As I've done these past few years, I decided that I would spend August in Malaysia as usual (Kuala Lipis in 2020, Batu Pahat in 2022, Kuala Kangsar in 2023, Kampar in 2024 and Pangkor in 2025) as I didn't want to deal with the summer crowd abroad. I wanted to squeeze in Georgetown so after thinking it over, I decided to take the night bus to Butterworth (or Penang Sentral), cross over by ferry and then back again and take the Komuter Utara to Padang Besar.
Monday, 3 August 2026
I made my way to Hentian Duta for the 23:00 bus to Butterworth. Thankfully the weather held. I remember being caught in a downpour once and having to wait the rain out before making my way to Hentian Duta. The bus arrived and left at 23:15. Tuesday. 4 August 2026 We stopped at a pump station and I went down to use the facilities. We then continued on and reached Butterworth just after 3 in the morning. I retrieved my bag and walked in to Penang Sentral. I tried to nap but kept waking up form being disturbed by other travellers. And the wind was strong too.
At 05:00, I realised it was raining hard. I’d given up on sleep by then. The prayer room was still closed and would only open at 06:00. I took the 07:00 ferry across and my, the sea was choppy all right. We swayed making our way onto the ferry. Thankfully, I didn’t throw up.
After disembarking, I walked to get my prawn noodles fix before walking to the market at Jalan Kuala Kangsar. I bought a bottle of soy bean drink then went to wander. Pretty hard to find benches to sit on even inside buildings. The guard at 1st Avenue told me to sit at the cafe area. I was reluctant at first as I wasn’t a customer but he said it was ok so finally I did.
After browsing the shops at 1st Avenue, I went to have char kuay teow for brunch before making my way back to the jetty. The staff manning the gate kindly let me and a Western couple to board. It was 11:30. The couple ran, I walked quickly wheeling my bag. Just don’t ask me to run. I made it onto the ferry huffing and puffing, literally the last person to board it, and the ferry promptly pulled out for the mainland.
Back at the mainland, I made my way to the train station. A girl from China asked me about the train and after looking at her ticket, I told her I was also heading for Padang Besar. We ended up sitting next to each other on the train and in fact, I dozed off a few times leaning into her. How embarrassing! She assured me it was ok but of course I felt embarrassed.
We reached Padang Besar station and made our way up from the platform. I asked a guard and then told her that the ticket office would open after 16:00 and the train to Hatyai would depart after 17:00. We then said goodbye and she thanked me for helping her. It’s rare to meet a Chinese National who speaks fluent English.
I left the station and walked to my roomstay. A few people stopped to ask where I was going and I was starting to feel annoyed. I didn’t exactly want to broadcast to strangers where I was going. I followed the map and turned right then was stopped by a man standing next to his SUV. He asked where I was going and then told me to turn back, claiming there was no through road. I was really starting to get pissed at this point. He continued being condescending and I sarcastically said I was just following the map. I do know how to read maps. But he insisted and because I wasn’t a local and he was, I turned back and took the much longer route to the roomstay. This was in the middle of the afternoon too! I finally reached my room, retrieved the key from the lockbox and went in. The room was hot and I quickly turned on both the AC and wall fan. The area is very near the border, so much so my phone sometimes showed Thai time instead of Malaysian time.
I ventured out again after 18:00 and walked up to the 0 km mark just before the roundabout. I went up all the way to Arked Niaga but didn’t enter the arcade. I turned back and walked to find dinner and finally had dinner at an eatery near my roomstay. Then it was back to my room to rest.
Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Subuh is later in these parts and after a light breakfast, I hurried out. I just about managed to catch bus R105 to Kaki Bukit. Turned out many local kids took the bus to go to school.
I got down at Kaki Bukit and went to check out the morning market. Then it was little town is predominantly Chinese and I discovered shortly after that the town origin is tin-mining. So that explains the population. I walked up to Gua Kelam only to find it closes on Wednesdays. Arghhh! I walked back to the bus stop, stopping briefly to check out the Kaki Bukit Tin Mining History Gallery. The bus was coming in as I neared the bus stop so I hurried to catch it. I rode it to Uniciti Campus where I got down. I had some time to kill so I went to the nearby surau to perform dhuha prayers. Then I joined a bloke waiting for the bus.
Bus R11 came after five minutes and I paid my fare using QR code. I got down at Semadong stop and walked in but was then told I had gone to the JPS’ entrance instead so I turned back and walked to Terinai Lake View Resort. The resort itself looked like it had closed down which is a shame because it provides a view of the Timah Tasoh Dam. I stayed there until 10:50 before walking to the main road and it was a good thing I did because the bus R11 came shortly after and not as what Google Maps indicated it would. I would’ve missed the bus if I had solely relied and depended on the timing provided by Google Maps.
We reached the bus terminal at Padang Besar and I crossed the road and walked up to Arked Niaga. I didn’t stop but continued to Pusat Niaga Padang Besar. I even walked up to the first floor but apart from a few eateries and diners, the first floor was quite deserted. I went down and browsed some dried nuts. I looked up and saw a familiar face: it was an old colleague who retired in 2022 and moved back to Alor Setar! Unplanned meetings are always special. We stood and chatted then sat down and continued chatting. She and her husband who just underwent some stent procedure actually drove up that morning. We then bade each other goodbye and I crossed over to Padang Waremart.
The Waremart was even livelier and had more customers. It was a big warehouse-like covered market and because it’s huge, it didn’t look crowded. The sellers were friendlier and quick to offer free samples for customers to try. And the best thing is prices were also lower there. I then found out that most of the sellers are Thai nationals who cross over daily. I was told that while there are bazaars across the border, they’re much smaller and don’t provide much opportunity. Demand is also lower in Thailand. And most, if not all, things on sale are Thai produce and products. At first I wasn’t impressed. Doesn’t Perlis have its own produce and products to sell? Why are Thai products sold instead? Then I thought further that at least Malaysians without passports can still shop for Thai products without having to leave the country and change money.
After some purchases, I had lunch. A lot of stalls in Padang Besar sell some varieties of Thai cuisine. At one point I was wondering why no one was selling laksa. I’m not a fan of Thai food, I’m not a fan of spicy food, so I chose Thai chicken rice. I asked how different it was from our chicken rice. I was told the difference is the colour of the rice. So I was not impressed when my chicken rice came out looking bland. It was hardly yellowish! I had a big piece of chicken though and I saved some portions to give to the cats.
After lunch, I trudged back to my room. I spotted a small warung selling laksa and I crossed over to buy it for dinner. I spent the rest of the afternoon indoors. I ventured out at 18:45 and walked to the lake or pond. And guess what, there is a path that joins the main road to the train station after all. Which meant I was right the day before and the man who told me to turn around was a moron.
My right shoulder had started aching by this time and the pain was such that it made me yell. I had a poor night as I kept waking up from the pain.
Thursday, 6 August 2026
Another early start. Oh well, it was not as if I could sleep anyway.
I left at 07:00 and returned the room key to the lockbox. Then I walked down and took the path I had checked out the evening before. It took me about 17 minutes to reach the train station. My train was already waiting, alhamdulillah. We reached Bukit Mertajam at 09:15 and we had to get down and up the stairs to cross over to another platform and down more stairs. The train from Butterworth arrived shortly after. It being a weekday, there were still seats in the train.
We reached Ipoh at 11:06 and the escalator wasn’t working. Thankfully, the lift was working. I hurried to the bathroom and only one cubicle out of three was working. I’d been holding my bladder for almost four hours by then. There was a long queue when I came out from the bog. Really, I know it’s an old station but couldn’t facilities be improved?
The boarding for the 12:05 started about 20 minutes before 12:00 (as the gate closed 5 minutes before the train departed). My seat neighbour said she was stuck in the train toilet as she couldn’t open it. Luckily one staff came to her rescue. I decided to perform prayers in the train because I wanted to rush home and not stop to perform prayers when I arrived.
I got down at Sungai Buloh and took the MRT to Chan Sow Lin and changed for LRT. I walked home, unpacked quickly and left after prayers to meet my physiotherapist. She suspected it was muscle inflammation and suggested that I go to a nearby clinic. So I did. And yes, my supraspinatus muscle was inflamed
So that was my trip to Perlis.
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