I am sitting here with an ice cold drink, upstairs in this wonderful house. My view is of the ocean with Thailand in the distance. I can hear the waves crashing on the shore as I reflect on our time here. I am feeling cool at last with the afternoon breeze coming in and having just got out of the pool. Only an hour ago I had sweat dripping off me, into my eyes, off the end of my nose. I was raking up some leaves and I felt someone’s gaze. I looked around there was a monkey sitting on the driveway watching me. He took off when I came toward him, I said hello to him up the tree as I passed, and he looked right at me and opened his mouth in a big smile. They look so cute, but those teeth look sharp! I had a sudden panic that he might jump at me and bite me – a smiling assassin! So I hightailed it back to the house. A reality check – that’s right, we are in Asia, wow! We really are, sometimes I have to pinch myself.

We are almost finished this house sit, 8 weeks have gone so fast. We have had such a great time here in Langkawi, what a little gem. We have always loved Malaysia and we are yet to be disappointed. Langkawi is a very chill island. Nothing really matters, you can be your own person here and no one will judge. “Island Time” is alive and well. The people are so friendly and welcoming and very generous.

We were sitting at the café/restaurant next door one rainy night and got talking to the couple at the table beside us. We ended up swapping phone numbers and made a date to meet up the next week. Well, that was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. We have since been to their house for traditional Nasi Lamak, out for a couple of meals, and they have been here for dinner. Just a few days ago, we went to their house for a cooking lesson, Beef Ball Noodle Soup. We cooked outside, on a simple gas cooker right beside the paddy field, surrounded by their beautiful gardens. We often get asked “why?” “why do you like doing this so much?” well this is why; it is the people we meet along the way that enrich our lives so much.

Our neighbour Suzie, has been amazing. She has “Eagleye”, a wonderful little guest house with a bar. We have joined in with her guests and friends as if we are part of the family. She has introduced to Malaysian traditional food and presented me with a bottle of bubbles on my birthday. “My house is your house – you are my neighbour – that’s it” By just being there she has made our stay here extra special.

Through Suzie we have met some amazing people. Sabine is from Germany and travels alone, she is a photographer – travelling and taking photos; my dream job! And Shannim, who is from Malaysia, is a spirited pathfinder! She also travels alone to places far and wide, never really knowing where the next wind will take her but embraces every step with bubbling excitement and enthusiasm. Shannim writes all about her adventures too. It has been so exciting to meet both of these inspirational women.

Check out their awesome photos and stories:-

https://instagram.com/flow.photography.sabine?igshid=Y2IzZGU1MTFhOQ==

https://instagram.com/epicadventuress?igshid=Y2IzZGU1MTFhOQ==

http://www.epicadventuress.com

Shila, our housekeeper brings us treats almost every time she comes, Chicken Curry, Samosa and these little sweet white balls covered in coconut called Ondeh Ondeh. Her daughter makes the best Curry Puffs on the island, we are getting so spoilt!

There is a little round lady in the store at the end of our driveway. She is only open in the afternoons, but she does sell beer, along with hammers and nails, plastic table cloths, chain and bath plugs. We go in fairly regularly and get a couple of Tigers on the way home. She doesn’t speak a stick of English and just laughs every time we speak to her, so we laugh with her and that’s it, we understand each other perfectly! We get the biggest wave and smile every time we go past. She probably thinks we are mad!

There is a craft place down the road, it is a tourist attraction, has all sorts of traditional Malaysian clothing, jewellery, art etc etc. there are also 2 museums on site. We have been a couple of times and I got talking to the batik painting guy and arranged for a day to go in and do some batik painting myself. He designed 3 small frames with the flowers I chose, and he helped me paint the dye onto the fabric. It was so much fun and very relaxing and rewarding. I was very surprised and pleased with the results. He only took equ. $8NZD.

We have had so many wonderful interactions with the people here, the Roti shop, the Chinese supermarket, the Night Market stall holders. We even got 10% off the bill when we went to the Tanjung Rhu Resort for all you can eat breakfast. The lady at the “1 o’clock” restaurant; we named it that as she opens at 1 o’clock each day, she makes the best Keow Teow Goreng on the island and whenever we go her son comes out to talk to us and practice his English. It’s a wonderful place.

The Island is so beautiful. So green with thick, lush vegetation. If you are not looking at the sea, you are looking at the rugged mountains, so spectacular in their own right. There are mangroves in the estuary’s, caves and picturesque outer islands, rivers, and many waterfalls. We did a boat tour through the mangroves which took us out onto the Andaman Sea, we got to see the island from a different perspective. And, as you know, Donna and Chris are very happy when they are on a boat!

Langkawi is sitting at 6 degrees Latitude North, pretty close to the equator and what we notice mostly is there is hardly any dawn or twilight. 0710 is sunrise, according to google, but it is still dark until only about 10 minutes before. Same in the evening, the sun goes down really quickly, if you don’t remember to look, you will miss the sunset!

We have been out on the kayaks twice while being here. The first time our dear, loyal HobNob wanted to follow. We were a couple hundred meters out when we realised that he seriously did want to come with us! He was swimming and swimming. He gave us a bit of a scare, who knows how well this dog can swim! So we went straight back in, close to shore and, yes, he followed – phew! It became a very short paddle along the shoreline with loyal puppy following us along the beach.

The next time we went out, we sneaked around the back of the house so he didn’t see us go. We had a great paddle with an encounter with a pod of dolphin. That was the last thing we expected. There were about 6 or 7 including a baby. Most were grey and had blunt dorsal fins which were mottled pink and their faces were blotchy pink, almost looked like they were sunburnt. A variety we have never seen before. They were not in a hurry to get away from us so we just enjoyed their company, thinking how lucky are we! We googled it afterwards and found they were Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin. We were so surprised to see them, it was a great thrill.

It is rainy season now but we haven’t had as much rain as they say we should have had by now. We feel quite lucky! But not so lucky with the mosquitos! They are the size of helicopters here and so quick! The bush mozzies will bite all over, fast as lightening and the bites will itch for about 15 minutes then its all gone. There is another variety around and when they bite, the bite will itch for days and swell up into a red lump. Thankfully it is mostly the bush variety.

We are flying to Penang soon, the next chapter is about to begin!

Thank you Langkawi, you have been amazing! See you again soon!

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