Showing posts with label Penang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penang. Show all posts

Penang - Singapore Short Getaway Series

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This post is a continuation from Langkawi, Part 2 of our Singapore Short Getaway series. In this series, we will review some of the short getaway places that you can visit from Singapore.


DESTINATION - PENANG


Penang is the second smallest and the eighth most populous state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is composed of two parts – Penang Island, where the seat of government is, and Seberang Perai (formerly Province Wellesley in English) on the Malay Peninsula. Highly urbanised and industrialised Penang is one of the most developed and economically important states in the country, as well as a thriving tourist destination, especially with the influx of budget carriers in recent years. Its heterogeneous population is highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, language, and religion. A resident of Penang is colloquially known as a Penangite. (Credit: Wikipedia)

Aerial evening scene of Penang Island. (Credits: Wikipedia)



How to Go

By Flight

There are 11 to 12 flights per day from Singapore to Penang International Airport.
- Operated by Silkair, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia and Air Asia.
- Flight time is around 1h 25 mins.

Flight times as follows:

8:05 am    →    9:30 am    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Silkair 346
9:05 am    →    10:35 am    SIN-PEN    -    -    -    -    -    F    S    Tiger 2426
10:35 am    →    12:00 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Silkair 348
10:40 am    →    12:10 pm    SIN-PEN    -    -    T    W    T    -    -    Tiger 2426
11:25 am    →    12:45 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    AirAsia 1722
1:20 pm    →    2:50 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Silkair 350
1:50 pm    →    3:10 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    AirAsia 1724
3:10 pm    →    4:35 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Jetstar Asia 675
3:45 pm    →    5:10 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Silkair 352
4:25 pm    →    5:50 pm    SIN-PEN    -    M    T    W    T    -    -    Tiger 2422
5:00 pm    →    6:15 pm    SIN-PEN    S    -    -    -    -    F    S    Tiger 2422
6:50 pm    →    8:20 pm    SIN-PEN    S    -    -    -    -    F    -    Jetstar Asia 677
7:00 pm    →    8:25 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    Silkair 354
7:15 pm    →    8:45 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    -    -    -    -    -    Tiger 2426
7:55 pm    →    9:15 pm    SIN-PEN    -    -    -    -    T    -    -    Jetstar Asia 677
10:30 pm    →    11:50 pm    SIN-PEN    S    M    T    W    T    F    S    AirAsia 1726


Information correct as of 06 June 2013. For latest updates on Flight Schedules, Type Singapore to Penang Flights in Google search engine.

We took Air Asia from Singapore to Penang for our 4D3N Trip.
Do check out our review of the flight here. We also shared our itinerary on our blog here. Do check it out if you would like to have a quick get away trip! :)




When to Go


Temperature in Penang is typically betwween 24 degrees to 33 degrees throughout the year. The Southwest Monsoon brings rain to the island from April to September with the highest precipitation days in September and October. 

Penang Weather (Credits: backpackingasia.com)

Where to Stay


We stayed in G Hotel Penang, which is located at Gurney Drive and near to the famous Gurney Drive Hawker Centre. It is also beside Gurney Plaza, a shopping mall managed by Capitaland. The proximity of the mall certainly provided us with great dining options such as our first lunch at Rou Gu Cha King, dinner @ Dragon-I Chinese Restaurant and a relaxing breakfast at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

During our stay, we also tried the hotel's Breakfast and High Tea buffets, which we would certainly recommend to all our readers. Do read our review of the hotel here. We would highly recommend the hotel after an enjoyable time there.

For those of you who are wondering how to get to G Hotel from the airport, do check out our step by step guide here.



Besides G Hotel Penang, other 5 star hotels that ranked highly in Tripadvisor include Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa, Eastern & Oriental Hotel and Lone Pine Hotel.

For the budget conscious travellers or those who are into boutique hotels, there are good options like the Yeng Keng Hotel, Hotel Penaga and Hard Rock Hotel Penang.


For more options, check out the list of Hotels in Penang.


What to Do


1. Take the funicular railway up to the top of Penang Hill. This 2,750 foot hill is a hill resort comprising a group of peaks in Penang, Malaysia. It is located  6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the city centre of George Town in Air Itam. While you are on top of the hill, you might want to check out the Moneycup eco garden too!




2. Visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. The mansion is recreated to offer a glimpse of the lifestyle, customes and traditions of a rich Baba a century ago. There are over 1,000 pieces of antiques and collectibles of the era on display. Built at the end of the 19th century by one of local history’s famous personalities, the ‘Hai Kee Chan’ or Sea Remembrance Store had once served as the residence and office of Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Kwee. Though not a Baba himself, his Chinese courtyard house was much like a typical large Baba home of eclectic style, incorporating Chinese carved-wood panels and English floor tiles and Scottish ironworks. Having survived the many decades of neglect and decay, the mansion has now been restored to its former glory of a stately home.

Pinang Peranakan Mansion (Credits: travelpenchant.wordpress.com)

3. Feasting at Gurney Drive Hawker Centre. Also known as Anjung Gurney, this is one of the most well-known hawker centres  in Penang. Serving a large number of tourists every evening, this is also the place where the locals will bring their foreign friends to have a taste of local fare. This hawker centre operates only in the evening and the most popular stalls sells out at about 10pm.  The ‘must-try’ food here are the typical Penang street fare – assam laksa, fried kway teow, prawn noodles, wantan noodles, rojak, satay, lok-lok and barbequed seafood.


4. Visit Kek Lok Si Temple (极乐寺). Better known as "Temple of Supreme Bliss" to some, it is a Buddhist temple situated in Air Itam in Penang and is one of the best known temples in Penang. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia with a gigantic statue of Kuan Yin. The temple is heavily commercialised with shops at every level and inside the main temple complexes.


5. Try the famous Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol at Penang Road. The Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol is a makeshift stall located outside a small lane Jooi Hooi Cafe. There is always a long queue for its refreshing Chendol, especially in a typical hot day in Penang. You might also want to try the Fried Kway Teow or Assam Laksa inside Jooi Hooi Cafe!



Interested in Travelling to Penang? Read our Reviews!

What Airline? - Air Asia Flight Review
Where We Stay? G Hotel Review, Breakfast Buffet Review, High Tea Buffet Review, How to go from Airport to G Hotel

What We Ate? Rou Ku Cha King, Feasting @ Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, Dragon-I Chinese Restaurant, Penang Road Famous Chendol, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Siam Express, Tong Pak Fu 糖百府 (Queensbay Mall Penang)

What We Did? Shopping @ Gurney Plaza, Watch a Movie @ Gurney Plaza, Morning Visit to Penang Hill, Monkeycup Eco-Garden @ Penang Hill, Visit Kek Lo Si, Batu Ferringhi Night Market



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Penang Island 4 Days 3 Nights Short Getaway Trip Report

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Penang . 2013 . Jan 17-20


We had been to Penang previously when we took a round trip Royal Caribbean Cruise from Singapore Harbour Front Centre with ports of call at Malacca and Penang in May 2012. Thus, we had the chance for a short visit to Penang as we were given around 4 hours to self-explore the island before we re-embark the ship in the evening.

On that trip, we had visited Pinang Peranakan Mansion (where they film the popular Singapore serial drama 'The Little Nonya') and Komtar (with its neighbouring Prangin Mall) by taking its free public Central Area Transit (CAT) bus service.

We were looking for some place to go for a short getaway and were comtemplating between Penang, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minn. In the end, we settled on a 4D3N trip to Penang as we wanted to visit some of the places that we did not visit that time.

Here's the itinerary and some photo teasers for our Penang Trip. The links will become clickable as we post them. Do bookmark this page and follow our Penang Trip review! :)
Day 1

0830 -  Rise and Shine
0930 -  Check in @ Changi Airport
1145 -  Air Asia Flight AK1722 to Penang
1305 -  Touch down @ Penang Airport
1320 -  Taxi to G Hotel
1420 -  Lunch @ Rou Ku Cha King Ba Kuk Teh (Gurney Plaza)
1445 -  Check in G Hotel (Gurney Drive)
1500 -  Shopping @ Gurney Plaza
1630 -  Watch movie "The Hobbit" @ Gurney Plaza Golden Screen Cinema
2000 -  Dinner @ Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
2200 -  ZzZz






Day 2

0630 -  Rise and Shine
0700 -  Breakfast @ Mc Donalds
0830 -  Visit Penang Hill
1100 -  Visit Kek Lok Si Temple (极乐寺) (via Bus #204)
1400 -  Penang Road Chendol, Char Kway Teow and Assam Laksa
1800 -  Dinner @ Dragon-i (Gurney Plaza)
1900 -  G Hotel Free Shuttle to Batu Ferringhi Night Market
2200 -  ZzZz




Day 3

0800 -  Rise and Shine
0830 -  Breakfast @ The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
1000 -  Watch movie "The Impossible" @ Gurney Plaza Golden Screen Cinema
1400 -  Afternoon High Tea Buffet @ G Hotel
1700 -  Shopping @ Gurney Plaza
2000 -  Pack Dinner @ Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
2200 -  ZzZz



Day 4

0630 -  Rise and Shine
0700 -  Swimming @ G Hotel Pool
0800 -  Buffet Breakfast @ G Hotel
1200 -  Check out G Hotel
1230 -  Cab to Queensbay Mall
1330 -  Lunch @ Siam Express
1500 -  Take photos of Penang Bridge
1530 -  Dessert @ Tong Pak Fu Hong Kong Dessert
1630 -  Cab to Penang Airport
1700 -  Dinner @ Mc Donalds (Airport)
2110 -  Air Asia Flight AK1725 back to Singapore
2230 -  Touch down Singapore

Do bookmark this page and follow our Penang Trip review! :)



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Tong Pak Fu 糖百府 (Queensbay Mall Penang) + Penang Bridge

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Penang . 2013 . Jan 17 - 20


This post is a continuation of our previous post on Lunch @ Siam Express (Queensbay Mall Penang). You may also read the full review of our 4 Days 3 Nights short getaway trip to Penang here.

After our lunch @ Siam Express, we decided to just laze around and take some photos of the Penang Bridge before going for some dessert before our cab ride to the airport. After few days of shopping at Gurney Plaza near our "home" at G Hotel, we decided to give ourselves a break. The heavy hand carry bags and the backpack we were carrying further justify that decision.

Penang Bridge


Before we came to Penang, we had done research on the web and found that Queensbay Mall was quite near the Penang Bridge and you could have a clear view of it outside the mall. So we went out of the mall and there it was... :)



You would have to cross the busy road and then the carpark to get to the grass patch for a better view..

First..the busy road...

Then..the carpark...



We had a hard time trying to capture the whole bridge in one shot.... According to Wikipedia, the total length of the bridge is 13.5 km (8.4 mi), making it the longest bridge in Malaysia as and the fourth-longest in Southeast Asia! And Malaysia is not stopping at that..Construction work of a new Penang Second Bridge began in November 2008, and the target completion date is this year.

The weather was super hot that day and we quickly decided to go back to the mall for some dessert to cool ourselves from the hot weather.

Tong Pak Fu 糖百府 Hong Kong Dessert


We had eaten Hui Lau Shan 许留山, a Hong Kong dessert chain famous for its mango desserts at Gurney Plaza and were pleasantly surprised to find another Hong Kong dessert chain at Queensbay Mall, Tong Pak Fu 糖百府, which is famous for its snow ice (雪花冰).

Tong Pak Fu Menu and the Must Try, No 1 Tracka Durian Snow Ice 独一无二竹脚榴莲雪花冰, that certainly caught our instant attention!

 More snow ice selections in the Menu. The Tracka Durian Snow Ice is A08 on the menu.

Besides Snow Ice, Tong Pak Fu also sells traditional hot dessert...

and cold desserts too...

We settled for their specialty, a Large Tracka Durian Snow Ice and a Regular Mocha Green Tea Snow Ice.

Large Tracka Durian Snow Ice (MYR $14.80). The portion was huge, just like the photo in the menu! It was really nice and certainly a welcoming dessert to have on a hot day in Penang!

Regular Mocha Green Tea Snow Ice (MYR $7.80). This is not as nice as its signature Tracka durian snow ice. Maybe it's because our taste buds are already filled with durian.... :)

Generous portion of fresh red beans....reminds me of the famous chendol we ate at Penang Road....

Tong Pak Fu 糖百府 was certainly a sweet ending to our 4 day 3 night trip to Penang and we would definitely go back to Penang for its fabulous food if we have the opportunity next time! :) 



This is the last post of our Penang Trip series. We thank you for following our story on the trip. If you are here first from a google search, do check out our travel itinerary with links to all our happenings in Penang!

If you are interested to follow our 4D3N shortgetaway Penang Trip, click here for our trip itinerary and the links to all our posts!



We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

Lunch @ Siam Express (Queensbay Mall Penang)

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Penang . 2013 . Jan 17 - 20


This post is a continuation of our previous post on G Hotel Penang Breakfast Buffet Review. You may also read the full review of our 4 Days 3 Nights short getaway trip to Penang here.

This is the second last post of our Penang Trip series. Do check out our travel itinerary with links to all the posts if you are planning a trip to Penang. :)

After our breakfast buffet @ G Hotel Penang, it was time to pack up our stuffs and check out from G Hotel. We sure will miss the G Hotel, having enjoyed a wonderful 3 nights stay at one of the their L Suites (thanks to their generous complimentary upgrade!).

As our Air Asia flight back to Singapore was at night (9.10pm), we still had a full day to enjoy Penang. We decided to take a cab from the hotel down to Queensbay Mall at Bayan Lepas, which is probably 15 minutes away from the airport. Cab fare was around MYR $25 if I remember correctly.

Lunch @ Siam Express


Carrying two heavy duffel bags and our backpacks, we decided to have lunch first and eventually settled on Siam Express, which is a Fast Thai Food restaurant, as indicated in its shop signage. It is located at the basement of Queensbay Mall. They also have an outlet @ the Basement of Gurney Plaza beside where we stayed at G Hotel, but we didn't have a chance to try it then.



Siam Express Restaurant Menus. Quite a variety to choose from.

Siam Express Set Menus. You can opt to order from the set menus first, which we thought were reasonably priced. The Couple Set cost MYR $55++ (~ SGD $25) and comes with the following:
  • Choice of Steamed or Fried Seabass
  • Omelette with Onion
  • Choice of Vegetables ( Kang Kung with Belacan or Bean Sprout with Salted Fish)
  • 2 Steam Rice
  • 2 Water Chestnut in Iced Coconut Milk or Thai Ice Cream

Siam Express do post their menus online and you may want to click here to view the higher resolution menus from their website.

We might have ordered the Couple Set if not for a heavy buffet breakfast @ G Hotel.
 In the end, we settled for 2 main course with 2 steam rice.


 Fried Kang Kung with Belachan (MYR $9.90). Delicious. Not too spicy if you can take some chilli..






Lemon Grass Chicken (MYR $9.90).  Quite ok.


Tom Yum Soup - Small (MYR $14.90). This is one of the must-eats when you visit a Thai Restaurant. We must say that the Siam Express version is one of the best that we have tasted before. We would highly recommend that you get it if you are eating here. 



Verdict:

Total cost of the meal worked out to be around MYR $40 (around SGD $16)
Overall, we felt that the price was very reasonable for the quality of food served. We would definitely recommend that you give it a try if you are at Queensbay Mall.


Follow us on our next Post: Tong Pak Fu Hong Kong Dessert (Queensbay Mall)

If you are interested to follow our 4D3N shortgetaway Penang Trip, click here for our trip itinerary and the links to all our posts!



We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!

G Hotel Penang Breakfast Buffet Review

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Penang . 2013 . Jan 17 - 20


This post is a continuation of our previous post on Sumptuous Afternoon High Tea Buffet @ G Hotel Penang. You may also read the full review of our 4 Days 3 Nights short getaway trip to Penang here.

After an enjoyable High Tea Buffet @ G Hotel Penang, we decided to try out their buffet breakfast the next morning.

Tip: If your room reservation does not include breakfast, and you would like to try G Hotel's breakfast on one of the days, do make a reservation with the reception a day before as you will be entitled to the hotel guest rate of MYR $25++ per person. If you choose to walk in on the morning itself, you would be charged the full public rate of more than MYR $40 per person!

For a start, let's get some fresh fruit juices..4 different kinds to choose from...






You can also get some tea to start the day..



Nasi Lemak, a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and "pandan" leaf commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish...

Cheese Selection.

Cereals with Milk.

Fresh Breads from the Bakery...


Salad Selection.

 One row of hot items to choose from..let's see what is inside the metal containers...



Grilled Vegetables.

Sausages.

 Hashbrowns.



Grilled Tomatoes.

 Baked Beans.



Prawn Rolls.

Corn on Cob.

Fried Noodles with Vegetable Curry.

 If you don't like the vegetable curry, you can always try chicken curry or sambal onion.


 You also have the option to take some plain porridge with bonito soup.


There is also a live Waffle Station for crisp and freshly made waffles.

 When you are done, you might want to go for some fresh fruits.

So here's what we ate from the huge selection of breakfast items..

Some western breakfast hot items.

Kway Teow Soup. Think we forgot to take a photo of the station...

 Hot Porridge with century egg.



Nasi Lemak.

Crispy Waffle.

And not forgetting the fruit jucies.. :)

Overalll, we felt that the breakfast buffet could have been better, but for the price of MYR $25++ that we paid, we have no compliants. So do give it a try if you are staying at G Hotel for a shortgetaway trip to Penang!

Follow us on our next Post: Queensbay Mall Penang + Siam Express Lunch

If you are interested to follow our 4D3N shortgetaway Penang Trip, click here for our trip itinerary and the links to all our posts!




We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To receive notifications on updates, subscribe to our blog via RSS feed and email.

Like us on Facebook @ Discover. Book . Travel and follow us on Twitter @Discoverbooktra!

Do check out our Flickr photos & Youtube videos too!