Mahsuri: A Legend Revisited

Malaysians are very familiar with Mahsuri. Ever since we were young, we were told about this tale. At first I thought it was just a story but after paying a visit to the Mahsuri Museum in Langkawi, I knew it was more than a story. It was a struggle of a woman to survive. It was the usual jealousy and back stabbing among the royal.

Mahsuri's tale is nothing new. It seems like we never learn from this. In our society, we hear the same tale only in different times, in different situation.

At the museum, there was a kris on display and that was the special kris used to assassinate Mahsuri. According to the reenactment of the story, Mahsuri couldn't be killed by any sword. After days, of stabbing by a normal kris, Mahsuri felt tortured. She felt weak thus she revealed the kris that could actually take her life. Before her last breath, she cursed Langkawi to be barren for seven generations. True enough, Langkawi was attacked by the Siam government and it was barren.

Now, Langkawi is a world attraction and true to its word, it is a beautiful island.

Mahsuri had a daughter and she was taken either by her grandparent of her father to some place in Southern Thai. It could be Hatyai or Phuket, I can't remember it clearly now.

Recently, Mahsuri's great great granddaughter came for a visit. She is a beautiful lady and married with one child. The old dispute has calmed down and Mahsuri's descendant was celebrated grandly when she came.

Mahsuri's family tree. Mahsuri's great great grand daughter and hubby is on bottom right.

Mahsuri's grave

Traditional houses in the Mahsuri museum's compound.

Old trunks. Remind me of appa's in India.

Langkawi: Underwater World

This is mainly going to be a pictorial post. Our visit to Underwater World was best shown visually than explaining. It was simply beautiful. You may click the link below to find out on the opening and closing time as well as the entrance fees.

http://www.underwaterworldlangkawi.com.my/fees.html

So, here are the pictures.

Below are all murals found at the Underwater world

Back to the water tanks.

It was amazing to find all these beautiful creatures underwater. It was as beautiful as Aquaria in KLCC. It made me just wonder on the Creation of God. SubhanAllah.

Langkawi: Ayer Hangat

Ayer Hangat (pronounced Ayaq Hangat) literally means hot water. Never heard about this place during my first visit to Langkawi so I thought we should have a look. I Googled the placed and I found out that there is a hot water spring. The water is actually salt water. Never been to one so, we made a plan. Mom loves to dip her leg in hot water. She had issues with her knee for ages.

The Ayer Hangat or Ayer Hangat village is just by the roadside. It is so easy to miss if you are driving fast. It was raining cats and dogs the day we decided to go there so we missed the stop. We were using Waze and it got confused as well.

This is the hot water village. Inside, there are two wells. Also, there are rooms where spa services are offered. I only remembered we were charged RM5 per entry. Since dad is considered 'warga emas' he was charged RM2.

The benefits of sitting in a hot spring well.

These are the minerals contained in the well.

This is the view from one of the well. The well is deep. It was built in a way that the water is distributed from the well to the plank areas you see in the picture above. However, the best place to enjoy the hot water is the well and the areas around it. As it flows away, the water became cooler.

Among the places we visited, the highlight was the hot water well. There were no crowd as we came right after it poured. You may want to bring extra clothes to change. There are some stalls after you buy the tickets if you want to buy pants or blouses (in case you forgot to bring extra).

Langkawi: Sky Cab and Sky Bridge

It has been a while since I went to Langkawi. I have never been to the same place twice for long holidays but this trip is for mom. She has been residing in Malaysia for 40 over years but she never made it there. So dad and I decided to take her there. Since was also on break, I thought it would be refreshing.

I can't remember how much we spent for the ride up and the sky bridge. All I could remember is we drove about half an hour from Cenang beach and reached at Sky Cab area around 5.45pm. Thankfully the place closes at 7pm so we didn't rush. As we had parked, we walked inside an area where there were Oriental Village, 3D Museum and souvenir shops. It was a huge area with a beautiful pond. We had to walk until we reached a water fountain to buy the tickets.

The ticket counter is right opposite this fountain. All I remember is Malaysian's ticket was cheaper than the foreigner's. They made us show our ID as a proof.

There were two stops. We didn't get down at the first stop because we want to spend some time at the Sky Bridge which was at the second stop. You can see the gondola that carried us all the way to the peak of Gunung Mat Chinchang. The background would be Pantai Kok if I am not mistaken.

As soon as we reached the second stop, we could see the Sky Bridge. One can choose to walk there via the stairs or take the cable car. There is also charges for the car.

You can feel the vibration as you walk along the bridge. The view was breathtaking. It was amazing to know that only one pylon holds the bridge and it was said you can view the Andaman Sea from here.

Mid-way at the Sky Bridge you can take a look of the jungles beneath through the glass panel.

After coming back from the Sky Bridge, we took the stairs that leads to the top most platform. There were hundreds of love shaped locks hanging. Probably of couples.

Love shaped locks.

View at the top most platform. There was a binocular where you have to insert RM1 for it to work.

The visit took us about 2 hours roughly. We wanted to stop by Telaga Tujuh but it started to get dark so we stopped by Kok Beach briefly before heading back to Cenang Beach.

Back view of Maharaja Restaurant.

Entrance to Maharaja Restaurant.

A picturesque view.

We were just thankful that it didn't rain on the first day.