We woke up, showered and went down to check out. Yes, Mr. Overnight breath was still on
duty. Yucks. Again. Actually, there was still another historical
place that I wanted to take Noel to – Padang Besar Terbakar – but being the
airport kiasu that I am, I didn’t want to risk it. A reason for another trip! So, we decided to have breakfast at any
kopitiam. I told Noel repeatedly during
the trip that I am so glad he is opened to any type of food and that he is so
easy when it comes to eating. We had
nothing-to-shout-about wantan noodles.
Well, perhaps there will be better food in Penang.
Off to the airport, returned our car and we were greeted by
a loonnggg que at the customs. When we
got to the machine (after like 15 minutes) we were told that we didn’t have to
check our bags because it was handcarry.
Haiyah, if I knew, I would have smuggled something out! Hahaha. Went in to the boarding hall and did our
reading about Penang while waiting. Then
a man sitting behind us asked if we could watch his bags while he goes to the
toilet. We did and when he came back we
got talking. He was from India and spent
a few days in LGK onwards to KL for a holiday alone. ALONE.
This is not his first holiday trip to Malaysia ALONE. And he’s got a wife and kids! And he’s here for a holiday alone!! ALONE!
Aduh… I wonder why? L I did asked
him why, he said the kids are working and the wife need to take care of the
house. Somehow deep in my heart I felt
sad for this man. Perhaps in my case,
being a single mom and only having a son (who will eventually marry and have
his own family; sons are different from daughters you see…), I would do the
same – go for holidays alone, but for him… I felt sad.
Our flight started boarding and we said our goodbyes to the
Indian ALONE man. Upon arriving Penang,
I made a mental note to check out what brand of tau-sa-peah were selling at the
airport because I knew I must buy
some home. Note taken: none of my
favorite brand (read: have to find a way to the original shop. Read: have to carry so heavy around town).
When I was telling friends about this planned adventure,
they started telling me about Uber and Grab.
I think they have just started in Kuching, and having a car in Kuching
of course I won’t be bothered. But now
is the time to try. Went to ask for the
price of taxi at the counter – phew! So expensive. Checked Grab (yes, I’ve downloaded the app
before the trip) and it was so much more affordable. So got a Grab. The guy was pleasant and it was a good trip
to town. He gave us tips on where to
makan too. Oh the joys of talking to
locals!
After the experience in LGK and because of not so great
advice on TripAdvisor, I was worried about our Penang accommodation. Little India Heritage Villa. Already
lah the name little india kan? For sure lah lots of bau india! Yes… it was
very fragrant! It was before check in
time, and our room was not available yet, so we left our things there and off
we went to walk, walk, walk! I will
worry about how our room is later…
What it said about the location of the hotel was at least
very true. Just a couple of steps out
and we came to the first of many street art!
A famous one too! And I became a
real street art hunter maniac! Poor Noel
having such insane mother. It was
initially hard to get our bearings so we just walked around for a bit. And stopping every so often to pose with
art. Haha. I wanted to go to Penang Interactive Museum
first so we walked walked walked and came across Penang Curry Mee! Yippie.
Meal 1. Then walk walk walk – eh,
what’s that? Upside Down House! Yeay… found it without even looking. Since there was barely any queue at the
reception, we decided to go in.
The museum was divided into many sections, each different
theme – bedroom, toilet, coffeeshop etc.
There will be a staff at each section who will teach you how to pose and
will help you take your photo using your mobile / camera. The problem is, there are MANY people waiting
for their turn at each section. So you
come in, pose, click and move on. No
time to appreciate the upside down art… I am sure it would be interesting to be
able to see the details of how they do it.
Once out from the museum, off we went again. Walk, walk, walk. And I did not hear the end of “You should
learn how to ride a bike mom, then we don’t have to walk so much!” To… Penang Road Famous Chendol! Am I glad that at the place, they have
everything under Penang’s sun – Laksa Penang, CKT, Lobak, Chendol etc… It was
crazy packed but there was there 2 young men who didn’t mind us sharing with
them (they even offered noel to eat their lobak) I ordered the chendol (self service by the
way), laksa and CKT. The chendol was
normal, but tasted really good in that sweltering heat; we ended up having 2
bowls each. The laksa was good, albeit a
little bit sweeter than what I am used to, but the CKT was a total let
down. Again. What is it with us and Penang CKT? We can never get (or maybe it’s our
tastebuds) a “good” Penang CKT. After
the not so satisfying meal, off we went again.
Walk, walk, walk, walk…. Have I mentioned how much we walked???
One of the best thing in Penang as well is their FREE CAT
buses. We saw one coming as we were
walking past a bus stop so we just hopped on.
Next: Penang Interactive Museum. As you can see, I am trying to cross off all
these bloody museums out of the
way! Not knowing where to stop, we just
followed the bus to the terminal and walked to the Museum. It’s not that far and well, we had to walk
off our calories right? Arrived the
Museum and spent about an hour there. More posing, more clicking… It was nice and a must to visit – but maybe
better to be done in 2 separate days?
But well, done.
Next: Ferry. One of the things a student MUST see is
Penang Bridge. It is so iconic
right? The longest bridge in Malaysia,
and our PM during that time officiated by driving the first national car – of course
it’s a must see. But to be on the bridge, you won’t be able to see the bridge. Thank God we had experienced this when we
took Noel here when he was a year old (same route – Langkawi è
Penang). So this time I knew, we only
have to take the ferry for him to see the bridge. We took another CAT to the terminal and
walked to board the ferry. It was a good
ride and we saw what we needed to see, and took the next ferry back. I had wanted to visit the Clan Jetty but more
importantly I wanted to catch the sunset at Penang Hill.
Uber? Grab? Taxi? Nope. BUS.
Haha… elcheapo mummy. Another
great thing about Penang’s bus system is that they are all so clearly labeled. And punctual.
And plenty. We got on a bus in no time and headed to Penang Hill. The journey took us through Ayer Itam,
famously known for it’s laksa; perhaps another trip, I was anxious to get up
the hill before dark. Got our tickets
and lo and behold a big group of primary school kids were lining up to go
up! And it took the teachers forever to get them organized. *Eye Rolled* But in the end, we reached the
hill just before it got dark. Kiddo and
I just sat there on the hill and watch Penang town transformed beautifully in
the dark. I absolutely love these
moments, after the whole day rush, to sit back and just be enveloped in
awe. We had spent our evening in the
same way in LGK as well. Achievement
unlocked J
Penang Hill is such a happening place as well.
They even have a “love lane” where there’s mushy lovey dovey things
along the lane and people took photos – all with extra charge of course!
Time to go down now… We escaped the herd of students and
went down. I wanted to be back in town
not too late so called another GrabCar to the rescue. What’s for dinner? Nasi Kandar Line Clear!! Yippie! I have read about this place a thousand times,
and sometimes I wonder what’s so great about rice drenched in curry gravy? Plus, this kind of mamak mixed rice is always
so expensive. But since we are in
Penang, we might as well right?
It.was.fantastic.
Noel drenched his rice with “kuah lebih” and had to exchange with me. But we both enjoyed it to the max. We are in love. With rice.
Drenched in curry gravy. We vowed
to come back before we leave tomorrow.
Hehe.
Happy tummy?
Yup! Time to head back to the
hotel kiddo. Walk walk walk walk walk
walk somemore, walk till you can’t take it anymore! Hahaha… Along our night walk back to the
hotel, we passed through so many interesting and happening streets, so many
people, so many tourist, so many street art and so many food (but we were too
full already). We did stop for coconut
drink at the road side. It was a really
hot day.
At the hotel, the guy on
duty was very efficient albeit it being late – must have been around 10pm or
something, smelled pleasantly indian (not like Mr. Overnight breath from LGK),
retrieved our booking from online and gave our keys and grabbed our bags in
less than 5 minutes. The moment of truth…
jeng, jeng, jeng… The room was…
GOOD! Oh thank God! It was spacious, and clean. The bathroom too was spacious and clean and
Noel didn’t run out because of any cockroach or anything. There was a wardrobe and 2 sofas and a
dressing table even. All for RM62. Value for money man! *pats myself on the back* End of Day 3.
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