Year of the Snake

Thursday was our last full day in Langkawi. Dad had a full plate getting things ready for Tami and the instructor Valma to take over the boat, so after getting things packed, then killing time catching up on some interwebs, Crys, Rio and I decided to go catch a snack down at the Jetty. With a Baskin Robbins, a Starbucks, several interesting stores and extremely cool air conditioning, the Jetty was becoming a standard destination for us to walk down to when bored. Since it also doubled as the primary port for people arriving on Langkawi by ferry, it was also a great place to people watch.

Random observation: many of the malls we visited in Malaysia, this one included, had Power Wheels cars for kids to play on. Strange.   

Random observation 2: Like most public places in Malaysia and Thailand, you have to pay to use the toilet. Paper is also extra and you pick it up at the front. Strange and often annoying. 

As many of you may know, 2/10 marks Chinese New Year. This is a huge holiday in both Malaysia and Thailand. Everywhere we went was decorated in red and gold, and we were given quite a few oranges, which apparently are good luck symbols. This is the year of the Snake, which happens to be Crys's sign in the Chinese zodiac. She likes to point out thar due to her sunburn, she was also spending the new year shedding like a snake. 

The snake played another prominent role in our final full day, as the three of us decided to walk down to the Giant Eagle statue marking the port entrance of Langkawi, just outside the Jetty. 

As we walked around it, we came across a local guy with a very large constrictor snake. He offered to let us pose with it for a photo for 5 ringets, which was roughly $1.50 or so. I thought it would be fun so I paid him. I really didn't think Crys would get close to it, but despite her very vocal opposition (and threats to me) she gave into the guy's good hearted "is no problem" statements and allowed herself to be photographed with the giant snake.  The guy was hilarious and we probably spent half an hour with him and the snake. 

Rio took several pics for us, but wasn't about to let the guy get the snake within ten feet of her.  I laughed when the guy told her "is no problem!" As he tried to get her to walk over and told him that as far as she was concerned "is big problem". 

We finally returned for our last eve on the Silke, finishing the eve up hanging out with everyone, eating Lebanese take out and chatting together. Good finish to our tropical isle trip.