Wednesday 6th November 2013. 9.25am – Our bus
took off from Matic (Malaysian Tourism Centre) in Ampang Road. Almost one hour
late from schedule. Thank God the good people from Santai magazine had arranged
for a Police outrider to escort our bus out of the busy Kuala Lumpur downtown.
The journey to Sungai Petani, Kedah took about five hours.
After a couple of stopovers at the North South highway’s Rest & Relax
areas, we finally reached the spanking new building of MPSPK (Sungai Petani
Municipal Council) about 2 hours late. Nevertheless, the friendly staff of the
town council warmly welcomed us upon arrival and quickly ushered us to the main
conference room. The President of MPSPK, Datuk Haji Ismail Haji Said, chaired
the meeting that was attended by the municipality council members and
representatives from the various federal agencies in Kedah. A slide
presentation on the future development of Sungai Petani was presented to the
audience. Special attention on development was given to the historical sites
and tourist attractions within the fairly large district.
Done with the briefing two hours later, we were brought to
Semeling Jetty, where we were supposed to rivercruise along the Merbok river to
Tanjung Dawai at its rivermouth. All of us were looking forward to the river
excursion until about 15 minutes into the journey, when the dark clouds above
poured heavy rain on us. The boatmen tried to brave the heavy downpour but
after a while we were advised by the Fire and Rescue team that accompanied us
in another boat to turn back to avoid any untoward incidents.
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| The Semeling Jetty. The floating dining hall is on the foreground. |
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| View from the middle of the complex. |
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| New buildings with a well-kept landscape |
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| Add caption |
We went back to the jetty with some disappointments but were
nevertheless treated to a very informative slide show on mangrove conservation
programmes along the Merbok river. The new Semeling Jetty complex, completed
about three years ago consists of a theatre hall, an amphitheatre, a gallery, a
mini museum, a souvenir shop and a restaurant. Built on stilts, the beautiful
and modern complex, packaged with the Merbok rivercruise, is set to become
another tourist hotspot in Sungai Petani.
Pantai Merdeka, the only coastal area with sandy beaches in
Kedah, was our last destination for the day. We were welcomed by the resort
manager of Merdeka Beach Resort, our host for the evening, which treated us
with Air Nira (fermented coconut drink) as the welcome drink. The small but
cozy resort, located about 26 km from Sungai Petani, lies by the idyllic beach and
is a perfect hideaway for city folks. A wide range of watersport activities
such as sailing, waterskiing, canoeing and Banana boat rides are available.
Island hopping is also in store for those who are looking for some island
adventures. Local boatmen will readily ferry visitors with their sampans to the
islands of Pulau Bunting, Pulau Song Song and Pulau Bidan for a reasonable fee.
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