Christmas in Langkawi

Arriving home in Singapore after a long flight we were greeted by the welcome sight of Duncan...I am sure he is taller than the last time I saw him. We spent the weekend catching up on his news, doing the washing and packing for the next trip to Langkawi. We caught up with Libby and Eric over dinner on Saturday night and heard their stories of the latest trek to Nepal and probably drank too much as well. On Sunday Michael and Duncan headed over to Macritchie Reservoir for a walk while I stayed home and caught up on the domestics.
Monday morning we were at the airport by 9 for our flight to Langkawi for Xmas. Our resort is comfortable enough although a little worn around the edges, but we had a walk along the beach and a swim in the pool before dinner at Cactus across the road.

On Tuesday I joined Libby and Eric on a bird watching tour, while Michael and Duncan went on a jet ski tour of the islands. They thoroughly enjoyed their day out as did I. Our guide, Wendy, was very knowledgable and we spotted 32 different birds, including 4 different kinds of Kingfishers. Unfortunately it was overcast, with intermittent showers so their colours were not as visible as they would have been in bright sunshine.

Xmas tree, Langkawi style

We had a very tasty meal at the Istanbul Restaurant, although Duncan was having trouble getting rid of his ' Vietnam bellyache' ...hopefully he will be fit for Christmas Eve dinner.
Christmas Eve dawned wet and wetter! After a slow start we left Duncan resting some more and strolled uptown to get some money and a light lunch. Michael returned to the hotel for a foot/leg massage as he has been a bit tight after the jet ski tour. Libby and Eric went for a wander to the end of the road and we went for a stroll along the beach. Then it was time to prepare for Christmas Dinner. There were plenty of choices at the buffet and a variety of entertainments. The highlight was the Smiths winning one of the lucky draws!

Christmas morning dawned with some sunshine at last. We celebrated the event with champagne and OJ accompanied by some very tasty french pastries, before heading over to Cactus for breakfast. The Munros indulged in a swim while the Smiths had a rest. We left Eric catching up on sleep while the rest of us had a tasty lunch at the French Patisserie up the road. Then it was time for another swim.

Note: Eric has 2 glasses of champagne!

We hired a car on Boxing Day and visited the Cable Car...with every other person on Langkawi. To avoid standing in a VERY long queue we took the express option which included a nature trail walk as well as the very vertical cable car ride.

Mid-point of the cable car.

We then visited the nearby waterfalls before dropping Duncan back home while we headed over to Kuah, the main town on the island. Libby managed to find some new shoes while we sat out the tropical storm...we got tired of waiting for it to end and drove home through some very heavy rain.

This is NOT meant to be a pond!

Finally on our last day we managed an entire day without rain, so we spent time in the pool and laying around on deck chairs on the beach.

Finally a chance to use the deckchairs.

We had arranged a late checkout so we just relaxed. When we got back to Singapore the rain had caught up with us again. We woke on Sunday morning to news of another missing plane, Air Asia this time, the carrier we had travelled with the night before.
After a slow start we headed over to NEWater at Bedok, one of 4 processing plants on the island, where they clean used water for re-use. Over 95% of the production is used by industry and the rest is added to the reservoirs which provide Singapore's water.

On Sunday night I gave my new tagine a tryout and produced a delicious lemon chicken, not quite the same as our cooking class one as I still have to source some preserved lemons, but no-one complained!
After a quiet day on Monday we went to Shishmahal for a last dinner with Duncan, then up to Level 33, where Bev and the Smiths joined us for a nightcap.

We were pleased to hear from Duncan that he was safely back in Brisbane so we relaxed in front of the TV. Michael could finally watch Love Actually, his Xmas time must-watch movie.
Robert and Maria arrived back late Tuesday so on Wednesday we met them at their new apartment to help them with a bit of furniture rearrangement, before heading in to the Boomerang Bar at Robinson Quay to celebrate New Years Eve with friends. We ended up at the Crazy Elephant at Clarke Quay before making our way home about 2.30...fortunately the public transport system was operating later than usual as the taxi queues were rather daunting!

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