Why stay in gloomy, cold, cloudy Hanoi for Tet when we can immerse ourselves in tropical warmth by taking a 3 hour flight to Singapore? Chadi and me decided to spend our 7-day Tet holiday in a warmer part of the region: Singapore and Malaysia’s Langkawi Island. We arrived in Singapore for the Lunar New Year, so not much was open for business, but we managed to have a great time anyway. We stayed at a marvelous hotel next to the winding river that cuts across Singapore, and we were just steps away from the water front’s plethora of pubs and restaurants; these, we found out, did remain open to the wee hours of the night. For those who have never been to Singapore, it’s really an amazing example of rigid development for the benefits of the social unit as opposed to the individual. What does that mean, in practical terms? Well, for one, there are no bad neighborhoods, there is very little crime, and the city-state is incredibly clean. The Singapore government limits many activities that may imply negative consequences to the whole of society. An example would be the law that prohibits the chewing of gum in public spheres. Singapore is a modern metropolis, which imports and produces just about every electrical gadget found in the world. It’s certainly a must-see country.
We spent our last four days of holiday in a beach-front resort in Langkawi Island, just off the western shore of peninsular Malaysia. Although quite a small island, it provides travelers with an array of accommodation and dining options. We were in such a “relax” mode while in Langkawi, that we only signed up for two excursions, choosing to spend most of our free time lounging under palm trees on the beach. For fun, we went on a trekking expedition in Langkawi’s rain forest which proved to be more of an ecological expedition, which was fair enough. The last and more interesting trip we took was on a sail boat, which sailed on the green waters of the Andaman Sea. From the sail boat, we were able to do a bit of kayaking, swimming, and we enjoyed the “drag” Jacuzzi. Not sure most people have experienced this, as we were led to believe it is a truly Langkawi invention. The sail boat we were on basically had a thick fishing net that dragged along in the water as we sailed, and Chadi and me sat in the net, with Jacuzzi effect, drinking our cold beer as the boat sailed along at moderate speed. Good times!
