Karaoke - If you were to look deep enough, surely, there must be many advantages to this Japanese invention, but, for the life of me, I can't seem to think of anything good to say about it. Mind you, it's nothing against the invention itself but, its uses... or to be more precise, its abuses... which reminds me of an apt Malay proverb, saperti beruk diberi bunga!

What do you get when you give flowers to a monkey?

A mess... because, 6 times out of 10, a monkey would either try to eat or, on the other 4 occasions, just rip the flowers to pieces... leaving behind a mess. Maybe this is why sane people do not present flowers to monkeys!

So, by way of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, what do you get when you give a karaoke set to humans?

The same... a mess!

It will definitely mess up your sleep if you happen to be spending the night in one of the smaller chalets and a group of inconsiderate tourists decide to have a singing session, which, more often than not, would run way past midnight... which wouldn't be all that bad if it weren't for the fact that, it is always those who CAN'T sing who would always croak the loudest!

In the meantime, karaoke has caught on, bigtime, especially among the government officials during their open days... which is rather perplexing as karaoke has, somehow, become synonymous with Girlie Bars, as they are prone to call such establishments in other parts of the world.

To avoid any unnecessary embarrassment, it is prudent to avoid premises that advertise itself as "Karaoke Lounge," "Karaoke Bars," "Karaoke Disco" or Karaoke-whatever... because they offer the services of hostesses, who are for "hire!" ... unless, of course, this is exactly what you have been looking for... in which case, you rejoice!

As to, how the connection between Karaoke and the seedy side of life came about? ... well, your guess is as good as mine!

Kedah - It's one of the eleven states on the peninsula, and one of the nine with a sultanate, which, reportedly, is the oldest Sultanate.

On March 24th, 2001, a grandiose official "do" was held for the declaration of, "Langkawi -- The Tourism City" by the Sultan of Kedah. It was a pomp occasion where all the "Who's Who" of the Malaysian political scene get to make their presence pompously known.

The state of Kedah is unique, by Malaysian standards, in that it has 2 official cities i.e. Langkawi - The Tourism City and Alor Star which is the capital city.

Kite - It is not unusual to hear a low, deep humming noise emanating from the quietness of the dark November night sky. But, don't fret! It's no big mystery because if you look up, you'd see -- on moonlit nights only -- kites flying a few hundred metres above you, and for that matter, it could be the December... January... February... or, even, the March night skies!

It's that time of year when the cool and dry easterly wind, aptly called Timor by the locals, starts blowing across Langkawi, bringing with it the ideal weather for kite flying plus some cold nights to boot!

Traditionally, with the paddy harvesting season over and done with, kite flying was the preferred outdoor activity enjoyed by both young and old, especially by the old... you know how it is... it's that father and son bonding time when dad says it's for the kids but the kids never actually get to fly the kite... the kids only get to watch because dad is doing all the fun stuff!

Kuah - The administrative capital of Langkawi, where all the government offices and banks are located.

Kuala Kedah - This is one of the places to locate yourself, if it's your intent to take the ferry to Langkawi. Remember, if you do decide to do this during the school holidays, please be advised to be well ahead of the numerous others who might have the same intention! In addition, among them, are lots of "queue-jumpers" that you have to contend with. Unless, of course, you have a few hours to spare waiting for your turn to board the ferry.

Although the ferry operators do try their level best to accommodate the large numbers by increasing the frequency of trips but as the journey requires an average of 90 minutes and coupled with the fact that there are not that many ferries to begin with, hence, the waiting time is still quite substantial - for you, that is!

Kuala Perlis - As opposed to the above, this is a "better" place to board the ferry, because of the shorter distance to Langkawi, and the journey takes, on average, 50 minutes.

If you've just missed the ferry in Kuala Kedah, you could get just about make the ferry departing from here to Langkawi... but, the drive up here from Kuala Kedah requires 30 minutes and, strangely enough, the "queue-jumpers" tend to reign supreme over here!