Malaysia: 3D2N in Penang

Kids on Bicycle

Probably the most famous street art in Penang. It has been many years but I've finally managed to get myself to Lebuh Armenian to see it for myself. At least it is still there. I should probably make it clear that despite I travelled to Penang as a tourist but I have been to Penang a few times in the past and I just wanted to have a relaxing holiday, eat some good food and catch up with my friends.


Getting to Penang from Alor Setar
I tried out the train option this time. Tickets can be bought on the spot, just before getting on the train. Trains run hourly. Here's the link to the train schedule from Alor Setar train station. Train fare is RM7.10 and it takes just passed an hour to get to Butterworth. My friend sent me to the station at Anak Bukit (one station before Alor Setar) for higher chances to get a seat as it could get a bit busy at Alor Setar train station.
Note: I also took a train from KL to Alor Setar so you could take the train from KL to Butterworth.

Signs on the train

Get off at Butterworth station and walk towards the jetty to get on a ferry towards the island. Ferry ticket cost RM1.20 and it is only chargeable when one travels from Butterworth to Penang. It is free of charge if you travel from the island. The ride is only 15-20 minutes. It is a very fuss-free ferry that transports human on the upper level and vehicles on the lower.

Staying at Vintage House, Georgetown
I booked 2 nights stay at Vintage House on Lebuh Victoria. I booked a room with shared bath but never had to wait for my turn to use the bathroom. The place was clean and comfortable with great location. The host, Cheah was friendly and hospitable, she even sent me recommended food places on whatsapp.

Street Art in Georgetown
Dotted across town, you'll see welded iron wall caricatures and street art. The iron caricatures tell historical facts in comic form. The street art, though, was started by Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian-born artist who stayed temporarily in Penang. In addition, I think there are more street art by other artists around town. Of note is 101 Lost Kittens project by a group of artists to create awareness of finding homes for stray animals.

Here's the link to the street art brochure. I got a hard copy map from the guesthouse.

Property

I noticed there were more on the map I was given compared to the one on the brochure though, but some are found on my random walks and not on the map.

Boy on Chair

Old motorcycle

Chew Jetty
Chew Jetty is a clan jetty and consists of 75 elevated houses, several Chinese temples and many tourist facilities linked by elevated wooden walkways.

Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera)
Penang Hill is a hill resort of a group of Peaks (online brochure link here). This is away from Georgetown but in the suburb of Air Itam. In English it is more commonly referred to as Penang Hill but in Malay language, it is known as Bukit Bendera which refers to Flagstaff Hill, the most developed peak. In Mandarin, it is 升旗山 (Shēngqí Shān), which is also the Flagstaff Hill.

I was informed by Cheah from the guesthouse that there is a bus to Penang Hill but was very lucky because my friends drove me there. On my second day in Penang, I caught up with 2 of my friends. After lunch they drove me around and to Penang Hill.

Funicular ticket, return, adult: RM30 for non MyKad holder. We went at some random time (I think was +/-4pm, so it was no queue at all but it was packed on our way down though. There are many things to do in Penang Hill and one of my friend previously did Owl Museum. We decided to do The Habitat as none of us has been. The Habitat consisted of a collection of rails and walkway to see our preserved rainforest. We got the standard entrance ticket (RM53) and would need to leave by 7pm as there is a more expensive sunset ticket (RM74.20) which allows one to stay till 8pm.

After we were ushered out of The Habitat, we had a little snack at Cliff Cafe then went to the Skydeck (east) for night view.

Penang Avatar Secret Garden
This is a project by MBI which turns a small park into a neon fantasy aka Avatar. It is found behind Thai Pak Koong Temple Tanjong Tokong. Entrance is fee but someone will approach you for parking fee collection. In front of the parking area is a beach area which is filled up with some statues of Chinese under the sea legend.

Eat Penang Hokkien food - Restoran Hock Chuan Heong
Penang is famous for yummy local food and there are lists all over the internet so I won't add to it. Besides I didn't specifically hunt down those. What I want to introduce is this place that my friend brought me to. It is a restaurant serving good Hokkien dishes, I quote what my friend said, "authentic Penang Hokkien food." The shop name is Restoran Hock Chuan Heong 福泉香饭店 (Hock Chuan Heong restaurant). Address: (Gat Lebuh Cecil), 344-G-5, Pengkalan Weld, 10300 Penang.

I didn't have any photos as we were starving and they are not into taking pictures before eating. I'm going to put a link to a Penang food blog that shows food pictures. We ordered the same thing except tau kua suan na (beancurd and leeks). All the other tables pretty much ordered similar dishes actually. The dishes to try are or chien (fried oyster omelette), fried tanghoon (fried cellophane noodles), or mee (oyster noodles), hei kean (deep fried prawn fritters), bak kee tng (fried pork pieces soup). Not only I don't have photos of the food I don't even remember how much it cost as my friends paid for it upfront and we split the bill after. Sorry!


Merry Me Ice-cream
If you want ice-cream with local flavours you can try Merry Me Ice-cream. In terms of ice-cream they are ok (but I think it is expensive). If I want to eat ice-cream, by all means they are a good try. I also applaud them to be creative. If you want to eat tau sar piah, just go and eat the real thing. I'm old school in that sense. Single scoop RM7.90, double scoop 12.90 + RM1 for salted egg cookies. They are on the sweeter side of spectrum.

When you are glutton, you had 2 ice-cream by yourself - salted egg cookies & cream and kacang tumbuk

Side note: I'm really enjoying this travel show - 周遊東京 (Think you know Tokyo?). Wonder why I didn't try watching before lol.