Lassie

Breakfast this morning was fresh sliced mango and no-flour pancakes, which contained just banana, eggs, and salt. The banana gave them natural sweetness.

Banana 'no flour' pancakes

Being an island, Langkawi suffers from the same animal population control problem as Ko Lanta. The solution has come in a very similar set-up to the Lanta Animal Welfare centre / Time for Lime restaurant partnership. On Langkawi, a foreigner, moved by the poor treatment of dogs and cats, set up Lassie, a vet service and shelter, which is attached to and part-funded by the Bon Ton resort.

Christopher

Christopher the kitten was found by a couple staying at the Bon Ton resort, but as Lassie was oversubscribed, our host agreed to take him in. He already had two cats, both named after spices - Halia (meaning ginger) and Lada (meaning pepper) - but softened to the kitten after seeing his photo. Christopher was named by the couple that found him. We returned there today to get some medication for an eye infection he had picked up.

Flirting with danger

Bon Ton is a beautiful, stylish and unique resort, as its accommodation comprises heritage houses of various styles collected from around Malaysia. These have been lovingly refurbished and appointed. We stopped in for a coffee and to enjoy the calm serenity. When constructed, the resort was directly on the beach, but since a breakwater was built, the sand washed away and the land returned to swamp. The view is none the worse (and arguably improved) for this.

Bon Ton heritage accommodation

From the resort, we took a walk all the way through Pantai Cenang to Pantai Tengah and made the very wise decision to have lunch at Sugar, directly overlooking the beach.

Linguine and arancinia at Sugar

The menu is Mediterranean, as in many of the restaurants catering to tourists. We enjoyed some freshly prepared arancini, light and fluffy with risotto balls with mozzarella and peas. I had a tasty dish of courgette and pesto linguine, while K had a grilled vegetable sandwich. The food was satisfying and full of sun in the way that only Italian-inspired cuisine can be. A chilled glass or two of Chilean white wine went especially well with the atmosphere and we felt especially indulgent rolling into the sea to cool off.

An ice cream at an Italian 'gelato' kiosk before returning home just capped off the indulgence and we resolved not to eat again. Apart from those noodles we needed to eat up. With maybe a fried egg on top...