Sights and Eats: Langkawi Day 1

It took us almost 24 hours to get here. Don't ask how, there  are sored bottoms involved and yes, they hated the spotlight.  Anyway, finding a cab from Langkawi airport to the hotel was a brisk . For one, taxi voucher is available next to airport exit. Prizes depend on the location of your hotel  . I find that great. As a tourist, there's nothing more annoying than an unnecessary island/city tour with taxi  meters ticking like cash registers . We bought a voucher and we were whisk efficiently into a comfortable cab, then , off we way go. The streets and the road condition in Langkawi is amazing. It's even  better than most streets in the posh neighbourhood of Baden Baden, Germany. Traffic could not get any better. The absence of public transportation is evident.  It took us less than 20 minutes to reach Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort and Spa. It boast a Malaysian village or Kampung -like accommodations  with garden, pool, lake or beach views sprawled across its 35-acre beach property . I sigh tiredly but happily. Alas, Malaysia!

The lobby made a good impression. The high ceiling is adorned with gigantic chandeliers,  open aired with structure predominately made of dark woods. We were guided to one of the plush lounges while waiting for check in. A cold and refreshing drink was brought to our table which we gratefully tip off our dry throats   Few minutes later, I scrap my signature on a piece of paper, making us few hundreds of  euro poorer. We were transferred to our accommodation,    which resembles a Malaysian House. I like our room! It's spacious, looks traditional with wood flooring and furniture , painting adorned walls and white washed ceilings . It has a huge, comfortable bed , clean and modern bathroom and veranda or terrace so wide, you could practically waltz on it. Yup, I like it a lot.

I jump into the shower, grateful of the warm water that washes sweat and fatigue off my body. Jet lag? What jet lag?! There's this  place , beautiful place that needs exploring and tummies that need filling.

View from Cba Restaurant and Bar

Cba  Restaurant and Bar

 Top left: Chicken satay with peanut sauce. Top right: Prawns in  sweet ,light spicy sauce. 

Bottom left: Soppy banana split. Bottom right.  Cheesecake .

Lunch was mediocre and overpriced, however, the beachfront restaurant offers an amazing view of the pristine, white sanded beach and inviting, calm  sea. Meritus Pelangi Resort has one of  the best beaches in  Pentai Cenang. Powdery sand, clean shore and for some reasons,  vendors offering souvenir items, island tours, aqua sports  and  adventure rides ,  stay off the resort's ground, giving this area a sense of exclusiveness.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the resort's property and its wonderful beach . We explore the whole place until exhaustion and heat took its toll. We went back to our room with our freshly washed garment and undergarments  clinging uncomfortably to our backs and armpits. The  cool , air-conditioned room provided a welcoming relief. The supposedly 30 minute nap became a 3 hour coma-like sleep . We felt alive and  hungry after that. So, we scour the area for some noms. Just a few minute walk along the Pentai Cenang street  are smorgasbord of restaurants , cafes and food stalls. Chinese, Indian, Mediterranean , Malay, Italian . You name it. Pentai Cenang has it. This is truly a foodie street.

Orkid Ria Restaurant in Pentai Cenang

Dinner was at Orkid Ria . Fish and seafoods are less abundant and ridiculously expensive in our place in Germany. So we gorged ourselves silly with those while in Langkawi. The bill was not as cheap as I though it would be, but then again, the lobster was big and still pinching its claw and swinging its antennas   when we bid our last goodbye. We had a feast!

Fresh , juicy and plump scallops stir fried in mild spicy sambal sauce.

12 Ringgit for a dozen. Cheap and tasty chicken satay with peanut sauce. Tasted way than the satay we had at lunch.

 The star of the night. The Butter Lobster. Succulent, fresh and served with this delicious if not mysterious thread/fine noodle like ''substance''. I can't really say if its a vegetable, dried herbs or pasta. It was pretty damn tasty so I asked what it was. ''Oh, it's egg and butter!'', says the friendly , attentive but lying through his teeth waiter. Oh well, I understand why they want to keep it a secret. It's their best seller after all. It sill hunt me in my sleep though.

For extra 20 ringgit, The Lobster's head was stir fried in scallion and ginger, making it a completely different dish. It was a huge portion and I thoroughly enjoy picking up the tasty meat off its shell using my fingers. FF, less so.Well, more for me then. Hah!

2 bottles of ice cold Bintang beers for my happy guy and fresh fruit juice for me.  As I pleasure may grateful palate and fill my appreciating guts, my behind's throbbing tribulation is  long forgotten. Aaahh Malaysia, you are worth the long flight, the cramped space and the tender bottom indeed...

Shrimp and mango Spring Rolls

Conversation  with  girl friends these days are starting to get frustrating. Why?  Most talks tend to revolve around weighing scales , diet plans and something green .No, not that green. I'm talking about broccolis, beans, cucumbers, salads and like.  Not my favorite subjects, I tell you. I'm starting to miss the days when gushy girl talk  about Romnick Sarmento and his  I'll make-you- choke- on- your- own- spit gaze, are muffled over truck loads of chicirya and drums of soda. He was the Philippine's  Heart throb ( dub-dob dub-dob) of his time .   Used  to be the coolest guy on Earth, or so I believed . I young then ,with face full of zits and got no cable TV. That was long before I laid my eyes on Top Gun and Aviator glasses and Tom Cruise. Where did the years gone by ?

I invited few  girlfriends for lunch last month. Before talks and tips about how to shred unwanted pounds could even start, I whisk a some freshly deep fried spring rolls under their noses.  Served with a good dose of low-fat-not dip,  it was gone in a brisk.  LDL , 24 '' dream waistline and dietary restraints all thrown out of the window. Women, are just diabolical creatures, aren't we?

Shrimp Lumpia ala Emily

500 g, raw shrimp, peeled, divined and chopped coarsely

Marinade:  2 cloves of garlic finely  minced, 1 tsp.

grated ginger root, 1/2 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tsp light soy sauce,

2 tablespoon cornstarch

1 big mango, stone remove, flesh cubed or sliced, your call.

salt and pepper

1 small egg beaten

Spring roll wrapper, Oil for deep frying

Cooking Instructions:

Mix raw shrimp and the marinade mixture  ( exept cornstarch) together  Refrigerated for about 30 minutes. Before wrapping, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cornstarch.

Place spring roll wrapper on a work surface. Brush edges with beaten egg. Place about a tablespoon of  marinated shrimp and about 2 tablespoon of cubed/sliced mango. Form filling into a log, fold the lower edge of the wrapper over the filling. Fold the left and the right edges like an envelop. Roll up tightly. Repeat until shrimp filling and mangoes are used up.

Heat oil in deep fryer/ wok or pan. Deep fry spring rolls until golden brown. Serve piping hot and with  your favourite sauce. Like Garlic Aioli or sweet-chili Mayo dips.

  

Perfect finger food. Worth every damn calorie!

HoneyMOOing in Langkawi

It might be too late to start talking about honeymoon. After all , the Spoon and her Favorite Fork a.k.a  FF, has been married for almost 8 years now.  Yay! 12 years together and praise Batman, we manage to overcome that 7 year itch and  stay smitten and remain in love.  When you wake up next to each other after a night of snoring and drooling, breath smelling nothing like roses and still gaze at each other like you just slept next to Brangelina , then you my friend ,  finally found your one true love. Somebody who stays with you, accepts you, your morning breath, unshaven and unwaxed extremities , long-gone va-va-voom figure and all other extra baggages that goes with it. Now, if that ain't that love, then I don't know what is!

Our wedding was a relatively quiet event  and to make sure that we do remember the day,   we try to make each anniversary, special.  This year, we decided to spend it in Asia! I have been dreaming of this holiday for months.I might as well thank those travel brochures for that. You know  those picturesque beaches graced by  couple  in crisp-white drabs   frozen  in honeymoon-ey, euphoric  moment? Travel advertisement couldn't get any better than that! 

It could make any woman dreamy,  wish to go on a holiday and search for her guy in white too. Though not necessarily in that order.  Don't you wish you are that girl , who's trying to sell that: I'm sooo in love     and  on a puurfect holiday aaand got this hunk who could lift me without distending his carotid artery? I once wished  that too!  But I also know, my hunk could not carry bride me without slipping a disc or busting a blood vessel.  But, I did fancy seeing him in this crisp, white top and pants. So few days before the trip, I bought him this perfect  holiday outfit .Long sleeve shirt and too tight-for-comfort -pants to show of his bulk-y ass.

''I am NOT wearing that! It looks uncomfortable and hot!'' says my practical and fashionable hunk-not guy.  Puff! There goes my mental holiday picture.No Kodak moment for the Babbling Spoon, thank you very much!  Yet, as the plane landed in the Langkawi, an archipelago made up of 99 islands in Malaysia, the heat and the humidity welcomed me like punch in the face . My  pores opened and started poring like leaky pipes. This is one of those rare  moments that I'm glad, I listened to my husband.

We did not have that commercial- like, couple in love picture. On the contrary, on most photos we looked deep fried , sweaty and dehydrated! But we did have a blast!. Pristine beaches offering endless dose of sea, sun and sand,  lush flora and fauna ,boasting an untouched jungle beneath with  creatures big and small, winged, clawed, fanged  and all,  paddy fields and grass grazing, mooo-ing, poo-ing Buffalos, abundant mangroves , rivers and cascading waterfalls,  towering limestone cliffs and mountains.  Then, there's the foods! Ooh so delicious foods. Harvest of the sea, so fresh you say practically shake hands or  tentacles with your lunch/ dinner before they take their last plunge into the sizzling woks. Lastly, the romantic sunsets and equally beautiful sunshine, that could make any one who witness it, gloriously happy.

The best part is, although  Langkawi is  one of the  favourite vacation destinations in Malaysia, it is less crowded  than Boracay, Bali or Phuket and  other major tourist hubs in Asia. Less tourist, less traffic and less garbage, making this place a cleaner, quieter holiday alternative. No, I am not paid to say that.