AirAsia to Langkawi, Meals while Landing! What an Experience

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Malaysia, Truly Asia.

The stores were doing a good trade, and I think they needed more rubbish bins.

 

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And now, for more sight-seeing. Today, we head to the Cable Car, Panorama Langkawi. This is the website of the attraction - http://www.panoramalangkawi.com/

From our hotel, it would take about 40 minutes (depending on traffic). Here is a signpost to the place, still 21km away. I recall this signpost was near Hotel Bayview, well at least not soon after we left.

The roads were in a good condition and generally clear, at least when we were travelling. The driver did say that Langkawi could get very busy, but it didn't felt too busy when we were there.

Continuing the journey.

We arrive at the Oriental Village, which leads to the cable car.

It says Oriental Village, Cable Car. A rather rustic looking entrance!

These were the ticket prices

That looks really steep. Apparently, this is the steepest cable car in the world, so claimed the Malaysians. If somebody knows of another cable car set-up that is even steeper, please let me know.

The plan was to take the cable car to the middle station, then the top station, then view the SkyBridge and come back down. In this first video, I am in the cable car heading up, towards the middle station. Very, very steep.

 

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At the middle station, we got off the cable car to check out the views. If you were in a hurry to get to the top, you could decide to stay in the cable car instead of getting off. This was taken at the middle station.

Great view of Langkawi from here. Even better from the top station.

Here is a video of the ride from the middle to the top station, followed by some views from the platform on the peak. Good weather, albeit windy. Awesome views. God's creation shouts out to me!

The top station, where the cable cars make a roundabout and head back down again. I wonder how many trips a cable car makes in a day.

I can see the middle station (far left) and top station, where I am now, on the right. See the cables.

The open walkways at the top looked rather new. Good day to be up here. Beautiful views all around.

At the top. This sign indicates that this is the birthplace of Malaysia.

The views from the mountain top.

 

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From the top station, we could see the Sky Bridge, a curved bridge. We would be heading there shortly.

The geology was fascinating. Many peaks and sheer drops.

Looking out into the horizon.

Langkawi SkyCab Top Station.

They started this locks thingy on the bridge. Very nice. Not many locks at this stage but I think the numbers will grow over time.

Now we head to the Sky Bridge. How to get there from the Top station? Two options. One is to walk, which turns out to be quite difficult and winding. The cost is an extra 5RM. Another option is to take an Inclinator, which looks like an elevator. The additional cost is 15RM. We chose the Inclinator. Take note that your ticket from the base station is only for the cable car, and it does not cover this Inclinator and Sky Bridge.

Here is a video of the Inclinator experience. The ride takes about 2 minutes each way. It is basically a lift to bring you own to the Sky Bridge but it is at an incline because of the landscape.

 

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At the platform for the Sky Bridge, after taking the Inclinator from the Top station to this platform.

The Langkawi Sky Bridge is definitely one of the island's highlights. If you are doing the cable car, remember to budget enough time for the Sky Bridge too. It is a 410foot curved walkway above Mount Mat Cinchang.

The Sky Bridge is supported by a single metal piece, built at an angle. I guess this is a designer steel bridge. The bridge won the Swiss Steel Design Award in 2005. This award is given by the Swiss Institute of Steel Construction.

The award citation is worth a read.

“The Panorama Bridge in Langkawi is a courageous, strongly expressive piece of construction, which integrates sensitively with nature. The support structure is distinctively detached from the topography and together with the stunning curved walk-way, the concept ideally responds to the stringent requirements posed when
opening a protected nature-reserve to tourism. The demanding steel structure has been designed meticulously and demonstrates the great potential of steel as a building material for such exceptional architectural projects with highest quality requirements. The jury acknowledges that the complex space-frame is built-up from standard steel profiles and -parts. The impressively precise and efficient planning, fabrication and installation under difficult externally imposed conditions reflects the highest performance of the involved planners and contractors.”

Well, having been there, I do think that it is worthy of the award. A tourist taking a photo. This photo shows you the width of the bridge.

The view of the top station from the bridge. Basking in the sun.

The solitary metal piece holding up the entire bridge, using a system of steel cables. The support structure is built at an angle to the ground. Fascinating.

The view, from the platform at the far end of the bridge.

Yes, the bridge is curved. Cool design, I like it.

Another view of the bridge as we head back to the top station, for the cable car ride back down. Yes, Langkawi can be proud of this bridge as well as the cable car. It was an awesome morning.

 

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We spent more than an hour plus on the top station as well as the Sky Bridge, and soon it was time to go back down. This was the cable car ride down. It was more windy and we could feel the cable car sway in the wind. Quite an experience!

We reached the base station safely (phew!). There were larger crowds now. Good that we came early!

See the line for buying tickets.

This attraction was certainly very popular. I can understand why. Definitely worth a visit.

A kid playing with the fountain. It was a hot day.

Back to the carpark.

Food, more food. This was in Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia. A coffeeshop, more traditional. We came here to get some lunch. It was warm, it was humid, but this was Malaysia. Many locals dining here, so we couldn't be too far wrong. Here is a video.

My won-ton mee. 5 Ringgit for this serving.

I realised that I did not show any photos of the breakfast I had in the Hotel Bayview. The breakfast spread was decent, but I would say catered more towards local/asian tasting. Of course, you had the usual breads and stuff, but most of the food was for the local palate. Some photos.

This is some nasi lemak rice, frieg egg, curry. Yes, I like this very much for breakfast. Very high in calories though.

This is called Roti Canai (or flat bread). Sometimes in Singapore we call it Roti Prata. Eat with curry.

Here it is - Roti Canai.

I think these were the condiments for the chicken porridge.

These were condiments for the Nasi Lemak.

Nasi Lemak rice. Delicious! (though very high in calories...)

Nasi Lemak! Yummy.

 

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The Loaf Bakery and Bistro, Langkawi. This is a premier bakery first opened in 2006, at the Perdana Quay in Telaga Harbour Park. Subsequently they have opened in several places in Malaysia. The Loaf produces bakery products like bread, pastries, cookies using traditional Japanese methods. They also have a comprehensive ala carte menu, where you can have breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Interestingly, the Loaf is supposedly owned by Tun Dr Mahathir, the most famous ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia.

This video shows you our experience at the Loaf Langkawi, Perdana Quay. We had heard about this place and decided to come here for lunch. The bistro is located quite near the SkyCab Cable Car.

Here are some pictures. Inside the bistro.

The first breakfast item caught my attention. Why? It says Tun's Breakfast! Can I conclude that this is Tun's favourite breakfast? Interesting.

Front page of the menu. Prices were still reasonable by Singaporean standards. But of course these prices would be expensive by local standards.

Back page of the menu, including drinks. Cappuccino for 10RM.

Hot coffee. Neat cup. Came with a nice cookie too.

Some of the breads on sale. These breads were supposed to be very good.

This was the Loaf Signature Club sandwich. A hearty portion. Literally heart-shaped too!

Do check out the video for snippets of the rest of the food, including Laksa, some breads, grill fish on rice, grilled chicken on rice and coffee.

Many visitors rent a car to drive around in Langkawi. The good news is that it is not difficult to do so. The roads are in good shape and they are not complicated. With a map and GPS, it would be very hard get lost. Also, parking is free in most places. In this video, show you some scenes on the road.

We didn't have much time for beach activities this time round, however, we stopped by briefly at a beach just to take a look. Pretty hot and sunny.

 

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The ZON Langkawi Shopping Center
We stopped by at the Zon 'Duty Free' shopping center to check out the place and also to buy some chocolates.

Here is a video of the Zon shopping center, which wasn't very large to begin with. But the alcohol was cheap and plenty of chocolates too.

 

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Very soon, it was time to head back to Singapore. A short but fun trip to Langkawi. I flew here on Air Asia but I am flying home on Silk Air, which is Singapore Airlines regional subsidiary. I don't fly Silk Air very often, so this would be interesting. SilkAir operates a short-haul fleet, currently a mix of Airbus A319, A320 and Boeing 737. However, I think they have ordered the upcoming Boeing 737-MAX and will phase out their Airbus fleet over time.

Before the fight, here is a video of the Langkawi international airport. We had some time at the airport, but it was a small airport. There was time for a meal (some dinner) before the flight.

The departures from Langkawi airport this evening.

A Malaysian flag hanging from the roof of the terminal. Malaysia Boleh!

Check-in counters.

Starbucks at the Langkawi International airport. Quite well patronized.

This was my Kampung style Fried Rice from a restaurant on the 2nd floor of the airport terminal.

A view of the terminal from the second floor.

After security, waiting area for the flights. This airport did not have any aero-bridges. We would need to walk on the tarmac to the plane, just like when we arrived.

 

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Let me proceed to the flight itself. It was on a Silk Air Airbus A320. A short flight, just 1hr 15 minutes. Here is the video flight review. In the review, I show you the snack as well as the inflight enterntainment studio system that requires you to use your own device to stream the movies. I used my iphone to try some movies, just to see whether it worked, and it did. SilkAir planes are not fitted with any IFE screens so if you want to watch any movies, you would have to use your own device. Anyway, the selection wasn't great.

At my seat, Economy class.

Cabin crew at the back galley. Only the front door of the aircraft was opened. The crew would have flown in from Singapore earlier, since Silk Air does not have a change of crew in Langkawi.

On board an Airbus A320 plane.

Obligatory legroom photo.

The flight back to Singapore was short and uneventful, which wasn't a bad thing. Immigration control at Changi was quite empty, which was a relief. I wanted to get home quickly.

As I did not have any check-in luggage, after immigration, I got out to the public area quickly and headed to the taxi stand. The line was not too long and it moved quite fast. Within 5 minutes, I was in a taxi on the way home. Thank God for safe travels. Thanks for reading!