LANGKAWI Part 4 : Pics and Pieces

So these four postings pretty much cover the highlights of our trip. These are just some more pictures of us there.

If you're too lazy to scroll down, here are the preceeding parts :

Langkawi Part 1 : Some videos

Langkawi Part 2 : First time for All of Us

Langkawi Part 3 : Fish N' Eats

ENJOY THE PICS!!!!

Arrival at Langkawi Airport, have to walk Grrrrrrr...

Proud Plunderer of Ocean Life

Buntal, duly Catched and Released

New Wave

My failed attempt at panorama photography

The "magic" number TRES

View from our Chalet

Some weird seaweed that the housewives were scooping out like mad. Must be really good to eat!

A kerapu I caught

Posing atas batu hitam, at the end of Pantai Tengah

Beach was ours!!! Check out the footprints in the sand

The Nation's Building Partners, hard at work

Pasir Eating Monster

D'Warung Restaurant, Amin view

On the flight back, Ayna and Ihsan flat, Amin couldn't stop smiling

Alhamdulillah, hopefully someday, we'll be back!!!

Til then SALAM!!!!

Langkawi Part 3 : Fish N' Eats

One thing that we were looking forward to on our Langkawi trip was the local seafood and of course, some fishan for me. The fishan stories have received much coverage in my other dedicated fishan blog (http://guerillafishan.blogspot.com), so anyone interested in what happened can check out this posting there.

According to Abang Rahim, a local who helped me with my fishan trip as well as other island tips, the best seafood place is called Nelayan, an Ikan Bakar joint, right next to a fisherman jetty (near the way to the Hospital). So naturally, we went there.....TWICE!!! One novel dish they have is Petai Bakar on the BBQ. Syiok, brings out the bitter beauty of petai.

Amin, smiling like a Kerapu, looking at the fresh fish on offer

Some of the giganticus on display

We chose some crab, prawns, small fishies, pari and weird-looking shellfish (on the right). As usual, we may have ordered too much...took us 2 days and 3 meals to finish it all. DEE-LISH!!!


On the second day, we also visited the Underwater World, located near Pantai Cenang. Can't miss the place, and if you are a fish lover, DONT miss it. For a few bucks, you can see all sorts of amazing fishies and father fishies. Some were big, some were cute and small, but every single one was beautiful. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip, plus it got me fired up right just in time for my fishan trip the next day!!

Some Araipama that greets you upon entering the Underwater World

Kids posing with some Black and Albino Patin
Amin face-to-face with his kolam nemesis, the Pacu

Beautiful fishies, Lampam and Temoleh

Beautiful Fish Predator, top of the food chain hehehe

Ayna intrigued by Pink Flamingoes. She loves pink btw

Our favourite was definitely the Rays they had on show. Manta Ray, Sting Ray, Leopard Ray. Was cool to see them flapping sort of like slow-motion in the deep blue water. Here's a vid :

Graceful "flight" of the Pari

Missus trying her hand at hand-fishing hehe

Those sharks were parked there, completely still at the tank floor, sleeping I guess.

The big-ass walk-through tank was cool, fishies swimming around and overhead

Giant Kerapu, twins maybe?

Buntal

On the last morning there, we checked out this restaurant near the Padi field demo thing. The place is called D'Warung, Abang Rahim had taken me there the day before, after our fishan trip. I thought the food during late tea time was good, but the breakfast spread was UNBELIEVABLE! They were sorry, no nasi lemak...but look at what they had on offer at 9am!! Me and the wife almost had seizures looking at the spread, mostly seafood cooked kampung-style!! But we settled for some fresh pari in asam, some excellent Kari Bawal and wife even took Asam Pedas Pari. Talk about revenge for Steve Irwin HAHA!!

Amin washing hands, while some "locals" looked on

That little "structure" with lavender curtains is where they display the lauk

The spread, beats any 5-star hotel anyday

Till Next Time,

Adios and Salam!!!

Langkawi Part 2 : First time for All of Us

Can you imagine, me and the missus have NEVER EVER been to Langkawi before, despite it being like a hot tourist and henjoy destination. Well after few years of marriage and 3 kids later, we finally made our way there. Tickets were booked well in advance, so we got a good rate. Malaysia Airlines bebeh, just can't stand the hassle of the "bus-terminal" they call LCCT.
The kids were excited, Amin and Ayna plonked down and buckled up in the Business Class seats as soon as they were on-board hehehe. It's a short flight, so why waste on expensive tickets, bukan tak mampu (ehemm).

Special Forces (Paratrooper) team on standby for deployment

Passengers travelling with young children may board first, kalau AirAsia jgn harap!!!

Hardcore Fisherman, check out the travel bag ;P

The afternoon upon arrival, we hit the beaches. Stayed at Charlie's Motel (Abang Din 012 422 1200). Sea View and Garden View chalets, quite affordable. Fully air-con, hardly any other services except it's quiet and RIGHT ON THE BEACH, which is exactly our requirement!!. I was hit by some serious fever that first day, shivering and sweating all over. But Alhamdulillah, thanks to some TLC and berkat doa from sweetie wifey, I made it through even stronger than before hehehe.
Next morning, we literally rolled out of bed right on to the beach.

Ayna, brilliant in the morning sun.

Ihsan, sort of in front of our chalet
Al-Fishan with Protege
View from Porto Malai area, tak nampak pun kelibat Paula...

To be continued, stay tuned!!!

LANGKAWI Part 1 (Some Videos)

The whole gang flew down to Pulau Langkawi recently. Had a most excellent time, Alhamdulillah.

Here are some vids. Full story and pics to follow, watch this space!!!

Amin takut nak pegang crab, Ayna cool je!!!



Kids taking walk by beach, Footrace with Amin



Ihsan takes long lonely walk by Pantai Tengah

Amin is 5IVE!!!!! A few weeks ago....

So someone (everyone) noticed that I'm writing a bit too much about fish in this blog, even tho I have another dedicated FISHAN BLOG. Even my last post about a family picnic featured a clip of fishies hehehe...What can i say, I need help!!

So Amin celebrated his birthday last month...it actually happened BEFORE the fishing and the picnic but somehow those stories made it first!! Dont know wot happened hehe

I was always meaning to post some clips and pics from Amin's fifth birthday but I just never got round to it.

Until last night, when i was replaying the "Haapppy Birtthhdayy to You" scene clip for Ihsan from my phone when Amin, who was right next to us, was syncing along to the soundtrack, word for word, sound for sound, cackle for cackle. It was then I realized how important that day was/is to him. I stopped counting when i passed 30 (twice!!?) but he's only had 5, maybe 2 or 3 that he actually remembers!!! hahaha

SO here is the clip. Happy Birthday my son, We Love You. Don't send me and Mommy to an Old Folks home, mmkay???




Here are some random pics from the Party WWWOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!

The Cake

Amin explaining the finer points of Ben 10 "arm-crossing-ology" to Maklong

With Auntie Aya, who kind-heartedly "ordered" the cake from the kedai

My lil butterfly Angel (with antennae)

Just hangin' out....

Aisha : "Berapa lama lagiii niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...??????!!!"
Fatima : Victory to those who patiently wait.



Ciao Gang!!!

ABAH, Sungai tu Laut ke??? @ Kemensah

Peace folks,
One common experience that many kids nowadays (or maybe in the future) may not have the chance to experience is a river picnic outing or "Mandi Sungai"!!!! It is by far one of the most exhilarating, shiverry, goosebump-inducing time of one's life....but under the canopy of the tropical jungle with the warm sunbeams poking through, the cold wet and warm dry seem to meld into a sheer comfort and joy. And the activities, my God, just name it. All you need is a ball, or tire swing or even some pieces of floating wood...and the possibilities are ENDLESS!!
When I was growing up in Seremban, we would drive up Jalan Kolo Pilah, up the mountain to stop by the roadside at Ulu Bendul. Back then it was just a convenient stop by the windy spirally road, now its a commercialized tourist spot with eateries and cement tables and chairs. We used to just park at the lay-by and pick a spot. There weren't too many people picnicking there and you could pretty much pick a spot to lay your tikar and stuff, and be only 5 metres from the cool running stream. The water wasn't too deep but enough to float by if you just lay ur whole body down.


FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT : I took the wife and kids up to Kg. Kemensah back in February. Kg Kemensah is just 10 minutes uphill from Zoo Negara. It's such a hidden paradise within the Kelang (and Keramat) Valley which my pal, Shah Brazan, introduced me to. We were scouting for fishan spots (surprise surprise!!) when i discovered there were chalets and picnic spots by the river and small waterfalls. There was also a lively kampung there, so driving up that small uphill road is a bit daunting for first-timers especially when trying to squeeze two vehicles going the opposite directions.



But it's totally worth it. My kids have never experienced Mandi Sungai before so they were confused. The title of this post was something that Amin actually asked me hehehehe. Poor boy, so familiar with Terengganu and Kuantan beaches, he has no idea where all this water comes from.

Feeding the fishies in the clear water


My wife had the foresight to cook and tapaw lots of food like pasta bolognaise (the kids' fave), roti canai and tuna sandwiches. We had a blast!!! Thanks sayang!!

















There was a tire swing which the kids were fighting over whose turn it was to ride. We fed some baby fishes with bread. They came right up and swam over our feet and nibbled on some of my old skin like a fish spa hehehe. At first the kids were afraid of the cold water, but after 15 minutes, they were sungai water babies. After the first water session, we came up for snacks and the kids were famished!!! Here's a vid, check out Ihsan the lil cutie makan roti!!!

Makan roti after crossing the English Channel


After food, we relaxed for 15 minutes before hitting the water again!!! Was such a GREAT TIME, Alhamdulillah. And i hope the kids learnt a few useful things that day, like Rivers start in mountains and flow down into the Sea. When they found out that river water is not salty, they kept "washing" their tongues with it hehehe. Good thing our spot was the uppermost tourist spot so there was little chance of contamination.

Amin doing the most annoying thing one can do on a water-themed outing


All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Give me a shout if you need coordinates. I might post up some Google Map links, if i feel like it :P



Ciao gang, Salaaammm

MAN vs FISH : Skuad Palapes II

Hey peepol,

As some of you may know, I've been posting more here about fishan than family, so me and my fellow fishianados have set up a dedicated blog for all things fishy : guerillafishan.blogspot.com. Check it out when you have the time!!!

But today's post is a family one, although it's about family members going fishan.

Let me introduce you to the latest guerilla recruit to the whole fishan family hehehehe, my eldest nephew....

Shukri @ Kiki @ The Kaka Monyet hehehehe

Here he is with his first ever catch, a nice sized pacuuuu....
It put up quite a good fight, and Kiki loved every second of it!!! Him kissing the fish LOL!


The day's fishan started out a bit slow..there were a few nibbles but nothing to bring up. Then i decided to switch from dedak to isi ayam bait, so the boys could practice casting better cuz isi ayam is more solid and easier to throw farther. We also moved to another spot, and Kiki cut and set the bait, cast and pulled up the Pacu all by himself. Not like when i helped Amin with his catch (see earlier post), Kiki did it all by himself.

After the first one, he was all confident and even picked out his own spot away from me hehehe. Wouldnt you know it, the kid pulled up 2 good-sized Baung. Not bad for his first time eh? But he wasn't satisfied; the initial fight with the relentless Pacu had him longing for MORE ACTION, not the general malaise of the Baung, which gives up wayyy too easily.

Originally, it was his lil bro Zayd who wanted to go fishing. But i guess he was a bit too small for now and couldn't control his casting so much. So he and Amin proceeded on the sidelines with what they call "Project : Meanwhile" Catching baby fishies with my brand new tangguk HAHAHA...these kids read too much, i tells yah.

Here's wot Project : Meanwhile looks like :
The day ended with 3 grown fish, a bottle of baby fishies and Amin wetting his pants from all the excitement....( "Why didnt u tell me u needed to GO!!!???" " U never ASKED!!!??") Grrrrrrr

So yeah, Kiki wanted to go fishing again the next day but as responsible Uncle, i said NO, tomorrow's MY fishan day hehehehe

Laters!!!