The Monkey Cage

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

This weblog has not seen change for quite a while despite a certain monkey comeback being mentioned and the main reason as to why the prologue seemed to have appeared too soon will be the main topic of today's rejuvenated state of web-based monkeyishness...

CHAPTER XI : THE REAL MONKEY ISLAND?

Two words which would sum up the past few days in the simplest and most accurate of manners would be 'island vacation'. Of course, spending the holiday in the tropics of a beautiful beach lined island is ideal for many but being the person he is, DtG decided to have a second take at the whole thing by looking at the whole experience from a perspective benificial this very miniscule representative of the world wide web. Pulau Langkawi, welcome to the Monkey Cage.

To the top you see the perfect representation of stereotype tropical island beauty and this is indeniable, the island is a wondrous piece of natural art in itself. Above is ONE view, THREE elements of nature (Earth, wind and water) which form a picture of ONE noun; beauty.

But then again, I bet beauty speaks itself out in monkey language too as you will soon see...

The view from the top is amazing. That's what almost everyone says regardless where 'the top' is meant to be or what it actually refers to. Now imagine lush green mountains on a beautiful tropical island such as the one we are discussing. Imagine standing 710 meters atop it with a panoramic view of the escalating greenery. Imagine a bridge smack in the middle of two high ends among that magnificent piece of imagination you have now sitting in the cold mist and clouds. Imagine the clouds above that engineering milestone forming interesting formations to complement the entire image. Did you imagine this?

And then if one scours the platform atop that mountain with sharpened observation, one will discover the involvement of monkey-standard engineering put into the construction of this one of a kind experience-providing structure.

Descending to the ground levels of this seemingly interesting island will bring us to familiar faces. I never knew members of one of the families I find intrigue in know how to cherish the spoils of life in such appropriate settings as they seem to be doing. The monkey cage just got alot bigger...

Now here's a must-know fact for those who find the words 'Lang' and 'Kawi' alien. Things are not charged with duties or taxes on this island or in simple terms, the entire place is duty-free. So basically it's a sinners' paradise as it provides alcohol, tobacco and chocolate (oh yes, chocolates are addictive and can be sinful...) at low prices minus sin taxes. What I want to address here is the cheap alcohol. It shouldn't be a surprise that alcohol consumption would be higher here than in any typical town on the mainland but I was not ready to accept the full extent of its effect towards the community of both people and animals. Yes, the part about animals is what was totally uncalled for to my awestruck eyes. Have you seen a seal? It was a first time for me. Setting eyes on a certain kind of animal species for the first time is quite an experience. Seeing it in this condition is one whole other. Have you seen a drunk seal? Here's a first for the Monkey Cage, its first non-human and non-monkey monkey, I call him Alvin...

As you might already begin concluding, this island is full of interesting experiences and surprises indeed. However differing in all aspects of what we want to see as it may be, yours truly has enjoyed his time there. Despite several oddnesses it may hold, it is an island of incredible beauty no doubt. In conjunction with the extended "Visit Malaysia Year 2007", this is a community message from the Monkey Cage to support any decisions or thoughts regarding visiting Langkawi. It'll be worth it in one funny way or another. Just look at it...