Holiday Story

My Experience in Penang


We flew from KL to Penang which took around about an hour. The airport is at the southern end of the island and we had to get to our accommodation in Georgetown so we picked up our luggage and waited at the bus stop which is outside the terminal, across the first road, turn right, up a ramp and go right to the end. To get to Georgetown (the KOMTAR centre interchange) you need to catch a 401 or 401E but do not be surprised if the bus does not stop. We found that it depends whether the bus is outward bound or inward bound so just make sure you flag them all down and if it is heading in the right direction it will stop and let you on. Make sure you have some single ringits and change as the bus will not give change.
If you walk to the end of the street and turn right, walk down a couple of blocks, there is a bus stop where you can catch the free city bus. It will go around to Weld Quay where it will start it’s circuit again….a great way to get a feel for the city area. All the buses are air conditioned so if you are finding it a bit hot out and about, just jump on a bus for a bit of respite.
There is plenty to see in Penang and the food is great. We were a bit wary about eating at the street stalls at first but if you keep to the busy ones you shouldn’t have a problem. Loved the Indian rotis and curry and they are so cheap. We fed 3 of us with drinks for 22MYR!
On our last afternoon we decided to really spoil ourselves. On our visit to Batu Feringgi we had look at the Park Royal Hotel. It was very nice and had a lovely lawned area with sun lounges and inviting pool. We noticed that you could use the facilities and pay to be a day visitor. It worked out that for 40MYR each (weekdays) you could use the pool and a beach towel, use the internet and get 20MYR each credit towards food and drinks (from 11am to 10pm). We thought it would be nice to relax around the pool and go for a dip plus have something to eat. Well that was the plan but with sightseeing in the morning and a long walk in the afternoon, we didn’t make it to the Park Royal until 4pm so didn’t avail ourselves of the day membership. At 4.30pm it was Happy Hour so we decided to have a couple of beers there to end our Penang adventure