Penang Escape

Our Penang Weekend Escape

 Penang Hill View 

Wow! I can't believe it is already July. The year is racing by so quickly. We started out in Malaysia in January thinking that we would be off exploring Malaysia most weekends. The reality is that we have not really got away on too many weekends. We have been to SIngapore on a couple of occasions which was great because we have caught up with friends and even managed to catch The Lion King Show.

 

 Ruth outside Georgetown Shophouses, 

with the Manchester Untited Hamburger stand just across the street.

Back in May we did manage to get out to Penang for a weekend. We had a Sunday of because it was 1 May and a Public Holiday. This meant that we had a three day weekend. We booked seats on a local coach service to take us from One Utama Shopping Centre to Penang. This is a bonus for us because we can walk down to catch the bus. We used Aeroline Buses. The cost of RM 120 return includes a meal onboard. It was around 4.5 hours on the bus. BUt these coaches are very comfortable. We sat upstairs in the front seats, so we had a great view. We used the mobile internet to keep us busy on the road. Throughout the trip.

 All along the walkway.

This was out first trip to Penang so we had lots we wanted to see. We had booked a room in the 1926 Hotel. It is a boutique hotel that is really quite central to most things. It is on the bus route for local buses so it is easy to catch a bus to get to places. We enjoy walking and exploring new places where possible. SO the walk down to George Town was no problem to us. This hotel was once Officers Barracks, so it is not new, but it does offer reasonable accomodation with a certain rustic charm. But it isn't 5 stars and it does have an OK local breakfast.

 Closed for business but still a captivating beauty.

George Town is the old quarter of Penang. It is a heritage centre, so the old shop houses are being restored with many intereesting developments taking place here. The shutters and shop frontages do make for some interesting photographs. Ruth and I spent a great day wandering the streets and shooting off some photos. A bonus about this part of town is there are so many good eating places, with a range of fine local food available at very reasonable rates. Dinner was taken at restaurant, like a huge hawker centre right on the waters edge. This was plerasant and a very popular spot.

 

 We didn't see any husbands escaping the fury of betrayed wives.

We spent another day exploring. We caught the bus out to the butterfly farm. This was undergoing some serious renovations it was still operating but there were a number of parts closed to the public. We enjoyed a few hours playing with our cameras here. Malaysia has some amazing butterflies and to surrounded by so many at one time was fascinating. We also shot some great up close shots. From here we took the bus back to the beaches stopping off for lunch at the HardRock Cafe. Our first visit into one of these but we had been told to check out the beach infront of this. It was very nice, finally one beach where the sand was clean and we didn't have to climb over piles of rubbish to get to the water.  Batu Ferringhi. beach has an endless run of resorts and expensive condos dotted along it.

 Ruth, popping out of the jungle at the butterfly farm.

After lunch and a play on the sand we returned back to the bus centre to catch a bus up to the Cable car.
 This takes tourists up to the top Penang Hill, it had just reopened on the Sunday after a recent upgrade. We went up on the Monday and it broke down on the Tuesday. That made us very lucky. OUr plan was to ride up and spend the late afternoon and evening up there watching the sunset. We enjoyed being up there with some impressive views. We did ride back down a little early as the sunset was not shaping up to be all that spectacular. We returned down to have dinner across the road from our hotel in a local restaurant. A very nice meal at a very good price.

This Lace wing is very similar to a Monarch

Our last morning was spent back down in Georgetown and Fort Cornwallis. The old area of Georgetown seems to be undergoing a lot of changes. There a number of fascinating little corners to explore and I am sure that when we go back there next time there will be a lot of new shops and cafes to explore. We caught a taxi across to the Queensbay Mall where we grabbed lunch before catching our Aeroline ride back to One Utama.

 On the street and seeing red, but for all of the right reasons.

An easy escape from Kuala Lumpur that was hassle free and reasonably relaxing. Penang is an interesting Island, that happens to be connected to the mainland by a causeway. We really only got a glimpse of a small part. When we get our car sorted we will take a drive up to there one weekend. It is well worth a visit.