..you're only lost if you know where you're going..
Archive for January, 2010
Goodbye Tanjung Sanctuary Langkawi
Jan 28th
It’s our last night here at Tanjung Sanctuary in Langkawi. As I sit here writing this to you, with the birds chirping and the water washing up onto the beach it reinforces my opinion on just why they call this place a sanctuary.
I’m not a particularly well travelled person – this is my first trip outside of Australia – but I have seen enough of Australia to know when something is extraordinary. Tanjung Sanctuary is exactly that.
From our window, the water below is perfectly blue, the trees and plants surrounding are healthy and green, and the temperature is an almost constant 30 degrees.
I am impressed by the planting that has been done on site here. It is obvious that the owners and managers of Tanjung Sanctuary want to not only maintain, but improve upon the health of the local habitat. The number of staff maintaining the gardens shows just how much they care.
Our time here has been perfect. Granted we are fairly “easy to please” people, but the staff have been extremely helpful, welcoming and flexible, and the quality of our room (and everything in it) is at a standard that we will no doubt be missing during the rest of our trip.
Ultimately, our goals have been met. We intended on our honeymoon being nothing more than a relaxing catch up between the two of us, and that is exactly what we have had.
If you are looking for a relaxing getaway, I could not recommend a better place. Their website is located at www.tanjungsanctuary.com.my.
Love in Langkawi: Tanjung Sanctuary
Jan 26th
It is day three of the official “honeymoon leg” of our trip and Jase and I are completely and constantly blown away by all that Langkawi and Tanjung Sanctuary have to offer.
As the complimentary airport transfer van took us to our resort I was feeling the mixed emotions that I’m sure many tourist feel, seeing the impoverished conditions of some of the locals and feeling as those holidaying westerners are exploiting these people and their beautiful island home. However, on the flip side I feel that it is the tourism that is providing their main source of income. Irrespective of my concerns, I have absolutely loved every minute of our stay here.
Tanjung Sanctuary is an amazing resort. I know that while Jase was researching where to stay he had several, simple criteria that we wanted our accommodation to meet. It wasn’t much, just things like complimentary breakfast and airport transfers, private bungalows and a private beach, in a great environment – and all for a reasonable price. Tanjung Sanctuary certainly fulfills all of that.
The staff have made us feel very welcome and we are definitely getting special treatment. Upon arrival we were told we had been upgraded to a beach view room as it was our honeymoon, and when we arrived at our room after dinner at the restaurant we found a bouquet of roses and a candlelit bathroom scattered with rose petals and smelling of scented oil awaiting us.
Over the last three days we have enjoyed relaxing in our beautiful room or on our balcony, using the gym, laying on the beach lounges and swimming in the clear and calm waters of the private beach. Most recently, we have been kayaking around the coastline – which I really enjoyed. The view from our room is simply breathtaking. Even now as I sit on our bed my eyes cast through the lush greenery of the rainforest trees to the crystal blue waters of the beach, all the while listening to the calming sounds of the waves gently crashing on the shore.
The food has been delicious, with a wide variety to choose from – both from room service and at the restaurant, and I loved the cocktails we sipped on last night while watching the sun set. The prices have been quite reasonable in our opinion (after all, we are at a resort) with meals typically between 30-60MYR.
Quite simply, we are loving it here.
Update from Singapore
Jan 23rd
Well we arrived in Singapore early evening yesterday. After about an hour on the bus (airport shuttle – $9) we were dropped off at our hostel (Rucksack Inn).
The bus ride was awesome, we were both so blown away by the gardens even just at the airport, let alone those on the sides and in the middle of the motorways.
We were both pretty tired and went to bed early, Jess got a bit more sleep than I did but we were both woken up by the drunks at 4am. No biggie, we just slowly got our act together and headed out for the day.
Chinatown is preparing for Chinese New Year, which I imagine will be amazing. We also checked out the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. The place just blew us away! We walked around in circles for a bit then found the Merlion Fountain, then had some lunch on the Singapore River.
Anyway, my laptop battery is almost dead. Tomorrow we leave for Langkawi. 5 nights of awesome sleep. Can’t wait! 
Here’s some quick pics..
Packing for Backpacking
Jan 21st
We’ve been trying different things for a while now.. Different clothes combinations, how to pack, etc and as of today we are basically packed (just need our toothbrushes and a few electronic devices that are charging).
Long story short, here is what I’m taking:
- Waterproof suede boots
- Black slim skate shoes
- Black jeans
- Black slacks
- 1 T-shirt
- 2 Polo shirts
- 1 Long sleeve t-shirt
- 1 Long sleeve button up shirt
- 1 Thin black jumper
- 1 Singlet
- Snow pants
- Snow jacket (includes fleece liner jacket inside that can be worn on it’s own)
- Snow gloves
- 1 Quick dry towel
- Jocks and socks (about 5-6 of each)
- Boardies
- Thongs
- Toiletries (Razors, shaving oil, alcohol wipes, toothbrush, toothpaste, travel medicine, etc)
Jess has a similar list, but specific to females – check out “What’s a girl to pack?”
Aside from the clothing/living sort of gear we also have noise cancelling headphones, ear plugs (for the flight and staying in hostels), money belts, locks, my Windows Mobile phone (complete with maps of Europe/GPS), Jess’ digital camera, and a netbook.
Here’s some photos…
What’s a girl to pack?
Jan 21st
It’s the day before we leave! Naturally I have been thinking about packing for over the last week now, discussing it with many of my friends – particularly those who have travelled before. The biggest challenge I found when packing was the age old problem of function or fashion. The main contributors to my worries were shoes and jackets. Obviously I want to be warm and comfortable, but also look reasonable too. There are certain times when I don’t think I’ll mind looking really “touristy” but I just don’t want to stand out too much, and if we go somewhere that is a be nicer then I don’t want to look totally out of place. It’s interesting reading other travel blogs and what to pack guides. Many females suggest things like Sketchers “Mary janes” but I really hate those hybrid style shoes.. you are still clearly wearing walking shoes!
So after much thought here is my packing list:
- Ski pants
- Ski jacket
- Ski gloves
- Ski goggles
- Black puffy jacket
- Pair of skinny leg jeans
- Pair of black water proof pants
- 4 pairs of thermal pants
- Breathable black t-shirt
- 2 t-shirts (one is a bit more dressy and nice looking)
- Black tight polo shirt
- 2 long sleeve black tops
- Grey long cardigan type thing
- 2 razor back singlets
- black shirt dress
- denim skirt (basically just for Langkawi)
- bikini
- 6 pairs of socks
- 5 pairs of knickers and 4 g-strings
- 2 bras
- 1 purple scarf
- Black rubber thongs
- Black ballet flats (really cheap pair so pretty much just for looking a bit nice)
- Waterproof “hiking” boots
- Asics Onitsuka Tigers
With toiletries it comes to approximately 10 kilos (although I will be wearing the jeans, tigers and singlet on the day of our first flight). Who knows if it’s a “good” pack or not. I have come to the conclusion that if I really need something I will just go and buy it – it’s not as though we are trekking through mountain country completely isolated from civilisation!
