Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island

Restoran (Restaurant) Nasi Kandar Tomato (N6 17.435 E99 43.642) is located along the Pantai Beach road, opposite the Langkawi Boutique Hotel and basically it was a Mamak shop (selling Muslim foods) which is common at Johor Bahru area. The restaurant is receive many good review from the internet and TripAdvisor.com about the tomato rice. So we have to try it!

Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Pantai Cenang, Langkawi.

There were 2 dining area in the restaurant, an open air and air-conditional area. Due to the hot weather of the island, we hopped into the air-con area...

The foods are normal like mixed rice and roti canai. We just grabbed a plate of tomato rice and started to select the dishes...I had a mutton, chicken and vegetables and my wife had a fish, mutton, chicken and vegetables...

The foods were Delicious especially with the rice! We enjoyed our lunch very much in the restaurant! I like the braised mutton very much! :)

Mixed rice at Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato, Langkawi Island

But I was a bit surprised when I paid the bill! The damage was MYR23.50 included 2 teh tarik for 2 persons. It was Not Cheap! Well, it's because of the Tourist Hotspot - Cenang Beach.

Rated : 3.5/5

Related post :
My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island
Underwater World of Langkawi Island
Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island 
The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island. 
The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island  
The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island 
Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island 

Location Map of Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi


Monday, October 4, 2010

Food, Travel & Identity


I just wanted to share with you the latest happy addition to my bookshelf – The Brazilian Table by chef Yara Roberts who is, as it says on her website:

“…the first Brazilian chef to write about Brazilian cuisine in English. She gives an intimate look at the regions of Minas Gerais, the Amazon, the Cerado, and Bahia from a food perspective, not only introducing one hundred delicious recipes but also providing an in-depth cultural lesson on the regions and their unique foods.”

Flicking through this wonderful book got me thinking about food and my relationship to it.

Such a big part of travelling for me is about food – few things bring as much pleasure. As well as the pure enjoyment of taste, food can tell you so much about a country and about its history and its people. All over the world day-to-day life revolves entirely around, and is structured by food (well, perhaps not entirely, but I can safely say that my thoughts are often occupied by what the next meal will be and when). People connect over food - it brings them together, families, friends, old and young. There is something basically human about sharing a meal, whether it’s a chunk of cheese and some dry bread shared with a fellow traveler on some endless bus journey across Bolivia, or an invitation to a family asado in Argentina.

Food and the customs and rituals surrounding it provide a framework for a country’s character, showing you their humanity. People are fiercely proud of their culinary heritage, it speaks of their past and of their values. In Argentina sharing mate (a bitter tea like drink) demonstrates a warmth and openness that strangers can immediately connect with.

Food is surrounded by these emotions; friendship and generosity; comfort and nostalgia. When people are homesick it often manifests itself in missing the flavors of home, and home-cooked food features in many a childhood memory. A bowl of hot soup at the end of a long, cold journey can switch your mood in a moment, and in England pretty much any problem can be solved by putting the kettle on for a cup of tea.

As well as this, layers of a country’s history can be seen in its culinary styles and influences. In Buenos Aires, waves of Italian immigrants opened pizzerias and ice-cream parlors all over the city, and today ice cream is a big part of the city’s culture – heladerias to rival Rome’s finest gelato emporiums are dotted throughout the city serving towering cones in multiples of delicious flavors.

Whenever I think of summer in Buenos Aires I think of heading to the heladeria at midnight, even at this late hour lively with groups of teenagers and tables of smartly dressed old folks. Getting my ticket, waiting for my number to come up and choosing my two scoops from the dozens of options - for me this experience is part of the patchwork of Buenos Aires. Just as when I think of Tokyo I think of spicy wasabi with soy sauce, and slivers of vivid pink pickled ginger, and just as Morocco brings back memories of steaming tagines of lamb and apricot, and sweet, hot mint tea in colored glasses.

I have always been intrigued by food, recipes and cooking styles, and their inextricable link to a country’s history, culture and character. This is why, for me, The Brazilian Table is the perfect recipe book. Combining delicious Brazilian dishes, with an in depth knowledge of their origins and influences and an obvious passion for the country and its flavors. All this in one delectable and beautifully written full-color package. Time to cook!

The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island.

The Sky-Bridge (a.k.a Hanging Bridge) (N6 23.164 E99 39.736) of Langkawi Island is 'hanged' on Mount Machinchang and it's about 700 meters above sea level.

"Langkawi sky-bridge is suspended at 700 metres above sea level. This unique curved pedestrian bridge spans 125 metres across a spectacular chasm. The view from the bridge is simply breathtaking. You'd be able to view the Andaman Sea and Thailand’s Tarutao Island as well. 

The 1.8m-wide bridge had two 3.6m-wide triangular platforms that provided a spectacular viewing-cum-resting area for visitors.

Unlike straight bridges where you can see from the starting point, the bridge has been curved to provide different perspectives over the land and sea. Convenient triangular platforms located along the curved bridge provide rest areas so you can sit and appreciate both the beauty of nature and an incredible feat of engineering. Langkawi sky-bridge is safe." Source from Langkawi Sky-Bridge.


This photo took from the Langkawi Cable Car Middle Station, background is the Thailand Tarutao Island.

There's a trail at the left of the Langkawi Cable Car (once you get out from the gondola). It was about 50 meters descending from the Cable Car Station with proper stairs where anyone can be access to the Bridge easily.

The trail to the Sky-Bridge

Once we reached the bridge, I quickly took this photo (below) before step on the staircase...

The structure below the Sky-Bridge of Langkawi Island

You will be step on start point of the Bridge which was a 3.6 meters wide triangular platform. The view was Nice!

The Sky-Bridge

Then we crossed the bridge...


The Double Railings design for Safety purpose, 
and the Single Support at the right of the pedestrian.

The bridge is Safe but we felt the little shaking on it, so I did my 'Twist' on it and stop until someone 'Scream'! Haha!

The Hanging Bridge is just single support from the Middle and hang by these steel bar...

The Hanging part of the Sky-Bridge

I was Totally attracted by the Magnificent view at the other end of the Bridge! Wow! It was Fantastic! The Thailand Tarutao Island was clearly appear in front of us! The distance is merely about 13km from the point we stand to the island. The photos below are the Beautiful Scenery from the Bridge.

Tarutao Island (Thailand) across the sea

The Andaman Sea

Another view of the Mount Machinchang of Langkawi Island

The Langkawi Sky-Bridge also won the 'Top 5 World's Scariest Bridges' from TripAdvisor.

Crazy Curves: Langkawi Sky Bridge, Kedah, Malaysia
"This incredibly unique curved pedestrian cable bridge off of Pulau Langkawi island's Gunung Mat Chinchang peak stretches about 400 feet and stunningly sits more than 2,200 feet above sea level. With breathtaking views of the Andaman Sea and nearby islands, this engineering marvel is an acrophobe's nightmare." Read more.

The Langkawi Cable Car view from the Sky-Bridge

We were hanging around the bridge from about an hour until we realized that we haven't take our lunch! That time was about 3pm...So due to filling stomach time, we had to say Bye-bye to the Bridge and the Mountains...

The trail back to the cable car station was steep...or maybe we were hungry?! :)

Bye! Sky-Bridge of Langkawi

After came out from the cable car station, we thought we can find some foods around the Oriental Village, but after walking around...we decided to drive to Cenang Beach for our lunch!

Some shots about the Oriental Village of Langkawi Island.

Oriental Village


Related post :
My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island
Underwater World of Langkawi Island
Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island 
The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island
The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island  
Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island
Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island 


The Location map of The Sky-Bridge of Langkawi Island


Thursday, September 30, 2010

Calling all Travel Professionals!

Hello everybody,

Every now and then I need to share something that is not directly related to me rummaging around the continent. At this moment we are looking to find a couple of enthusiastic travel professionals to join our ranks in our Buenos Aires headquarters. If you have extensive experience in the travel industry, know the continent of South America and are either already living in Buenos Aires or considering moving here, please have a look at: www.globalencounters.com/jobs

Thanks in advance for forwarding this message to anyone you think might be interested!

Best regards,
Bart

The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.

We had 2 days to choose for the Cable Car ride on this trip to Langkawi, because it's to avoid the bad weather. Fortunately, the 2nd day was a bright sunny day! So we decided to ride on the Gondola! :)

The Langkawi Cable Car Station (N6 22.273 E99 40.296) is located in the Oriental Village of Langkawi. The distance is approximately 26km from Langkawi Grand Continental Hotel, Kuah town, the journey took about 30-40 minutes. Vehicles parking and admission is free.

The street of Oriental Village, Langkawi Island.

After about 100 meters walking from the entrance, we saw the Cable Car Station just situated on the left. Wah! It was a Long Queue!

The Langkawi Cable Car Station

The admission fees of the Langkawi Cable Car :-
Adults - MYR30.00 (Malaysian - MYR15.00), Children - MYR20.00 (Malaysian - MYR5.00)
(But the signage never stated the admission fee for Malaysian)
Operating Hour :-
Monday – Thursday * 10:00am - 06:00pm
Wednesday * 12:00pm - 06:00pm
Friday – Sunday & Public Holiday ** 09:30am - 07:00pm
*  Last admission at 6:00pm and last trip down at 7:00pm
** Last admission at 7:00pm and last trip down at 7:45pm

Visitors are advise to call before visiting to avoid disappointment.
Tel : +604-9594225

There will be a Middle Station for you to stop for panoramic view on the platform and continue to the Top Station of Mount Machinchang.

Well, despite the hot weather and the long queue, we bought the tickets and queue! Although the queue was long, but it only took about 10 minutes for us to got into the Gondola! That was Fast! Great! 

The queue at the Langkawi Cable Car Station

Queuing for the Gondolas.

The gondolas slow down when it arrive to the station, it's more than enough time for the passengers to step out slowly and even enter! Before the gondolas getting our of the station, there was a photographer to take photos of the passengers, but you can refuse it!

Passengers get into the gondola...

The sophisticated mechanism of the Langkawi Cable Car

The Middle Station was on the top on the mountain

We were in the gondola and hike up to the Mount Machinchang of Langkawi Island! It was a pleasant journey and it only took 10 minutes to reached the Middle Station. The Seven Well Waterfall was clearly appeared during the journey...

The Seven Wells Waterfall of Langkawi Island

Beautiful scenery from the Cable Car.
Do you notice the climbing degree of the cable car?! :)

Dramatic View from the Cable Car Station

We had a stop at the Middle Station for photography and continue to the Top Station.

The Middle Station of Langkawi Cable Car

The Middle Station. View from Top Station

The Top Station of Langkawi Cable Car

It was an Exciting ride for the total of 2.2km in 17 minutes!! Especially when the gondola approaching the Middle Station, the gondola was facing the Limestone Mountain! And it being pulled up almost Vertically with high speed to reached the station! Wah! Unforgettable experience! (You can refer from the photos above after we got into the gondola)

We walked to the 360 viewing platform on the left of the station after a small rest...the weather was extremely hot that day! Luckily there was a Ice-Cream stall at the platform.

The Viewing Platform

It was a double storey platform and I took my Ice-cream and enjoyed the Dramatic View of Langkawi Island on the 2nd level! That was a Great Enjoyment! (710 meter above sea level, reading from my GPS) Too bad the North platform was closed for maintenance during our visit....

The North Platform was under maintenance...

You can imagine the weather that day from the face of the poor little boy above. He was queuing for the Ice-cream for more than 30 minutes until a lady help him to get his ice-cream. He was being push out from the queue all the time! Very bad attitude of the tourists!

The Cable Car of Langkawi Island

Another view of the Top Station. I spotted the Lighthouse (N6 21.838 E99 40.996) of Perdana Quay, Langkawi Island.

The Lighthouse of Perdana Quay, Langkawi Island.

We spent an hour at the viewing platform and continue our journey to the Famous Sky Bridge (Hanging Bridge) of Langkawi Island!! Bye Mount Machinchang, and we will Never forget you!

The Langkawi Cable Car was awarded for ‘The Longest Free Span Single Rope Cable Car – Total In Length – 919.5 meter’ (One of the Steepest Gradient in the World – 42 degree.) and endorsed by The Malaysia Book Of Records. Beside that, it was also received the ‘Outstanding construction, architectural quality & technical proficiency of steel works’ from PRIX ACIER AWARDS 2005.

Related post :
My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island
Underwater World of Langkawi Island
Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island.
Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island
The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island  
Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island 
Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island 

Location map of Langkawi Cable Car Station


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island

The Lighthouse Restaurant (N6 16.887 E99 43.794) is located at the Tengah Beach which is about 200 meters from the intersection of Jalan Pantai Tengah and Jalan Pantai Cenang. This was where we took our dinner on the day 1 of Langkawi trip. (This restaurant was rated as one of the expensive restaurant in Langkawi).

The Lighthouse Restaurant of Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island.

It was a 2 storey Mediterranean-style building. The environment was perfect! Beside the beach and cozy decoration. You can choose to dine in the restaurant or on the beach. We definitely choose the beach...

The dining area of Lighthouse Restaurant


This was really a nice place...enjoying our dinner and accompany with the Beautiful sunset! I ordered a glass of Tiger Beer and continued to snap the surrounding with the sunset. We were waited there until the sky getting dark then only inform the waitress to serve our meal...:)

The beer and the spectacular sunset

I ordered a Ayam Percik with rice and my wife had a Ikan Kukus Halia with rice. Both are Chef Recommended (on the Menu). My daughter just had a bites for both dishes, because she already had some foods before dinner...

Ayam Percik

Ikan Kukus Halia

Rice and some appetizers

The Chicken was a bit spicy with the Special Recipe's Curry, and the fish was fresh! We enjoyed the dinner especially at the beach with the sunset!
The Damage : MYR110.00 for 2 main course and the Tiger Beer.

Well, it was a bit pricey! I believe the ambience charge higher than the food. Haha! 
Anyway, it was worth it because of the environment. :)

After about an hour hanging around, we gotta go to some others places and we have to say bye to the Restaurant and sunset!

Food rated : 4/5
Environment rated : 5/5

The sunset from The Lighthouse Restaurant

Related post :
My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island
Underwater World of Langkawi Island
Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island.
Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island 
The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island  
Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island 
Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island 


The Lighthouse Restaurant - Langkawi
Lot 2161, Jalan Pantai Tengah Mukim Kedawang,
07000 Langkawi.
Tel : +604-9552586  Fax : +604-9552633

Location map of The Lighthouse Restaurant at Langkawi Island