Phew! Came back from the most impromptu overseas trip I’ve ever been to.I booked a flight ticket to Penang, barely 20 hours before time of departure and accommodation bookings were made my wonderful travel partner.
Day 1
My flight was departing at 1930H so around 1645H took the train down to the airport for my check-in. After all the check-in, immigration clearance, we had a quick bite at the transit area. The outlet is called Simple Eats (its near the wide area closer to the D Gates). Their Thai Food is pretty amazing and had a variety of set meals. Do check it out if you have some spare time.
Was the last few passengers to board, and was pretty stoked to see familiar faces onboard the flight and it brought back those memories from flying days. After landing at Penang Airport, we got a Digi 5GB SIM for a price of 10RM within the transit area itself. Clearing immigration, took Uber to the hostel, about 20 KM from the airport. While waiting for the Uber, I got myself the Iced Hazelnut Coffee from Old Town White Coffee. We had made a booking at Wassup Youth Hostel via booking.com and it was RM90/night. The hostel was in a strategic location, surrounded by Georgetown and shopping malls. After checking in at 10.30pm we decided to make our way down to Batu Ferringhi for some late night shopping.
- Feel free to save these pictures of hawker food and cafes to visit at Penang
Batu Ferringhi has loads of stalls propped up at night for those late night shopping – clothes to scented candles, inspired handbags and many more. It has also lot of pubs and street hawkers on the opposite side of the propped up stalls. After shopping at the stalls for clothing, walked to Hard Rock Cafe to grab some drinks. However, it was super crowded and mains were sold out. With much disappointment, we decided to leave for some late night supper directly opposite to Hard Rock Cafe. Had some Assam Laksa and Char Kway Teow. The Assam Laksa was not as great as it was expected, however, the Char Kway Teow had a unique tangy twist. It was about 1.30am and we decided to Uber back to the hostel for the night’s rest.
Day 2
Next day we rented a car from one of our Uber drivers for RM60 only! Our first destination was the Upside Down Museum at Lebuh Kimberley, George Town. The ticket price was approx. RM45, if you’re a student, the price is way much lower. So do flash your student card! The Upside Down Museum has nothing to be bragged about, it lasts 20 minutes where by the staff will guide you through the maze of furniture hung up-side down.
If you’re hungry, there are a few shops along the stretch selling some good Oyster Omelette and Char Kway Teow. Oh and do quench your thirst with some Lime Juice or Assam Boi!
As the afternoon rolled by we headed to the famous street art at Georgetown. We rented a bicycle which was rated RM12 per hour . The shopkeepers usually advise on the routes that would be most suitable for you and to ensure you do visit the maximum number of street arts. Do exercise caution when riding on the roads especially when there is heavy traffic!
While you’re at it, do drop by to get the Tau Sar Piah from Ghee Hiang or Him Heang! In the evening we drove to the recommended Nasi Kandar Shop – Nasi Kandar Deen Maju along Jalan Gurdwara. They open around 4 pm so do start queuing early to avoid the long queue.
Further down, along Jalan Nagor, there is famous bakery – Continental Bakery as well as my favorite cake shop, Brix and Baume . For those keen on artisan coffee that particular stretch has several cafes you may wanna check out.
That evening we went for some shopping at the malls namely Penang Times Square and Prangin Mall. The H&M had great deals which we managed to snag. And O’yes it would be so wasteful if you don’t try out the Chendol in Penang. Although my partner wasn’t interested in having chendol, I got one and tried it out.
It was about 8pm and we headed back to Batu Ferringhi for dinner at The Ship. We had their three-course meal and went for another round of shopping and street snacks before calling it a day.
Day 3
We woke up around 6.30 am to pack up and prepared to head down to the ferry terminal. Unfortunately, there was heavy rain and it was a public holiday in Penang. Therefore, the ferries were fully booked. So a tip for you guys is to pre-book the ferry tickets online so that you save all these hassles. So we were down to two options either head to the next available ferry terminal (about 100km away) or cancel the flight to Singapore from Langkawi. So we booked an Uber back to the hostel, but being the usual me, I tried to negotiate with the driver to bring us to Kedah Ferry Terminal. And guess what?? He said okay for 100 RM. So we hopped on and was about 1.5 hours drive.
The perks of Kedah Ferry Terminal is that they have hourly ferries services to Langkawi. The one-way ticket for adults is priced at RM 23. The waiting area at the ferry terminal is lined with booths that offer tourist packages and we got pulled to one of the booths by this old frail man. To make our travel hassle-free we decided to rent a car for 3 hours for 70RM. We departed Kedah around 12.10 pm and reached Langkawi at 2 pm. We waited for quite 20 min to be picked up by the rental services who drove us to their garage. To our horror, the car we were allocated to was run-down and was running on reserve fuel.
Feeling frustrated and rushing for time, we headed to Langkawi Eagle Square in the scorching weather and to Billion Duty-Free Supermarket.
Time check – 4.15 pm we decided to return the car and catch our 6 pm flight. Had some Starbucks and Wanton noodles at the airport. On board my friend fell asleep while I took 100 shots of the aircraft wing.
Well that concluded the short trip to Penang and Langkawi, definitely will be heading back to both places again soon. However, this time would be to visit Penang’s cafes and other unexplored tourist attractions.