In the far northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, lies an archipelago of 99 peaceful islands called Langkawi. This gem of Kedah is mysteriously hidden with a fascinating heritage of legends and myths, which depicts giants and gigantic birds, warriors and maidens, wars and battles.

As a natural paradise, Langkawi is gifted with beaches, waterfalls, mangroves, caves, rainforests, hills and mountains. Thanks to the power of nature, Langkawi has been given the Geopark status by UNESCO, for its geoheritage features and outstanding geological landscape. Thus, making Langkawi Southeast Asia’s the first geopark and Malaysia’s pride.

Langkawi islands are laced with fine white sandy beaches, and surrounded by clear emerald water. Langkawi is a perfect place for doing everything or nothing at all. You can either enjoy nature-based activities such as watersports, scuba diving, caves exploring and jungle trekking, or laze by the seashore and watch the world go by.

Wait! There’s more! There are also other tourist attractions that are worth visiting and sight-seeing. Leave your worries and doubts behind, and make your way to Langkawi. Treat yourself a relaxing holiday and explore this mysterious island. A host of adventures await you…

Langkawi Cable Car, at Oriental Village. Taken this view at 708m above sea-level. The top station provides a spectacular 360 degree panoramic views of the Langkawi islands, Kedah, and Southern Thailand.

Pulau Payar. About 45 minutes by ferry from the main Langkawi Island. The marine park teems with a fascinating diversity of marine life and vegetation.

Tanjung Rhu. Another beach which is located in the northern tip of the island.

Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach). The most famous and most happening place in Langkawi, where you can enjoy all sorts of activities at the beach, like watersports, BBQ-ing, drinking beer, sun-bathing, taking a stroll along the shore or just watch the sun slowly set behind the horizon.

Langkawi Travel Guide

Kota Kinabalu (KK) is the state capitol of Sabah. Supposedly area around KK is full of exciting outdoor activity destinations. These included white water rafting, mountain climbing, biking, etc. KK is sandwiched between Crystal Clear Blue Ocean and the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia – Mount Kinabalu. The mountain is the third tallest in Southeast Asia behind Hkakabo Razi of Myanmar (Burma) and Puncak Jaya of New Guinea (Indonesia). In other words, Mount Kinabalu also the tallest in Malaysia and on the island of Borneo.

The best time to come to Mount Kinabalu is during the dry season from February to April. Dryer periods of several days also often occur in the inter-monsoon season, between August and September. Kinabalu Park HQ is the good place for you to start and enjoy climbing moment. To gain access to the park you need to get a permit. However, this is not available at the park entrance, you only can be get it in KK.

Refer to Ruhaizad Daud, there are two most important things that you have to do before you go to Kinabalu Park HQ are accommodation and fees and equipment preparation. It is important to book well ahead of time. The distance from Kota Kinabalu to Kinabalu Park HQ is about 90 kilometers. For a proper appreciation of your climb, it is essential for you to spend 3 days and 2 nights at the mountain. So, the first thing you have to do now is try to make reservations for your stay on the first night at Kinabalu Park HQ with Sutera Sanctuary Lodges. They have various types of accommodations from a 28-bedded hostel to an exclusive lodge for you to choose. Most of the climber chooses the hostel because it is cheap and usually they will only stay there for only one night. You will start your climb on the next morning.

The next thing that you have to do is to book a place in Laban Rata, a place for you to stay on the second night. There are also various types of accommodations in Panar Laban for you to choose. Because of the limited availability, heated rooms are only available at Laban Rata Resthouse. You will start the next continuation of your climb (Summit Trail (night climb)) to the summit early on the next morning. You will not be allowed to climb if you do not have a place to stay in Laban Rata. You are not allowed to camp there.

Last of all, enjoy the journey of attempting conquer Mount Kinabalu. I believed that it might be the best trip and memorable experience that you ever been.

Kota Kinabalu Travel Guide

First of all, if you are staying somewhere nearby the Baiyoke Sky/First House/First Hotel there’s a backlane just right behind Baiyoke it’s a Morning Market convert to Night Market filled with choices of food, clothes and etc. You can get local delicacies over here. The other place you wont miss would be the Platinum Centre (this place is still quite new) the food court on the top floor had spread of local and internation cuisines. Thumbs up for most of the selection there! Same area, where you can easily locate the Big C shopping centre (very much like the hypermarket, Carrefour) they do have great spread of all sort of junk foods available. I had my great time strolling with the trolley over there just like a kid! They were much more cheaper compare to my country. (it’s tax free, and plus you could accumulate the receipt to refund on VAT – if you purchase A LOT) I tried out the Jap ‘Fast Food’ Restaurant, Yayoi over there, priced well and food was great!

Moving further, to MBK Centre (Mah Boon Krong), another great place for shoppers! For guy who would like to get office wear this would be a great place, full set of a 2 piece suite only at +-USD50. Good quality and great cuttings! Please visit the food court, they are known for best beef stewed. I didn’t have time to place a visit but I am sure to go when I visit them again!

If you visit Pat Phong, there’s a cafe at the end of the night market – Cafe Kaldi is a must try. They have cheap and the best Matcha blend I’d ever tried!

Any other suggestions on what you can find to fill your little tummy! Post it here!

Bangkok Travel Guide

Traveling is memorable, it sticks to your mind for a long time, and follows you through the rest of your life. That is how strong a memory could last. And while these traveling memories are still clear and in your mind, how about sharing it with everyone who are interested to hear about it.

We know that there are many out there eager to hear about your travel stories, not only giving good credits for the destination you enjoyed, also giving the opportunity for many of us to experience the joy that you took pleasure in.

Please do drop us your travel stories at support@a4trip.com, probably along with a picture or two, and allow your story to enlighten many of us. You might just make someone’s day.

Restaurant Pak Putra

By chance, I hear my boss say Melaka have serving very famous Tandoori chicken and other Pakistani cuisine is very yummy. So, I decided to give it a try one day with my family.

The Tandoori chicken, Naan, and other Pakistani cuisine have gotten the authentic taste and style. For personally, I especially love the cheese Naan, Tandoori chicken and their curry.On the whole, I think this is the best Tandoori chicken restaurant in Malacca which worth a try when you visit Jonker Street on Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, try to find out this restaurant and have a nice supper before return to your home or hotel.

The restaurant located in Kota Laksamana along the main road in Taman Laksamana. So far, I’m quite sure most of the Malaccan people know where to get best chicken tandoori and naan. As far as I know that restaurant operation business hour is until 2a.m.

Learn more about Malacca

Everyone will need a hotel during his or her travel. Some might go for a 5-star hotel and others might look for a lower price hotel. However, I’m pretty sure that travelers are going to look for a ‘good’ hotel for their trip. Now comes the question. What makes a good hotel?

As a market researcher who responsible for her company global projects and Asia North markets, Suzette was given a lot of chances to visit various parts of Asia, Australia and USA. Besides, working abroad also allows her to accumulate her experience in hotel staying.

According to Suzette, a good hotel must contain the following criterias:

• Flexible cancellation policy
• Never make mistake on customer’s details
• Good room service
• Must provide laundry service
• Good range of restaurants around
• Perfect location, easy access to public transportation
• Clean and with complimentary drinking water

When asked about the response of online enquiry for a good hotel, Suzette added, “The hotel must response within 2 hours, otherwise it will be considered as not effective.”

Vera Susanti, the Executive Assistant Manager of a 24 rooms Dusun Jogja Village Inn also send us some feedback regarding good hotel. In Vera’s point of view, a good hotel must be:

• Professional
• Family friendly feel services
• Know its guests more than just their name

She also agreed that the response to online enquiry is very important for hotel industry. “Through online booking, website and email, we can give the clients a better pictures of our service and our actual accommodation,” said Vera.

What do you say? Share with us what makes a good hotel.

Mr. Kleinheincz Ferenc was a civil servant, currently expert on innovation work. He comes from a lovely place – Hungary, Budapest. He is really kind to us by sharing a lot of nice pictures from his gallery at Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam when he had his vacation within this year. Here, we would like to write a post about his kindness of sharing the pictures with us, as a small token to your big heart. Let’s give a big clap to Mr. Kleinheincz Ferenc!

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Tonle Sap, Cambodia

Water Puppets Theatre, Hanoi