I think no visit to Langkawi would be complete until you've set foot at and taken pictures with the huge eagle at Dataran Lang (Lang Square).

So, that's exactly what we did on our last day.

It was super-hot that day. So very unlike the previous days when it rained and rained until we had to forgo our plans to build sandcastles at the beach.

We chose to eat KFC for lunch at the restaurant near the jetty. The place was crowded with people.

According to our 'itinerary' we were supposed to also visit Taman Lagenda (Park of Legends) for more picture-taking sessions, but the place was closed due to some major renovation. Apa lah. Instead we headed to one of the malls nearby, just to look-see-look-see. Tak shopping apa-apa pun except for some chocolates.





And with that we bid farewell to the historical Island of Langkawi.

The stables are opened daily (except on Mondays) at 7am-11am and 3pm-6pm. 11am-3pm are the horses' mealtimes and resting times.

We actually had to go there twice. The first time we went (it was around 10am I think) we had to get on a 'wait list' because two other groups were already there, and they had made reservations earlier. The lady at the stable told us we could get our turn at 11am if we wished to wait. Since we didn't have anything else planned that morning, we decided to lepak-lepak at the stables to look around.

Sofea was very eager and kept repeating how "tak sabar" she was.

We watched the first group (a family of 5) climbed up their horses, took the reins and galloped away. Actually, the horses tak 'galloped' pun. It was more of a 'they trotted away led by rope held by experienced trail-leaders on foot'. :)

Clippety-clop, clippety-clop, clippety-clop, off they went into the jungle. The ride (for inexperienced riders) was supposed to last about 15 minutes. Masuk hutan, then trot along a riding trail that would eventually pass by the entrance to The Seven Wells Waterfall, then continue along the main road, and lastly back to the stables.




There was a boy about Aidiin's age in the group that just left, and that boy looked happy and excited as his horse trotted away. So I casually asked Aidiin if he was interested (and felt brave enough) to ride the big horsey. I pointed out the different horses that were there.

"Aidiin tak nak yang black, Aidiin nak yang brown tu", he pointed to a light brown stallion. I later found out that the horse's name is Milko.

I was doubtful (such a teruk Ibu I was), but I didn't want to sound discouraging and I had no intention of dampening his spirits so I told him okay, we'll ask the aunty to give you the brown horsey. He was very pleased.

At around 10:50am, it started to rain. And rained, and rained some more. :( It seemed impossible to go riding in that kind of weather. Cari pasal buat demam je for nothing. So we told the nice lady that we'll come back in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather would be more pleasant then. And Alhamdulillah, it was. Not too hot and not very humid. Just nice-lah.

We were the first ones to arrive for the afternoon sessions. We were asked to choose proper-fitting safety hats (helmets?) while the trail-guides prepped our horses with saddles.




The suspense was building up (fast!)


Sofea was the first to climb on her horse, a gentle black stallion by the name of Don. Then it was my turn, then Aidiin and then famyBoy's. All four of us were supposed to go riding together.



She couldn't stop smiling


Aidiin's horse took four steps forward before my 'macho' son decided to break into tears. He cried out for his Ayah and wanted to get off. Aiseyyy... I knew it was too good to be true. Sedangkan nak pegang burung kecik pun takut, inikan pulak nak ride a big, tall horse! :P



Kakak's and Ayah's horses trotted into the jungle


As it turned out, famyBoy stayed behind to accompany Aidiin while Sofea and I went riding first. We decided that since we'd already paid for 4 people, I'd stay behind with Aidiin later when it's famyBoy's turn to ride. Sofea (ever-willingly) got to ride twice.



He became very quiet and moody after that


Overall, it was a fun activity albeit a bit expensive (RM45/person for a 15-minute ride, which includes one horse & one trail-guide). A memorable experience, especially for novice riders like us.

Before driving back to the hotel, we stopped for rojak and mee rebus at the gerai-vans near Kok Beach. That was the closest that we got to a beach, without getting caught in the rain.

**View other pictures that I took at the stables.

Eh? Takde orang ke? Ini sudah baguuuuussss!!!

That was the first thing that crossed my mind when we got off the car. Around us, there were four cars (including ours) and one van parked in the parking lot. It was rather strange that the place was so empty and quiet, especially since it was the holidays and all. The last time we were here, in 2002, the place was super packed with people.

Very good-lah if tak ramai orang. No need to queue panjang-panjang like last time.

But boy was I proven wrong.

Rows and rows of a mixture of eager-looking and anxious-looking folks were already there at the ticket counters queueing to buy tickets. And many more already in long lines awaiting their turn to ride on the cable cars. Imagine queue yang berlapis-lapis dan berlingkar-lingkar macam ular itu. From my observation, macam sama ramai je foreigners and locals (Malaysians). But where did these people come from??


As it turned out, we had accidentally missed the first entrance to the Oriental Village (yang lalu under archway Berjaya Resort tu) and drove to the second entrance instead. The first entrance's parking lot was fully parked with cars, vans, Bas Persiaran(s) dan kenderaan-kenderaan yang sewaktu dengannya.

Ah well, c'est la vie. We had come this far so nak tak nak kena queue jugaklah. It was too good to be true anyways, thinking that the place would be crowd-free during the holidays. :P

In the end, it was all worth the wait (we had to stand in queue for almost an hour) to see the excitement on the kids' faces as we started climbing uphill Mount Mat Cincang.




This is one of the times you SHOULD pandang belakang


When we reached the topmost stop (there were two), we got off the gondola to have snacks and drinks at the small makan-makan place up there, which is said to be 710 meters above sea level. The previous stop was at 652.5 meters.

We spent about 30 mins walking around marvelling at the view and taking pictures before deciding to go back down.

Coincidently (or perhaps it was just plain luck), the gondola that arrived to take us down had the number *1* printed on it. An excited little voice had pointed out, "Macam #1 Thomas kan, Ibu?" No prizes for guessing who that person was. :)



L-R: My fat finger. A view of the Oriental Village from gondola 'Thomas'


We had our lunch at the food court in the Oriental Village. The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing through souvenir shops, taking more pictures and playing with bunnies. Lerr... tak cukup ke main dengan arnab hari tu?

The albums@multiply contain pictures taken during our cable car ride and those taken at the Oriental Village, including the ones with Aidiin on a step-n-go bike. :)

We stopped at the Petronas Station at Telaga Harbor to refuel and buy jajan before heading back to the hotel. Since the petrol station was located at a harbor, there were a few boats anchored there as well.



Teringat kat Ikea


More boat pictures here. Orang 'jakun'lah katakan... hee hee hee.