TWO "COW's" ON THEIR SECOND MALAYSIAN ROAD TRIP (Continued)

Some people may credit Tun Dr Mahathir for turning P Langkawi into the dynamic and vibrant island it is now. There is a legend of a pretty woman, Princess Mahsuri, who was accused of adultery with another man while her husband was away fighting the country of Siam (now Thailand). Even though she pleaded her innocence, she was stabbed to death using her family's "keris". White blood flowed out which signified her innocence. Upon her death, she supposedly cast a spell on the island to be desolate for seven generations.That happened more than 200 years ago. Even though the seven generations had not come to pass, Dr M declared it a duty-free zone and it has prospered to be a vibrant island beaming with tourism and  economic success. These photographs at the Mahsuri Mausoleum show members of her family.

This is Mahsuri's tomb.

The town of Kuah in Langkawi taken from Gunung Raya. In the mornings and evenings, many Horn bills can be seen on this mountain.

Pantai Pasir Hitam (Black Sand Beach) is a stretch of beach on the island where black sand can be seen.

Beach umbrellas on hire on a stretch of beach popular with tourists.

A hole of the Ernie Els-designed Teluk Datai-Rainforest Golf Course of Langkawi with Gunung Mat Cincang in the background.

On the way out from Langkawi to Alor Setar, we stopped at this place in Kuala Perlis for fresh and reasonably priced seafood.

Masjid Zahir is the Kedah State Mosque. Its architecture is Moorish and it has soaring minarets.

The "Main Hall" of the old palace complex where many important activities like investitures of Sultans took place. Today, it's a prominent landmark.

Alor Setar Railway Station with a contemporary look.

Restoran Top D'Gurun is a popular restaurant in Gurun serving tasty and reasonably priced food. The place is usually so crowded the management employ two security guards to direct traffic during lunch. It boasts of a favourite dish named "Bihun Meletup" - beehoon which "explodes".

Our lunch cost 42 MYR, being 26 MYR for the sotong panggang alone. In N Malaysia and Southern Thailand, fresh veggies, as shown, are not charged. They taste so nice with sambal belacan paste. Anyway, I feel that the sotong is not so nice because it was tough to chew.

The crowd at the Penang Road Chendol stalls. There are two, one with long queues and another without queues. We went for the no-queue stall.

This bowl cost 1.50 MYR, reasonable for me but I feel not so for the locals.

As young Chinese couples from the Mainland like to go overseas for their bridal photo shoots, I am fond of "stealing" their pix. This couple is fixing their thirst with a couple of fresh coconuts during their photo shoot..