Weekend Escaped: Kuala Lumpur to Kedah (Jitra-Baling-Alor Setar)

Plz note the actual date of this weekend escape was on 6-8 Jun 2014.

It has been a while i didn’t visit Kedah. I remember the last time went there was on September 2013 in Langkawi.

We took a bus from UTC KL to Jitra at 11.30 pm on 6 Jun (Friday). The journey took about 5 to 6 hours and Pancaran Matahari bus was our selection. It was double decker bus and the best thing was the bus has a plug pin in each seat except for the middle seats.

Next morning we turned up at Jitra bus station (nearby Petronas) and were picked up by our fwen. We had nasi lemak ayam berempah as our breakfast at Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang, a restaurant nearby. The visit to Kedah presently cuz we plan to attend my bestfwen wedding on 7 Jun (Saturday) at Baling. One thing I luv to share here was the journey to the wedding ceremony. It took almost 1.5 hours from Jitra to Baling. From Baling town to the bride’s house, we have to drive along a narrow path surrounded by forests and estates ambiance in the left and right side of the pathway. It was a bit creepy once we passed by rubber estate and the graveyard. Alhamdulillah, we almost reached at the wedding ceremony. We parked the car and walked through some hilly slopes. Yeyyz we arrived at the wedding ceremony eventually.

We were served with pandan rice with gravy of beef mix with banana petiole, chicken sambal, salted fish mix with fried onions, shrimp paste (sambal belacan), laksa, cool drinks and some delicacies such kueh kapit, bahulu and many more I didn’t manage to get the name.

On the way back, we drop by some Masjid and performed solat. We continued the journey and drop by at Rukun Negara Fountain nearby Sultan Abdul Halim Airport. The fountain carries a replica of crown and is supported by five pillars with Rukun Negara was written on each pillar. The original Rukun Negara Fountain was built in 1970 and located at Teluk Wanjah roundabout which is about 12 km away from this new spot. However, it was demolished due to make way for the Ipoh-Padang Besar electrified double track project.

Next, we visited Alor Setar Tower, which is the 2nd tallest tower in Malaysia with 165.5m height and the 19th tallest telecommunications tower in the world. The magnificent panorama above was taken from observation deck (88m AGL). The deck is not revolving however it is available with automatic binocular, souvenir shop, ice-cream kiosk and money changer. One of the best moments in this tower is the Sri Angkasa Revolving Restaurant located at 94m AGL. The tower is opened from 9:00am to 10:00pm.

We managed to capture Yellow Palace (Istana Kuning) which is situated near the Alor Setar Tower. I was informed this palace is believed was resided by Sultan of Kedah on previously and currently the palace has became the office for the Kedah royalty association.

Palace of Anak Bukit (Istana Anak Bukit) is juz aside the road. The design of the entrance gate is golden paddy shape and plz note the palace is not open to public.

Picture was taken nearby Rukun Negara Fountain area

Approximately, half of Malaysia’s total production of rice was produce from Kedah. Therefore, Kedah is depict as the ‘rice bowl’ (jelapang padi) of Malaysia.