An Excursion to Sungai Petani, Kedah (Part 1)

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 .....