The plan was to allot twelve nights out of our busy lives to stop and do as little as possible, enjoy good food and take in the sights of a country we hadn't spent much time in.
And stop we did.
I regularly found myself taking out my tablet in order to photograph things using the Camera Zoom FX app (which all of these photos come from). I felt like a bit of a tool wandering around with a 7" tablet held in front of my face at arm's length, but I believe the results to be worth it. [Note: the photos are in random order and don't relate directly to the text]
We started our journey with five nights in the sleepy Sheraton resort of Langkawi island, a great destination for anyone wanting to get away from the hustle of cities and bigger towns. The resort had a charm to it, though you'd want to book on special rates and aim to eat in the local town as much as possible. The food definitely wasn't outstanding.
We hired a car for two days and drove around the island; this option is highly recommended.
It would be worth noting that Langkawi is not a cheap place, bar the alcohol.
Langkawi was essentially safe to drive around and bikers could easily navigate its roads without having to avoid trucks and traffic jams. The most exotic bike I saw, however, was a 250cc cruiser type thing with a glued-up hole in the gas tank. Most bike-related travel is on local scooters. As seen below:
Penang is touted ad nauseum as the place for food. And it was cheap.
We spent our time in Georgetown and did find a couple of very nice restaurants and food halls and enjoyed some great local cuisine, but I left feeling like I may have missed something. Penang was an interesting place to visit but I'm glad we only had three nights there. I felt we'd experienced what we needed to by the third day.
Penang big win: prescription authentic Ray-Ban glasses with anti-glare and transition lenses for well under $100 all up.
Malacca has quite a wonderful feel to it. As one of the brochures says, "When Kuala Lumpur was still a swamp, Malacca was a bustling port town." And the decrepit old buildings scattered amongst new shiny towers remain a testament to this old world. We did a lot of walking here. Perhaps a little too much. But the food was nice and there was great shopping, particularly the clothing (t-shirts) and local artwork.
Be sure to wander the weekend market in Chinatown as there were actually a few things on display you may not have seen elsewhere.
All in all we had a pleasant experience in Malaysia. It wasn't overly challenging - which was originally the point - and the food ranged from good to superb on occasion. Take good walking shoes and a book (ebooks, yeah!) to fill in the quiet times and rained out afternoons.
I'd definitely recommend watching out for specials at the Sheraton in Langkawi for a four or five night stay. And look into car hire for the duration as the taxi rides into town quickly add up.
I kind of feel like I've 'done' Malaysia and my next trip will definitely be more challenging. But if you want to relax and eat and spend some quality time with your loved one, like we did, it could be a good place to consider.
Malaysia: For the elements we saw at least, 3.5 out of 5 satay chicken sticks
- Tevilspek
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