SMART TRAVEL...
Wow! Last year I shared how to travel cheap and smart to Bangkok and Bandung... This year 2013 we went to Langkawi and Penang. How much do we spent for air tickets; hotel; car rent and of course food? Can you believe RM 500 per person which include airtickets from Kuching to KL, KL to Langkawi and Langkawi to Penang; Penang to KL and last flight; KL to Kuching? Guess we are getting smarter and smarter huh? Well thanks again to Air Asia for great cheap flight; we are able to see many places; even with tight budget..
While averagely most Malaysians live with monthly salary of RM 1500-RM2000 - we not only have to eat, we need to share and pay car loan; and house loan; we left tiny bits for saving..So who say we cant travel cheap? Our mission is to be able to travel within our budget; enjoy ourselves; get together; and look look see see...We will eat at stalls; kopitiam; and occasionally a good restaurant if our budget permitted...let us share how we do it within the budget.
**Who says we need to spend fiercely for a holiday? There are 5 of us...we gathered RM 2500 for 5 and the below is how we spend...hihi..
 |
Langkawi airport
|
Overall Expenses: RM 2500 for 5 persons
1. AirTicket :
Kuching to KL = RM 29
KL to Langkawi = RM 24
Langkawi to Penang = RM 24
Penang to KL = RM 24
KL to Kuching = RM 29 = Total of Airticket per person is = RM 130; X 5 persons =
RM 650
However; you need to be fast to get cheap airticket..sign up of BIG member to get priority booking for cheap airticket..cool huh..
2. Car Rent at Langkawi Toyota Rush =
RM 240 (deposit rm 50 refundable)
3. Petrol expenses in Langkawi =
RM 30 for 3 days 2 nights
4. Azio Hotel Langkawi = Family room
RM 300 for 2 nights - 5persons capacity (2 King bed and 1 single
bed).
5. 3 Islands Hoping Langkawi = RM 40 per person =
RM 200 for 5 persons.
6. Penang Airport Car Rental Proton Saga =
RM 312 for (deposit RM 900 - just authorized credit card only)
7.Penang petrol = RM 30 for 3 days 2 nights
8.Tune Hotel Downtown Penang =
RM 150 for 3 double rooms for 2 nights (means RM 25 per night with
24 hour aircondition credit which you can use for 2 days)
9. Food for 5 days 4 nights Lunch and Dinner =
RM 550 = RM 110 per day for breakfast, lunch and
dinner..eating cheap but good..haha..
10. Miscellaneous such as parking fee etc =
RM 38
Add all up the above and total expenses for this smart travel = RM 2500 for 5 persons = Rm 500 per person..And Langkawi and Penang is added to our travel list wooohooo!
Do read the below details of our trip..where we went and what we have visited..
1st Day from Kuching to Langkawi
 |
Picking up our rented Toyota Rush for RM 240 for 3 days 2 nights from Langkawi airport (plus another refundable deposit of RM 50).
|
We landed in Langkawi airport at 2 pm; we took flight from Kuching to KL at 9 am and then transit at KL airport for about 1 hour 45 min..Taking our luggage, we headed to Mr Ghoni at car rent counter -Fi Holidays to pay our car rent and take our car..To our surprise; the car was very new and so nice..
This is the first time we have a rented car on our holiday...so we were so excited ...I read that about Langkawi on some blog that in Langkawi, it is more convenient to drive around than looking for taxi; yet you can drive to many places Even though it is our first time to Langkawi..thanks to google map h
ttps://maps.google.com.my/; we drove every where easily..
Our first destination with the car -Pia's The Padi field around 23 minutes away from the airport for our first late lunch in Langkawi..yum yum...Look at the photos as below..We had our lunch by the padi field and strong breeze; cows and buffalos..Kinda great experience though..I guessed this was the most expensive lunch we had in Langkawi..RM 176 for 4 homecook dishes and drinks..
(so we have balance of RM 374 for another 9 meals for the whole trip - budget of around RM40 per meal for 5 persons.)
 |
| me and hubby...at Pia's The Padi restaurant |
 |
| We ordered Pia's special home cook such as Thai Fish, Chicken Butter Masala, Chicken Rendang; sambal fish and thai fish.they do serve western food too.. |
 |
| Fish sambal.. |
After late lunch; we drove around area near Pia's... searching for Tanjung Rhu beach and surrounding area for greens and fresh air and nature..All greens..all cool...destress! Calm...However; my hubby did not really enjoyed Langkawi...(he loves city; that's why..cannot shopping bah..hahahaha..) So; for those who loves shopping; Langkawi is not a good choice..For those who loves nature and greens; it is a great place to relax...
 |
| Around Tanjung Aru... |
Around evening time; we drove to Azio Hotel to check in; which is located at Kuah Town;...So everything looked new to us..but Kuah town was easy to drive around and small...So we checked into our hotel Azio thru their website end of last year..at the time Tripadvisor.com did not have any review about it..(they do have now)..I was lucky I did not choose the wrong hotel to stay as it was clean and quite new........
convenient; the only weakness we faced is that bathroom is not private enough..So we took bath 1 by 1 and while 1 bath; the rest went for a walk or waited at the lobby..anyway; we coped well since we were on budget..haha...for further details check on tripadvisor link as below.
.jpg) |
| Azio Hotel at Kuah Town - family room for 5 at RM 150 per night...Do book early to get early bird rate..A clean hotel for sleep only ;) |
 |
| Rootian Seafood |
I checked online for chinese food in Kuah Langkawi; but there are little information about it..so here I would like to share some information with those looking for simple kopitiam chinese food; you can find get lunch and dinner at ROOTIAN Seafood ..so..
For dinner; we went to Rootian; just at the next block of Azio Hotel. They have "Chu-Cha" which means you can order freshly cooked meat and vege or seafood...Some tips for you all..;) The boss of the restaurant is very honest with us; they usually charged the locals cheaper..so do let him know you are from Langkawi.. ;P. We ordered some freshly cook vege and meat; fried rice and pork rice..and spent around RM45; including drinks;..After dinner; we went back to hotel to have a rest for tomorrow's activity: island hopping...
2nd Day in Langkawi.
 |
| random kopitiam we saw...it is by the road side...the road in Kuah town; but direction drive way going up to Pulau Cenang |
So; the second day we woke early about 7am and prepared to go for our first breakkie at Langkawi Kuah town. We made our move at 8 am and driving around for about 15 minutes to see see look look whether there are nice breakkie around. But we noticed that the town was a little quiet; only 1 or 2 coffee shops and duty free shops were opened. At last; we saw a kopitiam shown as above; and there were many people in the shop; so we decided to pull over for breakkie..after breakfast; we drive back to Azio Hotel for our 9.30am island hopping..
We has booked island hopping for Rm 40 per person from Azio Hotel including to and fro from the jetty. If you bought at the airport with Mr Ghoni; it would be RM 30 per person however you have to go to the Jetty yourself. Sharp at 9.30 am; a driver will pick us up from Azio and sent us to jetty and after the 4 hours trip; we will be driven back to the hotel from the jetty too...we didn't mind paying extra Rm 10 for the convenience.
 |
the view we took during our trip..island hopping to Beras Basah Island , Dayang Bunting Geoforest, Ibu Pulau Bunting and watched eagle feeding...
|
 |
| the scenery during island hopping..we enjoyed the speed boat right...you felt calm and green;P |
 |
| Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park |
 |
| Island Hopping -Beras Basah Island Langkawi |
After the 4 hours trip; we went back for bath and got readied for our next destination; Pulau Cenang beach..When we reached there; we are excited to see Starbuck; Old Town; Mcdonald and some familiar cafe back home..at least we saw some lively shops.. No wonder Kuah was quiet; all the tourists have been hiding at Cenang area. All the nice restaurants; cafe and western food hide in this area hahaha..for those who did not plan to rent car in Langkawi; the best place to stay other than resort is Cenang...There are a lot of small motel; or holiday houses to rent..and also massage centre but the price is abit steep for Malaysians since it is a touristry area..Compare RM and USD...hahaha...you know what I mean..
 |
| due to our budget; we only walked by the beach..enjoyed sunset and look look see see.. |
We spent half day at Cenang; having coffee at Starbuck..laid back and relaxed.....; walked around; (shopped some chocolate with some extra budget of our own hihi,,,); walked to Cenang Beach watching people having fun with lots of beach activities such as parasailing; jet ski; banana boat etc..By the way chocolate sold in Kuah town is cheaper than in Cenang area by few ringgits...;).
 |
| Langkawi Cenang Area |
 |
| Shops around busier Cenang..it's fun to walk around.. |
We hunted for dinner around Cenang after the beach...everything considered quite expensive (however; McD and KFC is still ok but we wanted cooked meal); until we found...Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato..nice and cheap wooohoo...
 |
| huge signboard that you cant missed by Cenang street...Its malay and indian food...definitely affordable.. |
 |
| Try their roti tosei (RM2 only), nasi kandar (RM 6.50) and roti canai (RM2)..it is tasty and cheap...but they also have other food that ranged from Rm 8 and above... |
After dinner; we went back to Azio for bath and then walked around nearby kopitiam for teh O peng and duty free shops for some icecream and chocolates before call it a day.
3rd Day in Langkawi@ Penang
We woke up a bit late as we were to check out at 12pm..but before we checked out; we went for breakfast at nearby kopitiam where Rootian Seafood located during at night. Then we drove to the airports and stopped by JOM IKAN BAKAR near Langkawi airport for the fish..( you can refer to the map at this webpage..
http://juadahmalaysia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Map-by-juadahmalaysia.com_1.jpg .. we found the map in the website as above..
 |
| look at those fishes...they are freshly barbecued...we ate only the fishes..they also sell malay fast food..lots of people eating here...We ate ikan siakap...RM 30 per fish..quite expensive haha... |
 |
| fresh fish..lovely place.. |
Penang Here We Come...30 minutes flight from Langkawi..
 |
| view of Penang airport; Queensbay mall... |
6.pm - Once we took our car at the airport with New Bob (
http://www.bobcar.com.my/contact.html his car rent rate is quite reasonable; but they would take your credit card and pre-authorised RM 900..and will cancel it after you return the car..); a proton saga and so cool..5 persons' luggages can fit in..We happily browsed google map for our first destination.. and we went to Queensbay Mall..what a huge nice mall...
After visiting the mall, we drove to Gurney Drive for dinner@supper..We reached about 11pm and some stalls still opened..So ate Kueh Teow soup ..very nice and only cost us RM 3.50 - RM 4.50 per bowl depending what ingredients you want...Love the sotong bakar; fried tauhu and chicken; penang laksa and 'Chu Chiong Fan"...all food were very cheap from RM 3.50 - RM 5 per bowl.
After supper; we checked in Tune Hotel Penang..situated at Burmah Street which is very near Gurney Drive ..10 min drive...We love Tune Hotel Penang..free parking; and we felt safe with our rented car being parked there as there are 3 security guards...lobby was huge and there is also massage chair; pool and inhouse chinese massage centre..
 |
| Tune Hotel Penang with 7-11 ..very convenient... |
4th Day in Penang
We went to Bangkok Lane for late breakfast..We were trying to find the 80 years history Penang Indian Muslim food. mee mamak goreng and Hokkein Mee at SENG LEE kopitiam at Bangkok Lane..Lovely food..and affordable..I love the 'Samosa'..It taste like curry puff; but tastier..
 |
| Seng Lee at Bangkok Lane..Mee Goreng Mamak from RM 3.50, Samaso - CurryPuff alike ..RM 0.50 to RM 1.50 depending on what meat you choose.. |
 |
| Lovely Bangkok Lane.. |
After our late breakfast; we walked around Ah Quee street and other streets to find Ernest Zacharevic Murals Wall Artwork..The fun part was to treasure hunt it...The weather was so hot...but we still enjoyed it...We spent about 2-3 hours looking around the streets...
After the walk; we headed to Gurney Plaza.. Nothing much to see but its great for some shopping and hang out...
 |
| found this cute shop when we walked around Penang Street; looking for wall art...lovely souveniers available here... |
 |
| Gurney Plaza |
.jpg) |
| Penang city view day and night... |
Dinner at Gurney Drive again..This time we went around 6 pm as we wanted to see more stalls haha...So at last we got to taste Pasembur; a client who intro us in Kuching; It's tasty but expensive (1st pic on the left)..well I guess Pasembur cost us a bomb RM 25 for that plate..felt being 'potong' hahaha...So becareful guys; it's better to check on the price before ordered ya...Rojak and mee soup is delicious..
So if you only have 2 nights in Penang, visit Gurney Drive for its 1 stop food heaven... For those who love seafood; you can visit the seafood centre along Gurney area...
After Gurney Drive; we drive along Penang for its night view..and even drove to the Penang bridge..The view is really amazing and indeed looked like little Hongkong if you drive from the bridge heading back to George town..(p/s there is toll charges of RM 7 ya hahahaha)
5th Day In Penang
Bye bye Penang..we will definitely come back...A really clean city with great food!!...We flew to Kl and transitted for about 2 hours before headed back to Kuching with our favourite airline.....Tips: If you want cheaper flight; do not fly direct..follow our way haha..fly from Kuching to KL and to Penang...To KL and back to Kuching..well yes it will waste a bit of time..but it saved you alot! Well; we are budget traveller; so we will try our best to save ...and enjoy our trip! WOOOOHOOOO! We made it!
Love
Jac
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
