Northern Malaysia Peninsular trip: Part II (Pulau Pinang)

Northern Malaysia Peninsular trip: Part II (Pulau Pinang)

Continue from the lastpart…

In the next morning (16/12/2017), we travel to the island of Penang state…

Penang Island

Penang Island is well known for its historical herritage and tourist attractions compared to the mainland… Therefore, more tourist from other states in Malaysia or the foreign countries travel to there. The island is also held the only “Bandaraya” status of city – George town in the Penang. The island is divided into two districts namely Northeast district and Southwest district.

Highlighted area of the map is North East district of Penang island

Map of Penang state

There are 3 methods to reach to the destination (Penang island). The first one is through Penang Bridges (one in Perai, Seberang Perai Tengah and another one in Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai Selatan). The second one is through ferry ride from Butterworth straight away to the town centre of George town. The last one is through airplane ride to Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang island. The former one is quite practical way for the tourist from other parts of Peninsular Malaysia to travel there.

 

Ferry service

Bayan Lepas International Airport

I only focus on George town and Balik Pulau because my family travel to these 2 places…

Balik Pulau

            Similar to the Nibong Tebal in the last blog post, Balik Pulau is quite laid back compared to the other parts of the island. This is because the town itself is located far from the city centre of  the island (George town), 29 km from George town and yet the roads access to the town are also the hilly and curvy road… This town is the capital of the South West district. The main road to the town is Jalan Tun Sardon whcih begins at Paya Terubong in Northeast district and end at Balik Pulau. The road is slightly steep and curvy.

              If you go to the outskirts of the town, you will likely to get to taste the Durians… However, like most of part of Penang, this town also being famous for its Hokkien Mee… (Basically every parts of Penang, you will get to eat Hokkien Mee). Hokkien Mee which I mentioned in the previous blog post, the soup is made from the prawn essence while the noodle is in yellow colour. In conclusion, the prawns are basically the important item in this dish…

Hokkien Mee Penang

Old man mural art in Balik Pulau...

Old shop houses...

George town

George town is obviously the capital of the Penang State… The administrative building of Penang state (Komtar) is located in this capital city… The city is also considered as the UNESCO World Herritage Site together with Malacca State. I briefly talk about this city only lah, as this city is being too popular in the country and overseas.

Certainly, the city has lots of places to go… such as the mural arts in the city centre (Armenian Street), Khoo Kongsi (nearby the mural arts), Chew Jetty (A jetty used to settled by the Chew surname chinese and transformed into a tourist site) and Gurney drive (where you can enjoy the view of the seaside). We traveled these places only under thee hot scorching sun, even though the are more places to go in the city centre and nearby towns such as Tanjung Tokong and Tanjung Bungah.

Typical street art in the street...

Khoo Kongsi

Chew Jetty

Inside the city, you can also rent a bicycle to travel around the city centre.

After travel finished the city centre, we went back to Butterworth (my aunty house) via ferry service.

Note: You are need to pay for the ferry ticket, if you travel from the mainland to the island. However, if you travel from the island to the mainland, the fee is exempted.

Inside the ferry

Next state to go - Kedah…

Northern Malaysia Peninsular trip: Part I (Seberang Perai, Pulau Pinang)

Hello everybody! It is being a long time for my blogger to be inactivated. Let’s make this blogger revives for a period of time by posting this potato blog post!

            

December – Public school holiday month. I believe each and every of the families will plan for a trip either in the country or going to overseas. Let’s cut the crap. My family and I went to Penang state in the first day of the trip (15/12/2017). The trip began from 15/12/2017 to 19/12/2017.

Penang

Penang state is one of the densely populated state in Malaysia. Penang is bordered by Kedah state at north, east and south, while Perak state at south of Penang. Penang state being classfiled as two different areas such as the island (Pulau Pinang) and the mainland (Seberang Perai). This state is quite unique compared to other states in Malaysia as this state has highest chinese population compared to the rest. Certainly, there are many places to travel in this state.

 

North Seberang Perai being highlighted

Seberang Perai

Seberang Perai (Province Wellesley) – the mainland of penang, does have some interesting places for you to travel. It is being divided into 3 parts (North, Centre and South). Besides, it borders Kedah to the north and east, and Perak to the south. Its principal town is Butterworth, while its local authority, the Seberang Perai Municipal Council, is centred near Bukit Mertajam. As of 2010, Seberang Perai had a population of 815,767, making it the second most populous local government area in Malaysia. It was originally being part of Kedah state until the British acquired this land for agricultural and military purpose to safeguard their interest on Penang island (One of the Strait Settlement of British) since 1800. I focused on Nibong Tebal and Butterworth as my family and I only travel to these places in Seberang Perai.

Nibong Tebal

Nibong Tebal, the southest small town in Penang State which is nearby the Perak’s border town – Parit Buntar. Nibong Tebal is the capital town of the district of Seberang Perai Selatan (South Province Wellesley). This town has KTM train station also.

However, this town is forgotten by many people. This is because the town’s location is quite far (35km) from the Principal town of Seberang Perai – Butterworth. Therefore, the town is quite laid back compared to other parts of Penang.

I suggested to my father to travel to this place. This is because I am trying to find the so-called cheapest Laksa in the Penang (sell in RM2.50 – some legends said) in Nibong Tebal but I couldn’t find it. It’s okay lah… At least I can take some photos in the small town.

 

Dead town...

 

Road to see firefly...

Butterworth

Butterworth or sometimes being known as Bagan in Malay, is the principal town of the whole Seberang Perai. It is located in the district of Seberang Jaya Utara (North Province Wellesley). It is one of the busiest port in Malaysia. Furthermore, due to its proximity to the Penang island, so there has a ferry service to load vehicles and passanger to and from Penang island. Moreover, this town has also KTM train station that connects to Padang Besar, Perlis to the north and KL central. Therefore, Butterworth is the transportation hub of the Penang.

Butterworth ferry terminal (adopted from trip advisor

Right after travel in Nibong Tebal, my family and I stayed in my aunty house… (Heng ah! Got relative stayed in Penang!). Then in the night, she took us to go to the well-known Taoist temple in Penang (Tow Boo Kong Temple). The temple will jostled with people during some chinese tradition festivals…

Butterworth's oldest wet market...

 

Random street art in Butterworth

Tow Boo Kong Temple main entrance

On top of that, the Jalan Raja Uda in the town is also quite well known for its delicacies. A brief story lah, this road used to be a notorious gangland in Penang in the 70’s and 80’s… Fortunately, every things are changed, this road became the food street in Butterworth. A famous pasar – Apollo Market is also located there. The market is basically selling everything from the clothes to the food…

Apolla Market

Hokkien Mee

Bonus* - Bukit Mertajam

            Bukit Mertajam is the major town in the district of Seberang Perai Tengah (Centre Province Wellesley). This district held the highest population in the whole Seberang Perai (the population only slightly higher than Seberang Perai Utara). Even though my family and I didn’t travel there, but there still have their own famous delicacy – Yam Rice.

Yam Rice...

There is more people living in the Northern and Central of Seberang Perai as they are close to Penang island and have lots of job opportunity from the industrial and service sectors compared to Southern Seberang Perai. For me, personally, I like to live in Butterworth as it is one of the important transportation hub in Peninsular Malaysia and it has very delicious of Hokkien Prawn Mee and Penang Chay Kuey Teow.

Coming up next –Penang (island)

MRT phase 2 and kajang trip...

Hello everybody! It’s been a long time since I updated my blogger on June 2017. Fortunately, I am able to make use this week of school holiday to update my blogger.

MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang line (phase 2) has been finished constructing since 17th of July (my birthday also on 17th of July). However, I am unable to make use that time to go jalan-jalan (hanging out) lah as I had to rush for my 3 subjects’ kerja kursus (coursework) as well as MUET (Malaysian University English Test) exam. So, finally I can make use of this school holiday to go to Kajang to enjoy eating sate…

MRT phase 2 consists of 19 stations which starts from Muzium Negara station (KL sentral) to Kajang station. Soon after the completion of the MRT, many people are quite satisfied with the MRT services. Just like what I said on the previous blog post, The coaches in MRT are comparatively larger than the usual LRT Sri Petalling line’s and Kelana Jaya line’s coaches. This can help to accommodate more people in the train during the peak hours. Moreover, the coaches in MRT also have provided a larger wind-screen on both sides of the coaches so that the commuters are being able to enjoy viewing the urban scenary in Damansara, Bandar Utama, Cheras as well as Kajang. Therefore, that’s why a lot of city dwellers want to try commuting MRT to jalan-jalan.  (P/S: there is also a 50% discount of the LRT, Monorail and MRT ticket fares, so that’s why they want to commute these public facilities to jalan-jalan).

Inside MRT coach...

The view of MRT Maluri Staion, the interchange station of LRT Ampang Line...

Kajang. Kajang is the largest town in the district of Hulu Langat, Selangor. The town centre of Kajang itself is roughly 30km away from The Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The current locational gravity of growth in Kajang would be Sungai Chua. The total population of Kajang has grown rapidly in the past few years, with estimated population growth of 9% per annum. Areas surrounding Kajang are easily accessible via the SILK Expressway and Cheras-Kajang Expressway. Besides, Kajang is governed by the Majlis Perbandaran Kajang. However, the thing that makes people to visit kajang is Sate (satay)…

In somwhere of the town centre...

The prestigious sate restaurant in Kajang is Sate Kajang Haji Samuri. That famous restaurant is owned by Hj Samuri & Anak-anak Enterprise Sdn Bhd. Since the MRT has been finished constructing, the number of customer who visited that restaurant has been increased by 50% till 60%...

So many people sia...

                Frankly saying, the sate is not cheap as it costs 98 cents per stick (Sate Ayam and Sate Daging). Besides, each of the ketupat costs around 70 cents. However, I still decided to go there lah because I’m bored at home during this holiday as well as there is 50% discount of public transport (LRT, Monorail and MRT) ticket fares which are valid from 18th July to 31th August.

Menu...

                After you enjoying your satay meal, I would like to recommend you to commute Bus Selangor (Free of charge) in Kajang. It takes you to tour around the town center as well as passing through several housing estates. The frequency of waiting for the bus coming is roughly 15 minutes. Therefore, you are able to make your day trip to be meaningful by commuting bus Selangor to take a tour in Kajang town centre.

Sate...

                Construction of MRT is actually being beneficial for the rakyat. This is because it can make an area to be easily accessible from another area. Besides, this can help to increase the mobility of the society and contributing to the regional economic growth as this project will likely able to create more job opportunities and business opportunities for the locals. For example, after the completion of MRT phase 2, the business of satay has been thriving. So, you still have 3 days to enjoy LRT, Monorail and MRT fare discount, why not you plan to jalan-jalan at Kajang?

               Ok, that's all I want to talk about. I hope you enjoy this article and please follow me on my Google + account, twitter (@JiaZhe1) and facebook (username: Jia Zhe Wong)... If you have any comments or suggestions about this blogger, please comment below this blog post. Thank you, bye! Have a nice day!

Klang trip...

                Hello everybody! After I finished my STPM semester 2 exam, I’ve decided to go for some lone trip around this hustling and bustling Klang Valley.

                Last 2 week, I went to Klang for a trip right after the sem 2 exam. In fact, I had planned to go there long time ago, however, It is quite expansive for the public transport fee to reach the destination. Until recently, I have already saved enough money for this trip…

Map of Klang district

The map of Klang town centre,,, (It is being divided by the Klang River)

                Klang is the royal town of Selangor State in Malaysia which stituated approximately 30 km from Kuala Lumpur town centre and rougly 11km from Shah Alam (the capital city of Selangor State). Klang district has also the Malaysia’s busiest port, which is Port Klang (located west of the Klang town centre). On the other hand, Klang has about 744 062 people stay there, making it is one of the densely populated district in Selangor (density of population: 1,298/km²). Therefore, the government had decided to construct LRT 3 (LRT Bandar Utama –Klang line) in order to increase connectivity from town to town in Klang Valley.

                In the morning, I commuted LRT from BK5 station to Subang Station (which costs about RM5.00 if you use touch n go). Subang station is one of the interchange stations of LRT and KTM comuter. Therefore, I commuted the train from Subang station to Klang station which costs RM 2.60 (touch n go price).

Touch n go card

 

Klang KTM station

                After I arrived there, I went to a prestigious chinese kopitiam in Klang town center (nearby the KTM station). Its name is Chong KoK Kopitiam.

                Then, I simply order their roti bakar and teh tarik there because I am hungry at that time. The roti bakar costs RM2.60 and the tarik costs RM 1.20 (the the tarik is cheaper than in other parts of Klang Valley). Honestly, their roti bakar sangat perfect, the kaya in the roti bakar memang really good to taste. However, the the tarik very common, just like in the mamak stall one…

Chong Kok Kopitiam

                After finish eating there, then I cincai took free bus Selangor to tour around the Klang town centre as well as Pandamaran. Pandamaran is a chinese village nearby Port Klang and town centre. There has also lots of the Bak Kut Teh restaurant for you to patronize there (I didn’t go to the bak kut teh restaurant because I don’t have enough money to buy Bak Kut Teh).

Free bus selangor...

The route of free bus selangor

                That ride took about an hour to tour around the town. Following that, I was going back to the town centre (nearby the KTM station) and loitering around the streets in the town centre…  Then, I go back to home…

Jalan Raya Timur

Jalan Stesen 1

Jalan stesen

                Lastly, this year the Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MPK) is hosting the campaign of “Tahun Melawat Klang 2017” in order to boost the tourism sector there. So, don’t forget to visit there if you have ample of free time. Soon, I will update for part 2 of this blog post...

   Ok, that's all I want to talk about. I hope you enjoy this article and please follow me on my Google + account, twitter (@JiaZhe1) and facebook (username: Jia Zhe Wong)... If you have any comments or suggestions about this blogger, please comment below this blog post. Thank you, bye! Have a nice day!