July 6th - Nick's Birthday! Happy Birthday Nico in Malaysia!

We woke up early and wanted to move along to the next place Pantai Cenang the main town on the island...busier & a place the tourist seem to come to!

We ordered a taxi -and had to wait a little while and this cute little girl and Daddy were there at the hotel  too: Cute huh? Little bangles on her ankles!

The transportation on this island is either taxi, car or scooter-no shuttle buses either.  The taxi driver was very friendly and chatted all the way to Cenang.

We told him we were going to "Desa Motel" and off we went...a 20 min drive.  We parked in front of the motel and it looked pretty cute - actually...

...a little oasis right? 

WRONG!

The room wasn't ready yet so we left our suitcase there and walk across the street to the "Fave Hotel/Lime Cafe" and decided to have a cup of coffee and cool down.  

We sat down next to this couple and he said "you aren't gonna stay in that flea-bag motel are you?" Nick & I  did a double take and said huh? The Aussie David said he had also booked online and did stay there a few nights ago and said they had been eaten up alive by the bed bugs! Yikes!!!!!  Nick & I looked at each other and Nick walked across the street to retrieve our luggage!

Boy oh Boy what a close call! Thank you David & Kahn for your input! He handed over a can of insect repelant just in case...he said he didn't need it anymore...for he was waiting for a room in this hotel! Well guess where we stayed too?

It was of course comfortable...but we do try to stretch the dollars a bit.  We had heard that there was water problems in the City - that the main water pipe had broke because of the recent storm...so many of the hotels did not have water! We were thankful to have a room here - they had their own water we heard.  David advised us to try and get a room...for he had already had 3 days of no showers either at the hotel on the beach...my he sure had some tough days huh?

Well you are probably not too excited to hear these thrilling stories but - trying to give you a sense of how things are over yonder across the water!

We took a stroll to the main street area and beach and came across another interesting....sight.... 

Yes you are seeing it right...right in the middle of the intersection...a COW! 

...and his buddies are following too! And they were going for their evening snack on main street...eating out of the trash can! 

Hey this is not even India...! Strangest sight...we laughed and laughed!

All the cars were just driving around avoiding them...not honking or anything...no one got out...scooters and cars just zipped around them! 

Lots of new experiences all the time!

We came to the beach and there was a lot going on...

Large stretches of beaches...we certainly want to walk it in the evening!

Para - Sailing - they were pulling the people right off from the beach.  I have done it off a dock in Lake Tahoe and then in Hawaii from the boat itself.

These people are going to be pulled by a Jet-Ski.

The local people were selling coconuts on the beach..."hey shall we try it Nick?"

Well quite truthfully I expected it to taste sweet and milky...but it was watery.  But fun to try nevertheless.  Maybe a different kind of coconut in Hawaii?

People were all enjoying them.

Now look here...I looked over to the side and there was a little girl sleeping in a hammock!   First I had to look real close because it almost looked like she was suspended in mid air!  Mom is working selling coconut drinks and the little one is napping!


We strolled into town...it was getting close to dinner time and everyone was coming out for the evening.

This truck had a small generator going and the locals were cooking the fish and rice dishes and frying right there on the street.

That red fruit is that delicious "lichee" fruit out of a can that I  so  love ! 

We had a very nice Birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant.  The Chef was Indonesian and so he fixed a special dish especially for us gado gado..veggies with peanut sauce..and we had "bami" phad thai noodle - Lekker! 

Oh Yes...right next to us sat a mother with her daughter...Irene and Shona from Perth Australia!

We had a lovely talk with them...Nick noted Irene's accent and he was right...she had moved from years ago from  Scotland to Australia!  It was so enjoyable talking and sharing and Irene gave us some really good ideas where to go! 

Main street Cenang was busy with people, shops and little eateries .

As we headed back to the hotel ...we noticed some pretty buildings ~

It was a nice day together...and Nick & I enjoyed his special day here in Pantai-Cenang Langkawi.