Our Next Destination

Assalamualaikum wbt and Greetings =)

It has been a very tough weeks and today we've just finished our first paper for our final exams. Yeay! It means that we will have a long holiday *ehem-ehem* (holiday but still have loads of work to do).

Remember the list of places that we wish to go?

1. Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia
2. Bosnia
3. Cairo, Egypt
4. Paris, France
5. Marrakesh, Morocco
6. Makkah and Madina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
7. Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE
8. Tokyo, Japan
9. Istanbul, Turkey
10. Prague, Czech Republic
11. Malaga and Granada, Spain
12. Taman Negara (National Park) Sarawak, Malaysia
13. Somewhere in New Zealand

So there we have one place down, and 12 more to go. Our next stop will be Cairo (Kaherah). We have booked our tickets and tour guide so hopefully everything will be going well as planned.

To those who are sitting for exams, Holiday Chronicle would like to wish you all the very best and always remember to work hard and play hard. Bye!

Langkawi Island, Malaysia

Langkawi is the biggest island in Malaysia situated in northern coast of Malaysian Peninsular. Governed by the state of Kedah and Langkawi boasts its duty free shopping status. Almost everything is a lot cheaper than the mainland. You can get lots of chocolates there =p

Langkawi is accessible by flights to its International Airport through services offered by Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, Singapore Airlines and Firefly.

Firefly: connecting Subang and Penang

Air Asia: connecting LCCT Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Penang

Malaysia Airlines: seems like connecting Langkawi to anywhere. trust me. look at their website.

You can also get there by ferry and the service is provided by www.langkawi-ferry.com, connecting Langkawi to Kuala Perlis, Kuala Kedah, Penang and Satun.

My family on vacation. At the top one the hills in Langkawi. We went up by sky lift.

Langkawi is also home of international aerospace exhibition called LIMA (Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace Exhibition) which is held....can't remember the frequency. This is where companies and governments sign their deals for military, maritime and aerospace equipments and also aero-acrobatics performance.

Here are list of places/activities you can visit/do:

1. Shopping
2. Visit historical places (Heard of Mahsuri before?)
3. Beach
4. Safari
5. Cheese factory
6. Marina/yacth
7. Small islands around Langkawi


Optimum length of stay is 4 days and 3 nights.

The best way to get around on the island is by a car. There are many car hire companies operating in the airport and you can hire them at affordable price.

What are you up to while on holiday?

Some of us might define holiday as a time where you sit lazily in your couch watching TV with crisp in your left hand and cola in the other. Some will do anything vigorous that make your body full of adrenaline as part of holiday such as kayak, jungle tracking or extreme biking.

Here are lists of activities/holiday theme you might want to consider:

Shopping

This is indeed what we love to do. We love shopping in Spain as Spain is home of Zara and Massimo Dutti. You can get those stuffs a lot cheaper there. Sometimes we just go to Gunwharf Quays for a day off on a particular week. If you don't mind stuffs with no brand (i.e. unbranded), go to China. They have lots to offer!

NOTE: you can shop for stuffs here

Health tourism

What?

Yeah seriously health tourism. They have bypass surgery, medical check up, heart transplant and everything while you are on holiday. Check out here: Health Tourism Malaysia. They said it's cheaper than anywhere else in the developed country. Well, it might be cheaper in China =p

Leisure and Entertainment

To name a few...

Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, Fraser's Hill, Pulau Pinang, Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Redang, Pulau Sipadan (all in Malaysia)

Resort World Sentosa, Universal Studios (Singapore)

Legoland, Madame Tussaud, Alton Towers (UK)

anything, just google for them.

Nature

For nature lovers out there, go to Borneo. Borneo has lots to offer. You can also experience to live with the natives there. Love jungle tracking? Try climbing up to the highest peak in south east Asia, Mt. Kinabalu. Borneo has one of the largest rainforest in the world and home of thousands of species.

What about safari in South Africa? If you want to see lions like in the Lion King, Africa is the place, Borneo does not have any lions.

Business

No way. I object that. Business is business and holiday is holiday. Full stop.





So, which one will you pick? =)

Tourism & Places

Countries in the south east Asia (SEA) region are actively promoting their country to attract more tourist. They offer many kinds of holiday packages at many holiday destinations that is worth for the money and experience. For example, recently Singapore can be proud of its new Universal Studios and Malaysia has internationally admired Pulau Sipadan.

And many of these countries are well connected other region of the world as to Australia, New Zealand even some parts of China and India thanks to some of the worlds best international low budget airlines like Airasia, Firefly, Tiger Airways and Jetstar Airways. And flying is the best way to get around in SEA region as most countries are island country plus their land transport facilities are not like in the European countries where bus and train services are very reliable.

Malaysia has its own tourism offices in overseas. Here I give some of the overseas offices:

UK
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board
57 Trafalgar Square London, London WC2N 5DU, United Kingdom
Phone: +442 079 307 932 Fax: +442 079 309 015
Email: mtpb.london@tourism.gov.my / info@tourism-malaysia.co.uk

France
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board
Weissfrauenstrasse 12 - 16, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone: 0049 69 460923420 Fax: 0049 69 460923499
Email: mtpb.frankfurt@tourism.gov.my / info@tourismmalaysia.de
Website: www.tourismmalaysia.de

India
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board
4th Floor, Vijaya Towers, No. 4, Kodambakkam High Road, Chennai 600 034, India
Phone: +0091 44 4506 8080 / 8181 / 8282 Fax: +0091 44 4506 8383
Email: mtpb.chennai@tourism.gov.my
Website: www.malaysiajao.com

full list is here

For list of ASEAN Tourism Offices, click HERE

Decided where to go this coming summer? =)

Mother's Day

Many parts of the world celebrates Mother's Day on the 9th of May every year and this includes Malaysia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Germany etc. You can have a look here for list of countries.

On this very special occasion, how about a treat of island get away in Pulau Redang or Pulau Sipadan?

Or a gift of rose fragrance?


Remember to always cheer your mum and dad =)