Day 4 and 5 – Langkawi – Laksa Power!

Blearly eyes, heavy under circles and sapped out of energy and enthuasiam.. I woke up to the bright lights of the sun. 10am???

Quick hop over to Nadia’s hoping to catch Hannah for breakfast. Unfortunately she was already on the way to set.
Though the main actress, she slept just as late as us yesterday since we finished the shoot at the same time and yet she had to be on set so early that morning.
So don’t get the idea that actresses and actors had it better. But then, it’s futile to compare..I mean, how are they paid and how much are we getting?

A slice of bread and 2 hours of email checking later, I met up with the rest for “breakfast” in a open cafe just opposite our hotel.
No pictures as I didn’t have appetite and nothing looked good anyways. Just Malay food like any other. By now , I’ll run a mile for a plate of wan tan mee.

Food in Langkawi is easily classified into – Malay, seafood – Chinese or Malay style, Thai influenced dishes or in touristy area like Pantai Cenang and Kuah town, the occasional commercial outlets of westernized cuisine of Italian, Pizzas, Mexican, etc..

Nothing much to truly claim as “Langkawi food” unlike Ipoh, Penang, Johor..etc.

Of course, I spoke to locals and even foreigners over the 3 days on the set, asking for the low-down on the food places. the locals basically couldn’t think of any place to recommend except for their “Laksa Power” since I asked about the Kedah laksa, (more on that later *wink*) and of course, seafood.

Not in the mood for much, and since our itinerary were suddenly changed, we were not prepared and decided to take it easy for the day. Shopped around the area, some went to Langkawi Waterworld, duty free shops and I was busy checking out liquor and chocolate prices.


The prices here are crazy man.. considerably cheaper than airports! You’ll not be blamed for thinking that you’ll never buy another bottle of liquor in a bar again.

Saw loads of liquor I have never seen before..too bad I was stopped from taking more pictures and only managed the above pics..

In the evening I went to pick up our pay and some uncomfortable minutes passed as I voiced my dissatisfaction, though it was really a waste of effort. The rest of the extras were just accepting the decision & happy to take whatever they have made. sometimes I wonder if anyone now ever tried standing up for themselves? Make a point, voice it out and stand by it?
It’s always the same for anything, homo sapiens in general will just complain, loud and strong too BUT only to friends and everyone else except to the direct relevant person. Facing the individual, they will just smile and go “ok, yes..” and then..start bitching about it again after that. What the heck? How’s that going to accomplish anything?

Resigned to the fact and I just made up my mind to make the best of the trip.

Night time, we did went to a few places, however, pics are with Michael so I’ll upload them once I get it..

DAY 5: Today was better…

Woke up at 6am as I wanted to make sure Ning doesn’t miss her ride again. Long story, (I will not bore you with the details as this is supposed to be a food blog) and behold.. Murpy’s law at work again.. she still miss the ride to the ferry terminal but it was the fault of the agent really.. we waited for an hour and no van turned up. Too drained to go for my beach jog as initially planned, I went back to bed.

This holiday haven’t been going well for me.. good god.
Falling sick, Ning missing her departure ferry and van twice, shoot cut short, missed the sunset, majorly feeling pissed and cheated for 2 days, NO GOOD food, man.. sucks like hell…

Our mission this morning was to get a car so we could drive around the island, visit some beaches, GET SOME DECENT FOOD, go shopping and etc..
After 5 shops, we managed to get a car, at a good price too *grin*.. RM50 for 24 hours. Kancil – manual. (Other models are RM70 and above). So things are finally looking up.

Breakfast cheered me up too, (good food never fails!) LOL, and its all thanks to Dan, one of the extras, who is a Japanese residing in Langkawi with his dad who runs a guest house. It was really kind of him to offer us breakfast after hearing me whine about the lack of good food.. heh..

Food..finally something I like.. American breakfast!
Cheese!!!


My special order…

Thank god for Dan..really really sweet guy..yup, he cooks!

Michael and Dan goofing around..

The place.. Rainbow GuestHouse, Pantai Cenang.

It’s surroundings.. it doesn’t get any originally rural than this.. this is the Malaysia I treasure..

Tranquility at its most peaceful..

So pleasing to the eyes…fresh flowers growing..

Next up: Itinerary for the day..
Go back to the agent, claim back our money.. as expected they have their cock and bull story of the van turning up and saw no one waiting etc. Gave them a piece of my mind and managed to get a full refund. See what I mean? Let people push you and they will. Don’t be unreasonable, but do know your rights.

Yup, day turning better..
At the ferry, I went in all the way with Ning till I got her boarded (seeing her step into the ferry was such a relief!).

Next up, Kuah town for some shopping. Feeling relaxed now, I got into the swing of things and managed to pick up some interesting stuffs for my online store.

Lunch.. The Laksa Power!!

Expectations were really exponentially powered up (pun intended)..

but sadly, failed to impress us…
If this is the best Langkawi has to offer.. oh dear… or I have not met the right local to bring me around?
I mean, this is THE place – every local told me this is THE BEST. Hell, it tasted like my high school canteen laksa..
The breakdown: It was slightly tangy & sour from the tamarind slices (as you can see from the pic), soup was watery and fish bits well mixed into the soup so you don’t get chunks of meat. The noodles were definitely not al dente (ahem), chopped bird eye chillies were added in for the extra oommpphh (power!) LOL. Garnished with parsley and each bowl comes with one hard boiled egg. RM3.00.

The other option is mee rebus, and of course we had to order one to try..

This one was actually quite good. The x-factor was the gravy. Starchy yes, but not as potato-ish as the ones we normally get in Pg, Ipoh, Johor or Klang Valley. This one is sweet, with a slightly spicy aftertaste. Reminded me of kicap manis. Of which I suspect is the main ingredient.
Normal yellow mee, hard boiled egg again, pieces of bean curd sheets, loads of parsley and shallots, shreds of raw jamica, this become my meal and the legendary laksa ignored.

Chendol pulut is another Kedahan (or Northern? cos in Perak some stalls has pulut but not in Penang..) specialty, it seems, for I saw stalls of it along the roads in Langkawi and on the way to Alor Star.
A pure ice kacang and tong shui addict, I made a beeline for the chendol even before I went to look at the laksa.

After my initial dissappointment with the laksa, I was further infuriated with this. The pulut ( glutinous rice) itself was tasteless. Which was annoying. Shouldn’t it be at least salty??
Other than that additional lump of pulut, it was a chendol like any other. The red sago-s is no more QQ (chewy) and was just alike eating a flour ball.

I’m embarrassed to describe the red beans. It was completely inedible and rock hard. Yup, not even half cooked.
RM2.00 for that. Granted, the gula melaka and coconut milk saved the dish(or the bowl) for it was thick and rich. Oh, lets not forget to mention that the ice is not the shaved version, just chunks of ice blocks dumped into the bowl.
The green mung bean “jellies” were “soggy”. My god..give me this any day!

The “outlet”

This is how I got the pic above.. hehe..



The chendol stall.

Then I looked up and saw this.

I refrained from asking what it is exactly.. don’t think I want to know..

We went to a few places of interest after the meal, but that I’ll save the pics for another entry as this post is getting really long..

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. J2Kfm

    hi there! interesting how u climbed aboard your car and took the shot!
    no passerby shocked out of their (car)boots? 🙂

    hahaha … shame bout the powderful laksa and meagre cendol pulut.

  2. thenomadGourmand

    j2kfm: Hahaha.. got some stares! and cars slowing down! LOL.
    Yup, for that kind of food I didn't expect the A&P to be so bold!

  3. Villa Areklo

    This is great. I’m glad I have finally found someone who thinks like I do. Keep it rolling!

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