Koh Lipe

I don’t care how last minute it is but if you suggest a trip to an island, I’m game!

Merv had the week off and Joe K was back in Malaysia for a month so what better way to spend Chinese New Year than to lay on the beach and soak up some UV rays. I thought a trip to Koh Lipe would cost close to nothing since it is literally the island next to Langkawi. An hour on the plane and another hour on the boat should be reasonably inexpensive right? Wrong.

How to get there
To maximize our stay, we took the earliest Air Asia flight out of Kuala Lumpur (LCCT) that got us to Langkawi at 8:30 a.m. After grabbing a bottle of Smirnoff at the airport duty-free store, we hopped into a cab and drove to Telaga Harbor only to find out that the 9:30 a.m. speedboat has been overbooked. We had to wait for the next (and last) boat that was departing at 2:30 p.m.


Goofing around in Langkawi

Roundtrip flight from Kuala Lumpur (LCCT) to Langkawi: RM569.00 (USD $168). Roundtrip speedboat from Telaga Harbor to Koh Lipe: RM 250.00 (USD $74).

Waiting at the Koh Lipe Immigration for our passports

The speedboat took us to the the immigration center at Pattaya Beach where we waited patiently in the heat for our passport. After that, we then hired a long boat for a 3-minute boat ride to our hotel, which was on the other end of the beach about 1km away.

I’m pretty sure there are more economical ways to get to Koh Lipe. I read that you could take a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Had Yai and then a boat to Koh Lipe OR instead of taking a speedboat from Telaga Harbor, I eventually found out that you could hire a normal boat for much less. Also, during low seasons, budget flights from Kuala Lumpur (LCCT) to Langkawi cost as low as RM49 (USD $15).

Where to stay
Another disadvantage about traveling last minute (during high seasons) is that all good hotels are fully booked! Our first choice was Castaway Resort but since there were no rooms left there (or anywhere for that matter), we booked (and paid for – most hotels here asked for full payment upfront) a room at Sanom Resort. It was reasonably pleasant except that even though we were facing the beach, there was a lack of breeze so we had to keep the windows open the whole night and needless to say, we were attacked by seveteen thousand mosquitoes. I’m exaggerating. The room came with a mosquito net and fans but you get my point.

Lunch at Castaway Resort


Our room/hut at Sanom Resort

What to do
I was hesitant to write and share this trip because in my eyes, Koh Lipe is still a gem waiting to be discovered. It’s not as popular as Koh Phi Phi or Phuket but I can tell it will get there very soon. There were rows of resorts along the beach that was housing a few thousand tourists that looked like they needed to apply more sun block lotion. Popular activities include diving, snorkeling, beach massages, reading and lazing around.


Sunset


Post lunch laze


Post-massage laze

More pictures

Krabi, Koh Lanta & Koh Phi Phi

First stop, Thailand.

Seven months ago in a West Village apartment, I told my sister I’ll be back in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my nieces and The Village (a small group of Malaysian in NYC that is on the verge of extinction) and watch fireworks set off on the Hudson River.

Boy, I was way off. Instead, this is what I did for the first 9 days of 2009.

Krabi
Hotel: Red Ginger
Price: 3000 bath/night

8 other friends and I decided to countdown to 2009 in Krabi. We stayed at a swanky boutique hotel and spent many hours on the balcony drinking whiskey, rum and vodka infused cocktails and smoking tobacco. This place, which to me had a Euro vibe has a diveresed crowd; parents with children but also young people in groups. The nearby white painted beach-side restaurants and hotels reminded me a little of Mykonos.

Tom yum gong


Foot scrub on the beach

Chicken Island


Light a red lanterns (they aren't really red but look it from a far) for good luck. These things may look pretty in the sky but don't think it was too good for the environment. On New Year’s Eve, there were at least 500 of these being set-off on Krabi beach.

Phi Phi Island
Hotel: PP Princess Resort
Price: 1700 bath/night

M and I stayed and took the ferry to Phi Phi while the rest of my friends flew back to Kuala Lumpur to their jobs. Phi Phi Leh is where The Beach movie was shot. The water surrounding Phi Phi Leh is so very clear but there are no hotels here and the only stay-over option is to camp but only for a night. Phi Phi Den, the bigger island is where we stayed and it reminded me a lot of a big frat party because most of the people who visit here are probably fresh grads from Australia or USA. We stayed at PP Princess Resort which resembles a beachfront college dormitory. Our bathroom has no hot water and the toilets are separated and shared with other hotel guests.


Stopover at Phi Phi Leh. Playing soccer (or football) on the beach.


Fire dancer at a beach party.


This little buckets are filled with mixture of 12oz local whiskey + 20oz soda + ice. Taste of the concoction is written all over M's face.




Phi Phi Den, town

Lanta Island
Hotel: Sanctuary Resort
Price: 900 baht/night

This is my most favorite island amongst the three. If you want a vacation to do absolutely nothing, come to Lanta. The island is quite undeveloped but you can get around easily on a motorcycle, which is what M and I did. We saw some of the most gorgeous beaches from hillsides and trekked down to the most remote beaches to drink fresh young coconut juice. We stayed in a hut on Sanctuary Resort which has an open air cold-water-only shower and toilet. I didn’t mind much of the cold water probably because showering under Orion’s Belt and having large big lizards and green-colored beetles around made it so much more interesting. Oh, and the lady who runs the resort teaches yoga (sea view) every morning at 9am.

Open air bathroom at Sanctuary Resort.


Sunset


Sunny


Elephant ride


Lanta Island

More pictures of Krabi, Lanta & Phi Phi

30 in Bali

Bali is beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful! Thank you for your wonderful birthday wishes! Muaks! ~PO

Since I’m so backlogged with postings I have consolidated my entire Bali trip into this one post.

Initially, I planned this as an all-girls trip but all my girls backed out because apparently they either just got back from Phuket or Bangkok or had promised their boyfriends or husbands that they would do Bali with them, hence, just like any other weekend trips I have been taking in India, I went with two dudes. Madhu and Iqbal are people I’ve known since I was eight, lost touch and then reconnected recently. This also means that at some point in our lives, I was taller than them.



We split the trip into two locations; Seminyak and Ubud.

Hotels we stayed
It’s quite obvious that Bali is marketed to couples because I reserved rooms beforehand and wanted to add an extra bed but both hotels said it was against their policies and insisted we get another room for the 3rd adult guest. Eventually, they put us up in suites, which means more expensive but sickeningly sexy.

The Kayana in Seminyak

Our private garden and heated pool.


Bedroom


Bathroom and outdoor private heated pool, separated by a sliding door.

Warwick Ibah in Ubud

Our singles honeymoon suite


Outdoor shower.

Fun activities
1. Trekking in Ubud - There’s a path right behind the Ibah hotel that will lead you to a small temple and as you walk farther, you will get to a valley overlooking beautiful honeymoon suites on your left and miles and miles of lalang fields on your right. The locals know this hill as “bukit cinta” (love hill).


The hills are alive...

Lalang fields

2. White Water Rafting – Highly recommended. The rapids may look intimidating but this is so much fun! Along the 2.5 hours ride, you hardly have to peddle at all because the current is pretty strong. Towards the end of the ride, we had a four-meter free fall.

If you decide to do this, book directly with the rafting organizers and not through the hotel because with a bit of haggling and flirting, you should be able to get 50% discount. Madhu did for us.

This is the hike we have to take to get to our starting point.


We made a quick stop at a waterfall.


Intense rapids.


This woman climbed about 1000 steps balancing our deflated rafts on her head.


Stephanie, our raft-mate at the complimentary lunch that came after rafting.


Scenery on our way back to Ubud.

3. Surf in Kuta – If you have never surf before, this would be a good place to start. First of all, the water is nice and warm so you don’t have to rent or invest in a wet suit. Secondly, the water is shallow but the waves can go as high as 5 ft. At some point, someone’s surfboard hit my head but it was fine because I was surfing in Bali. The sunset in Kuta beach is very pretty.


Surfing at Kuta.


Sunset in Kuta beach.

4. Watch a show – any show. We went to a kecak dance call Fire, Trance and Monkey in Uluwatu.


5. Visit a temple – You are required to wear a sarong over your bottoms regardless if you have long pants or skirt on. We borrowed ours from the hotel.


6. Beach Massage – If an old lady asks if you want a massage while you are reading by the beach, say yes! This is one of the best massages I’ve had and being a massage whore, I have to say her strokes and strength was at least a hundred times better than the massages I've had at hotel spas. A 45-minutes full body massage costs US$6.


7. Clubbing in Seminyak – There’s a stretch of bars/clubs by Seminyak beach, which name escapes me but we heard this area is hopping and boy, were we disappointed. It was a Thursday night and I guess mid October wasn’t a peak season, I again find myself dancing in an enormous club with two drunk dudes. The advantage of this is that we get to club-hop without paying cover charge. We went to a lounge call Dejavu and Iqbal got hit on by a white man.

Absolutely must eat:
1. Dinner Mosaic in Ubud. The exec chef here used to work at French Laundry in . We had the Chef’s Surprise menu with wine pairing. The meal was out of this world and I was stuffed and trashed by the end of it.


2. Kudeta in Seminyak. The food is delicious and desserts were scrumptious! When you are done with dinner, head to the bar and chill out with a glass of flavored mojitos and watch moonlit Balinese waves.

Starters at Kudeta


Yummy watermelon vodka mojito

3. Babi Guling at Ibu Oka in Ubud. Mmmmmmmm… I can still taste the moist pork and crispy pig skin in my mouth. Get here by noon because we were told they sell out by 2pm and only open for lunch.


4. Nasi goreng anywhere. The one at Kayana hotel was super delicious maybe because we were pissed drunk and wanted a late night snack and the nasi goreng was super fragrant and flavorful.

5. Terang Bulan on the streets of Kota and Seminyak. This is an Indonesian delicacy and a walking heart attack. A similar pancake can be found in Malaysia with peanut, sugar and sweet corn filling call “Mang Chang Kueh” (literally translated “Frustrated Cake”). Terang Bulan is filled with sugar, chocolate rice and freshly grated cheddar cheese and if you ask for a “special” one, the chef will add about 5 large scoops of butter. We finished the medium-sized pancake in one sitting accompanied by a bottle of Moet at midnight.


6. Bebek Bengkel in Ubud. This place has yummy Balinese food but their specialty is deep-fried duck. I like this place because you are surrounded by paddy fields, so try to go before sunset and don’t forget to bring mosquito repellent spray.


Shopping
1. Balinese painting – Iqbal and I were trekking in Ubud and we stumbled upon a random painter. Turned out that his youngest daughter has the same birth date as I do so I bought a couple of paintings from him.


2. Balinese Furniture – On our way from Seminyak to Ubud, we passed by at least a hundred wholesale furniture stores and most of them very affordable. The question is how to ship it home (in my case, wasn’t sure whether to ship it to NYC or to KL), so I didn’t get any, yet.
P/S: If you tell the salesperson to ship it to a foreign country, they can make the cost appear lower for the customs.

After furniture-shopping, we drove for another 30 minutes and stopped at a jewelry store and I suddenly realized I had left my precious D40 camera in one of the furniture store. Without wasting any time, our super duper driver I Gede Suartana called up his friend, borrowed his motorcycle and rode it back to the furniture store (in heavy traffic, motorcycles is faster than cars). I just had to give him a big tip.

Our driver I Gede Suartana (His handphone #081 338 619 467)


I love everything Bali.

Thank you Oi Yen and Nick for excellent restaurant recommendations and Madhu and Iqbal for being 30 and single.

More Bali pictures