be a need. The comfort kit that we prebooked looked useful too.
A plesant read, a sunset over the horizon and oh we are almost there!
Around 10.45 p.m. we reached Kuala Lumpur(KUL). The terminal used by AirAsia is in outskirts of the city, it is called LCCT. After finishing the immigration, we went out of the airport by 11.30 p.m. Baggage claim was quick, and my overall experience with AirAsia made me confident as we were yet to fly with it three more times in the coming week. I had taken a SIM card from Matrix cellular services and this is really helpful when you travel abroad. The scheme used to charge me RM3 daily with 2 minutes to call back India. Incoming was free and local calls were at minimal charge. It worked useful when I found that the LCCT Limo I had booked is not present in the arrival gate. Anyway there was no hassle to get a taxi from the airport pre-booked counter and we started cruising towards the city of Kuala Lumpur. Though it was 12 a.m. in night, it was hot and humid outside. The well lit sparkiling KUL, free from traffic congestion, was good to dart through. We had our booking at Berjaya Times Square. They were very nice to receive us in such odd hours and serve dinner at room. From our room at 37th floor, watching Kuala Lumpur settling for the night was memorable.
5th February - KUL
A refreshing morning, sumptous breakfast over the view of Petronous Towers and we were all set for Genting Highland. The buffet breakfast spread in Berjaya Times Square is simply great and full of choices. We reached Genting in one hour peaceful drive across the green lush of wet tropical rain forest. As we were going uphill, it was cloudy and started drizzling, making the atmosphere mystic. But the surprise came when we reached Genting Highlands. Its basically a combo of luxorious hotel, casino and amusement park on top of a hill with cool weather in tropical belt. The quality of the fun park was not up to the mark and believe me that you are going to be disappointed if you happened to be in any standard amusement park. None of the rides looked interesting other than the space-emulator. We spent time in long queue to spend some time in go-carting, but the waiting time was more than the fun :( . Refreshingly there was Starbucks to revive the mood and some shopping destinations to get back the cheer!
Mystique Genting
Colorful Highland
After spending time till evening we got back to KUL.Times square has their swimming pool at the level of 15th floor, where they have a connect between the two 40-floor high towers. The swimming pool lobby provides a great view of Petronous tower in the dark.
KL Tower from pool lobby
Petronous at night
Times square also has a huge shopping mall spanning across 10 floors. You can spend good amount of time hopping the shops around till your legs starts aching. So far it was not too exciting and we were really looking for the next day morning as we were scheduled to reach our targeted destination Langkawi ....
After spending time till evening we got back to KUL.Times square has their swimming pool at the level of 15th floor, where they have a connect between the two 40-floor high towers. The swimming pool lobby provides a great view of Petronous tower in the dark.
Times square also has a huge shopping mall spanning across 10 floors. You can spend good amount of time hopping the shops around till your legs starts aching. So far it was not too exciting and we were really looking for the next day morning as we were scheduled to reach our targeted destination Langkawi ....
6th February
Early in the morning we got started for our real destination, Langkawi. Passing by the F1 circuit in Sepang, we reached the LCCT airport terminal in a bright, warm morning.
Needless to mention my surprise to see the effectiveness of AirAsia once again in their domestic operation as a LCC. As we were airborne, I realized that taking a window seat is about to pay me back as the craft was going in a low altitude and the view of unknown small islands were charming feast for eyes. The flight time was around an hour and while descending I could capture some real good 'tele's. It gave a brilliant preview of the scenic archipelago.
Langkawi means Brown Eagle in Malay. It is a cluster of 99 islands in northwest Malaysia. It is separated from mainland by “Strait of Malay” and open to Andaman see on the other side. Our destination in Langkawi was Rebak Island Resorts, a hotel operated by Taj group of hotels. The resort is spread across a small island named Rebak. As we came out of the tiny, vibrant airport to the the mainland of Langkawi, we were transported to a private jetty, Port Langkasuka. There Taj operates their private ferry service to the resort. This water ride was fun as we started cruising in the speedboat along the deep blue sea. As we reached the island, we found a Marina, a resting place on rent for the private boats hidden from the tides, which I had snapped from the top!!
From the jetty at Rebak, there they had their electric driven club cars ready to take us around. The reception was really warm and we started experiencing a great level of differentiating service from Taj folks. Along the beaches they have beautiful cottages with a backdrop of thick green tropical rain forest. Plunging into the soothing blue pool along the beach, swimming in the the calm sea without waves, taking a stroll in the huge property and enjoying delicious meals at their multi cuisine restaurant – the first day was over.
[More to follow]
