After the shuttle bus driver issues at Tune LCCT last night, it was a great moment this morning when I realised that not only was this morning's driver a totally different person, but he was also way nicer and less insulting. The fact that he'd had a stroke and had lost the use of some of his left side came up when we started chatting. He was such a nice guy and a great shuttle driver!
After arriving at the LCCT (AKA the hangar from hell), I kept with tradition and had breakfast at Old Town White Coffee, my favourite chain in Malaysia. Breakfast was, of course, an iced white coffee and double kaya toast - thick wholemeal toast spread with coconut (kaya) jam and with blocks of butter slammed in for good measure.
I picked up my purple bag from the left luggage ladies where I stashed it on Sunday and headed off to check in for my flight to Pulau Langkawi. In keeping with another tradition, I had pre-ordered myself a fresh young green drinking coconut to enjoy on the plane. I also hung out in the massaage chair, which is just what I do when I'm waiting to fly to Langkawi!
The flight departed and I was sat next to an Arab father and son. The son was eyeing up my lollies something chronic, so I offered him one (they are halal) but he politely declined and so did his dad. I think he preferred to eat them with his eyes. I always have boiled sweets on planes, as my ears really get it during take-off and landing. The kid looked really uncomfortable but he said no, so what else could I do?
I arrived in Langkawi, late, had lunch at Marrybrown (local Malay version of KFC), grabbed a cab and arrived at the "resort". Now, let me start by saying that I was NOT expecting service, smiles, helpful friendly staff or any kind of courtesy - having stayed there last year I know the deal. What transpired was that the two little horrors on reception claimed not to have my booking and refused to help me find it for over 15 mintes - that is, until I threatened to call the police.
All of a sudden, the reservations manager materialised out of thin air and proceeded to magically find said booking that had been "overlooked" (aka we are too busy playing with our mobile phones and ignoring our customers to do our jobs properly, so sit down and shut up while we finish playing candy crush, would you?) and found me a room.
Then I had an A4 piece of paper in a display stand literally shoved in my face that said the renovations will take place from 9am to 6pm and is that okay madam? Imagine my response. Go on, I dare you.
And then, for the trifecta - a RM100 key deposit was demanded of me and you should have seen the filthy look I got when I demanded in an equally officious tone, perfectly matching the one they used on me, that they gave me a receipt for it.
I stomped off upstairs to my "room" to find that the housekeeping standards had not improved in eight months (not that I had expected them to), settled in as best I could with Larry the Lizard running up and down the walls (he's a skink actually) and then went for a swim.
After my swim it was time to eat and take a few photos. So I did. I had dinner at Nasi Kandar Tomato (Tandoori Chicken, Iced Lemon Tea, Naan Bread and an Iced Coffee) for about $4 AUD and walked around Cenang for a couple of hours to grab supplies aand watch the sunset before retiring with a Strawberry ice cream, and then forgetting I had a massage booked! I walked back to Alun-Alun Spa in Cenang via the beach, where I met Black, the beach cat. This cool kitty spends all her time hanging out on the sand in Cenang. Wonder if I can get Syd to do this?
I arrived at Alun-Alun where I was delighted to find the lovely Noy is still working there. Yay! Another familiar face on this gorgeous island. I had a one-hour traditional Malay massage and enjoyed it immensely.
And that was day 0.5 in Langkawi. Tell you what, I wrote a scathing review on TripAdvisor of the hotel here which didn't save - lucky hotel. The second one I wrote was equally as scathing, just short of a few words and far more eloquent. I pity the fool that stays there in future, because I sure as heck won't!
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