An Excursion to Sungai Petani, Kedah (Part 1)

February 17, 2009 | 3,052 views

Pardon the hiatus. Last few days were spent in Cinta Sayang Golf and Country Resort, Sungai Petani, Kedah. Yup, THE rice bowl of Malaysia. Far from a holiday, it was another one of those courses. Rather intensive, with talks spanning hours, from early morning until night time. But on the whole, the experience was more play than work, at least to me. 🙂

Gee …. don’t you just miss those rural shots? Business’ picking up fast, and there’ll definitely be more outings to nowheres ….

Cinta Sayang Golf Resort has almost EVERYTHING. From health club to gym, archery sessions to putting and full golf course.

Rather ashamed to admit that this is my FIRST ever visit to Kedah. Of course, we passed by when we went to Perlis, and some years ago to Songkhla/Haadyai. But that’s another story altogether. For a brief rundown on Sungai Petani town of Kedah, here’s Wikipedia’s link.

Notice the funny signboard? Saddle up and ride your horsies … at 30km/h tops !!

Cinta Sayang Golf & Country Resort (website HERE) is a 4-Star golf resort which has been around for a good 20 years! With an 18-hole full golf course, and even a golf academy, the place spells H-E-A-V-E-N for golf aficionados from all over the world, as evident from the number of Japanese and Korean tourists staying at the resort.

Home Sweet Home … our chalet

Our accomodation was slightly different from the average hotels. Each chalet consists of 5 fully air-conditioned rooms, rather spacious, with double beds, cable TV, safe (which did NOT work, sadly), bath tub, hot shower, and tea making facilities.

One minor gripe though, travelling between our rooms and the lobby/restaurant/conference halls was a chore, as the whole area’s rather spaced out. So, either you drive your own, wait for their free shuttle erm, buggy? every 30 mins, or walk your way (not feasible under the hot sun!)

No complaints bout the room …. sans the company of those dastardly mosquitoes!

If you’re one who freaks out at the sight or sound of mosquitoes roaming your room, be prepared to …. erm, freak out. As some rooms may not have been occupied for some time, they became breeding grounds for those sworn enemies of humanity. But help’s at hand, just call housekeeping and SOS for assistance. They’ll come spraying in no time ….

Uncle John’s Kopitiam @ Village Mall, Sungai Petani

Enough bout the place for today’s post, as I’m still reeling from the journey. Witnessed not one, but TWO bushfire of sorts along the highway. The weather’s burning hot ….

Bearing in mind the schedule’s rather tight, I did not search or ask around for good food in Sg Petani. Hmm, wrong move. Though our food was provided (6 meals per day, count em!), the quality left much to be desired. So off we went with our foodie-radars all up for some decent grub in town. Tough luck.

Ended up at Village Mall near Tesco Sungai Petani, housing some outlets such as Chicken Rice Shop, Laksa Shack, Nash Donuts (local?), Secret Recipe, Starbucks, and Uncle John Kopitiam. We unanimously chose the latter, as it was teatime and we were still keeping our fingers crossed for the potentially lip-smacking dinner ahead (yeah,RIGHT). The food’s nothing spectacular, and the beverages were a notch below Old Town’s even.

Erm, nasi campur anyone?

Dinner was at Sayang Restaurant at the lobby of Cinta Sayang Golf & Country Resort. Four dishes, and one Acar. With cold/warm water. And fruits. Non-befitting a FOUR-star resort, no? Needless to say, we were still famished come supper hours. But of course, supper was also provided in the form of Malay-style Fried Kuey Teow. How not to be FAT leh? ….

Breakfast – Nasi Lemak, Fried Kuey Teow, KIMCHI (yup, heard that right!)

Dim Sum – The taste was as artificial as the looks ….

Breakfast offers more choices, but we sticked to cereals and toasts mostly. The Nasi Lemak was not half bad though, and rather decent for hotel’s standards. But don’t get me starting on the Dim Sum. Or whatever they’re supposed to mimic.

Signing off now …..

Of course, it wasn’t all fun, eat and play. The various talks consumed most of our time, even until 11pm at night. Imagine that …..

To Be Continued …..

Categories: Sungai Petani
Tags: Kedah, Sungai Petani, Travel
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24 Responses to “An Excursion to Sungai Petani, Kedah (Part 1)”

thenomadGourmand says:

February 18, 2009 at 4:04 am

stuck in some timbaktu and no good food..lol..can imagine the torture!

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ahlock says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:01 am

None other to understand your predicament better than me! I’m now in Alor Setar…on a job assignment. Will be traveling to Sg Petani tomorrow. Weather here sure DRY and HOT. Many trees I passed by were dry and posed a bush fire hazards.

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Food Paradise says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:02 am

Looks like Cinta Sayang is still the same. Still many mosquitoes in the room after so many years. lol

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550ml jar of faith says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:23 am

Hahahaha, the dimsum at breakfast is as plastic as it gets! I wouldn’t mind kimchi for breakfast though. Mozzies anywhere freak me out! On that subject, the airports in Malaysia seem to be having some sort of a mozzie crisis. Every recent visit to the check-in counter recently heightens the fear of dengue…

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Little Inbox says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:33 am

Cinta Sayang, I like the view there. Village Mall, just nothing compare to the shopping complex in Penang.

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SimpleGirl says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:45 am

the dim sum really looks pathetic haha….U must be missing Ipoh dim sum so much ya!

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iamthewitch says:

February 18, 2009 at 8:56 am

The breakfast and dinner were pathetic! They really shouldn’t call themselves a 4-star hotel! Sg Petani is less than 1 hour from Penang! Maybe you should stop by in Penang on your way home! 🙂

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Selba says:

February 18, 2009 at 9:38 am

6 meals in a day? you must be got really full from the food, hehehe…

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Duckie says:

February 18, 2009 at 3:20 pm

hehe looks like you enjoyed yourself. i would have done wht you did too, if i’m stuck like this!!

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TallGaL says:

February 18, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Fr what i know, the archery/paintball session need to book ard 1 day earlier(as what the receptionist told me, they need to ask the theme park workers to arrange for that).Otherwise, the onli thing u can do is mayb golf or swimming 🙁

Someone intro some SP food to me: ikan bakar queen & fried char hor fun at old town area, ah pai nasi lemak.. Though i din try any of it,sigh…Anyone know wher's exact address of these stalls? Mz try next time..

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CUMI & CIKI says:

February 18, 2009 at 3:31 pm

i loathe mosquitoes! how much for the chalets btw?

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KCA says:

February 18, 2009 at 4:49 pm

yeah.. i went there few yrs back.. It looks the same… not much change.. 🙂

wei.. yalor.. y the food look like tat ar?? hehe… pity u all.. nvmla, at least can stay 4-star resort for 2 nites there(FOC), worth it.. =P

TaLLgaL.. haiya, y missed the chance to go out makan?? haha.. yalor.. the ikan bakar queen got fake one.. heard that there are so many ‘QuEeNz’ around.. so, muz b wise enuf to choose the RIGHT one.. 🙂 nvmla.. nxt time ask ‘someone’ to bring u there lo… hahahaha…

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J2Kfm says:

February 18, 2009 at 4:50 pm

thenomadGourmand : erm, not reli that bad. or was i reli sour in my post? =P least save our trouble from searching for food around SP.

ahlock : oh you're in Alor Setar now? hahaha … i'll be back in SP in 2 months' time. hopefully, the experience will be promising.

Food Paradise : yeah, their explanation? the rooms are not occupied for some time.

550ml Jar of Faith : yeah … kimchee and gochujang for salad dressing. hahaha ….

Little Inbox : yeah, Village Mall reminded me of Taiping Sentral somewhat.

SimpleGirl : true. but really, I've not been having dimsum in Ipoh lately.

iamthewitch : yeah! i plan to do that on my next trip there. i studied in Pg last time, btw. really really like Pg's food.

Selba : hahaha, it's normal for us. we get fed that much on daily basis if we're on outing.

Duckie : hahahah …. you'd rather work away from the office? how true.

TallGal : yeahloh. wasted we cannot go for fried and heaty stuff due to some unforeseen circumstances huh?

Cumi & CIki : it's about RM160 per room, I supposed. I not very sure, as ours came in a package for government officers. so I paid RM145 per night for a room to myself, plus all the meals one can hope for.

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email2me says:

February 18, 2009 at 5:38 pm

The nearest good food location near SP is Gurun for the Sotong Kangkong which sold for more than few generations. That place is something like Bidor which the bus stop there for people to rest and eat.

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ahlock says:

February 18, 2009 at 7:58 pm

OK…now I’m in Sg Petani. Someone intro ikan bakar to me to, like TallGall.

I’ll be having dinner soon. Hmm…I hope there is only ONE ikan bakar in SP. If not, I’m so so sure I’ll step into the wrong ikan bakar eatery.

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TallGaL says:

February 18, 2009 at 9:05 pm

Ah Lock, be kful, heard tat ther r many fake ikan bakar queens..Haha.. Eat the right stall and tell motormouth..

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vkeong says:

February 18, 2009 at 9:23 pm

I am very envious of you you know lol. You get to travel to so many places and get to try so many local food.

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J2Kfm says:

February 18, 2009 at 10:23 pm

email2me : oh Gurun in Kedah, further up north right? Bidor got ppl rest at bus stop n eat meh?!!

ahlock : TallGal recommended the Ikan Bakar Queen, or something like that, right?

TallGal : then how to pick the right stall leh? we should’ve tried least one fish. hmmm ….

vkeong : envious? aiya, got work also lah, dun say like gaji buta. =P:

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ahlock says:

February 18, 2009 at 11:14 pm

Ha … ha … I’ve found it! Its not Ikan Bakar Queen. The all famous ikan bakar of SP is Dataran Ikan Bakar Sungai Petani situated beside De Cacao Coffee and Tea, also beside a river and a bridge. I can see Pasaraya Billion from here.

This was confirmed by a friend’s friend, a local, after a series of tel calls.

Ikan bakar, superb. Environment, relaxing, but…try to choose a spot well aired or at least with a fan. My mistake costs me to sweat like hell.

To J2Kfm, I love to see your review of this place on your next round of visit to SP.

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email2me says:

February 19, 2009 at 10:21 am

J2KFM :

Gurun is the town before SP.

Use to be got before the whole north south highway is fully interconnected. The Bidor Duck Drumstick Noodle is the famous for bus to stop by.

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J2Kfm says:

February 19, 2009 at 6:15 pm

ahlock : thanks so much. if i ever make it to SP in the near future, will jot down ur recommendation. hope i can find the place though. is it halal?

email2me : before SP? heheh … me lost lost. even now Pun Chun is also a fav stopover for tourists. packed during public hols and wkends.

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Anonymous says:

June 16, 2009 at 6:33 pm

should also try mee rebus thajudeen near the SP new bus station. the rojak and mee rebus are its bestseller..watch them go…

Others are like nasi tomato naina…from SP heading to bidung using old road. its a small mamak stall next to mobil(if im not mistaken).

also…pak din ikan bakar at kepala batas…must TRY.only during lunch hour. always packed with people.so, arrive early.

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Nam Restaurant says:

April 6, 2014 at 10:48 am

Have you been in Langkawi try the food in Nam Restaurant? See the review here: http://malaysiafood.org/nam-restaurant/

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disabled showers and baths says:

March 6, 2019 at 8:16 pm

4 foot Bathtub

An Excursion to Sungai Petani, Kedah (Part 1) | Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food