Redang Island

This beautiful island is just off the coast of Trengganu. The flight from Subang Airport by Berjaya Airlines took us just about an hour to reach the Redang Airport and then we were shuttled by bus to the Berjaya Beach Resort about 10 minutes away.



There were other resorts around but the place where we stayed was the Berjaya Beach Resort, located on a hill slopes overlooking the sea. The rooms were okay and for food we have no choice but to take the hotel's food only. There are food shops outside (quite a distance away) but the transport facility was not available. So, everything was supplied by the hotel, ie lodging and food with the price fancied by the hotel.



The beach was superb. We spent the three days there literally on the beach itself, basking under the sun as well as dipping ourselves in the blue sea waters of the South China Sea! Of course the holiday was meant for the kids and they really enjoyed it. We did snorkeling too, but the bigger fish was near to the rocks and kids were not advisable to go there. I did my share and well, the fish were a few only, maybe next trip they may multiply! They said, The Lagoon Resort close by offers better deal where snorkeling is concerned.



Of course, the visitors that came together with me on the plane were mostly foreigners. I made few friends and one guy from Japan was really very nice to me. He expected me to visit Japan and look for him, well, what a guy he is! Then, a few days ago he wrote me a letter attaching a few beautiful photographs of Japan. Thank you so much Mr Hito!

Langkawi Island

I was given the chance to visit Langkawi again after many-many years. This time around my daughter took me for a weekend holiday where we lodged at this beautiful Berjaya Beach Resort at Teluk Burau on the western tip of the island. We stayed for two nights there, and like always we just spent the days sight-seeing as well as dipping ourselves in the beautiful sea just next to our chalets.

From KL we took the MAS flight to Langkawi and that took us about an hour or so. At Langkawi Airport we rented a Livina for our convenience to move around on the island.

We went around the island using the Livina and quite comfortable too for a family of six. Even after putting in petrol for RM50, there were still much more in the tank when we surrendered tha car back after 3 days. Actually we didnt see much of the usual places, places that we used to visit before, since this time we have small kids around, we just basked and lazed around by the beaches and the hotel's pool. The children love this very much.

Pangkor Island

Pangkor Island is in the State of Perak and about 200 km from Kuala Lumpur to its nearest town of Lumut. To reach this island, you have a take a ferry from Lumut and it takes about 30 minutes to cross the sea and reach the jetty of Pangkor. Pangkor is a holiday destination and there are ample rooms available on this island and at a very reasonable price too. During the weekends this island is definitely bustling with holiday makers.

I was here just recently. Stayed at this Seaview Hotel and was very lucky to have my room just facing the sea. Therefore, bathing was the only activity that I knew off for the two days I was on this island. The hotel resort also was such a nice place to stay. Very lonely spot and away from the bustling activities. We have the sea to ourselves since the hotel is facing the sea and the beaches are literally meant for the hotel occupants only.

During breakfast there were these hornbills which are now the regular visitors too since the hotel management feed them daily and proves to be a welcoming attraction to the visitors. Then after breakfast we visited the sea again for a very refreshing dip. The waters are sky clear and very clean too.

Taman Negara Pahang

Of all the national parks in Malaysia, I think this is the only park that is worth going with families. We were here in late 2002 and that was really a fond memory for us. The place itself was such a wonderful place to relax and enjoy the beautiful rivers as well as the lush green jungles. We stayed at the Berjaya Resort for two nights and during the day we had many activities to please ourselves.




To reach this place, we drove ourselves from Temerloh for about 1 hour. On reaching Kuala Medang, we parked our cars at the Balai Polis and then took a boat to cross the river. The Berjaya Resort was just on the other side of the river. Since we reched there late in the evening, we just stayed in our rooms.




Early the next morning, my group went for the tree-tops walking. That was indeed an experience for us. I think the bridge was about 50 - 75 feet above the ground and at first I was a bit slow and unsteady, but then I managed to walked along the bridge the full-length successfully.

Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut)

So much about the islands, let me take you to the interior again. This time I am taking you to the hill resort of Maxwell Hill in Taiping, Perak. I was here with my family in 2002. That was my last visit to this hill resort, anyway for the time being!


To go to the hill-top, the only mode of transport available was by the land-rovers only. The going uphill was so steep and had to use four-wheel drive all the way to the top. Or maybe the authorities owned the road and have to use their land-rovers only. The land-rover station was at the foot of the hill somewhere within the lake garden's area in Taiping. It cost only a few dollars per person and the journey to the top took about half an hour or so. And of course the road was a one way traffic, and therefore they have regulated the flow of traffic to enable the one way system.


At the top it was cooling all right and many beautiful flowering plants were found, making the place so nice and beautiful. We walked around and enjoyed the beauty. Like many hill-tops in Malaysia, there were several big bungalows found here and were nicely taken care off.


From the top we could see the beautiful sceneries of Taiping Town and the lowland areas facing west to the sea. My visit was incidentally not on a very clear day. On a clear day, the view would be more breathtakingly beautiful.

That was a nice visit anyway. Spent about 2 hours or so on the top. We took several snapshots and walk around a little bit before we took the jeep downhill.

Layang Layang Island

This island was formerly an atoll and was cunningly transformed to become a beautiful island in the wilderness of the South China Sea. My visit to this island was way back many many years ago and this island was then in the process of building up.

I came to this island from Labuan in Sabah by helicopter. That too was a long flight and it took us about 40 minutes to arrive. Once on the island, I was indeed amazed to see all the buildings that came up and the beauty of the island itself. The air-strip was then near completion and very soon fixed-wing aircraft can land on the island.

I was on this island with few friends and we stayed here for four days. In the lodging house we met several tourists from overseas like Japan and the USA. Most of them were writers from favourite magazines and they came to write about the island.

Since the island was formerly the crater of a volcanoe, the shores were therefore very short and an immediate drop to the bottom of the sea, presumably tens of thousands feet deep. The water around us was deep blue and the wind was continuosly blowing and of course very windy to us. At one corner of the island we came across several species of birds which has adopted the island as their homes. Saw them laying their eggs on the sand itself without any nest. They were so friendly and they flew around us like we were friends too. I was told about 25 species were found on that island.

Now this island is fully developed and became one of the many favourite holiday destinations in Malaysia. From just an atoll it has transformed into a beautiful island and the experience to stay in this island is just a dream comes true.

Pulau Lankayan, Sandakan, Sabah

This beautiful island is located just off-shore from Sandakan. The water was as clear as the sky and if you drop a 50cents coin from the jetty, you can see the coin went down sparklingly to the bottom of the sea, even at the depth of more than 20 feet.

At the cafe we were entertained with the cafe-keeper feeding the juvenile-sharks at the shallow part of the shore. The island was very windy when we did the visit and the cool sea-breeze was indeed very refreshing. Most of the frontal part facing the jetty were very bushy with the 'mengkuang' plants. That was nice because they still maintain the original jungle even though there was a resort built there.

The island was small and took us only a few minutes to cross to the other side. We were brought to the northern part of the island where we could see the Indonesian islands just a few kilometers away. So this beautiful island was very close to the international border.