What a whirlwind of a weekend we just had!
As I mentioned in my previous post, last Monday John called me and said, “would you like to go to the beach this weekend?” The rest is history and we ended up spending a glorious 36 hours on Langkawi, Malaysia–a little island close to the Malaysia/Thailand border.
Our adventure began at 4:30am on Halloween morning. We decided to take the first flight to Langkawi on Saturday morning and the last flight back to KL on Sunday night so as to maximize our weekend island time. We needed to leave the hotel at around 5:30 in the morning, so when John wasn’t up at 4:50 and we still weren’t packed, I decided to play the Monster Mash to wake him up. Me dancing around to the Monster Mash at 5:00am was not amusing to John. He told me I truly was “Scary Beth” 🙂
After an hour-long cab ride to the airport and an hour-long flight, we touched down in Langkawi and headed straight for the hotel.
View from our chairs
Fortunately, the cab prices were set (this is highly unusual for Malaysia), so we had a very easy time getting to our hotel: Berjaya Beach Resort. We got in, had a HUGE “American Breakfast,” went to our villa (with a “15% ocean view”), and took a little nap. Then, off to the pool/beach!!! We had a beautiful view from our lounge chairs and enjoyed some tropical cocktails. John and I have a problem where we can’t sit still for more than ten minutes, so a few minutes later, we were off on a jetski!!! I think the island was even more beautiful from the water–it was absolutely perfect! Crystal blue water, mountains right by the coast, gorgeous palm trees and a beautiful beach. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Date Night on the Water
A little later, we had date night! We went to a Thai restaurant about 100m out over the water. We had some amazing green curry and bananas in cocunut milk and enjoyed a beautiful night view of the ocean. The restaurant even had this huge spotlight pointing down into the sea so we could see the big fish swimming around. It was amazing!!! We enjoyed a wonderful conversation then took in some music at the lobby bar before hitting the sack.
John enjoying the beach and some fruit juice!
The next morning, we decided to go on another crazy adventure–we rented a motorscooter! Have either of us ever driven a motorscooter? No!!! Well, John told me later that he did try once and that it was a failed attempt. Hmm…perfect. So glad he chose not to tell me until AFTER he had about two more hours of practice under his belt. After the first bit, he turned out to be a pretty decent driver and I could loosen my grip a bit (I’m pretty sure he still has fingernail marks in his chest).
Funky Monkey in the Middle of the Road
The ride was beautiful–we went to a gorgeous beach (sipped from coconuts) then to a mountain top with a spectacular view and made it back in time to go back to the Thai restaurant for sunset. We had several encounters with wildlife on our trip including a dead alligator (no kidding–it was in the middle of the road) AND we almost hit some monkeys that decided to dart across the street. Now, I’ve heard of people hitting possums, turtles, squirrels, rabbits, deer, but monkeys? Never a dull moment….
My view. Hello back of John's head!
Our weekend ended with a beautiful sunset over the ocean, sprinting back to the hotel lobby in a torrential downpour (it really is the rain forest) and a flight back to Kuala Lumpur where we started 36 hours earlier. Whew…what an incredible weekend!!!
On our adventure!
Currently, I’m back in Singapore (John is in KL) and I’m finishing my last week of classes!!! One more funny story before I end this post. John and I had pancakes yesterday and, obviously, enjoyed some maple syrup on them. Our sink is full of glasses that need to be washed (I don’t have a dishwasher here) so I left the plates by the sink. Then, last night, I fell asleep on the couch and failed to run water over them. I know–terrible housing keeping. But, it happened. This morning, I awakend to a dead lizard stuck in the syrup. It gets better. The lizard’s tail was on one side of the plate and the body was on the other. I freaked out and called John in KL (I really have no idea what I expect him to do when I call him with my critter stories) and decided that that plate would never get washed–it was going down the trash chute. As I picked up the plate, the lizard squirmed–it wasn’t dead after all!!! Of course, I screamed, managed to put the plate into a plastic bag and sprinted to the garbage shoot. I then called my Mom to report the story. She laughed and instead of commenting on the lizard, she scolded me for my dishes not being washed! Haha—-love you Mom. I have to admit, that’s pretty bad. 🙂
Back to KL for me this weekend and a nice week in Singapore until then. Until next time, we miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!!!
FYI: Our US number will forward to our Singapore phone numbers AND our Malaysia phone numbers depending on what country we’re in. So–feel free to call us wherever we are!!!! 🙂
John and CB's Most Excellent Adventure 
Oh my gosh–that lizard story is so funny! How awful! I think I would have had the same reaction–if I was brave enough to pick up the plate at all! So glad you guys got to go on a brief beach vacation. Loved your pictures! Beautiful scenery! Sigh. Makes me regret living in Chicago right now. 🙂