Butterworth (population 108,000) is the principal town of Province Wellesley (Malay: Seberang Perai) in the state of Penang in Malaysia. To many locals, Butterworth is known as Bagan. Butterworth is the site of the Malayan Railway station for Penang, and is linked to the island by the Penang Ferry Service and by the 13.5 km Penang Bridge.
A point of tourist interest in the town is the Penang Bird Park, a landscaped park with over 300 species of birds from all over Southeast Asia.
Butterworth is also the site of a Royal Malaysian Air Force station, RMAF Butterworth, formerly operated by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, and is now the Headquarters of the Integrated Area Defence System (HQIADS) of the Five Power Defence Arrangements.
Butterworth will be the site of an integrated transport hub called Penang Sentral, which will integrate rail, ferry and bus transport.The housing estate of Taman Bagan is located at the Seberang Perai Utara - Tengah border.
Butterworth railway station is conveniently located next to the bus and ferry terminal, south of the town centre. It is a major rail terminal for Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railways) trains heading south to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and north to Hat Yai in Thailand as well as the State Railways of Thailand's International Express to Bangkok.
If you are in a rush to get to KL, the bus may be your best bet. The journey time can be half as long. Most of the coaches have AC, as well as other comforts. Much of the journey is very scenic.
If you are concerned about securing a fair price, just ask a train station’s agent, most should be happy to give you a rough estimate on how much a bus will cost. Armed with this information, you can walk over to the bus staging area, which is more of a collection of ticket booths mixed in with food and beverage vendors, and find the best price.
The buses, in most cases, do not have restrooms, but, the buses make a number of breaks at rest stops, which have restrooms, and food/drink. Take note, many of the restrooms did not have toilet paper. Rapid Penang is bus services that cover entire Penang state
The much-loved Penang ferry departs regularly from the Butterworth Ferry Terminal for George Town. The ferry terminal is conveniently connected with the railway station and bus terminal via covered walkways - a rare example of good public transport planning in Malaysia. Caution when using the toilets. Travellers may want to consider using toilets at their hotels or at restaurants as the ferry toilets are infamous for their overuse and offensive odours.
Bird Park is the first and the largest bird park of its kind in Malaysia, houses more than 300 species of birds from throughout the world, of which about half are of Malaysian species. Experience hand-feeding birds in the geodesic domes and two giant-sized walk-in-aviaries, or take a bus either from KOMTAR or Butterworth Ferry Terminal. RM15 for adult and RM7.50 for children (below 12 year-old); additional charge of RM1 for camera.
Temple of the "Ninth Emperor God will be decorated for the annual Nine Emperor Gods (Kew Ong Yeah) festival on every 9th month of Chinese Lunar Calendar. This is a very beautiful temple. The building architecture is impressive. The sculptures and carvings are very neat and nice! The temple was constructed in 2000 by about 50 craftsmen from China which has three grand prayer halls, replaces an older temple that was built next to it in 1971.
Once a nice stretch of beach for locals to relax, currently there are several very good and cheap seafood restaurants there.
Jalan Raja Uda used to be the longest road in Malaysia. Along this road there are various hawker centers and most of the Penang food can be found here. There are at least two main morning markets along this road as well; one if off to Jalan Ong Yi How and another one is further up north and more popularly known as 'Apollo'. New development along the south of Raja Uda is known as 'Wooly Avenue' and this houses new shop lots and restaurants.
Bukit Tambun famous for its relatively low-price fresh seafood and Times Moving Cafe, Jalan Ong Yi How famous for its relatively low-price fresh wafer and French Fried. You can try the nice taste wafer with many difference flavors and special French Fried with cheese, BBQ and chocolate at there. It is easily found by its sharp pink colored van. Sweet Paradise Dim Sum is a very popular dim sum restaurant. Serving probably the best and most variety of dim sum in the region.
SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterworth,_Penang
http://wikitravel.org/en/Butterworth
