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The Exotic Holidays In Penang!
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Holidays in Penang by Gillian - April 2007
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A start of bad experience when we first touch down at K.L (Kuala Lumpur), as we've
being rip off by a taxi driver that took us to our hotel. We pay RM80, while the
actual fare could be as low as RM30 for a 25min journey. We plan to stay for 2 days
in K.L before going for our 1 week holidays in Penang. The hotel room looks o.k., a
little dirty and most of the plumbing seems to be leaking from the toilets which also
wet the floor. But for a room that cost only RM45 per day, we aren't complaining.
K.L is pretty hectic where you can find all kind of people trying to sell things from
food to clothing to fake watches. And did I mention food? Well, it's great.
We went to our room to sleep but I was awaken by the feeling of insect bites.
Without trying, I found and killed quite a lot of bed bug that roaming on my bed. We
complain it to the receptionist and ask to move room. The staff were very friendly
and offer us a room in their sister hotel just a few blocks away due to no other room
left. It was late at night and the receptionist walked us to the new hotel as he was
worried that we might get lost. It was down a bit of dodgery looking backstreet but
we weren't going to try and find other place to stay at that time (2am). The 2nd
hotel is much better and the air condition works. We had a good sleep that night.
The next day we visited the Petronas twin towers - The tallest building in Malaysia.
Inside the towers, there is a KLCC complex - A huge shopping mall. It has the entire
brand that I can think of - Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Nike & etc. We don't recommend
you to shop here as the price is very expensive. After KLCC, we found our way back
to the bus station and bought a bus ticket to Butterworth on the following day for
our holidays in Penang. The bus station is crazier than the streets with about 50
different companies trying to sell you a ticket on their coach. We chose the least
crowded ones and pay for RM25 per person.
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As the meal from previous night was so good, we decided to go back to try some
others different dishes. I enjoyed Teh O Limau or Ice Lemon tea. I can't remember
the meal that we ate but they were Malay dishes as each meal had the flag of the
country it originated.
At night we went to Chinatown as many guide books recommend this place. The
town is hustle and bustle with people from all walks of life selling fakes t-shirts,
DVDs, VCDs & etc. I was impressed to see Hindu temples and Chinese temple that is
located nearby. We were very hungry after a while and decided on the safe option
by eating in the same place as we do not want to have stomach ache while we
holidays in Penang tomorrow.
We found our bus quite easily and took a 5 hour trip to Butterworth. The reason
why we wanted drop at Butterworth is because we want to take a ride on the
famous Penang Ferry. Holidays in Penang can never be completed without taking a
ride on the colorful and nostalgic Penang Ferry. The ride on the ferry took about 15
minute. We can see a magnificent view of Penang Bridge from here. At Penang, we
took a bus heading towards Tanjung Tokong (where we were staying). Bad luck
strike as we miss out stop by getting off the bus too early. We ended taking a 30
minute walk to the hotel. One taxi that we stopped tried to rip us off by
overcharging, so we just walk away while he stated to offer a better fare. Hopefully
this will teach him a lesson to be more honest next time. For our holidays in Penang,
we booked a deluxe room with is very huge with a balcony overlooking the sea. We
spent a few days lazing around the hotels and the beach.
Food was Penang specialty given the fact that many people seems to say good
things about Penang food. We tried eating different types of Malay & Chinese dish
such as mee rebus, satay, ketupat, char kway teow, rojak and chendol. At
Georgetown, we go up to the 65 storey of Komtar to catch a breathtaking view of
the city. Later that day, we decided to take a bus instead of taxi to the botanic
garden after a guy told us that the garden can be reach by bus. Once we got into
the bus, the driver told us that we still need to take a taxi to the garden as the bus
does not have any stops there. At this point, we decided to give up on the
sightseeing as it seemed too much hard work and got on a bus back to our hotel.
The next day we visited Penang hill, Tropical spice gardens, Penang butterfly farm,
fruit farm, orchid garden and the Teluk Bahang dam where the dragon boat race
where held yearly. Back to our hotel, we were discussing on how we can get to Koh
Samui in Thailand. It seemed we have to go back to the ferry and take a bus or
train from Butterworth and then another bus or taxi to reach there. Fortunately, we
found another way which is by flight from Penang direct to Koh Samui that could
have save us a lot of time, effort and money.
On our last day of holidays in Penang, we ask a taxi driver to drop us at Penang
snake temple which is located nearby the airport. The temple lives up to expectation
as the visit is definitely worthwhile. We took few photos and bought some souvenir
at the temple entrance. From there, we went to the airport and left for Thailand.
Our best memories we will take from Malaysia especially during our holidays in
Penang will probably for the food and the interesting tourist attraction. I'd certainly
say it's worth spending a bit more time in Penang as the heritage city has so much
to offer.
Gillian from Sheffield, England.
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