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Old May 17, 2017, 1:59 am
  #5  
anak_negeri
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Programs: GarudaMiles, KrisFlyer, FlyingBlue
Posts: 163
Part 4: Penang - Padang Besar - Alor Setar by commuter train

February 15th, 2017. I woke up at my bed in WeLuve Guesthouse. I recommend this place for you to stay in Penang, with clean rooms and friendly staff.





Close to the guesthouse was Chowrasta Market, a morning market occupying Chowrasta Road. There were stalls selling daily goods and accessories. Here I bought some souvenirs of Penang for my friends and relatives.






Then I walked to Transfer Road to have my breakfast. There was a popular "roti canai" stall here. I also ordered a chicken curry, and I didn't expect that the chicken was very big like that.




After breakfast, I explored the Georgetown area.




There was an unique road in Georgetown named Jalan Masjid Kapitan Kling. The road contained 4 worship places of 4 worlds' main religion: a mosque, a Hindu Temple, a Chinese Buddhist Temple, and an Anglican Church.

Masjid Kapitan Kling, a mosque with Indian and Moorish architecture. "Kapitan Kling" literally means "Indian captain / chief".


Hindu Temple.


Kwan Im Temple.


St George's Anglican Church, one of oldest church building in Malaysia.


The 2 streets adjacent to the church were named "Lebuh Gereja" (Church Street) and "Lebuh Bishop" (Bishop Street).




Lunch time. I decided to have my lunch at Hameediyah Restaurant, selling famous "nasi kandar", a fragrant rice dish accompanied with fish curry or other side dishes. Other than "kway teow", this is the "trademark" of Penang.




After having lunch, I went to the ferry harbour to catch ferry back to Butterworth in mainland Malaysia / Asia.






A luxury cruise docked, seen from our ferry.


Penang Bridge, one of longest bridges in Southeast Asia, connecting Penang Island with mainland Asia.




Arriving at Butterworth. From the harbour, I proceed to the train station to take the EMU commuter train to Padang Besar at the Malaysia-Thai border.

At the train station, I met a group of Chinese bikers, touring with their bicycles from China to Malaysia overland. What a very long and challenging journey. Perhaps they were on the way to go back to their country.









The commuter train to Padang Besar departed at 2.20 p.m. It was very comfortable journey. It took almost 2 hours to reach Padang Besar. The scenery outside the train was dominated by palm and rubber trees, as in other villages in Malaysia.







Then I arrived in Padang Besar at 4.15 p.m. The Padang Besar trains station was also a departure point of express trains to Hat Yai and Bangkok in Thailand. Here we can see Thai trains preparing for their departure to Thailand.







ETS Train, express EMU train to Kuala Lumpur.


The border.


Outside the train station, some van drivers were waiting for their passengers to Hat Yai and other cities in southern Thailand. Unfortunately I only had a short time here, so I did not accross the border to Thailand. But I had felt heavy presences of Thailand here, from cars with Thai vehicle numbers and imported goods. Even when I played "Pokemon Go" here, the monster I caught here shown its location as "Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand".











"Arked Niaga", a large market containing imported goods from Thailand (clothes, electronic items, snacks, etc). I bought some snacks here. I was also surprised to see that majority of the sellers hold Thai passports.





Then I left the Padang Besar border town to the train station. I took the commuter train again, but this time my destination was not Butterworth, but Alor Setar, capital of Kedah state. When I entered the commuter train, I saw many people bringing bed covers, blankets, pillows, clothes, and other things. They bought many imported goods in Padang Besar, as it was cheaper compared to prices of similar things in Penang or Alor Setar.

Last edited by anak_negeri; May 17, 2017 at 8:42 pm
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