Cycle Malaysia Day 9 Sg. Petani to Alor Setar

A good sleep at Yong Lim's place.

Time to leave Yong Lim's house and head North to Alor Setar. Basically I was taking the coastal route where I had the chance to visit several sites of Lembah Bujang at Sg. Batu as I left Sg. Petani. 

Merbok is now famous for its archaeological findings or rather its historical Bujang Valley.

Somewhere near the junction to the Archaeology Museum at Pekan Merbok I picked this quiet kopitiam for a bowl of Wan Tan mee and a cup of kopi"O" kosong.

I did not expect to see this dragon backs and this was my first encounter of dragon backs in this tour. The last climb was tough I had to dismount and pushed my bike.

I managed to peep out into the sea and the view was spectacular.

Then came the rain I took shelter at a bus stop next to this adik's stall selling la la clams. Selling at RM4 or RM5per kg (small and big). It was nice chatting with this friendly chap. Yan town is only 3km away and I fancied for a cup of hot kopi "O" on a wet morning.

Somehow I did not stop for any hot drink but continued to ride on enjoying the beautiful scenery after the cowboy town.

Passing places like Yan Kechil, Dulang, Sedaka and seems a slow and relax lifestyle of a typical kampong.

I am now approaching a place that I have marked for a visit as introduced by Yong Lim that is Pulau Bunting. The access is narrow which was I never expect such a condition and just can not imagine that there will a prominent bridge to see. I never missed it.

A fellow tourer shouted at me and telling me that I have missed the turning to the bridge at this warong. Photo credit : Zari Zari.

A chance to meet a 65 years old solo tourer, Zari Zari from KL. Thanks for the hot tea and we chatted for a while before I went in for the bridge. Photo credit : Zari Zari.

Just in front of the warong there is a small access covered with thick vegetation you might miss it if you are not observant. The white patch at the end of the access is the bridge.

As I got closer into the access the whole place begins to emerge.

A spectacular arch cable-stayed bridge built by Gamuda Berhad.

A bridge linking to an unpopulated island, I just don't know why. There are construction work in progress to improve the road leading to Pulau Bunting.

The weather was still drizzling as I slowly cycled out towards Kuala Kedah.

I caught up with Zari Zari on the main road of Jalan Pantai Barat Kedah K1 but he went missing after a while.

I then turned into a road leading to Kuala Sala. Kuala Sala is currently popular with their abundant of cockles and mussels (la la clams) so much so some of it is exported to Thailand.

Finally I settled for a simple and late lunch at a warong next to the bridge.

Kuala Sala seems to have affected by tornado before and a bridge seen with a mark "Jambatan Tsunami Kuala Sala". I guess this area is tsunami prone area.

I thought I lost him from the main road somehow he reappeared at the river mouth.

Together we cycled towards Kuala Kedah.

Flooding at Kuala Kedah as I made my way to Alor Setar city.

Passing by at SJK (C) Pei Hwa at Jalan Kuala Kedah.

Nasir is one of the many Malay friends that are still in contact with me, he was my primary classmate in Tunku Abdul Malik in Kulim and today I cycled all the way to his house in Alor Setar. It's great to meet up with him again.

I checked into Hotel Samila one of the old and known hotels in Alor Setar which is located nearby the Menara Telekom.

I managed to contact this college mate of mine and had so much to catch up of what we were doing after we left college. Thank you Siok Ewe for a wonderful dinner at Restoran Lima Utara.

I love this deep fried cat fish how nice if I would have it with a glass of cold beer.

Another favourite dish of la la clams and fresh squids in super sourish but yummy soup.

Siok Ewe then show me around the city of Alor Setar and I really appreciated him for his hospitality. I hope to see him again maybe in one of our class reunion gatherings.

A long but interesting ride for Day 9.

Cycle Malaysia Day 8 - Penang to Sg. Petani

I have participated a couple of CFAL events consecutively until last year and this year I decided not to take part but just to witness the event. On that morning I cycled to Youth Park by the time I reached where there were already some early finishers. Well done CFAL for another successful year and keep it up! 

I met friends like Siew Choo from KL at Youth Park. CFAL was actually held on Day 7 of Cycle Malaysia.

I got a surprise meet up with an old secondary school buddy from Kulim Ronald Heng. I like seeing him with his cycling attire. Well done and keep it up Bro.

And Winnie whom I hope to see again when I reach Melaka in this tour of mine by September.

Day 8, 14 August 2017, I left Penang and continued with the adventure. I left my mum's house around 7.00am. This is the start of Stage II of Cycle Malaysia and this time around I was cycling alone.

Sitting in the ferry with the wind blowing against my face and recalling the younger years when I was doing the same at the similar spot.

The only bicycle in the ferry with many motorbikes mostly going to work in the morning.

My first visit on the mainland was Bee Tin's house at Taman Inderawasih. Thank you Bee Tin for the lovely breakfast and we shall meet again. One of my main objectives of this tour was to meet as many old friends as possible when cycling around the country.

My next destination was Padang Serai, the small town where I was born. I tried to use the same bus route from Butterworth like in those days going through places such as Sg. Dua, Sg. Puyu and Tasik Gelugur. Welcome to Kedah.

This gentlemen has cooked for me when I was a young boy and today he is still around serving his delicious dishes. Well done Lau Lee and it was nice to see you again.

Having lunch with me at Lau Lee's stall were Sum Yee, classmate of mine during the primary and secondary school. And Khong Sook one of my hometown friends whom we shared our teenage days together. 

After the lunch Haji Halim called me up and we met up at Kim Eng's shop. These are my friends since primary school and it was such a wonderful time meeting up again.

The post office where I used to take the steps up the building posting letters and opened my first saving account here in this building. Unfortunately the building seems to be dilapidating each time I look at it, I just hope that building could be preserved and kept as a landmark for Padang Serai.

With Bob Lew in front of his family's shop, a shop that is close to my heart. I used to "lepak" here very often during my time in Padang Serai.

Then I left Padang Serai for Sg. Petani using the old estate way (Victoria Estate) to Kg. Sidam crossing the Muda River. 

Finally I reached Sg. Petani where I put up the night at my brother's house at Laguna Merbok.

The ride for Day 8.

Cycle Malaysia Day 5 - Taiping to Penang

After a good rest at our friend's place and a good dinner hosted by him we were ready to go again.

Just before we leave Taiping our hosts took us around Taiping Lake Gardens and its surrounding. The park is the first public garden started by the British back in 1880. It is nice to cycle around the park with the fresh air,  huge raintrees and many health conscious people doing their morning exercises.

One for the album and thank you so much for your hospitality. 

Another group photo at The New Club Taiping. This club is one of the oldest social club in the country and it was the British who founded it during the Colonial rule.

Breakfast at Sim Sim Kopitiam at Taman Seri Kamunting (GPS : 4.891342, 100.731631).

We had to stop here to resolve a technical hiccup on Amanda's bike at Kg. Sg. Gedong (GPS : 4.967198, 100.612754).

Arriving at Bagan Serai and looking for a nice place to rest again.

A short rest for drink that turned out to be a lunch after being enticed by the gorgeous dishes at the food counter at Restoran Mei Jing (GPS: 5.012647, 100.533972) Bagan Serai on the main road of Route 1.

Just before reaching Nibong Tebal we set off to Road 169 and then Jalan Teluk Ipil to a motorbike bridge crossing Kerian River where the famous Restoran Lim Aik Chew's curry prawn is located.

Somewhere near Jalan Victoria, another cycling project by the State government.

Restoran Law Chang Kee' porridge at Jalan Che Ahmad. We had the prawns and fish porridge unfortunately the crab and poached octopus were all sold out. We met Poh Nee and her friend here and they joined us for the porridge.

Getting over the steel arch bridge of Nibong Tebal where underneath of the bridge runs the North - South railway tracks.

Cycling on the major roads at Seberang Perai could be tricky and challenging with many overhead bridges as we got closer to Butterworth for the ferry.

We were lost but managed to regroup for a ferry to the island. Welcome to Penang.

Day 5 is one of the longest days - Penang.