Langkawi "lagi"!

We welcomed another visitor to our island home last week, my sister-in-law Elizabeth!  I enjoyed being tour guide once again as I showed her my favorite Penang sites.  We spent the week temple hopping, market shopping, mansion browsing, and eating at all our favorite restaurants.  She especially loved the roti baum and even tried dragon fruit!

One special highlight was the Heritage Lunch cooking class at the Tropical Spice Garden, hosted by 4th generation Nyonya Pearly Kee.  We enjoyed an informative tour of the beautiful gardens followed by a hands-on lesson in making curry kapitan, prawn sambal, and papaya kerabu--yummy!!  I can't wait for her cookbook to be released at the end of the year.  =)

We chose to spend the weekend relaxing on a nearby island paradise and hopped a quick flyover to Langkawi for the second time. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the lovely and family-friendly Frangipani Beach Resort, soaking up the sun on the beach and in the pool.  Adam, Elizabeth, and I took turns enjoying spa treatments, Elizabeth tried parasailing, and Adam and I rode a jetski!  I also enjoyed sipping a few "Langkawi Wowees" while looking out over the blue waters.  =)

I really would recommend this resort, which was on a quieter stretch of beach (just south of the main strip) yet still accessible to many attractions and much cheaper than the high-end boutique hotels.  We were even pleasantly surprised to find our two rooms connecting!  This resort received high marks on tripadvisor, and I like its focus on green practices and protecting the environment.  The kids and I took the free "eco tour" one morning, where a friendly staff person showed us around the property and demonstrated the hotel's mastery of the 3 Rs ("reduce, recycle, reuse").  Not only did they have extensive produce gardens, they widely used recycled materials in building construction and for decoration, planted shade trees in strategic locations, collected and reused rainwater, and harvested solar energy for heating water.  They even save leftover rice, bread, and veggies to feed to their organic fish, ducks, and chickens, and to make into compost and fertilizer!

We ventured out of the resort two times, once to visit the Underwater World aquarium, and once for an island hopping tour, which took us to a freshwater lake and to a coral beach.  It was fun to watch the tropical fish swimming amongst the corals and sea anemones clinging to the pier!

We hope Elizabeth left with fond memories of her trip to Southeast Asia.  We certainly enjoyed having her here!