Penang: the Pearl of the Orient

I suppose this post was long overdue. Let me try to recall my experiences for three days in Penang (with the help of pictures, of course, since someone told me that my blog needed more pictures. I'll be relying on Ryan a lot for that).


On the First Day, I took the 6:30am bus to meet up with Ryan and Po Ee in Low-Cost-Carrier Terminal (LCCT for short). I arrived slightly shy of 8:30am, and then Ryan treated me to a burger for breakfast.

We entered the departure hall and waited for our flight.

The LCCT departure hall

The flight towards Penang took roughly 35 mins (wow!). We arrived at Penang International Airport and Hui Jiun, together with Han Ying, was there to pick us up.

Hui Jiun took us to a tour around Penang for a bit and then we went to have cendol, otak-otak, and fried kuey teow at a small cornershop which was overly packed with people.

 

It was good. Not really that great-- but good.

After that Hui Jiun dropped us back at our hotel (PP Island). It was a really nice place. We got two neighbouring rooms on the 9th floor, so the view was great.

(Das me, lying down)

After resting for a bit and putting our stuffs down, we immediately head out again to the heritage area on Penang Island. We took a lot of photos there while walking around.

We visited a camera museum,

Das camera museum

A temple,

And the Peranakan museum.

Hereby dubbed the NBS family photo

 After it looked like it was going to rain, we took a pit-stop at a place called China House. It's an art cafe ( those seem like all the craze lately) and they served really, really, delicious tiramisu cake.

Das me, vandalizing the table haha

What I drew-- and the super delicious RM 15 cake

After that Hui Jiun took us back to our hotel and we all rested the rest of the evening. I, apparently, was knocked out cold lols. Sometime around 6pm, Hui Jiun and her boyfriend (oooh!) came to pick us up again and brought us to a place called Northram Beach Cafe where we had our dinner. I had something like prawn mee. It wasn't bad, but nothing to shout about. We also had some fried chicken. Now that was really good. Anyone up for more Bishop's noses? Hahaha. After that, we went to a place in the upper crust of Penang Island called the Straits Quay.

Since it was raining, we stopped by a lounge/bar/cafe called The Library. I didn't drink anything, just to tell you beforehand. It was a nice place though. We sat by the outside so the sound of the rain, mixed with the swaying of boats and a live band further in really had a nice atmosphere.

Don't hate, yo!

After the rain stopped, we walked along the coastline(?) overlooking the sea and many boats/yachts.

Lumia Camera saves the day at night ;)

The time was around... 1am by the time we went back to our hotel. when we reached back, we started playing... MONOPOLY DEAL!

I was so close to winning to many times but alas it was not meant to be as victory escaped my grasp each time, and Ryan emerged victorious for the majority of the games.

At around 3am, we went to sleep.

Wow, can you believe it. That was just the First Day.


On the Second Day, still tired from sleeping so late the night(morning?) before, we woke up around 9-ish. Hui Jiun came to pick us up again at around 10, more or less. We went to Pulau Tikus and had delicious wan tan mee. It was really, really really good. It's kinda sad that Melaka's are really such a let down.

It was half white, half black. Don't ask, I don't know how else to explain.

After we were done we headed over to Kek Lok Si temple. It was a climb-- what a climb. We hiked all the way up to the highest level in the pagoda.

Right at the very top. No photos coz we were all afraid of staying there too long. It was scary.

After that we took a cable car to the top of the... area. And we saw a HUUUUGE Guan Yin statue.

Syok sendiri in the cable car LOL

It was freaking hot by the way. Pardon the Cina Eyes

After we were done we climbed back down and then ate Laksa. You know, the famous assam laksa. I also had some nutmeg juice.

After that we stopped by a place called Him Heang. The biscuits there were sooooo delicious oh my goodness, I should have bought more.We had dinner ( well, it was more like... tea time) at a hawker centre and ordered steamed white chicken, fish+chicken porridge, bak kut teh and some dim sum. After that we went back to rest for a while again (more like 3 hours), and then Hui Jiun brought us to the Penang Hill. She didn't join us this time though as she was busy with something.

Penang Hill was, in one word, beautiful. It was 712m above sea level. By the time we reached there, it was around 8pm.

They call it Bukit Bendera for a reason ;)

We walked around and explored the area and took the chance to take in the nice view and fresh air. We also took a few photos here and there.When we descended around 9-10pm, Hui Jiun again came to pick us up and sent us back to our hotel. So super thankful for her :)

We played monopoly deal again, but this time the millionaire variety until around 1am and then we went to eat at a mamak stall just nearby our hotel called "Jiao Sai" which is in Cantonese, and would translate to something like Bird Poop. It was pretty good by the way. They only sold maggi goreng and the varieties.

Jiao Sai maggi goreng. HAHAHA what a name.

After that we headed back to sleep. That was around 2am I suppose. And thus ended our Second Day.

On the Third Day, Hui Jiun had to work (can you believe it-- she took leave just for us D'AWWW) and we were lucky to have Ryan's friend, KC, to help us. In the morning he took us to a hawker centre where we ate dim sum (delicious dim sum too) and prawn mee.

MmmMmm good!

After that he brought us to the seafront and we weren't really sure what the place was called. KC said he called it the Ubah Beach. Here's why...

With DAP's UBAH! bird.

After chilling there for a while we went back to the heritage area to take photos with all the murals that tourists always take photos with. Once there, we rented some bikes to go around because walking would be just too far.

This kinda looks like a poster for some cliche movie.

You know, that was the 3rd time I've ever ridden a bicycle before so I was so afraid that I might be terrible at it, but somehow I ended up being pretty good. (the last time I rode a bike was many years ago, and I sucked-- so I stopped)

Anyway, we went around taking photos with the murals here and there. Gosh, we were all covered in sweat. 

Wah-chaa!

And of course, this iconic photo.

After that was over and done with, we went over to Hard Rock Hotel, in Batu Ferringhi. And Dayum, the place was really high class.

Just a small part of the huge hotel.

The beach was beautiful too, at any rate. The sand was smooth and soft. After that we paid a visit to Fort Cornwellis. There wasn't much to do there, to be honest. It's just kinda... like that.

Epic expressions. I was torn between smiling or acting. Ended up failing both.

Finally, we decided to head over to the airport coz it was time to go.

At the airport, KC's car boot suddenly couldn't open and we all panicked and rushed over to a car mechanic to get it fixed. Funnily enough, when we got there, it opened by itself. So... thankfully everything was solved without much hassle.

We ate a quick lunch at the airport, and then thanked KC and we got on our flights.

It looks like a sea down there! Oh wait, it IS the sea.

Upon arrival, we promptly parted ways-- me going to take a bus back to Melaka while Po Ee and Ryan were to go to their homes in KL respectively. I had to stay at the airport till 9pm since I missed the 6.30 bus and the 8pm bus was full. Ugh, crowded, smoky, smelly and full of flies. But oh well. A pauper can't be picky.


I arrived back in Melaka around 11pm and had a large dinner waiting for me (seriously?). And my parents continued to feed me like crazy for the next few days even though I just came back from a food trip around Penang. Hah.

Oh, but I am grateful though.

So this wraps up my escape. Hope to update with more good things soon!