Bank - Almost all, if not all, the local major banks have offices in Kuah town, and in the Padang Matsirat.

The normal banking hours apply, which should be between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (16:00 hours, for some) But, not so normal, is the weekend.

As a start, all banks are closed on Sundays -- that's the easy part!

By rule of thumb, the first and third Saturdays of each month are public holidays, but if another public holiday -- believe you me, there are lots of those in Malaysia -- falls on those Saturdays then the following Saturday would be a public holiday. Else, the second, fourth and fifth (if there is one) Saturdays of the month are half-days, which means they are open for business until noon.

Confused?

Take heart... you are not the only one -- I'm, too... and I live here!

So, take my advice; avoid having anything to do with the banks on Saturdays. Period.

For other "confusions" please go to weekend.

Bar - There were several bars scattered along Pantai Cenang/Tengah but due to one reason or another the numbers have diminished.

There are several bars in Kuah but they call themselves "Karaoke Bars" and just to show that they mean business, they provide hostesses to entertain the customers. Enough said!

Bat - Unfortunately, due to bad press, bats are typically associated with evil, although they are actually useful flying mammals.

In the neighbouring Pulau Tuba, there is a place called Gua Kelawar -- the literal translation is, "Bat Cave," which is where Batman lives, I think!

No, seriously, it is a cave full of bats, what else!

Bats help pollinate banana, mango, and cashew trees which in turn provide us with tasty fruits and nuts.

The next time you are knocking down those long glasses of Tequila Sunrise on the beach, while contemplating the sunset, please look up, and toast the bats for their diligence. For you see, without bats... there would be no tequila, either!

Beach - The Malay word for it is pantai. We have the 2 beaches Pantai Cenang, Pantai Tengah, reputedly, the heart -- if not the soul -- of Langkawi. These are separated by a small rocky outcrop, called Tanjung Mali.

A bit further up north is Pantai Kok, and still further up is Pantai Tanjung Rhu. These are the 4 longer stretches of beach, but other smaller and secluded beaches worthy of mention are: Pantai Pasir Tengkorak, Pantai Pasir Hitam and Pantai Datai.

Bicycle - One good way to explore the Pantai Cenang/Tengah area is by bicycle -- though you shouldn't attempt to bike it all the way to Pantai Datai, unless you are a triathlete! (Interestingly enough, triathletes, all over the world, do meet in Langkawi for the annual Ironman event and there is one other international bicycle race that is being held annually Le Tour de Langkawi)

There are, of course, bicycles that you can rent either by the hour, or per day and they range from a couple of ringgit per hour to about RM 10.00 per day. Expect some discounts if you take it for a week or more!

Once upon a time, in the early '90s, somebody had this idea of constructing a bicycle track circumferencing the island. However, this was dismantled a few years later, and in all the time it existed, only but a handful of cyclists ever used it. The reason being that it was unsuitable, and totally impractical. It is nothing to cry over except that it had cost "a lot of tax-payers money" to build!

Book Village - Hidden somewhere in the vast jungle of Lubok Semilang, is the 20th book village worldwide reputedly to have in its collection of about 50,000 books (although they didn't say, specifically, if they are 50,000 different titles or 50,000 books... which could very well mean 50,000 books of the same title!)

It's a pity that the idea of International Book-Villages/Towns started by Richard Booth has not been fully exploited by the administrators of the "Kampung Buku Malaysia, Langkawi."

Admittedly, reading does not rank among the top 20 all-time favourite pastimes of the average Malaysian and to make matters worse there are only about 60,000 Malaysians living on this island.

Buddhism - Coming soon.

Buffalo - See Water Buffalo..

Bus - Do not expect to catch a bus to your next destination, if your arrival to Langkawi is "unexpected!" Strangely enough (but true enough) although there are lots of tour busses, there are no commuter busses!

A few years ago, we had busses plying scheduled routes, but the service was discontinued due to non-profitability -- so they say. Fair enough!

On the other hand, their customers complained of busses arriving much, much later than scheduled -- sometimes forgetting to appear at all -- which is quite surprising, considering the fact that the bus-drivers did earn, during their brief existence, the nick-name "**Sabarudin."

This brings us to the classic case of, "Which comes first, the egg or the chicken?" In other words, "Which one comes first, reliability or profitability?"While they're mulling over the question, the rest of us will be forced to rely on taxis, as the sole means of public transport.

(**There is a famous old Malay movie titled "Sabarudin, Tukang Kasut" and Sabarudin is a man's name and a tukang kasut is a shoe-maker... so get it? Well... Schuhmacher is, after all, German for shoe-maker, isn't it?)