Cable Car Ride at Oriental Village

This morning we headed over to a little tourist area just went of the marina called Oriental Village. On the way, we passed an inviting beach with white sand where ox were languidly meandering along. The parking lot for Oriental Village was packed. We found a spot and went inside. It is basically a shopping center, but the shops are in cute little Asian style buildings with tall roofs an Asian version of Seaport Village in San Diego. The shops are all situated around a small pond with lotus flowers in it. There are three bridges to cross the pond. It is an attractive site. We browsed the shops briefly. They mostly sell clothes, food, handicrafts, and assorted souvenirs.

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Our real destination was the Continue reading

Tour of Langkawi – The North Road Back to Telaga Harbour

Continued from yesterday¦ In the foyer there is a brief biography about the prime minister and his wife. We knew the prime minister was a doctor who was instrumental in revolutionizing Malaysia from a country based on commodities to one based on industry. We knew nothing about his wife. She was one of the first female medical students in Singapore, one of the first female doctors in Malaysia, and the first female head of two state government departments relating to women’s and children’s health care. After her husband became Prime Minster, she became actively involved eight organizations geared at health care (physical and mental), family planning, rehabilitation of handicapped kids, and the like. In addition, she campaigned tirelessly for drug abuse control and adult literacy. And in between, she managed to bear and raise 7 children. Wow.

The museum was almost shocking. It is absolutely enormous and completely full of an eclectic assortment of items. They came from everywhere around the world, from governments and private individuals. They also came from within Malaysia, again from government agencies and from private individuals. The majority of the gifts were bowls and vases literally too many to possibly count. There were lots and lots of hanging art pieces, including Continue reading

Tour of Langkawi – The South Road to Kuah

Yesterday, Bob and Nancy told us we had to come out this morning to see the Chinese grocer. He comes at 1030 every Friday, and it is something the boaters all look forward to each week. In Islam, the Sabbath is on Fridays, and most businesses are closed, including all the grocery stores. There is an enterprising Chinese man who brings groceries out to the boaters on Fridays.

This morning we had a hard time getting up. We finally rolled out of bed at 1015. We quickly made ourselves presentable and went out to the parking lot next to the marina office, where a small crowd was standing around and waiting. A mini-van pulled up a few minutes later and Continue reading

Welcome to Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia

06-21.9N by 99-41.0E – At about 2330 (11:30 pm) last night, the wind picked up to 15 to 20 knots right on the nose. An hour later, our nice, flat seas were replaced with lumpy and uncomfortable head seas. Oh well. All good things must come to an end. Our speed immediately dropped by a full knot. Eric was seasick shortly thereafter. His body does not like head seas at all. Christi took over watch for the rest of the night. The two of us are a mess lately!

By dawn (0730 out here), we had gotten close enough to Langkawi island to be in more protected waters. At about 1000 we approached our destination, Telagga Harbour, on the northwest side of the island. The island is beautiful from the distance — tall mountains with sheer cliffs and thick foliage. The cliffs rise dramatically out of the sea. There is a nice lighthouse at the entranceway into the channel to the marina. Two small islands filled with evergreens create an anchorage area to the left of the channel. As we continued up the channel towards the marina, we noticed Continue reading

Passage from Port Dickson to Langkawi, Malaysia

Yesterday we left a little after noon. Sea conditions were phenomenal, with winds ranging from 0 to 5 knots with flat seas, and conditions have pretty much stayed the same as of this writing at 2300 (11:00 pm). Speeds have also been good, averaging 6 ½ knots at 1600 RPM. Christi wasn’t feeling super good yesterday morning, and as the day wore on, she could no longer deny that she had picked up Eric’s cold. Christi is very thankful for the smooth seas, because she is feeling miserable and doesn’t think she could take a miserable ride while feeling miserable.

We went back out to the shipping lane and hugged the edge of it, as we had done on our way in. The farther north we got, the more the lane narrowed. There is a shallow shoal with a sunken ship on it near Port Klang, which further narrows the lane. Eric decided that it was probably better to leave the shipping lane near that area to avoid a congestion of big ships near the shoal. It was already dark. There was no moon out, and like most nights, it was mostly cloudy with few stars peeking through the clouds.

Only a few minutes outside the lane, something that looked like a wall suddenly appeared Continue reading