2012 - KUALA LUMPUR & PULAU LANGKAWI

Having extensive dental treatment in Malaysia is so much cheaper than in Australia. It is less than a third of the cost.

I had been suffering through some major tooth problems and pain for a couple of years and had been putting off going to the dentist in Australia as it is so expensive.

Finally I had to do something when my front tooth which had been giving me all the problems.   Just chipped off.

It was time for a falsy.

In Australia, the cost of an implant is about $10,000.  There is no way we could afford this unless we won the lotto.

KL, on the other hand is around $2,500.   So….   That is how we came to be here again in 2012.

We have since been three times to Dental Pro and have found the service excellent with state of the art facilities.   We even get picked up and dropped off at our accommodation all included in the price.    Sorry Australia, but I'll continue to take my money for dental work overseas.

Oh and btw, it's the same for optical.   My glasses from Malaysia and Singapore have cost me less than half the price of paying for that in Australia.

This trip our youngest child Jesse came with us.  The other kids had grown too old to spend holidays

with mum and dad.

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PRINCE HOTEL

So..... Here we are in Kuala Lumpur again.

This time we chose to stay at the Prince Hotel, which is a little bit closer to the Twin Towers and we also liked that it was nearer to the Pavillion Shopping Centre which we enjoy for a few reasons.  More about that later.

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FIRST NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

After hubby's fabulous photos on our 2011 Europe and Morocco trip.   I had conceded that I needed to buy a DSLR, so I had my new Canon 60D Camera and was itching to take some cool photos.

Now don't laugh at my first attempts.  I have got a lot better now.  But I thought at the time my first night photos were pretty darned good.

As you follow my blogs, you will see my photography improve over the years.

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MELAKA

We had made contact with Patrick our driver and asked him to take us to Melaka again.

This time Patrick took us to a couple of temples which was interesting.

We also ate at our Baba Nonya restaurant again.

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STREET SCENES

Don't know where their foot wear went?... lol

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And we ended up at our usual bar, 

The Geographer.

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PORT DICKSON

By now, Patrick was learning that we like off the beaten path stuff, so he took a diversion on the way home and introduced us to Port Dickson.

At the time you can see that there were plans to change this cute little fishing village into a huge tourist destination.    

I believe that this has now happened so I am glad that we have the above photos to remember how it looked.  

Change is inevitable especially with some of this untouched coastline.  But sometimes it is sad too.

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KELONG MAMOD

This place I discovered whilst doing some research.  There is not much at all on google world about Kelong Mamod.   Just my blog on Virtual Tourist which you cannot see now and a bit of info about how you can visit Kelongs (off shore platforms) from the main jetty here.

It took Patrick a bit of investigating as well to find the place because he had never been there before either.

So it was wonderful when we arrived at this cute little fishing spot in the middle of nowhere.  I would say that it is a local secret.   Not anymore.

If you want to visit, then please let me know and I will give you Patrick's details.

Playing with Affinity Phone and

Photoscape X.

Jesse with local fishermen - Caught!

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HUKKA RESTAURANT

Around the corner from the Prince Hotel is a huge outdoor restaurant called the Hukka.

The food here was pretty darned good!  Washed down with a few coldies.

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GENTING HIGHLANDS

We promised son Jesse that we would take him to the theme park in the Genting highlands.  So we booked the day with Patrick.

First stop - Chin Swee Temple. Hubby and I really liked this place with lovely Chinese Temples and a stunning view over the mountains.

The Theme Park was ok, as ok as it can be for us oldies.  Jesse had a fun time.

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THE PAVILLION SHOPPING CENTRE

Speaking of new photo techniques, this lovely fountain outside of the Pavillion Shopping Centre provided some fun photo practice.

Here are 2 photos.  Both have different exposure settings.  Keeping the shutter opened longer will create milky water.  Shorter, and you capture running water.  I was learning fast.

The Pavillion Shopping Centre was also the place where hubby got a good bargain on his reading glasses.

Also, we have become tourist regulars at Malones Pub.  Here is a pic of our good Virtual Tourist friend Claus.

He visited also.  Thanks for the pic mate.

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VT MEETUP

Over the years on Virtual Tourist, I had developed a friendship with some locals so I had to arrange for a little meetup.  This little meetup also had visitors from the Philippines and Denmark.

I found a restaurant that boasted to be the only rooftop bar in KL.   Located at the Anggun Boutique Hotel right in the middle of Bukit Bintang.

Attendees - May Sue from KL, Valerie from KL, Frank new to KL, Utchie from Philippines, Richard from Philippines, Mary from the Philippines and Claus from Denmark who was passing through.

What a great time we had!!  Meeting friends old and new.  Discussing travel stories.  Laughing and all getting on like a house on fire.

Since then, May Sue and Valerie have become great friends and Claus.   Well everyone loves Claus.

He is full of fantastic travel stories and we were yet to catch up again in 2015 in Orlando Florida! 

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ANGGUN BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Hubby and I have since stayed here a couple of times for just a few days.  We love the personal and warm atmosphere.  We love having breakfast and dinner on the rooftop and we love the towel decorations on the bed.

The Anggun is a quiet oasis in the middle of so much action!!  We have since heard that they have upgraded certain facilities.  It's probably time that we paid another visit.

Next up, a short break on Pulau Langkawi.

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PULAU LANGKAWI 

STUNNING BEACHES

I had seen lovely pictures of Langkawi Island from friends who had been there.  So when we had to wait a week whilst our false teeth were being made at Dental Pro in KL, Pulau Langkawi was our obvious choice.

The best bit about Pulau Langkawi was our accommodation at Mutiara Burau Bay Resort. 

This is a three star resort that packs a 5 star punch just for the stunning bay, beach bar and fantastic buffet breakfast.

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TENGKORAK BEACH

The best way to see the island is to hire a car.  Around the top end of Langkawi are some beautiful deserted beaches.  

 Well except for the monkeys.

MONKEY VIDEO

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DURIAN PERANGIN WATERFALL

We also stopped off at Durian Perangin Waterfall and I had a practice with some long exposure photography to capture some milky water.

VIDEO

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AIR HANGAT VILLAGE

Air Hangat Village Hot Springs was pretty cool.    

Hot actually. 

😀

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GALERIA PERDANA

I am not a real museum person but this place was extravagant.  There are over 9,000 exhibits.

Apparently there are only 2,000 on display at any one time and they are rotated so that each time you visit, you will see something new.

Galeria Perdana is a museum created to showcase gifts, souvenirs and awards received by the 4th and longest

serving Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Below are examples of what we saw.  It was pretty amazing!

Nearby town we passed some rice fields and oxen.

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GIFT SHOPPING

Pantai Cenang is the main village in Langkawi.  It has lots of quaint gift shops, cafes, restaurants & bars.

I loved all of the hand crafted jewelry at a shop called cinnamon's.  I bought a rose coral neckless.

And Jesse found a feline friend.

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ORKID RIA SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

We found a great seafood restaurant that had fresh lobster.  It was on the expensive side but well worth it.

This was another case for me however when I have been overseas and thought how much I appreciate the fresh seafood in Australia. 

 A lot of other countries seem to do too much to fresh seafood and the true taste ends

up being disguised. 

 Here in Langkawi they plastered the lobster with this yummy sauce.  It was good, but I prefer my seafood el natural.

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PULAU PAYAR

We booked a snorkelling trip to Pulau Payar.  This trip was a bit disappointing.  The fish were nowhere near as amazing as we saw on Pulau Tioman off the East Coast of Malaysia.

 On the boat going over the smell of diesel

made me nauseous.   And lunch was just a snack pack with a sandwich, small juice and piece of fruit.

I did like however the pretty bay that we visited and nice wooden path around the mountain fronting

the beach.

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DRIVING PULAU LANGKAWI

Driving the island again we found some gorgeous quaint fishing villages.  This is the off the beaten path stuff that hubby and I love to see.

We also visited a bay where there were quite a few luxury boats.  But it was the little fishing villages that were most certainly the draw card for us.  Picture perfect views and colourful boats.

VIDEO

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TAJ MAHAL

Back in town we found a fabulous Indian Restaurant.  The food at the Taj Mahal was simple tappas style but so tasty!   Both hubby and I love Indian.

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DINNER CRUISE

I love sunsets, wine and cruising.  What girl doesn't?   We booked a fabulous sunset dinner cruise!  The views were to die for and the other couples on the cruise were fun.  What a fantastic evening!! 

 

Young Jesse had a birthday today -  13th.  We had nothing really planned but somehow we ended up at Pantai Tengah beach and guess what?  The day was fabulous, sun was out, boats were sailing...... And.... There was -

PARASAILING! 

  

Whilst we looked on from the comfort of the lovely Lighthouse Restaurant on the beach.

Lucky Jesse!  First in the family to do parasailing. He was so excited!

😁 

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TURKISH DELIGHT RESTAURANT

Lunch today was pretty good.  Maybe is wasn't so much the food (wasn't bad).   But I think More so the nice greenery upon entry.  Plenty of wall pictures to look at and interesting lighting.

We sat beside the window so we could look out and people watch.

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Back at the accommodation, the staff had something special planned for our birthday boy.

We were sitting at dinner and an entourage of staff and drums formed a line and gave a bit of a performance ending at Jesse.

They presented the birthday boy with a cake and cutting sward.  He was both surprised and excited!

And finally, some more photos of the beautiful bay back at the resort along with a few fun photoshopped pix.

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