Penang 12 November 2016
I’ve been visiting Penang almost every year and thought that I would not be able to as J didn’t want to go again (he went on a business trip there earlier this year).
I got a friend who was keen to go, and we had a complimentary hotel stay at Batu Ferringhi so off we go! #muchexcitement
The trip was short so we didn’t get to enjoy the hotel facilities other than the comfortable bed, we couldn’t wake up in the morning.
Though Penang do not have a subway infrastructure, Uber/Grab is easily accessible and really affordable. Uber, being cheaper due to distance based fare, we took it almost to everywhere. You can also take the Rapid bus, though not very rapid at times.
The first thing we did was to do our hair. Taking advantage of the currency exchange rate, I googled for a hair salon with good reviews online and found a Korean hair salon in Penang. However, it turned out quite disastrous for me. One side was longer than the other and he gave my already very short hair layers, I had to re-cut my hair in Singapore to rectify this disaster.
Reminder to self: never ever let anyone other than my usual stylist to touch my hair.
Since we were super early for our appointment and the salon was packed, we went for lunch first. There seems to be a lot of Koreans living in Penang as Korean food can be easily found. We ate at a coffee shop near the salon but it was just too expensive for Malaysia standards. RM40 for 2 of us 😦
Side dishes on the house, awesome kimchi by the way. Kimbap was good too.
I ordered my favorite cold noodles. It was home made with the soup made into ice cube. This was really good… Until there was some strands of uncooked noodles. Next time just skip any international food in Penang and go for the local food. It is just not worth it.
After the hairdo, we went Lebuh Kimberley for the famous duck meat kway chap (link to Tripadvisor).
Kway Chap is a Singaporean/Malaysian dish where we cooked flat and broad rice sheet, put it in soup/gravy and some meat. In Singapore, it is usually served with pork and innards separately. In Penang, this stall serves them together, but uses duck meat and pig innards instead.
You have an option to add other parts of the pig, if you like. I usually go for the standard one. The small portion cost RM8, relatively expensive compared to other street food in Penang.
There was a queue when we reached at about 8pm, but there were seats available. We queued for less than 30 minutes.
We had some time to kill before retreating back to our hotel, so we walked to Lebuh Armenian for the wall mural. The place is really huge, one Uber driver recommended that we rent a bicycle instead. We didn’t but many others did.
You can google around, I’m sure others would have written some info on this 🙂
The next morning, we ate a little at the hotel as breakfast as provided and took the hotel shuttle to Pulau Tikus Market.
I accidentally came across this Asam Laksa at Sin Hwa Coffeeshop two years back. I’ve been here ever since. A simple bowl of Asam Laksa yet it tasted so heavenly. This is my must-try in Penang.
Thereafter, we went next door for some Penang Char Kway Teow. I didn’t had the one at Sin Hwa Coffeeshop as it did not give me a lasting impression when I came here two years back. So next door it is.
I am not a fan of Char Kway Teow due to its oiliness. But this was really good. The prawns were crunchy and the kway teow were sweet. It was not as oily as I thought it would be.
Penang still have plentiful of colonial buildings. I don’t know what building as we just walked without any destination in mind 🙂 Purpose of this trip was just to relax and get our mind off work.
One of my wishes is to be able to visit Penang every year, to eat their simple street food, follow their pace in life since we are always rushing for time in Singapore.
If only we could just live life simply. That would be nice.
A Singaporean & A Johorean 