Solo Trip to Penang and Kedah (2012)

I went to Penang and Kedah in October 2012 since hubby was still in Perth to finish his thesis. Sometimes I have to travel alone, especially when hubby is busy with his work. There was a conference at Batu Feringhi, Penang, and it was my chance to present my latest work. There were many places that I'd like to visit, but I wouldn't be able to cover all places. So I stick on my favourite places to visit, e.g. botanical garden and butterfly farm. At the end of the conference, my best mate MM would pick me up at Batu Feringhi, so we could visit her place in Kedah.

Initially, I've stayed in Sepang for one day before took off to Penang island from KLIA2. 

I've been told that the only transportation mode that I could get was a taxi from the Penang airport to Batu Feringhi. Luckily, I didn't give up very easily and found the best way to Batu Feringhi without paying RM100 for taxi. I took a bus with a fare of RM4 directly to Batu Feringhi. 

The trip to Batu Feringhi was exciting. There were many colorful buildings, heritage buildings, temples, and offices. It is a neat, clean and orderly city, so much like Perth. 

The most important part was of course Batu Feringhi, the local and tourist destination in Penang where there are many hotels, resorts, and bungalows located. I took a budget but nice and clean hotel in this area.

In the afternoon, I went to the Tropical Spices Garden. The full story could be read here. 

Another interesting place to visit was the Butterfly Farm. I spent nearly two hours in that place. I took time to observe the butterflies, flowers, ponds, plants, and fish. There were quite many types of colorful butterflies and moths in the farm. 

After the conference, my friend MM took me to Kedah. Before that, we went to Masjid Terapung for shalat and took some photos of the surrounding mosque. She also took me to eat authentic Penang cuisine, such as rujak pasembur, cumi (cuttlefish), mee udang (prawn noodles) and laksa Penang.

I stayed in Kedah for two days. We went to UUM, the uni, where she works as a lecturer. 

We went to Museum Padi (Rice Museum) that tells a story about rice farmer culture in Kedah. 

She took me to eat some halal Thai foodies, such as coconut jelly, tom yam, kerabu and stir fried mushrooms. 

There was a nice tasik (lake) near her regency. 

We had a nice dinner in Langkawi and returned late to her home. 

She took me to the airport where I rushed to check in. However, there was still not many passengers even a plane in the airport. 

Finally, the plane that took me to KLIA has arrived. 

That was such a very nice and well prepared adventure that I've been experienced in life. I'm ready to have more solo trips in some exciting places. 


Jakarta,