TRAVEL IDEAS

Underwater World of Langkawi Island

Underwater World (N6 17.261 E99 43.736) is located along Jalan Pantai Cenang of Langkawi Island. It's about 600 meter from the intersection of Jalan Pantai Tengah & Jalan Pantai Cenang.

Underwater World of Langkawi Island

Entrance Fees : Adults MYR38.00 (Foreigner) MYR28.00 (Malaysian), Children 3-12 years old MYR28.00 (Foreigner) MYR18.00 (Malaysian), Senior citizens 50 years old and above : MYR22.00
Opening Hour :
Mon - Thu : 9.30am - 6.30pm
Fri - Sun & Public Holiday : 9.30am - 8.30pm

"The new building (with 60,000 sq. ft built-up area) which displays Tropical Rainforest, Temperate and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems, and a three-dimensional (3D) theatre with a 200-seating capacity is now open to the public. The new temperate section also includes an underwater penguin tunnel for visitors to view swimming penguins." Source from here.

This new building (Phase II) is officially opened by Malaysia Ex-PM : Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on 28th May 2005.

Once you enter the Aquarium, there were some Lizards display in the glass box...

Follow by the Tropical Rainforest

Flamingo

Then we entered the Penguins World.

African Penguins

Rockhopper Penguins

The Tunnel where you can see the penguins swim on top of you...

Southern Fur Seals was dreaming...

I believe all of these Penguins and Seals are because of Malaysia Ex-Prime Minister - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Expedition to the Antarctica during February 2002.

The path lead us to the only cafe within the Underwater World, the Eden Cafe. You can have some drinks and have a rest here. The Marine section will be after this Cafe...

The Eden Cafe of Underwater World

The entrance of the Marine area

The Leopard Stingray swim Too fast that I can't get a clear photo...and the sharks were too calm...

There were many types of Sea Urchin around the marine section

The Giant Stingray continue to swim on top of us...

What is this ugly stuff? OH! It's a Stone Fish

Beautiful Mantis Prawn

I like the colour of the Jellyfish very much! :)

The Coral World was at the end of the Aquarium...

The last section of the Aquarium was the souvenir center...we didn't buy any of it.

The Souvenir Section

We spent almost 1 and the half hour in it and say bye-bye to The Underwater World of Langkawi. My daughter was very happy because of soooo many type of fishes!
When I stepped out of the building, Surprised! The ZON (Duty Free store) was just beside, YEAH! I gotta grab some beers! The price was Incredible!! MYR1.80 for Tiger per can! MYR2.70 for Budweiser per can! Oh! Grab one dozen and gonna enjoy it at the Hotel later...

Related post :
* My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
* Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island
* Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
* The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
* The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
* The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island.
* Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island
* The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island
* Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island

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30 Days In Muslim America

Courtesy of Boing Boing

With The New York Times and others reporting discrimination against Muslims in the United States just yesterday, I thought it would be opportune and timely to feature here 30 Days In Muslim America, a photo essay published in the well-known Boing Boing blog, by Aman Ali and Bassam Tariq.

Naturally, discrmination against Muslims has spiked recently as a consequence of the so-called Ground Zero Community Center stupidity and Terry Jones' odious Quran-burning farce, so it's no surprise that The New York Times reported this:

“There’s a level of hatred and animosity that is shocking,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney of the E.E.O.C.’s Phoenix office. “I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and I’ve never seen such antipathy toward Muslim workers.”

I don't think the photographs featured by Boing Boing are designed to allay the racism, fear and suspicion that face American Muslims, but it's one of the tiny steps that hopefully will add up. Muslims in America, as President Obama said, are not they...they are us.

Eventually, perhaps the traditional Islamic way of life will be accepted (and respected) in the United States as that of the Hasidim in Brooklyn and the Amish in Lancaster...but I'm not holding my breath.

Sulawesi Surprise!: Not So Green

Remember the 1975 Steven Spielberg's movie based on Peter Benchley's novel, Jaws ? The movie which had been hailed as one of the greatest films of all time was once number 48 on American Film Institute's 100 Years 100 movies list and spawned three sequels. In the sequel, Jaws 2 (inset) there was a catchy movie blurb, Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water again... - Well, in Lemo, I was tempted to say, Just when you thought it was all green... - Lemo is not by all way, green. It is yet another burial site in Tana Toraja but here's a burial site with a difference. The dead and the tau taus are put in burial chambers cut out of the rocks. A chamber caters for a family. A dead body would be put in the chamber and when another member of the family dies, the body will be stacked there too and that goes on and on as long as there is space for the next corpse. It is not an easy feat cutting out the chambers as they are all high up there above the ground and the rocks are as solid as granite. It would take months not to mention skill and so despite all those gruesome thoughts that could be creeping into your mind, just take a peep here, won't you?

Take a peep at Lemo... Can you spot any tau tau?

Traveling Tip: Don't be so green!

Sulawesi Surprise!: Green Lemo

After a sumptuous lunch, our bus journeyed on . There was much greenery at the place we ate and more greenery all along the way. Then, we came to our destination- another green place. There was a big padi field there but hey, there was a hen here too which had been kept captive in a big bamboo basket quite similar to the ones used to contain fruits in Malaysia. There was a little stall selling local handicrafts nearby and that most probably meant this was a place for tourists to Tana Toraja and of course, it was- We had reached Lemo...

Would you perhaps find signs of yet another burial site?

Traveling Tip: You'd never get too much of the same thing!

Wink Willett: Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat

Wink Willett was on the participants in my Tribes of Rajasthan & Gujarat Photo~Expedition, which took place earlier this year between January 23 and February 7, 2010. Due to conflicting time demands, it took a while for him to upload his photographs of the trip, but he finally got them on his website. Here are those I chose to showcase:

To kick the post off, the above photograph is of an elderly Gujarati Rebari with his wife in the background. This is a spontaneous portrait, made whilst the man was greeting someone else.

The above environmental portrait is of two Wadha girls with their goats. The Wadha tribe near Bhuj are traditionally involved in the production of wood charcoal, and are extremely poor. Yet, they take enormous pride in their homes (mostly huts with thatched roofs), the cleanliness of their living quarters and use brilliant colors to spruce them up.

The photograph above is of two traditional Rabari shepherds which was made in the south of Rajasthan. The Rabaris are nomadic shepherds, cattle and camel herders, and the men commonly wear white, golden earrings, white or red turbans and carry a big stick in the hand. They wear dhoti and short double breasted waist coat.

During the photo~expedition, we spent a few days in South Rajasthan to photograph at the Baneshwar Mela; an annual religious gathering when event tribal people indigenous to the area converge to the confluence of two rivers. It is there that they remember their dead and cleanse their sins by bathing in the ice-cold water.

Wink Willett is an international banker, and brings to his photographic style the lessons he learned from his many overseas senior postings. Check his website for more of well composed travel photographs.

Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island

Grand Continental Hotel (N6 19.666 E99 50.233) is one of the Three (3) stars hotel which located at Jalan Pantai Matsirat of Kuah, Pulau Langkawi. It's just in between the Langkawi Parade Shopping Complex and Sky Eagle Inn Hotel. That will be convenience for us to buy some daily necessity and beers at the shopping complex. :)

Hotel Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island. (HDR)

We booked the hotel through the AsiaWebDirect.com, and the rates was MYR150.00 per day, the total was about MYR330.00 for 2 days included booking fees and tax (c/w breakfast for 2 person). I was impressed with service provided by AsiaWebDirect.com !

The Reception and the Hotel Lobby

The staffs at the Check-in counter were very friendly and we had done the check-in less than 10 minutes! Great!
Before I show the photos of the room, let's look around the environment of the hotel...

The Restaurant area. This was the place we had our breakfast.

The swimming pool was just situated beside the restaurant...well, it was just enough space for you to cool down from the hot weather of Langkawi Island.

The Swimming pool of Grand Continental Hotel of Langkawi Island.

The kids said 'Peace' to the lens...:)

When we walked through the corridor along the rooms, I saw a special dustbin just sit beside one of the room...this was unaccepted mentality by the guests! You have to learn to take care your own rubbish.

The corridor in the hotel

The room was spacious enough for us (2 adults & 1 child). But during the online booking, I did stated I need a queen bed rather than 2 single bed! Seems like the hotel staff was Not seriously take care on our reservation.

The room of Grand Continental Hotel, Langkawi

Every rooms are provided with the 21" Colour Television and Hair Dryer.

The attached bathroom

And the bathtub, but the Stains.....

The view from the window, the lower building is the Langkawi Parade Shopping Complex.

The other view from the window...

Overall, we were OK for the hotel. Even the stains look uncomfortable, but we were not here for the bathtub. The breakfast provided was average like a normal fried rice, fried noodle and nasi lemak.

From the cost we paid, I rated : 3.8/5.

Well, I will wanna try other hotel in our next visit to Langkawi Island. It's because there are Too many choices in the island...

After everything settle, we drove to Cenang Beach (Pantai) and started to Explore the island! Haha!

You might get a good room rate by booking online through http://www.holidaycity.com/grand-continental-langkawi/index.htm

Hotel Grand Continental Langkawi
Lot 398, MK. Kuah, Keilbang,
07000 Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia.
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/grandcontinental/

Related post :
* My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
* Underwater World of Langkawi Island
* Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
* The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
* The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
* The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island.
* Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island
* The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
* Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island
* Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island

Location map of Grand Continental Hotel, Langkawi

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