Penang, Malaysia: a “foody’s” paradise!

Recently David and I embarked on our first Malaysian road-trip up north to the state of Penang, Malaysia. Penang is comprised of mainly an island as well as a seaside section of peninsular Malaysia. The island portion of Penang is the most widely known and most visited for tourism. You truly can’t hear of Penang without the mention of cuisine in the same sentence. Its what Penang is known for around the world- THE FOOD. More specifically about the food, they are known for their amazing meals for super cheap prices at the always open and always delicious “hawker stalls”, scattered throughout the island. These hawker stalls epitomize the Malaysian way of life and how food  plays an integral part of every day living. Groups of families, friends, tourists, solo travelers, foodies and more flock to these hawker stalls for a plate full of local cuisine each with its own twist, depending on the cart owner. Hawkers stalls are mobile, cheap, fast, and always satisfying. You will never leave disappointed nor broke, that is a guarantee!

Anyway, we arrived on a rainy Saturday afternoon for a 3 day/2 night stay at the enchanting 23 LoveLane Boutique Heritage Hotel. Ironically, we found out about this hotel while staying in temporary housing at The Nomad in Bangsar, where they had put flyers up promoting the place. We fell in love with the pictures and decided we had to go. As luck would have it, we found a screaming deal on Agoda.comand off we went!

Since it was raining (and when it really rains in Malaysia, it DUMPS) when we first arrived, we took our time exploring the hotel grounds, which was just beautiful! 23 LoveLane was actually fashioned from an old Chinese mansion right in the heart of a UNESCO world heritage sight within Georgetown, Penang. Each room has its own character, its own vibe, that is separate from the others and truly feels “lived in”, and not like a typical “hotel”, yet it provides all the comforts of a regular hotel- clean & comfortable bed, air-con, nice bathroom, quaint lobby, adorable café (room includes a delicious breakfast- blend of local and international cuisine!), etc.

 

Once the rain subsided, well at least into a “doable” drizzle, we headed out and about on the streets of Georgetown to explore and to get lunch. Georgetown is comprised of a ton of world heritage sights, due to its rich history of british empire, indian ancestry, and chinese temples. We ended up happening upon this popular Indian restaurant, Restoran Kapitanon the corner of a main road for some delicious tandoori chicken and naan. Wow, hit the spot! After this break the rain started up again so we decided to head back to 23 LoveLane and relax for a couple hours until the evening started.

We stayed close to home and just wandered around Georgetown, around the waterfront, and found a cute little pub called Woody’s cafe on the edge of Little India. Here we chatted up the owners, indulged in a couple good beers, and sampled their version of the popular noodle dish Wan Tan Mee, which can be made both dry or more brothy but always with fresh green leafy vegetables, chicken or pork dumplings, and shrimp. Wow it did not disappoint! We just love days like this where there is no agenda and you end up meeting super nice people who talk about their culture and way of life. So interesting and fulfilling!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday we awoke to a beautiful sunny day so off we went! The Georgetown section of Penang holds a wide range of incredibly diverse and beautiful cultures, as well as in architecture, due to its rich history of british empire, indian ancestry, and chinese temples. If fact, there is a specific walk that you can take leading you through Chinatown, Little India, & the waterfront depicting all the old & new buildings that are breathtaking to see. The British first ruled Malaysia and you can see a huge piece of that history within Georgetown alone.  In fact, the oldest Anglican church in Asia is situated right smack in the middle of Georgetown, St. George’s Cathedral. Let me tell you, its simple and exquisite. What a sight, and what great history behind it. We simply stood and stared at its simple beauty for quite a while.

We meandered along the streets of Little India and into Chinatown to explore some very old Chinese temples. The detail and the artwork….wow. Our first stop was at Han Jiang Ancestral Temple, a very quiet and unassuming temple. Our second stop was the more widely known Khoo Kongsi clan grounds. The Khoo Kongsi clan has a very rich heritage in Penang that is still continuing on to this day. They now have their temple and surrounding buildings and old homes on display for all wanting to take a peak inside their “everyday” life. All incredibly gorgeous and stunning. Here are a few pics we took.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked just a few blocks after this to the popular Chew Jetty along the waterfront. The Chew Jetty is the oldest Chinese settlement in Penang as well as the most lively! What an eye-opening experience. I hope the pictures can do it a little bit of justice- seeing the way they live, how they fish, how they communicate, how they stay cool without air-con, really without any luxuries at all. Chew Jetty reminded me a TON of the favellas we saw down in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (you can read about that adventure here). It truly is the most simple and purest form of living. Just fascinating to be able to take a small peak into their daily lives.

We finished our tour of Georgetown at the old BLUE Chinese mansion, The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Wow- such a vibrant color and oh so rich in history. We loved this stop for the pictures we got!

 

 

 

 

 

Another fun aspect of Georgetown are the cute “taxis” that they offer to move tourists around, called Trishaws. There are the most basic bikes to the most elaborately decorated ones….such a fun expression of their art & personality!

 

 

 

 

 

We decided we had seen so much of Georgetown at that point that we needed to branch out and explore more of the island. We drove up they coast a bit to the area of Gurney for lunch. We found another corner restaurant on a busy street that looked packed with locals so we though- why not!? The owner at Kadai Kopi Swee Kong who waited on us was very nice and helped us choose some entrees to share. We settled on 3 of the most popular Penang dishes- Indian Rojak (a fruit salad) (from an outside street vendor), Char Koay Teow (flat noodle dish), and Sar Hor Fun. I enjoyed the 2 Chinese dishes but could have done without the Indian Rojak. Too much fried seafood for me and a not so tasty sauce on top.

After that we drove up the coast more to the popular beach of Batu Ferringhi. This is the cleanest and most widely used beach on the island of Penang and on it sits the Hard Rock hotel. We headed out to the beach for some sun and relaxation before heading to their bar for an afternoon beer. What a great way to spend an afternoon in Penang, away from the hustle and bustle of Georgetown :). We did find a ridiculously large and dinosaur looking lizard in the parking lot….um yea, I didn’t get too close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner took us back down to the Gurney area where we struck gold with their “hawker stalls” at Gurney Plaza. Um…delicious!! We dined on paper plates & plastic bowls while sitting on old rickety patio chairs & tables and were completely satisfied with our meal, costing us all of about $10. Here’s what we had in pictures (a few of the most popular dishes that Penang is known for): Penang Assam Laksa (AMAZING noodle soup similar to Vietnamese Pho), Chinese Rojak, fried oysters, and fresh coconut juice.

On our final morning in Penang, we enjoyed our breakfast at 23 LoveLane then headed out to one of the highest points in Penang and to the oldest Chinese Buddhist Temple- Kek Lok Si Temple. What a breathtaking sight. We witnessed their “prayer/meditation” time and wandered around the grounds. What detail and artwork!! They are still improving, still building, and still restoring the temple to this day. What a great way to end our weekend getaway to Penang.

 

 

 

As you can see, you don’t need more than a nice & quick weekend getaway to get a good taste of Penang. I can’t wait to go back…..I think I’ve explored enough of the “sights”- next time its ALL about more food “sightseeing”- haha.

 

 

Until then, happy & safe travels,

Kimbra