Explore Langkawi, the Magnificent Island
It's 7:34pm Kuala Lumpur time.
I am excited to start my entry today with something different.
**The myth of Langkawi, not many in this generation might heard it** - a tale, about a young woman who was accused of adultery 200 years ago.
She was named, **Mahsuri**. She was tied to a tree and stabbed to death despite her pleas of innocence. The story goes on to say that she bled white blood, and proceeded to curse the island for seven generations. I heard this legend when I was 7 years old to be honest. You have Google in case you are interested to know more about this story.
We had a trip to this island last month during New Year Eve. It was such a 2 weeks adventurous trip. We explored almost all of the waterfalls (they have phenomenonly a lot), various beaches and mountains too!
The Southern Islands, with a heavier tourist population, bars and public beach. Pantai Cenang.
And the islands to the northeast which are more secluded with little tourist traffic, which is Kuah area if you look for privacy and tranquility.
It was rainy season when we visited Langkawi. Due to its tropical landscape, Langkawi weather experiences of heavy rainfall due to monsoon winds between the months of September and October, dragged to December.
Aside of stunning natures, Langkawi offered the most affordable living cost country I ever visited. A bowl of Noodle Soup will cost you around 1.24USD. Isn't that crazily cheap? And you know what, their taste of Laksa Kedah (rice noodles in mackerel-based gravy) is way better than any typical restaurant in Klang valley that I ever ate. You could taste the super fresh 'fishy' taste, served in hot gravy, with cucumbers and onion sprinkled on top - extra spicy (upon my request) , and we ready to eat!
View from highest peak of Langkawi 872m (2,860 feet), Gunung Raya. You can either ride a bike or drive all the way up.
The road winds its way up the mountain passing through thick forest and providing panoramic views. From the main road, will take around 13km climbing up, takes around 30-45 minutes by car.
There are few other interesting amazing places I want to share.
But hold up for my next entry.
**Au revoir. Till then, stay safe and Cheers!**
3 Ways to turn your Work From Home #WFH from BORING into interesting
1) Fulfill your dream-workspace
Aside of investing some money for a comfortable ergonomic office chair, modern-classy designated working table, why don't you add a little touch of 'greeny finishing' that has ability to release oxygens for the good of your brain to your interior?
There are studies that show houseplants able to improve mental health and wellness. Plants can be a powerful brain stimulant**.**
“Tasks performed while under the calming influence of nature are performed better and with greater accuracy, yielding a higher quality result,” according to Charlie Hall, Ellison Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University.
Do you know that **not all** type of plants do photosynthesis at night? At night, photosynthesis stops but respiration continues, which mean plants stop producing oxygen. But some of them are exceptional.
**Areca Palm, Snake Plant,** and **Peace Lily** are type of plants that release oxygens 24/7 nonstop-able regardless weekend; like the Cryptocurrency market trading hours. The Peace Lily for example is known to increase room humidity by up to 5%, which is great for breathing while working. Get a try!
2) Plan up ahead a trip/short gateway or whatever you call it
I can tell it's exhausting working 9-5 (I'm luckier a bit than you cause my working hour starts only @12 noon) 5 days a week, hustling, having zoom meeting, morning to midnight. Aren't that a sweet generous of you to reward yourself a trip? Get some hard reset to your 'operating machine', you can thank me later.
I recently had a trip to Langkawi Island during New Year Eve. Yes, I worked during the New Year. This sector I work for which is Finance, requires me to work every end of month for Month End Closure, especially during the end of year. We have this killing ton of volumes and record to be reconciled.
But it didn't stopped me to hop in into some adventurous escapes. It was 2 weeks trip. We managed to find this one place that we can rent hourly or @6 USD only per whole day. With high speed internet and free-flow coffee aside!
I worked for some required peak hours, but I also enjoyed waterfalls, jungle trekking, and beaches touring almost every morning before I started work. Not to mention my favorite islands routine, sun bathing (not really sunny cause we visited during tropical monsoon).
I totally understand that our tourism industry get massively affected by this pandemic. However, The European Union has so far approved the vaccines from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech as well as from US company Moderna. This is kind of hopes for our tourism sectors; local tourism at least.
3) Fitness routines
It's either in Instagram or YouTube for example, we can see there are real bunch of Virtual Classrooms blooming during this pandemic. Get yourself registered under any of them. Most interesting is, some of them are FREE!
These instructors provide you virtual classes that you can practice during your break time or whenever you need to do some stretch for that back and neck. Or prolly you gotta find a way to burn a little grams, or maybe kilograms(oops!) that gained throughout these lockdown.
Spare some slot in your daily schedule at least 30 minutes - 10 minutes warm up and cool down, the rest 20 minutes enough for you to burn 150 calories; approximately.
150 calories equivalent to below activities:
Jogging for 19 minutes
Circuit training on weight machines or doing push-ups and other strenuous exercises for 17 minutes
Strengthen your core with Pilates for 22 minutes
Swim at a moderate pace for 19 minutes
Mind-body practice such as tai chi or yoga for 33 minutes
@bungaheidelberg
