Sterdavblog: A Visit to Pulau Pinang

Last week on the 20 April 2014, my wife and I have a visit to Pulau Pinang (which is famously known as Penang). It is quiet a last minute decision because of the discount offer from Airasia we plan to take it and make it 4 days vacation.

The flight to Penang took approximately 2 hrs and 20 minutes in which we were arrived at Penang around noon. From Penang Airport which is located at Bayan Lepas, we took a bus which is called Rapid Penang to George Town. Roughly it took around 40 minutes to arrive at George Town. Nevertheless, you can explore more while traveling with the bus as you discover the local settlement all the way from Bayan Lepas to George Town.

George Town is the main city for Penang which the city is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is as though you visit an old town of Chinese and India settlement. The old buildings are well preserve as well can see the design have not been change for centuries or decades. Apart from the attraction of the heritage site, the food is not to forget as Penang will served you the best foods available in Malaysia. Most of the tourist came here is to taste the local delicacies of Penang. Empty your stomach before devouring the tasty delicacies in Penang. To get know Penang history, you can take a visit to its Tourism Site.

Penang modern landscape fusion with old building is a feast to your photography experience as there is a lot of interesting scene from the people and including the surroundings. The city will never give you a bored experienced as it have a very live society which prolongs until late night.

Our stay at Penang is at Grand Inn Hotel Penang Road which is location at the Penang Road itself. The rate is quite affordable as the hotel providing a clean and comfortable environment to stay. You can check the best offer rate at Agoda.com.

The Grand Inn Hotel Penang Road situated at Main Road which is Jalan Penang (Indicated in Round Blue Symbol)

Entrance to the Grand Inn Hotel Penang Road.

During our visit to Penang, we have been to Penang Hill which previously known as Bukit Bendera. Using Rapid Penang will took you around 30 minutes from Rapid Bus Terminal located at Pengkalan Weld. In Penang Hill it will took a small hill train to ride you up till the top of the hill. For further info for the price of the Penang Hill train ride, you can have a visit to its official website.

When we reached at the top the weather surrounds us is a bit cooler only if there is a breeze passing through. Upon the entrance, you will have a wide view of Penang City and the place also provide binocular services by paying RM1 for 3 minutes of sight seeing the Penang City. Above the Penang Hill, there are food court, Mosque and Hindu Temple and many of attractive monuments to be taken photograph with.

Below are collection of pictures from Penang Hill.

View from the top of Penang Hill.

The pad lock handrail which can be see directly above the food court.

Colorful Hindu Temple.

After visiting Penang Hill, we went to Kek Lok Si which is just next to the Penang Hill. Forgot to mention that both of this venue is located at Air Itam, which is considered a small town neighboring besides George Town. The Trip to Kek Lok Si Temple, we took the same bus that we used to Penang Hill and the bus will kindly drop you just before the junction to the Kek Lok Si Temple.

The walk to the temple is very interesting as you walk through the shop lots that set beside the walk way all the way to the entrance of the Temple. From there, you can see lots of souvenirs and clothes that you can bought as your gifts when your back to your home. For those that using car, there is a main road that will take you directly to the temple.

The walk through the shop lots takes you around 15 minutes to the entrance of the temple. Upon the entrance of the temple you will greet by small pond occupied by lots of turtles. You will have the opportunity to feed the turtles with spinach which is sold by the person in charge in the area.

Old man sitting reading newspaper with a sign board shows direction to Kek Lok Si Temple.

Upon the entrance you will welcome by miniature Pagoda. Then, the temples have a lot of stories to share which makes the tour to the temple become interesting. The biggest attraction is of course the gigantic statue of the Buddha which is located at the top of the temple. For you to reach the statue you need to pay a ride to the top part of the temple which may cost you RM 6 for 2 ways. I remember during the visit the weather is scorching hot but it will not stop my wife and I to continue our journey. We not able to visit to the main Pagoda building because both of us catching up time to go to Batu Feringghi.

Below are the collection of photos from Kek Lok Si Temple.

View of Kek Lok Si Temple from Air Itam Town

My rock style model posing with miniature Pagoda.

The next place that we visit is Batu Feringghi situated at the north corner of Penang. Travel to Batu Feringghi would take approximate 40 minutes by Rapid Penang. The road to Batu Feringghi is seriously winding and the bus driver taken us there is doing his fast and furious skills along the curvy road but at last, we safely arrive at Batu Feringghi. The moment that we arrived at the place, around 05:30PM, the so called night market is still not open and some of the hawker still doing their preparation. Nevertheless, my wife and I take a break from the tireless journey of the day by stopping by one the food court to get some food. The local of the place said the night market will be fully opened at 08:00PM, but some of the selling booth open early as 07:00PM. What we can get in the night market is mostly clone product or pirated product such as bags, clothes and etc. The walk through the night market is lively because of lots of tourist from international came to the place.

In my thought, Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si would be wonderful to visit if we visited it during the dawn. The lighting effect from the Penang bustling city and from the temple could amaze us in many ways.

Below are the photos from Batu Feringghi.

Wife looking for something to buy for.

On the 3rd day we visited Penang, my wife and I plan to have a visit to Penang Bird Park which is located at Butterworth. The route to go there need us to take a ferry ride about 15 minutes from Pengkalan Weld Jetty to Butterworth Jetty. The route to Bird Park is a little bit far as we took the Rapid Penang and soon as we arrived at Bandar Seberang Jaya, we walk roughly around 20 minutes to reach Penang Bird park which is located at Jalan Todak. The entry to the Penang Bird Park is RM 18 per head for local visitor, thus, for further info about the park you can check at the Penang Bird Park website.

On the entrance of the bird park, you already been greeted by birds. It is a large bird park with it's own walk-in aviaries experience. From the website mention two of its kind but during my visit there, I notice only one walk-in structure. I guess the other one is still in maintenance or re-furbish. During weekdays there is no animal show have been conducted but maybe they will conduct once the school holiday is started. I have quiet little knowledge of birds but I love to watch them, even to play with them if I could, especially the owl.

Below are the photos from Penang Bird Park.

4 owls still sleeping

Wood Owl.

On the final day for my wife and I vacation at Penang, we have a visit to the Morning Market along Jalan Jelutong. The market gives you a lot variety local delicacies with a reasonable price and it opened from 07:00AM till 11:00AM everyday. Besides foods, you also can find people selling clothes and other miscellaneous items which you can bought with a great bargain price. The place is crowded with people from tourist to local in search for goods they wanted to buy.

Below are the photos from the Morning Market.

Komtar Building can be seen from the market.

Its been a great days that we spend in Penang, although it is a little bit rushing to visit one place to another but the fun is there and the memories of Penang will be remained forever in my thought. There are lots of interesting places that we have not able to visit due to limited time but in the future we plan to visit it when there is enough budget in the future.

Lastly, since this post is the longest in my blog, my thought of Penang is it is great place to visit and it will be missed a lot.

Before I finish my post, I will share the rest of the photos from Penang.