Penang

[Steveam]

I’m planning to spend 6 days in Penang in January. I’ve never been to Penang before so any suggestions/experiences would be most welcome. I’ll be with a friend and flying from Bangkok. I enjoy history and culture more than beaches. Food is a great pleasure in foreign parts! I’ve not yet booked a hotel so any recommendations would be helpful. I’m assuming I’ll base us in Georgetown (how far from the airport and how does one get there?)

Thanks for any experiences and/or suggestions.

Steve

[Dod101]

I was in Penang for the first time for some years at end of January this year. In the old bit of Georgetown (UNESCO site) about 30 minutes from the beach resorts up at Batu Ferringhi (it is now hotel resorts with a strip of beach. Last time I was there it was vice versa)

Hotel in the traditional bit of Georgetown? I stayed at Campbell House. Wonderful. Look it up on the web. Great location and the owners are an English/Malaysian lady and her Italian husband. Excellent. Avoid CNY and the week after which is I think 25 January next year. Great food everywhere, Chinese, Malaysian and Indian.

Taxi from the airport 30 minutes or so. Do not recall cost but not much. Your likes are much like mine and Penang to me has pretty much got it all. Like much of SE Asia, it has a strong British influence although the E & O Hotel was very disappointing.

I am jealous already and might even return over our winter.

Dod

[JohnB]

Its a long time ago, but I recall lots of museums in Penang, and the best one was the body decoration one, full of tattoos and lip piercing

[BrummieDave]

Only been once and it was around 1986. We were befriended by a local family who we met on the flight over, and who took us out for several excursions allowing us to see things other tourists may not have had the chance to see.

Most memorable of these were the karaoke bars that hadn't arrived in the UK very much by then and which were taken very seriously by the locals. They loved it when I got up and sang a duet, very badly, with our host. Any Westerner at the time was akin to a pop star.

We were also taken to an open air opera being performed for the gods at a shrine complete with a shamen who drank vast quantities of Guinness! Nice work if you can get it!

[TahiPanasDua]

I’m planning to spend 6 days in Penang in January. I’ve never been to Penang before so any suggestions/experiences would be most welcome. I’ll be with a friend and flying from Bangkok. I enjoy history and culture more than beaches. Food is a great pleasure in foreign parts! I’ve not yet booked a hotel so any recommendations would be helpful. I’m assuming I’ll base us in Georgetown (how far from the airport and how does one get there?)

Thanks for any experiences and/or suggestions.

Steve

We go to Penang semi-regularly and love it. As a result, I should be able to point you to a ready selection of hotels, places to visit, etc..

I was a bit surprised when on consideration no one thing in particular rolled off the tongue.

For us, it's the overall environment rather than any single place to visit. Just walking about the centre of Georgetown (before or after the heat of midday) is fun. It has all the features of a Malaysian Chinese town with quaint shops and great restaurants if you like spicy Chinese or Malay food. We love it. Penang is renowned throughout Malaysia for its cuisine, particularly street food, though we find good food almost everywhere in peninsular Malaysia. Having said that, a trip round the Little India district is great fun and, again, a Malaysian Indian lunch should delight. Malaysian cuisine is pretty extensive and is a mix of Malay, Chinese and Tamil Indian.but favourites are Singapore Laksa noodles (a spicy soup), mee goring (fried noodles), char quay tiau (another stir fried noodle dish), chicken curry (the quintessential Malay dish) and Roti Cenai (delicious fluffy Indian bread usually eaten with a curry dipping sauce). Try any restaurant in the street. You are unlikely to be disappointed.

Getting from the airport, we have tried everything. The bus is OK and very cheap but takes a while and usually necessitates a change at the bus terminus to reach the Batu Ferringhi or other beach areas where many tourists stay or a taxi to your Georgetown hotel.. The taxis are not super expensive as DOD says and are probably your best bet. Taxis are super cheap if you have the GRAB app on your phone. (Grab is a Singaporean UBER). We often pre-hire a car with satnav which is useful if you live in Batu Ferringhi beach area which we usually do, a habit of over 20 years. I know you are not into beaches, Surprisingly, neither are we.

Georgetown is far from the airport and you should not be tempted by any of the excellent hotels in the area. It is miles from the action. You will have to travel a lot. For us the choice is Georgetown or aforesaid Batu Ferringhi. I can't recommend any Georgetown hotels as we don't stay there. We were tempted by the Hotel Jen in town, also owned by Shangri La, but never made it.

Last time we stayed at the Golden Sands in BF which is on the beach and fine. It is owned by the 5 star Rasa Sayang next door but cheaper and both run by the upmarket Shangri La group. You can charge meals at either hotel to your account. Rasa Sayang's food is a treat and the Chinese table at the inevitable buffet is absolutely superb and unlike any Chinese food you have probably experienced. The area is very touristy, it's sole purpose, but that doesn't put us off.

English is spoken everywhere so no problem anywhere. My wife and I speak faulty Malay and although that adds to the fun it is absolutely unnecessary.

Enjoy your trip. We will probably be there in October.

TP2.

[TaurusTheBull]

Hi,

Bus from airport is 2.7 ringgit, about 50p. Make sure you have the right change. No problem with luggage. It goes to Komtar, the tall comms tower cum shopping malls in the centre of Georgetown, and then on to Weld Quay, which is where the ferries to Butterworth go from. Better to stay on until Weld Quay if you are staying anywhere near Chulia Street.

Georgetown is now a World Heritage site and most of the historic townhouses are within a 10-15 minute walk of Chulia Street.

Little India is where I always eat - masala dosas, tandoori chicken, roti chanai etc.

Botanic Gardens bus 10 from Komtar. If energetic you can walk through the gardens and up Penang Hill though usually too hot for that.

Kek Lok Si temple a typical gaudy Chinese temple complete with tourist stalls. Worth a visit but don't expect subtlety.

Batu Ferringhi is touristville but has the beaches. If you want to see real Malaysian life hire a motor bike or car and visit the beaches and kampongs on the west side of Penang.

Cheers
Taurus

[scottnsilky]

If you want to be precise, the capital of Penang is actually spelled as George Town.

dp

[Dod101]

Interesting. I did not know that.

Dod

[Steveam]

Reviving an old thread ...

I’ll be arriving in Penang on 7-January and staying at the Hotel Jen Penang by Shanghai-La. Many things planned including afternoon tea at the E&O, museums and walks, the funicular railway, and food, food, food ...

Lucky me.

Best wishes to all for a good 2020.

Steve

[TahiPanasDua]

Reviving an old thread ...

I’ll be arriving in Penang on 7-January and staying at the Hotel Jen Penang by Shanghai-La. Many things planned including afternoon tea at the E&O, museums and walks, the funicular railway, and food, food, food ...

Lucky me.

Best wishes to all for a good 2020.

Steve

Enjoy!

[scottnsilky]

We took afternoon tea at David Brown's at the top of Penang Hill, he obviously didn't just build Aston Martins and tractors!

Terrific views, of course, don't forget your binoculars, tea OK, but not memorable.

Maybe it's not strictly moral, but the ferry to Butterworth is free if you don't get off there, just ride there and back. You pay when you get off at Butterworth. This was pointed out to me by my friend who went to school there, many years ago.

sns

[TahiPanasDua]

Reviving an old thread ...

I’ll be arriving in Penang on 7-January and staying at the Hotel Jen Penang by Shanghai-La. Many things planned including afternoon tea at the E&O, museums and walks, the funicular railway, and food, food, food ...

Lucky me.

Best wishes to all for a good 2020.

Steve

Hi Steve,

I was wondering how it all went in Penang. In an earlier comment above I said we were contemplating staying in George Town at the Jen Hotel. This was based on our use of the Jen in Hong Kong where we used to dine frequently. However, we went, yet again, to Penang in November as our usual side trip on our annual pilgrimage to Hong Kong. We went to the Jen to nosey around and have lunch. We were a tad underwhelmed notwithstanding that Jens are Shangrila's economy outlets.. How was it for you? (as the actress didn't say to the bishop)

TP2.

[Dod101]

I was wondering how it all went in Penang. In an earlier comment above I said we were contemplating staying in George Town at the Jen Hotel. This was based on our use of the Jen in Hong Kong where we used to dine frequently. However, we went, yet again, to Penang in November as our usual side trip on our annual pilgrimage to Hong Kong. We went to the Jen to nosey around and have lunch. We were a tad underwhelmed notwithstanding that Jens are Shangrila's economy outlets.. How was it for you? (as the actress didn't say to the bishop)

You should have tried Campbell House in George Town. I think I mentioned it earlier. I am returning there shortly. Good restaurant and very nice hotel.

Dod

[TahiPanasDua]

I was wondering how it all went in Penang. In an earlier comment above I said we were contemplating staying in George Town at the Jen Hotel. This was based on our use of the Jen in Hong Kong where we used to dine frequently. However, we went, yet again, to Penang in November as our usual side trip on our annual pilgrimage to Hong Kong. We went to the Jen to nosey around and have lunch. We were a tad underwhelmed notwithstanding that Jens are Shangrila's economy outlets.. How was it for you? (as the actress didn't say to the bishop)

You should have tried Campbell House in George Town. I think I mentioned it earlier. I am returning there shortly. Good restaurant and very nice hotel.

Dod

Thanks Dod,

we will probably give it a try in November, or at the very least check it out. We will have to drag ourselves away from the Shangrila's Rasa Sayang luxury at reasonable rates by staying at their sister Golden Sands next door.

TP2.