How to set up your Canon Selphy CP900 wireless printing

Introduction
First, it's a bummer that Selphy Photo Print can only work with USB connection.

Second, Selphy CP900 is Wifi capable (good news), but I have no clue as how to set up a Wifi connection to print photos over Wifi to Selphy.

I tried to search for resources in Canon official sites, but to no avail. What is not cool is that the help page has no user input to grade and give comment about these help pages (thus prevent Canon from ever improving their help content). For that, I commend Microsoft for being better in that sense.

I switched to Google search for contribution by others about Selphy Wifi setup. I tried and fumbled with no luck until I tried the following steps.

Content

1. It seemed that Selphy only allowed installation of either USB connection OR Wifi connection. Canon doesn't allow installation of both USB and Wifi connections!
2. When I uninstalled my previous USB connected Selphy and reinstalled the Selphy Photo Print and its driver, it only allowed choosing either Wifi or USB. Reluctantly I chose Wifi and forsake USB connection.
3. One problem though, if I lose my internet connection (or communication with my router due to radio interference), will I be able to print or would I have to wait until I gain access to internet (or router) again?

Other matter

1. I wanted to find out if there is any other software besides Selphy Photo Print and I came upon Easy PhotoPrint Ex. It is like Selphy Photo Print but with more options. However, I can only use it to print on my other Canon printers BUT not Selphy.
2. The link for download of Easy Photo Print Ex is available here.
3. Selphy Wifi Ad hoc function seems to be useless with PCs and notebook running on earlier than Windows 8. I guess the ad hoc function is good for wifi cameras, camera phones and tablets?
4. Privacy. If you are as curious as me, you would have dismantled the ink cartridge after it is over. To my surprise, there is no ink but a roll of coloured films (e.g. blue, yellow, red, and white sections) inside the cartridge. Close examination of these coloured films over a light source revealed "printed photographs" still visible on the "ink" film (which is regarded as waste)! Well, I tried to salvage it to make art.
5. Laminated version. It would be great if next version of Selphy will incorporate lamination (matted) to the printed photograph. There is a requirement for matted passport photos and I couldn't use Selphy for printing. Wow, matted printing papers are expensive!

 All in all, I like Selphy and it will be very useful during travel (if the weight is not an issue and I can't wait to print photos of myself on vacation and mailing them to close relative and friends like postcards.

Pasar Malam (night market) good food in Malaysia and Singapore

Pasar Malam (or Night market) in Malaysia is a place to get cheap stuff and most important of all, good food at great price. The list of food that I love to get in Pasar Malam are

• Ramly burger. The burger is sandwiched with Ramly patty enveloped with fried egg, spread of shredded cabbage, BBQ and sweet chili sauce, and the burger bun is normally spread with margarine or butter and fried to aromatic. Other variety are Roti John (longer version).
• Skewered meat balls, sausages, fried squid, and others.
• Apam balik or "Dai Gao Min". Taste sort of like waffle with chunky peanut bits, aromatic melted butter and sweet sugar and sometimes with corn kernels. There are two versions, the soft ones and the crunchy ones.
• Fruit rojak with crunchy Chinese breadstick (or Youtiao). The gravy is made of thick soy sauce mixed with shrimp paste, chili, and sugar. The fruit mix comprises unripe mango slices, jicima, pineapple cubes. Additional ingredients include taupok (puffy, deep-fried tofu) and youtiao for texture. Crushed peanut and sesame seeds are added to the mix. For more information, refer to Rojak by Wikipedia.
• Bread and many types of buns. I love to get the sausage buns and others with different types of fillings, e.g. curry chicken, char siew, bean pastes, etc.
• Char Kway Teow. Sometimes, the Char Kway Teow in pasar malam is very good because the flame used for cooking is set to maximum giving the dish an extra "char" to noodle.
• Dim sum. I like to order the Big Pau, Char Siew Pau, Lo Mai Kai (glutinous rice chicken), Siew Mai, Har gow, and others.
• Kacang putih. For a visual description of this delicacy, refer to Ipoh Kacang Putih Original.

"Kacang putih" is a collection of product such as Murruku, peas and nuts.

• Dim sum. In Ipoh, the pasar malam there has dim sum with big pau, char siew pau, siew mai, and glutinous rice chicken (lor mai kai).
• Fruits. Sometimes I will just get some if the price is right, or the season is ripe for cheap durian.
• Cakes. There was a time when cheese tarts were sought-after and many patrons like me food-hunted for them.
• Prickled and dried fruits. I loved to get dried sour plums and many other types of preserved fruits.
• Junk food and sweets. Sometimes, can get peanut candy and other types of traditional sweets.
• Biscuits and cookies. In Ipoh, I remembered a stall used to sell biscuits and cookies in large tins. Customers buy them in smaller portions at a price per 100g. I used to like the sandwich cookies with different types of fillings. Another favourite is the salty Graham crackers type of biscuit.
• Assorted ice-cream.
• Luk-luk. Skewered meat balls, meat, octopus, bird eggs, tofu, stuff veggies, etc. that are cooked by immersing them in boiling gravy, e.g. satay gravy. They are eaten on the spot when cooked. We pay by the amount of sticks consumed.
• Chung or Bak Chang. A stall that sells Nyonya kueh (including Angku kueh) and different types of Chang (rice dumplings).
• Popiah. I prefer the traditional type of popiah instead of the ones that are over-stuffed with unnecessary ingredients (in order to blow up the price per popiah). The traditional ones have the popiah, sweet and spicy sauce, followed by a leaf of lettuce, then the wok-fried jicama, grated carrot, with dried mushroom, shrimps, and seasoning to taste. Sometimes, there is a little fried egg shreds. That is the most delicious combination. I don't like those with bean sprouts, peanuts, and other ingredients that make the final popiah with soggy texture.
• Kebab. Middle eastern "burger".

What I wish I could get from pasar malam.

• Skewered or fried seafood. For example, fried squid on stick, fried oyster omelet (or "Oh Chien"), battered and fried mantis shrimps, pan-fried chili blood cockle, and many more. For DIY Oh Chien recipe is available from Peng's Kitchen.

 

Fried oyster omelet recipe by Peng's kitchen.

• Satay. I would love to have satay.
• Roti canai (or prata). There is one pasar malam at Kajang that had a stall selling roti canai. The seller would prepare fresh roti and then shred it into smaller pieces with two saucers and place them in a plastic bag. He would then add a little gravy (Dal or split peas) into the bag. It was delicious!

My main reason to visit Pasar Malam (or Night markets) would be to find the best food available there. In Malaysia, pasar malam can be an exciting place to visit because there will be stalls with creative food preparation or product to entice patrons. However, in recent time, the night markets have lacked such surprises.

What are your food wishlist for pasar malam in Malaysia and Singapore?

Type of cameras that is most useful during travel

I am not referring to those DSLR type of camera for semi- and professional series from Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc. I am referring to the basic compact, point and shoot type.

After trying out many types and brands of compact cameras, I have come to realize that there are several criteria to a good camera (in my opinion).

• Battery type. I have seen compact cameras that uses AAA- or AA- type batteries and I used to scoff at these cameras because they are rather "bulky" as compared to cameras with their own OEM rechargeable batteries, which looked sleeker. However, I have come to love "generic battery"- type of cameras. The reasons are (1) replacement batteries are easy to find, (2) rechargeable AA- and AAA- batteries are readily available now, (3) if the rechargeable batteries are flat, just get the single-use batteries at convenient stores. In contrast, for the specific OEM type of batteries, buying spare will be more costly than AA-type batteries. In addition, the shelf-life of OEM batteries is less than 5 years and after which, getting a replacement battery from the manufacturer will be impossible. By then, the only place to get replacement OEM batteries would be from eBay (but not the authentic ones). That was the case for two of my compact cameras which I have retired them from service because I couldn't get the replacement batteries anymore. Read the review of "Top 10 best AA battery powered cameras" by ePhotoZine.
• Faster camera startup and shorter latency time (for image processing). I don't really like cameras that startup slowly because by the time the camera is primed to take picture, the momentous event has already passed! Read this article to appreciate the need for faster camera startup and shorter latency of image processing by DigiCamGuide.
• Better and energy efficient LCD screen that doesn't drain away most of the camera's battery hour. Most of the time, compact cameras are flat because the LCD screen drained most of the battery hours away. I wished that it is possible to use a built-in viewfinder to point-and-shoot the subject, rather than rely on the LCD monitor (which can sometimes be difficult to see especially during daytime under intense sun). An example of compact camera, in which you can switch off the LCD to save battery life while relying on the in-built viewfinder can be found in Canon Powershot G16 as reviewed by Imaging-Resource.
• Longer battery hour. I don't really go for those cameras with extra image-rendering functions that will drain away battery hours because most times I would be downloading the images into my notebook to do the image rendering (or "Photoshop it"). Just give me enough battery hour to shoot more pics and populate my 64 Gb (or more) high capacity SD cards.
• Better lens and high quality CMOS image sensor to acquire good quality pictures.
• Rein in auto-exposure problem by spot metering function. Tired of ending up as a silhouette in front of bright background? Well, to have a spot metering function (or exposure lock function etc.) on the camera will help to give you more control to correct auto-exposure weakness. Refer to "Fixing exposure problems – What to do if your photos are too bright or too dark" by discoverdigitalphotography.

There was a news article reporting that compact cameras will become obsolete due to the prevalence of camera phones in the market. In my opinion, compact cameras are still a necessity because camera function on phones tend to drain the phone battery faster and it wouldn't be wise to drain your phone when you might need to make or receive urgent calls (unless power outlets or external batteries are readily available wherever you travel). I would still prefer to use cameras for travels and camera phones for daily routines.

Just to share.


Other tips

• How to opt for Digi super long life plan. This is a prepaid plan and you can increase the validity duration by opting for Digi super long life plan (to 365 days) at a cost of RM 30.
• Get a small rice cooker on the go for family during trips. Having rice cooker helps during long trips.
• List of important things to take while traveling oversea.

Singapore zoo

We traveled to Singapore zoo last year. It was a Saturday and we stopped at Woodland MRT station. We walked to the Woodland bus interchange (which is nearby) and searched for bus number 926. To our surprise, 926 bus was not operational, except on Sunday and Public holiday.

We had to proceed to nearest taxi stand. There were several people waited there. Few taxi stopped at the stand and most of them were selective with the destination offered. Some didn't want to go to the zoo (most probably due to the close distance from Woodland to the zoo?). At last, we got one that drove us to the zoo.

At the zoo, there were plenty of people. Singapore zoo seems to be a lively place to be and many families with young children were there. Admission fee for adults is sgd 32.00, children above 3 yo is sgd 21.00, children below 3 yo are admitted free, and for senior citizens it is sgd 14.00. Tickets can be bought online. NTUC members get to enjoy a 20% discounts, and sometimes, certain credit card holders get to enjoy discounts too.

The first thing we did before entering the zoo was to take lots of pictures. It's nearly impossible to get a picture taken without people in the background, haha... Next, we went to get the map to the zoo and followed some of the events taking place at specific times. We stopped by the Elephant show (i.e. "Elephant at work and play show") at 11.30 am and 3.30 pm. There was no place to sit because the whole place was packed with people. In the end, we just walked through. For the map to the zoo, you can get it from this link (in pdf).

Places we visited with our 2 yo child.

• Treetop trail with a wooden bridge and at the bottom awaiting us are big crocodiles. The place is beautiful and we took several pics.
• Via Tiger trek, we reached the confinement for the white tiger. Instead of seeing many, I was sad to see only one tiger and it was moving back and forth repeatedly indicating a level of stress (my opinion). I later found out that another female tiger had to be euthanized due to terminal illness (cancer). I hope there will be other tigers soon to keep the animal company.
• When we reached Elephant of Asia for the "Elephant at work and play show", we were surprised to see that all the available seats were gone and many people were standing to see this show. It was a hit and the elephants were superb. We couldn't stay for too long.
• Next, we reached Forest lodge and sat in Ah Meng restaurant to get lunch.
• After lunch, we visited the Frozen tundra. There was one polar bear. His name was Inuka and he was 23 yo, born and raised in Singapore. Similar to the white tiger, Inuka is alone. Fortunately, I am guessing he is close to the caretakers especially considering that he must have met them since very early in life. We loved the Frozen Tundra because the place was so cooling.
•  Next we took the tram to Rainforest Kidzworld. For sgd 5.00 per person, we get to unlimited ride around the zoo with ease. At the Kidzworld, there was a water park. Our kid loved the place and had fun playing with the water. However, the water there was rather murky. Our kid got ill with fever and mouth ulcers few days after the visit.
• Elephant rides were sold out. To prevent unduly exhaustion to animal, elephant rides are capped at certain numbers only.
• Orang utans near Ah Meng restaurant. During feeding time, caregivers will pass a long pole full of leaves to the orang utans on the trees.
• Fragile forest with mouse-deer, birds and insects.

There are many places that we did not visit and hope to do so next time.

Next visit, we will be bringing (or doing)

• Plenty of bottled water. There isn't drinking fountain in the zoo.
• Sun block. The weather is very hot and there is only few places with canopy to block the intense ray.
• Umbrella. If the weather forecast suggest rain, it will be a good idea to get an umbrella. However, as momento (or keepsake), we can get a raincoat with from the store.
• Consult the Singapore weather forecast with 3 hour to 3 days forecast (NEA).
• Take the direct bus (#927) from CCK MRT to the zoo.

The trek we took that day (highlighted violet) and the two places we hung out the longest (red circles; Frozen tundra and the Kidzworld)

 Loved our zoo.

First post: Going to Langkawi in October

I will reach Langkawi at 1 pm on a Saturday via Air Asia flight to Langkawi International Airport, 07100 Padang Mat Sirat, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia (Tel +6049551311 Fax +6049551314).

I will be traveling with my family with kids.

Before the travel
Booked the air ticket several months before the travel. The rate was very good from Air Asia. Occasionally, Air Asia will notify of irresistible promotions.

A few weeks before the actual travel date, we booked a hotel online. According to friends who travelled to Langkawi often, hotels are not a problem and you won't have problem getting a good bargain. Some even advised us that going to the ferry port/harbour or airport to hunt for bargain is better, but with kids, we tried not to risk not having a place. Renting a car is a must, but for those not comfortable driving around Langkawi, I guess there will be taxi/cab. I will be booking a car.

List of itinerary

1. Dataran Lang (Eagle Square) with the iconic 12 meter-tall sculpture of an eagle (hence the name "Lang" for Helang [eagle in Malay]). SE of island, near to Kuah Bay, residential area, shopping mall (Jetty Point Mall) and near duty-free shops selling chocolates, alcohols and other goods.
2. Underwater World Langkawi South of island near Pantai Cenang. 6 million litre walk-through underwater tunnel tank for observing underwater creatures.
3. Langkawi Sky Bridge located at the terminal of Langkawi Cable car ride, elevated 125 meter long curved bridge on top of Mount Mat Cincang. On the bridge, a breath-taking view of the rainforest and other natural settings (converge at Langkawi cable car).
4. Waterfall, Telaga Tujuh waterfalls (converge at Langkawi cable car).
5. Air/Ayer Hangat Village hangout to appreciate the culture, food, and duty-free products. Note that nearby there is a beautiful white beach at Tanjung Rhu (near Tanjung Rhu Resort).
6. Hotels and beaches.
7. Food, food, and food without the "chopping board" (being charged exorbitantly).

Contacts
Langkawi Tourist Information @ Kuah Jetty (Tel +6049667789).

Car rental with Rojam New Adventure Holiday Sdn. Bhd

Upon arrival at the Langkawi International Airport, we cleared immigration checkpoint and headed to retrieve our baggage. Before exiting the airport, there was a row of counters (more than ten counters) providing car rental services. There was no big names such as Avis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, or Sime-Darby etc. Most of the counters was probably local companies.

We chose Rojam New Adventure Holiday Sdn. Bhd service. The car available was a Toyota Vios 1.6 and the rate was at RM100 per day. We took three days at RM300 plus RM50 deposit, with a total of RM350. The only setback/cons about the deal was that I had to pay by cash. They did not accept credit card. In a situation such as this, customers are at a disadvantage because:

1. You will have to bring sufficient cash with you and parting RM350 on the first day is too much. You will either need to carry much more cash, or you have to use an ATM to withdraw more cash for subsequent stays.
2. In case of a dispute or refund, it would be more difficult to get a refund if you had paid by cash as compared to credit card. If I'm not mistaken, credit card service do provide minimal protection to users in cases of dispute/fraud etc.

Anyway, to me, I think the first point is more pertinent to my case because I had to deplete my wallet of ringgit before I could even set foot out of the airport. Fortunately, I did prepare sufficient cash for the visit.

When the car was presented to me, my first impression was that the car was not good. The car was making a squealing sound and I highlighted this to the staff there. He said that it was "normal" and I just have to keep the engine running longer to minimize the squealing sound (from the engine). He also pointed out that the Toyota Vios is the last one available. Without much choice, I drove my family to our Hotel at Kuah town center. During the ride, the engine kept making the noise.

Fortunately, the car was able to bring us to plenty of places albeit with plenty of noise alarming other drivers, people, and even animals grazing beside the road. I guess on the bright side is that I won't be getting into any "accident", especially considering that most drivers will be made aware (and alerted) of my presence on the road.

I brought along my Garmin GPS during the trip to Langkawi. It was not a friendly machine and there is no way of doing a quick search like using Google. However, I was able to save locations for subsequent uses and that normally would save me time and hassle. I was able to travel with ease using the GPS, but not all the time because at certain places, the machine would be repeating, "loss of satellite". I tried Waze on my Samsung phone and I hated Waze. Without any Internet connection, Waze is a piece of crap. I was literally traveling on a white canvas because no map was loaded/downloaded due to no internet connection. I have decided to remove the apps upon reaching home. Sigh, when I returned the car to the staff at Rojam, I forgot to retrieve my GPS and left it there in the car. I guess the GPS is lost (considering that the staff had no information regarding my oversea address if they did want to mail it back to me).

For a Malaysian, it's very easy to fill in the application form for car rental service. I had to fill my name, phone number, and probably identification number. Rojam had no GPS rental service, and they don't have a baby seat for babies/toddlers.

The interior of the car was not really clean. The seat was fabric and hence, difficult to really clean it. The interior was a little musty (probably due to high humidity of the place).

All in all, the car did not fail us. There was only one time at Underwater World Langkawi that the car did not start. It was probably due to the heavy rain that probably cooled the engine and made it difficult to start up (especially when the engine was old). Fortunately, after several attempts and switching off the air-con and other electronics, I was able to revive the car.

For our next visit to Langkawi, I think I will opt for locally produced car such as Proton or Perodua. They will be cheaper and work as well as branded cars. Furthermore, some of the local cars might be newer. Also, I will try to look for counters that will accept credit card payment (if any). Alternatively, I will search for car rental services that allowed online booking and hence online payment via credit card. Online car rental services will normally have reviews from patrons and it would serve as a guide to choose for the best deal and friendly service.

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Tips during travel

• How to opt for Digi super long life plan. This is a prepaid plan and you can increase the validity duration by opting for Digi super long life plan (to 365 days) at a cost of RM 30.
• Type of cameras that is most useful during travel.
• List of important things to take while traveling over
• Rice cooker on the go for family.

Langkawi Cable Car

That's a place in Langkawi (near the Oriental Village). The whole place is known as Machinchang Cambrian Geoforest Park (and is available in Garmin GPS). Within that area, we could go up the mountain top via the cable car. There are two stops. We visited the sky dome, which is an indoor entertainment center. Then continued to the cable car. There are three stations for commercial photo shoots. We got one at the first station at RM 30. We shun the next two to save money. 

There are plenty of packages for cable car (or Skycab), e.g. Most basic cost RM35 for adult and RM25 for child (2 to 12 years old).

 

Pic. Different rates for different packages of SkyCab.

 

 

Pic. Ticketing counter and child is considered as 2 to 12 years old. Free entry for below 2 years old.

The hill top was cooler than the valley. I think at the bottom it fared 34 degree Celsius. The top was at 25 to 26 degree Celsius. It was windy and cooling that we were tempted to overstay there the whole day.

Going to the toilet costs RM 0.30 to RM 0.50. There is no tissue paper/toilet roll and you have to buy them from the counter before going to the washroom/toilet.

Drinks are not allowed to be carried during SkyCab and visitors will be to leave their drinks before traveling up the Skycab. You can keep your drinks in your bag in order to prevent them from being "confiscated". The rationale for disallowing drinks could be due to making sure visitors who needed drinks (afterwards) may patronize the shops that sell them at the stops. It's more of business sense rather than safety or other reasons.

The scenery at the top is beautiful. The ride up there is a little scary for me, and is considered the steepest cable car ride in Malaysia. The skybridge is still under maintenance and I was told that it will be ready next year 2015. Hopefully it will be open soon.

For adventurous visitors, they may opt for hiking along "animal tracks" and enjoying the trees, flora and fauna, and probably food for mosquitoes (remember to bring along repellents as there might be Aedes mosquitoes although I'm no expert to be certain).

After the cable car ride, we travelled by car to the nearest Telaga Tujuh Waterfall (or Seven Wells Waterfall). The climb was too far for my family and we ended up at the base of the waterfall. It was fun for kids. The pebbles were a little sharp for my liking, and kind of painful to walk on (I'm 74 kg). There were fishes in the stream and the water was cooling. There was no mosquito there, although during the walk to the waterfall, we encountered plenty of mosquitoes. I'm a B+ bloodtype and a magnet to mosquitoes.

There isn't much to do at the Oriental Village. We took plenty of photos. We fed the fishes in the man-made pond. There was a Japanese restaurant with air-conditioning and we had our lunch there (surprised that there wasn't any patron). There were plenty of shops selling souvenirs, clothing, hats, shades, snacks, etc. There was a horse ride but I opted not to take the ride because the horses looked exhausted. I dared not think about the well-being of these horses in the care of the staff there (I hope they are treated well). At the village, there is also a place where you can pat animals (we didn't visit that place).

Do note that there isn't sufficient parking bay for cars and you will have to park elsewhere which is near the bus parking bay. Before entering the Oriental Village, there is a Duck Tour which we did not try. For those who would prefer to travel under shelter and away from the scorching sun, I guess the duck tour is okay.

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)

Mardi Agrotechnology Park Langkawi

Our visit to Mardi Agrotechnology Park was made interesting and fun, mainly thank to our guide Ms. Marshuhada and her fellow driver who drove us to different parts of the station/stops around the plantation/orchard. Our guide gave wonderful explanation, helped us took plenty of interesting photos, and made grasshoppers and rings out of palm leaves. For those who are interested to learn how to fold a grasshopper out of palm leaf, visit Youtube entry (Palm Leaf grasshopper by Sanny Ang).

 

Pic. Entrance fee for Malaysian is RM 7 per head. There is a 30 min guided farm tour on an open truck that allowed sight seeing and picture taking. It is a convenient way to travel from one place to the next. The first stop was around plantation field filled with starfruits, dragon fruits, mango, and other trees. The station/stop allowed visitors to savor different types of fruits available. Some of the fruits are seasonal and depending on the month of our visit, we get to savor them, e.g. durian (king of fruits) are available from June to August.

 

 

Pic. Staircase to the counter. The place is also wheelchair friendly with sufficient alternative route catered for wheelchair or baby pram. 

Note for durian lovers, the durian season is from June to August. You can have "all you can eat" durian!

  

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Cenang beach and activities

Cenang Beach or Pantai Cenang is a stretch of beach that is near to lots of interesting places to visit, eat and hangout. With a family with kid, our first stop to the area was Underwater World Langkawi. 

Fig. Cenang beach highlighted green. Underwater World Langkawi is pinned.

 

Pic. Smooth/fine sandy beach with lots of activities to try for adventurer. My daughter loved sitting on the beach and building her sand castle. The waves was intriguing to her. The sun was bright and never tires until it sets in the horizon (it's the West side).

 

There are coconut trees that served as shade, but not sufficient to cater for all beach goers. If anyone wants to hide under a shade, parasols are available for rent. Remember to bring sun block/tanning oil, sunglasses/shades, and plenty of water. Coconut drinks are available. A public toilet/shower is available.

Cenang beach is walkable from Underwater World. There are plenty of shops selling beach wears, toys/floats, sand castle tool kit, restaurants, shopping malls (e.g. Coco Valley Pte Ltd), Cenang Mall, and many more that we didn't get to visit.

I didn't try any of these but they are available at the beach:

1. Paragliding
2. Snookering
3. Water scooter rental
4. Sunbathing
5. Swim/dip
6. etc.

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Bayview Hotel at Langkawi

Bayview hotel at Langkawi. That's our hotel during our stay here. There is a car park, not spacious but sufficient. There are rooms catered for "sea view" and "hill view". We chose the latter because we wouldn't be staying in the room for long to appreciate the view. The pros about the hotel: there are kettle (for boiling hot water to sterilise and prepare milk for baby), empty fridge (for storing drinks or yogurt, and other food items), friendly staffs, fun facilities/amenities (e.g. swimming pool, gym, and unisex sauna), restaurant (Flamingo), and lounge. Another plus point is that free wifi is provided (which is useful for searching for interesting places).

Fig. Bayview Hotel and the interesting places within driving distance.

Cons are, carpeted floor was a little damp (probably due to high humidity in Langkawi), room was musty (similar to our rented car), and TV didn't pick up any program (probably too remote from any TV signal tower). 

There is a night market nearby the hotel every Wed and Sat. The night market (or "pasar malam") had few stalls that sold food and drinks. There are more stalls selling dresses/souvenirs than food. I thought I would be able to savor skewered meats such as satay, sausage, etc. but was disappointed

 

Breakfast at Flamingo restaurant was okay. Breakfast covered a wide variety of choices. There are roti canai/prata, Nasi Lemak, porridge, fried noodle, French breakfast, Western breakfast, and a variety of fruits. The fruits at Langkawi was sweet.  This is probably due to the hot and sunny climate here. 

The hotel is a walking distance to many shops selling duty free items such as alcoholic drinks and cigarettes. Other items such as chocolate and sweets are not cheaper than home. There are plenty of souvenir shops to get great items.

We got a room for three adults and a kid for SGD 85 per night (inclusive of breakfast and extra bed on top of king size bed). We booked via Agoda dot com. In this hotel, there is a spa (Alun Alun Spa) worth the visit. I had a 30 min message and it was totally relaxing. It was near a gym (with instructor), near a sauna, and swimming pool is open from 7am to 7pm. The best time for a swim would be when the sun is not way up there. It could be very sunny and hot. However, it's a best place to get a tan for those who love the "bake".

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Underwater world Langkawi

It's the largest underwater world/aquarium in Malaysia. The staffs are friendly. The animals are in good condition. African penguins were adorable. There were plenty of marine animals, some were singletons (probably made that way due to their natural behaviour, e.g. territorial). There were giant spider crabs, amazing seahorses, giant eel, coral fishes, tuna fish, and plenty of others. There was an eatery located half way of the exhibit

At the end of the walk, there were shops selling souvenirs, toys, and chocolates.

Coming soon was "adopt a penguin" program for visitors.

Note that there is no flash photography allowed. However, you can still take pics by disabling flash. You can also capture video of the lively animals in the aquarium. The entry rate for Malaysian is RM 30 per head. There are three main sections to visit, i.e.

1. Antarctic Experience
2. Rainforest (just a brief walk)
3. Marine 

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Langkawi Sunrise seafood restaurant

The restaurant is a walking distance from Bayview Hotel.

Ordered lemon (plum sauce) chicken (small portion, RM 20), salt and pepper mantis shrimp (small, RM 20), home-made special tofu (small, RM 16), daily soup old cucumber (small, RM 15), and home-made barley drinks (RM 3 each), and watermelon juice (RM 5 each). Total bill was RM90.

The place was okay. The staff was friendly. The food was not so good. The lemon chicken was okay because it's fresh, but the sauce and cooking style was not impressive (not memorable). The mantis shrimp was filled with batter to the extent that I can't make out if there is any shrimp at all. The tofu was nice and better than most of them. I didn't like the soup. 

I don't think I'd miss this place although I won't mind trying their other dishes, if chance permit.

 

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.

Air Asia flight from Singapore to Langkawi

We got a best buy for the airfare. Added extra cost for seat selection so that family members can be seated together. Added SGD 45 for a baggage check in. We travelled with our 2 plus year old girl. The seats were spacious and comfy. The plane was clean and fresh. I studied the menu. The selection was savory. I wanted to try the Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak but I've got other food with me (so, probably on my travel home I'll order that). I've tried the coffee, asked for 3-in-1 and surprisingly, it was nice. It was just RM6. The travel time was just 1 and half hour.

All in all, it was a short pleasant trip.

 

Related blogs

• What to expect upon landing Langkawi Intl Airport.
• Car rental while in Langkawi.
• The hotel we stayed while in Langkawi.
• We visited the largest Langkawi Underwater World.
• We visited the Cenang Beach nearby the Underwater World.
• We visited and enjoyed the hospitality at Mardi Agrotechnology Park in Langkawi (highly recommended and if you like durian, then wait for the season, e.g. from June to August)
• We visited the Langkawi cable car and passed by the waterfall.