Penang - Pearl Of The Orient (Jan 26 - Jan 29 2013):
Landing at LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) for Air Asia at
Kuala Lumpur, the most surprising element was the walk till the airport after
getting down from the flight. There were no bus to carry us to the terminal and
we walked almost on the runway to reach the departure terminal. The flight took
little more than 4 hours from Bangalore, India and it was midnight when I
landed at KL with my wife for my second anniversary celebrations. After the immigration we proceeded to Tune
Hotel which was just a 100 meter walk from the airport. We had booked this
hotel quite late since we had a flight to Penang next morning around 9 am. It
was a decent place for staying overnight, and we had informed them of our
midnight check in just to avoid any unnecessary hassles.
Tune hotel charges extra for towel/toiletry set and AC
package for 24 hours, which could be bought at the reception but was already
included in our booking. After a breezing but refreshing stay overnight we took
a shuttle for MYR 2 each from hotel to airport at morning and departed for
Penang. The Air Asia flight took 30 minutes to Penang, the Pearl of the Orient.
 | |
| Welcome to Penang |
The moment we arrived, we were greeted by the humid climate
which is quite reminiscent of the island weather. Our resort was at Batu Ferringhi
beach (north of Penang) which was around 40-45 km away from the airport. The prepaid
cabs are available just outside the airport and the trip to Batu Ferringhi
costs maximum which is MYR 69.
Information: People staying at/near Georgetown can get for
cabs around MYR 50.
Our trip by the cab took us around an hour, and we passed
the through Georgetown, and also observed the preparations for Thaipusam on
streets, an Indian Festival to be celebrated on next day i.e. 27th
Jan. We arrived around lunch time at
Bayview Resort which was situated almost at the end of Batu Ferringhi beach. It
was the last resort on the beach situated just after the Hard Rock resort.
From the moment we descended at the Bayview Beach Resort, it
was magnificent. The view from the resort, the ambiance and the mood were exhilarating.
We were given an early check in around 1 pm and our room had a partial view of
the swimming pool and beach. Our room was really huge and had a large king size
bed with sofas and attached balcony. We were pretty starved and headed straight
to the in-resort Indian Restaurant Sagar. The food there was surprisingly
delicious and they had a great menu of Indian dishes. We ate as much we could
since we were pretty much surviving on burgers and chocolates from the time we
took off from Bangalore airport. Delicious Indian food on foreign land felt divine
to us at that moment. Also, there was a European style restaurant and a coffee
house which served the buffet breakfast at morning. Furthermore there was a
drugstore/gift shop in the resort which had almost everything a general store
would have, and without exorbitant prices. We headed to the beach after lunch,
and the beach was quite good as opposed to the many negative reviews as heard
on TripAdvisor. Although it was definitely not as good when compared to the
beaches at Pattaya, Thailand but the mountainous backdrop and the rocks added a
definite splendor to the scenery. Batu Ferringhi means ‘Foreigner’s Rock’ and
the rocks at this beach and the beach being very popular with foreigners is the
reason for the name for this beach. The only negative about this beach was that
there was a huge board at the resort gate leading to the beach which said “Swim
at your risk, there could be jelly fish”. However there were lots of water sports
options next to the resort on the beach including para-sailing and horse riding. We opted not to
indulge though.
 | |
| Batu Ferringhi (Foreigner's Rock) beach |
Our resort was fully equipped and lots of facilities
provided for the visitors. The arrow shaped swimming pool in resort needs a
special mention as it was really well laid out and catered to every level of
swimmers. There was a separate small meditation pool and Jacuzzi, along with a
distinct pool for toddlers and small kids. There were huge gardens leading to
the beach which had a very good number of beach lounge chairs for sunbathing. The
swimming pool also had a sunken bar, which is very common at decent resorts
nowadays. Moreover there was another Bar/Coffee house situated in gardens just
next to the pool which had respectable collection of cocktails/cold coffees and
decent variety of evening snacks. We mostly basked around the pool and gardens
till evening just enjoying the calm and serene environment around with lovely
view of sea on one side and lush green mountains on other.
 |
| Swimming Pool at Bayview Resort |
The resort also had a well-equipped gym and sports facility
for Squash, table tennis, volleyball and basketball. Also pool and foosball
tables were available in the lobby. There was an indoor gaming zone which had
options for PlayStation games. Furthermore the resort had a spa and a separate
section for baby sitters with huge collection of toys to keep the little ones entertained.
There was a general store (from where I bought the travel adapter – the rooms don’t
have them) at front of the resort across the road and just next to the store
was the best roadside restaurant I have ever been to. It was not really classy,
but the delicacies and the cuisines served out more than covered for their lack
of visual appeal. They served anything and everything – Indian, Continental,
Tandoor dishes, Local Malay food etc. I tried the famous Penang Chicken Satay
which was pretty interesting. See the picture below:
 |
| Chicken Satay - Local Malay dish |
Also, the restaurant guys were flexible enough to
prepare us some dishes according to our tastes. Most of the folks from the
resort used to have lunches and dinner at this restaurant. So, make sure you
don’t book a package with dinner/lunch included in room rates, as this is one
place no one would like to miss out on. We had most of our meals at this
restaurant during our stay at Penang.
Our second day at Penang started with the wonderful
breakfast buffet which was included in our package. We roamed around the beach
for some time, and even spotted a dead Jelly Fish on the beach. See the snap:
 |
| A dead Jelly Fish |
There was a Star Cruise ship far end of the sea which I tried to capture
through my Nikon P500 zoom.
 | |
| Zoooommmm.....Nikon P500 |
We lazed around till the noon, and had our
customary lunch at the restaurant across the road. Afternoon we had a
pre-booked a Butterfly farm and tropical spice island group tour from the
in-resort travel agency. The van picked us and another lady from South Africa
who was traveling alone to Penang exactly at 2 pm, and we proceeded to the
Butterfly farm which was just a 10 minute drive from our resort. Butterfly farm
is one of the best attractions of Penang. It has a huge variety of butterflies
and flowers which attract these beautiful creatures. When we visited the place,
it was wonderful with all the butterflies settling on our bodies and clothes.
Also this place has lots of insects (all varieties and sizes), wild snakes and
frogs, but all these are well contained within glass chambers, so nothing really
to be alarmed about. We also bought few souvenirs from the shop in the
butterfly farm which had a very good collection. In short Butterfly farm is one
of the must visit places in Penang definitely. Some photos from the Butterfly farm below:
 |
| Collection of Snaps from Penang Butterfly Farm |
We proceeded to Tropical Spice garden from the farm which
was on our way back to the resorts. The spice garden was on a mountain and it
was a guided tour for us. Nothing much to write about, but spice enthusiasts
might like the place. We did not enjoy much except for some herbal tea they
offered us at the top. There was a public beach just opposite to the spice
garden which might have been fun, but we returned to our resorts by evening.
Later that evening we visited Night Market at the Batu
Ferringhi which was around 750 meter from our resort. It’s an easy walk from
the resort, though one can take the city buses which are quite frequent and
there is a bus stop just outside the resort. Night Market was a wonderful place
for bargain shopping and Malay local cuisines with catchy Chinese music. It is
around 1 mile stretch starting from The Holiday Inn resort till the drive
through McDonalds restaurant and is situated on the beach side of the road. On the
opposite side of the road there were many massage parlors and some good
restaurants. After a long walk and some great bargain shopping at night market
we were pretty tired and walked into one of the massage parlors for a blissful
foot massage to end an unexpectedly long day.
 | |
| Bayview Beach resort at evening |
Our third day at Penang was our anniversary, and we were
advised by many to visit the wonderful Georgetown (UNESCO heritage city). But
for those who are expecting some description about Georgetown might be disappointed
as we decided to just spend some quality time together and just basked around
the resort whole day. At evening we once again headed to Night Market for
further shopping. After shopping we returned to the resort but only after one
last dinner at our favorite restaurant at front of the resort. We were to head
back to Kuala Lumpur next morning. Our first visit to Penang island was really enjoyable
and we truly cherished our moments there at the resort and butterfly farm
specially.
Tips: There is hard rock café and resort just next to
Bayview resort and it plays really nice music at evening and could be great
place for music lovers. Also there is
Monkey Island which is near to the Batu Ferringhi beach, and could be
interesting for people looking for peaceful white sand beaches.
Next part of the travelogue would contain account of our
stay at Kuala Lumpur. Do let me know if you have any more questions for Penang
trip as I would love to advice on trip to Penang.
