not much related to travel and touristic stuff but you will need this when you decide to stay more than a month.
in malaysia there is only one legal satellite tv provider, astro. actually it has a good variety of channels and satisfying enough for a touristic island. i mean, there are always better things to do than sitting and zapping. they have movie channels, lots of news and sports channels, music stuff etc. most of them are in english so language is not a problem. but the subtitle and sound selection do not work. just in a couple of channels. sound quality is good but visual quality is poor. it is digital broadcast but not a good one. when you are using a regular tv, this is not a problem but with a hi-res tv like a lcd or plasma tv, or a projection like my friend's epson, you can see the poor quality of the broadcast. but as i said, sound is okay. it's not surround most of the time but some movies have surround.
one totally annoying thing is censorship. they are sensoring every single bad (!) word, shit, fuck, whore, bitch etc. also hot kissing scenes so of course they censor all kind of erotic scenes. but something interesting is they also censor arabic / Islamic related words like selamin aleykum, or Allah-u Ekber. i have no idea why they are doing this, this is an Islamic country and these are very common words in Islam. i was just watching kingdom of heaven and they censored all these speeches of saracens.
Kuah, Langkawi Sunset
Kuah, Langkawi Sunset
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
malaysia visa requirements
while i'm writing here about coming to langkawi, malaysia, wonderful beaches etc. i forgot to talk about legal stuff. here is the list of countries with visa details. Info is up-to-date from Immigration Department of Malaysia (you need IE to view the page properly, not all the features work with Firefox).
Countries that require visa:
Afghanistan (Visa With Reference), Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Congo Republic, Cote D'ivoire, Djibouti, Equat. Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong (C/I or D/I), India, Liberia, Mali, Myanmar (normal passport), Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Serbia & Montenegro, Taiwan, United Nations (Laissez Passer), Western Sahara
Commonwealth countries that require visa:
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 3 months (90 days) period:
Albania , Algeria , Argentina , Australia , Austria (Vienna) , Bahrain , Belgium , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Brazil , Croatia , Cuba , Czech Republic , Denmark , Egypt , Finland , France , Germany , Hungary , Iceland , Ireland , Italy , Japan , Jordan , Kirgystan , Kuwait , Kyrgyz Republic , Lebanon , Lienchestien , Luxembourg , Morocco , Netherland , Norway , Oman , Peru , Poland , Qatar , Romania , St Marino , Saudi Arabia , Slovakia , South Korea , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , Tunisia , Turkey , Turkmenistan , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , Uruguay , Yemen
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 1 months (30 days) period:
Armenia , Azerbaijan , Barbados , Belarus , Benin , Bolivia , Bulgaria , Cambodia , Cape Verde , Chad , Chile , Costa Rica , Equador , El Savador , Estonia , Gabon , Georgia , Greece , Guatemala , Guinea Republic , Haiti , Honduras , Hong Kong SAR , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Macao SAR , Macedonia , Madagascar , Maldova , Mauritania , Mexico , Monaco , Mongalia , Nicaragua , North Korea , North Yemen , Panama , Paraguay , Portugal , Russia , Sao Tome & Principe , Senegal , Slovenia , Sudan , Surinam , Tajikistan , Togo , Ukraine , Upper Volta , Uzbekistan , Vatican City , Vanezuela , Zaire , Zimbabwe
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 14 days period:
Iran (15 days) , Iraq , Libya , Macao (Travel Permit/Portugal CI) , Palestine , Sierra Leone , Somalia , South Yemen , Syria
USA: No visa is required for citizens visiting Malaysia for social, business or academic purposes (anything other than employment).
Other Asean Countries: No visa is required for a stay of less than one month for nationals of all ASEAN countries except Myanmar. For a stay exceeding one month a visa will be required, except for nationals Brunei and Singapore.
Israel: Visas are required and permission must be granted from Ministry of Internal Security.
Republic of Serbia and Republic of Montenegro: Visas are required and permission must be granted from Ministry Of Home Affairs.
Nationals of countries other than those stated above (with the exception of Israel): All citizens are allowed to enter Malaysia without a visa for a visit not exceeding one month.
Countries that require visa:
Afghanistan (Visa With Reference), Angola, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic, Congo Republic, Cote D'ivoire, Djibouti, Equat. Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong (C/I or D/I), India, Liberia, Mali, Myanmar (normal passport), Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Serbia & Montenegro, Taiwan, United Nations (Laissez Passer), Western Sahara
Commonwealth countries that require visa:
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 3 months (90 days) period:
Albania , Algeria , Argentina , Australia , Austria (Vienna) , Bahrain , Belgium , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Brazil , Croatia , Cuba , Czech Republic , Denmark , Egypt , Finland , France , Germany , Hungary , Iceland , Ireland , Italy , Japan , Jordan , Kirgystan , Kuwait , Kyrgyz Republic , Lebanon , Lienchestien , Luxembourg , Morocco , Netherland , Norway , Oman , Peru , Poland , Qatar , Romania , St Marino , Saudi Arabia , Slovakia , South Korea , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , Tunisia , Turkey , Turkmenistan , United Arab Emirates , United Kingdom , Uruguay , Yemen
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 1 months (30 days) period:
Armenia , Azerbaijan , Barbados , Belarus , Benin , Bolivia , Bulgaria , Cambodia , Cape Verde , Chad , Chile , Costa Rica , Equador , El Savador , Estonia , Gabon , Georgia , Greece , Guatemala , Guinea Republic , Haiti , Honduras , Hong Kong SAR , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Macao SAR , Macedonia , Madagascar , Maldova , Mauritania , Mexico , Monaco , Mongalia , Nicaragua , North Korea , North Yemen , Panama , Paraguay , Portugal , Russia , Sao Tome & Principe , Senegal , Slovenia , Sudan , Surinam , Tajikistan , Togo , Ukraine , Upper Volta , Uzbekistan , Vatican City , Vanezuela , Zaire , Zimbabwe
Countries that require a visa if the visitors stay will exceed 14 days period:
Iran (15 days) , Iraq , Libya , Macao (Travel Permit/Portugal CI) , Palestine , Sierra Leone , Somalia , South Yemen , Syria
USA: No visa is required for citizens visiting Malaysia for social, business or academic purposes (anything other than employment).
Other Asean Countries: No visa is required for a stay of less than one month for nationals of all ASEAN countries except Myanmar. For a stay exceeding one month a visa will be required, except for nationals Brunei and Singapore.
Israel: Visas are required and permission must be granted from Ministry of Internal Security.
Republic of Serbia and Republic of Montenegro: Visas are required and permission must be granted from Ministry Of Home Affairs.
Nationals of countries other than those stated above (with the exception of Israel): All citizens are allowed to enter Malaysia without a visa for a visit not exceeding one month.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
cheap ticket season in malaysia; air asia vs malaysia airlines
air asia and malaysia airlines are in a battle on cheap tickets. it's holiday season here; gong xi fa cai (chinese new year, year of the pig) time and everybody's going somewhere. also the end of high season is very close.
whenever i open newspapers star or new straits times i see discount flight fares from malaysia to anywhere in the world. this year air asia started international flights with very cheap fares. also they always have a 0.99 rm or 1 rm (~$0.28) excluding airport taxes etc. domestic flights are getting cheaper day by day and with air asia increasing the number of destinations they are flying to. this is air asia web site and this is malaysia airlines web site. of course online booking is available on both of them. try to check them often if you are interested in having a vacation in southeast asia and looking for cheap plane tickets.
a few notes about service; malaysia airlines is always up to schedule. if you are flying at 15.45 you fly at 15.45 . but air asia is definitely not. sometimes it's worth the price difference. mas (malaysia airlines) is always more expensive than air asia. but as far as i know especially on international flights this price difference is huge. let's get back to schedule, 3 years ago while i was flying to johor baru to go to singapore my air asia flight closed the doors 5 minutes earlier. so me and a bunch of passengers couldn't get on the flight, than they gave us other tickets for the next day. than last year while i was coming to langkawi for the first time my flight delayed for 50 minutes. list goes on like that. but you don't have this kind of problems with malaysia airlines. but air asia has really pretty planes, well painted, nice leather seats, smoke effect air condition (yes, really fantastic). mas planes don't look that pretty. in flight service quality is good in both of them (i'm talking about domestic flights, i haven't had an international flight with air asia yet).
the prices varies a lot so i won't even try to give a hint.
whenever i open newspapers star or new straits times i see discount flight fares from malaysia to anywhere in the world. this year air asia started international flights with very cheap fares. also they always have a 0.99 rm or 1 rm (~$0.28) excluding airport taxes etc. domestic flights are getting cheaper day by day and with air asia increasing the number of destinations they are flying to. this is air asia web site and this is malaysia airlines web site. of course online booking is available on both of them. try to check them often if you are interested in having a vacation in southeast asia and looking for cheap plane tickets.
a few notes about service; malaysia airlines is always up to schedule. if you are flying at 15.45 you fly at 15.45 . but air asia is definitely not. sometimes it's worth the price difference. mas (malaysia airlines) is always more expensive than air asia. but as far as i know especially on international flights this price difference is huge. let's get back to schedule, 3 years ago while i was flying to johor baru to go to singapore my air asia flight closed the doors 5 minutes earlier. so me and a bunch of passengers couldn't get on the flight, than they gave us other tickets for the next day. than last year while i was coming to langkawi for the first time my flight delayed for 50 minutes. list goes on like that. but you don't have this kind of problems with malaysia airlines. but air asia has really pretty planes, well painted, nice leather seats, smoke effect air condition (yes, really fantastic). mas planes don't look that pretty. in flight service quality is good in both of them (i'm talking about domestic flights, i haven't had an international flight with air asia yet).
the prices varies a lot so i won't even try to give a hint.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
tanjung rhu beach panorama
today me and my wife suddenly decided to go to northern parts of langkawi. but time was kinda late so we just went to bird paradise and tanjung rhu beach (pantai tanjung rhu).
it was one of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen. all white sand together with beautiful trees very few buildings, a river's path, small islands and very few people. it was nothing like cenang beach (lots of water sports agents, lots of buildings at the edge of trees, but it's beautiful anyway).
water is not deep, you can actually walk 100 meters into the sea. but it's totally muddy because it's the end point of a river (i don't know the name yet). i took this tanjung rhu panorama over one of the dunes surfaced close to the small islands. we walked there all the way. sometimes in the water and mud, sometimes over small dunes. through the sunset water has started to rise and slowly close the way we came so we had to got back before the full sunset. but we watched a wonderful view in cool breeze totally alone right in the middle of the sea.
while taking this 360° panorama, i also took a photo of my wife which i've been thinkin' to do for almost a year and never find time or place to do so. or i was just lazy. so here it is, my first clone panorama photo.
there are some shops and big resorts there. two of them are tanjung rhu resort and four seasons resort. as far as i've seen tanjung rhu resort had a wonderful pool. we are thinkin' of spending a weekend there. next time we will check out the details about shops and resorts there.
it was one of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen. all white sand together with beautiful trees very few buildings, a river's path, small islands and very few people. it was nothing like cenang beach (lots of water sports agents, lots of buildings at the edge of trees, but it's beautiful anyway).
water is not deep, you can actually walk 100 meters into the sea. but it's totally muddy because it's the end point of a river (i don't know the name yet). i took this tanjung rhu panorama over one of the dunes surfaced close to the small islands. we walked there all the way. sometimes in the water and mud, sometimes over small dunes. through the sunset water has started to rise and slowly close the way we came so we had to got back before the full sunset. but we watched a wonderful view in cool breeze totally alone right in the middle of the sea.
while taking this 360° panorama, i also took a photo of my wife which i've been thinkin' to do for almost a year and never find time or place to do so. or i was just lazy. so here it is, my first clone panorama photo.
there are some shops and big resorts there. two of them are tanjung rhu resort and four seasons resort. as far as i've seen tanjung rhu resort had a wonderful pool. we are thinkin' of spending a weekend there. next time we will check out the details about shops and resorts there.
Monday, February 12, 2007
a view from chogm villa
i've told about chogm villa (where i live) before. it's really suitable for long term stay. here is a view from my balcony, you can enjoy this every evening:
my new japanese car
i've changed my car yesterday. my plumber decided to rent his car; a 2001 nissan cefiro 3.0 . very nice and clean car, have cruise control, 3.0 v engine etc. i was happy with the perodua kembara but this one is cheaper. kembara was rm1200 / month (~$342) and this car is rm1000 (~$285). there is a huge quality difference. this new one has a real air-con, abs, cruise control (yes, i said this before), 3.0 v6 engine, two airbags, a huge baggage compartment etc. it's my plumber's family car so it's really clean compared to my rent-a-car perodua. (btw it has a sound system better than my 5.1, am i lucky or what).
okay, kembara was a nice small suv with no comfort maybe more suitable for an island like this. it was like a station wagon in the shape of a jeep with 4wd. but most of the roads here are very clean and smooth, so you don't always need jeep, actually you hardly need a jeep when you are living here.
i will put its photos here when i have time to shoot them. here is a photo from www.thaicar.com:
okay, kembara was a nice small suv with no comfort maybe more suitable for an island like this. it was like a station wagon in the shape of a jeep with 4wd. but most of the roads here are very clean and smooth, so you don't always need jeep, actually you hardly need a jeep when you are living here.
i will put its photos here when i have time to shoot them. here is a photo from www.thaicar.com:
Sunday, February 11, 2007
my blog directories
Friday, February 09, 2007
my stay
before i arrived i was looking at the perdana beach resort which had an apartment looked nice in photos. it had a pool, nice flats, by the sea etc. my friends were also living there back than. but the truth is it's in the middle of nowhere. not many people are living in it and there is nothing around it. also because of the wave breaker the sea is dirty and muddy. actually generally it's muddy here, because of the current, because of the all sand sea base, it's always muddy. you can't see anything. and especially these times there are lots and lots of jellyfish here. and they are big, really big.
when i arrived my friend has moved to a house in pantai cenang (cenang beach). a nice house which needs hell a lot of repairs and renovation. the former owners were most probably living like animals (as my friend said after his first arrived). it was much better when i arrived. i stayed with them for 2 months. living around pantai cenang is the best thing a tourist can hope for, life is here. it's a very nice and long beach, close to other nice beaches, bars, pubs, restaurants, shops , all here. so you might like to stay in one of the resorts or guest houses here. btw; they are paying rm1000 for the house (~$285).
but as a long term resident i needed a house or flat with furniture. so i started looking for it. there was only perdana beach resort kinda close to cenang beach. but when i went to see it, i definitely didn't like it. also it was quite expensive for island standarts, rm1500 / month (~$428). than i asked around and found out there are 3 apartments with furnished flats in kuah. kuah is the town in langkawi island. i will give the details in another post. the three apartments are century suria, kondo istana and sri lagenda.
century suria is close to the west entrance of the town, close to the sea. the flats and furnishing is kinda nice. but the pool is too small, almost like a pond. flats have 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and a saloon. view is really nice, if you have a flat on higher levels. most of the rich people of langkawi live there. price is rm1800 / month (~$514). it also has a small mart, gym and sauna in ground floor.
kondo istana is very close to the town center. looks like century suria, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, open kitchen and saloon. very nice view (especially mountain side). when you ask the reception they say rm3600 (~$1000) / month. Yes, it's really expensive and believe me it doesn't worth it. if you are lucky you can find a home owner there and rent from them. than the price drops around rm1400 (~$400) which is logical. But the furniture might not be good.
sri lagenda is a budget apartment. monthly rents are around rm600 (~$170). Small apartment with poor furniture and no facilities.
than luckily, a guy from kondo istana has showed me a flat in chogm villa. that's the best place you can get if you intend to stay for a long time. or 1 month even. wonderful big and clean pool, single flats or doublexes in a very nice site. now i'm staying there with a very nice pool view. sauna and gym are right by the pool. very quite and windy. sometimes children are making a lot of noise by the pool but you get used to it. large windows to the balcony which i love. just open it all the way and enjoy your stay. we are paying just rm1200 (~$342) / month which is totally worth it.
the thing about staying in kuah is it's 25 min drive from pantai cenang. but it's okay if you like to drive, because the coast road is very nice and clean.
when i arrived my friend has moved to a house in pantai cenang (cenang beach). a nice house which needs hell a lot of repairs and renovation. the former owners were most probably living like animals (as my friend said after his first arrived). it was much better when i arrived. i stayed with them for 2 months. living around pantai cenang is the best thing a tourist can hope for, life is here. it's a very nice and long beach, close to other nice beaches, bars, pubs, restaurants, shops , all here. so you might like to stay in one of the resorts or guest houses here. btw; they are paying rm1000 for the house (~$285).
but as a long term resident i needed a house or flat with furniture. so i started looking for it. there was only perdana beach resort kinda close to cenang beach. but when i went to see it, i definitely didn't like it. also it was quite expensive for island standarts, rm1500 / month (~$428). than i asked around and found out there are 3 apartments with furnished flats in kuah. kuah is the town in langkawi island. i will give the details in another post. the three apartments are century suria, kondo istana and sri lagenda.
century suria is close to the west entrance of the town, close to the sea. the flats and furnishing is kinda nice. but the pool is too small, almost like a pond. flats have 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and a saloon. view is really nice, if you have a flat on higher levels. most of the rich people of langkawi live there. price is rm1800 / month (~$514). it also has a small mart, gym and sauna in ground floor.
kondo istana is very close to the town center. looks like century suria, 3 rooms, 2 bathrooms, open kitchen and saloon. very nice view (especially mountain side). when you ask the reception they say rm3600 (~$1000) / month. Yes, it's really expensive and believe me it doesn't worth it. if you are lucky you can find a home owner there and rent from them. than the price drops around rm1400 (~$400) which is logical. But the furniture might not be good.
sri lagenda is a budget apartment. monthly rents are around rm600 (~$170). Small apartment with poor furniture and no facilities.
than luckily, a guy from kondo istana has showed me a flat in chogm villa. that's the best place you can get if you intend to stay for a long time. or 1 month even. wonderful big and clean pool, single flats or doublexes in a very nice site. now i'm staying there with a very nice pool view. sauna and gym are right by the pool. very quite and windy. sometimes children are making a lot of noise by the pool but you get used to it. large windows to the balcony which i love. just open it all the way and enjoy your stay. we are paying just rm1200 (~$342) / month which is totally worth it.
the thing about staying in kuah is it's 25 min drive from pantai cenang. but it's okay if you like to drive, because the coast road is very nice and clean.
my high season
since i came here everybody was talking about a high season; "it's gonna be good, langkawi will be crawling with people, business will be good, beaches will be full..."
yes, now there are hell a lot of people than it used be. but the high season came quite late. it was supposed to start around mid november, but it started in christmas. since than, it's getting better. it's not my problem though, but i have friends who have nice restaurants, bars here and i want them to have good business. i will start reviewing them as soon as i have some time to do so; red tomato splash and garden, jungle bar, sunba retro bar, sun cafe restaurant, adda maya cafe and restaurant (i love the nasi goreng there).
so, this year high season is between mid december and ... it still goes on.
okay, so what is nasi goreng; it's fried rice. but in adda maya they make it a little different. they already have the one with chicken, prawns, egg, chili etc, but i prefer the special one they make for me, it's made with tomato, lots of veggies, no soy sauce and egg. it's really delicious. anyway, i will get to the details of adda maya's menu in my next posts.
yes, now there are hell a lot of people than it used be. but the high season came quite late. it was supposed to start around mid november, but it started in christmas. since than, it's getting better. it's not my problem though, but i have friends who have nice restaurants, bars here and i want them to have good business. i will start reviewing them as soon as i have some time to do so; red tomato splash and garden, jungle bar, sunba retro bar, sun cafe restaurant, adda maya cafe and restaurant (i love the nasi goreng there).
so, this year high season is between mid december and ... it still goes on.
okay, so what is nasi goreng; it's fried rice. but in adda maya they make it a little different. they already have the one with chicken, prawns, egg, chili etc, but i prefer the special one they make for me, it's made with tomato, lots of veggies, no soy sauce and egg. it's really delicious. anyway, i will get to the details of adda maya's menu in my next posts.
Friday, November 10, 2006
my journey to langkawi
i forgot to tell about my journey here. i took the bus from ankara to istanbul which was from kamilkoc and was quite comfortable. than i stayed in my friend mighty babafingorn's, oops i mean lord aragorn's house. than last night i stayed with my brother in kemerburgaz. we had some very good time in maria's garden in istanbul. wonderful place with wonderful food. their food service is slow but it's worth the wait beause, when you ask for a soup they make it from the beginning, they don't keep it ready. same goes for the salads and greens coming with the main orders. they just keep them whole than when you order a salad they just slice and dice and bring it to you. the taste was wonderful.
whatever.
i took the flight from istanbul to kuala lumpur by gulfair (airbus a320). first we landed on bahrain and it was such a beautiful view to see bahrain during the night. we waited in bahrain international airport for 3.5 hours. when you are there and intend to use a prepaid internet card, check the connection first. because i've bought the card, scratched it, than their connection went down. i've tried to connect from different places but connection always failed. than i had to explain them why they have to pay me my $10 back (yes, 3 hours internet is $10 in the airport).
after 3.5 hours we flew to muscat (airbus a340) and stayed there for another hour. than our long journey has began through kuala lumpur international airport. it was quite comfortable actually, i had a very good travelmate from germany , iols (hey iols!) also the middle seats were quite empty, so i got a couple of pillows and a blanket and slept till our arrival to klia. these flights didn't have personal tv s like the one i took via malaysia airlines. so you have watch the movie lake house. it helps you sleep you know.
after arrival in klia, i took a mercedes taxi to lcct (low cost carrier terminal) to take my flight to langkawi international airport with air asia. i've paid 60 rm (~$16) for this trip, but it was very comfortable and the taxi driver was really helpful. guess what happened; flight was delayed for 45 minutes.
than i've arrived in langkawi. flight was really nice, we flew over penang and i saw my old apartment. upon arrival i took a cab to cenang beach which cost me 16 rm (~$4,5). taxi driver was babbling about me wasting his time so i had to shut him off till my friend came to show us the way to his home.
whatever.
i took the flight from istanbul to kuala lumpur by gulfair (airbus a320). first we landed on bahrain and it was such a beautiful view to see bahrain during the night. we waited in bahrain international airport for 3.5 hours. when you are there and intend to use a prepaid internet card, check the connection first. because i've bought the card, scratched it, than their connection went down. i've tried to connect from different places but connection always failed. than i had to explain them why they have to pay me my $10 back (yes, 3 hours internet is $10 in the airport).
after 3.5 hours we flew to muscat (airbus a340) and stayed there for another hour. than our long journey has began through kuala lumpur international airport. it was quite comfortable actually, i had a very good travelmate from germany , iols (hey iols!) also the middle seats were quite empty, so i got a couple of pillows and a blanket and slept till our arrival to klia. these flights didn't have personal tv s like the one i took via malaysia airlines. so you have watch the movie lake house. it helps you sleep you know.
after arrival in klia, i took a mercedes taxi to lcct (low cost carrier terminal) to take my flight to langkawi international airport with air asia. i've paid 60 rm (~$16) for this trip, but it was very comfortable and the taxi driver was really helpful. guess what happened; flight was delayed for 45 minutes.
than i've arrived in langkawi. flight was really nice, we flew over penang and i saw my old apartment. upon arrival i took a cab to cenang beach which cost me 16 rm (~$4,5). taxi driver was babbling about me wasting his time so i had to shut him off till my friend came to show us the way to his home.
my italian food in cenang beach
there are a couple of places in langkawi which has very good italian food. i'm lucky that my friend tolga became friends with the owner of l'osteria; lorenzo. he is italian, came to langkawi some time ago as a chef, than opened his own place which is very classy and has the best italian food in town. his pizzas (pizza l'osteria and pizza diavola especially) are wonderful. since i like to try different stuff i've asked for something carpaccio beef. i guess it was a salad, but with raw meat. so if you don't like raw meet don't order anything "carpaccio". also he has a very good selection of wines and liqueurs. i don't have a photo of the place but i'll shoot one when i have the chance and put it here.
another place is t-jay's (jezebel's) restaurant. they also have a good choice of pizzas , pastas and some italian dishes. their beef pepperoni pizza is also good but not as good as lorenzo's.
for fettucine and cream sauce lovers like me; you can ask for it specially at l'osteria because they don't have that kind of pasta in the menu. generally menus here are quite simple, not like the ones back in turkey. but don't be mistaken, food quality is very good.
by the way both these places are in cenang beach.
another place is t-jay's (jezebel's) restaurant. they also have a good choice of pizzas , pastas and some italian dishes. their beef pepperoni pizza is also good but not as good as lorenzo's.
for fettucine and cream sauce lovers like me; you can ask for it specially at l'osteria because they don't have that kind of pasta in the menu. generally menus here are quite simple, not like the ones back in turkey. but don't be mistaken, food quality is very good.
by the way both these places are in cenang beach.
my small suv
perodua kembara is a good car. first car i've rented here was a proton wire. it was something like our tofas cars back in turkey. local, cheap car. but for an island like this you don't need much. this is where kembara comes into play; it's cheap (for rent), it's a jeep, it's comfortable and it's fuel efficient for a 4x4 suv. i've asked for a nissan terrano here but the rental services don't rent them anymore because of the high maintenance cost. also they are not fuel-efficien, they just drink it. one ride from airport to kuah town is 10 rm (~$2,7) which is too much for malaysia standarts. so i'll be driving from kuah to cenang beach everyday; it's not such a good idea. (oil is 1,9 rm / litre here which is something like $0,52)
here is a photo of the first kembara i've found. i've paid 1000 rm (~$277) for a one month. next one will be newer model in good condition. this one is making too much noice on the front axe (or whatever it's called) and back spare tire.
here is a photo of the first kembara i've found. i've paid 1000 rm (~$277) for a one month. next one will be newer model in good condition. this one is making too much noice on the front axe (or whatever it's called) and back spare tire.
my temporary space
and my days in Langkawi has started. since I've arrived I've been helping my friends with their house. The former owners left the house in a very bad condition. I wonder who would live in a place like that. But after lots of construction, cleaning etc. now the house looks much better. My friend Tolga is trying to grow vegetables in the garden. They are in small plastic bottles for now. I think he is gonna be successful on them; he is checking them everyday.
after some construction here how the house works now:
so it seems to be going well for now. I think in one month this house will be like the others here.
after some construction here how the house works now:
so it seems to be going well for now. I think in one month this house will be like the others here.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
my little constructive test
this is a test post for this new blog from southeast asia. and here is a test image which is actually the current situation. it explains the status of this blog ::
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