Penang - one of 10 destinations in Asia that seem to be straight out of a fairytale

If you have never been to Penang and may sometimes wonder about it, you might find this little snippet of information useful.

Penang, with its tasty mixture of Indian, Chinese and Malay influences, is literally a nirvana for bona fide lovers. From spicy curries to delectable laksas and savoury soups, Penang has a wide array of mouth-watering treats that will definitely appease your taste buds and cravings. As an added plus, most of the restaurant food in Penang is amazingly cheap, allowing you to binge without breaking the bank.

But, there’s more to Penang than its blooming and established culinary scene. Drenched in history, natural beauty and culture, Penang is also rich in ornate religious sites, sand beaches, kampungs surrounded by rice paddies, and sprawling unbeaten jungles. Furthermore, it is dotted with charming, picture-perfect historic buildings that would remind of your fairytale buildings and scenes.


The piece above borrowed from Homeaway by Expedia lists Penang as one of 10 destinations in Asia that seem to be straight out of a fairytale.

Penang is also drawing tourists for their street art (as in image) and other art installations on the island. The street art pieces are mainly the work of Lithuanian artist.

In conjunction with Penang Georgetown Festival a few years ago, certain old walls within Georgetown (Penang's capital) were given a new lease of life, thanks to the talent and efforts of Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic, Penang Street Art artist.

Mr Zacharevic leaves his mark of beautiful wall paintings of children, of life, all across historical Georgetown. I have friends who have gone a-hunting for these art pieces. The artworks are funny, fascinating, and they tell a story of an era past in this rich historical part of the country.

Some examples borrowed from OnlyPenang below..

Penang Street Art, Ernest’s neighbour, who is actually famous wooden clogs painter, Mr. Ng Chai Tiam, Armenian Street Art Cafe

Penang Street Art, “Children in a Boat” Mural, Chew Jetty, George Town, Penang

Penang Street Art, “Little Children on a Bicycle” Mural, Armenian Street, George Town, Penang

Besides the paintings, another form of art installation to watch out for when in Penang are the wire caricature installations. These metal sculptures blend humour and historical facts of the early settlement days that give some streets their name.

There's even an installation for Jimmy Choo at Lebuh Leith/Lebuh Muntri. This is where the famous shoe designer started his apprenticeship. That's right. Jimmy Choo is a Penangite.

Now, are you stoked enough to go street art hunting (besides food hunting) in Penang? To help you along, here's a map from TourismPenang. It shows all the locations of the art installations, both the paintings and wire caricatures. Print a copy to bring along.

Happy hunting!


For more information about Penang, visit:

- Penang Tourism

- Tourism Malaysia

Terengganu and Kelantan are flooded

Malaysia is in the midst of the monsoon season. We have not one but two monsoon seasons in a year.

The east coast states of peninsular Malaysia are still flooded as we speak. We are experiencing the north-east monsoon at the moment.

Terengganu, for instance is seeing the number of flood evacuees here increased drastically from 54 victims to 1,303 this Saturday morning.

The Star reported that:

'The victims have been placed at 25 evacuation centres.

"In Setiu, eight evacuation centres have been opened housing 266 victims from 47 families.

"In total, as of 6am, there are 1,303 flood victims from 350 family housed in 33 evacuation centres."


While in Kelantan the floods have worsened in Kelantan, requiring the evacuation of 3,232 people in seven districts as at 8am this morning.

The state of Kelantan is the other east coast state that is affected by bad flooding this time each year during the north-east monsoon season.

35 relief centres have been set up in the districts of Kota Baru, Pasir Mas, Pasir Puteh, Bachok, Machang, Tanah Merah and Tumpat where 866 families are being temporarily housed, according to the Social Welfare Department's "infobanjir" app.

But hey, if you are still planning to visit Malaysia this time of the year, there are many places not affected by the floods. Take the west coast for instance, there's the capital city of Kuala Lumpur that has many attractions to provide you with a full and interesting itinerary.

Penang, in the north, is one other place not to be missed if you are here in West Malaysia. The island of Penang has gained much popularity recently. Penang along with Kuala Lumpur has been listed in a survey as one of top destinations for medical-tourism. Penang is also popular as a place to retire for foreigners.

Malacca, a two-hour road-drive away south of Kuala Lumpur. It is a city chockfull of tradition and culture and is rich in history as well - Dutch and Portuguese.

And then there is East Malaysia, i.e., the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. If you are a diving enthusiast, Semporna in East Malaysia offers one of the world's best diving sites.


Malaysia has been voted Best Travel Destination in Asia

People take advantage of the good weather to be outdoors at the Petronas Twin Towers park. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli

Image source: The Star

Karpal Singh - 1940 to 2014

This morning, Thousands of people lined the streets of Penang to send off the hearse carrying Karpal Singh on his last journey.

The casket, bearing the body of the “Tiger of Jelutong”, was draped with a carpet bearing an image of a Tiger before it was carried out from the Dewan Sri Pinang on Sunday.

Guan Eng, who is also the DAP secretary-general, said the state government mourned the untimely and unexpected passing of Karpal.

The procession will make stops at places dear to Karpal - the Penang High Court, his office in Green Hall, the Penang state assembly building, his alma mater St Xavier’s Institution and state DAP party headquarters in Rangoon Road - before proceeding to the Batu Gantong Crematorium.

Karpal Singh, a prominent lawyer, an MP and a fearless and defatigeable fighter for justice was killed in an auto accident on his way from Kuala Lumpur to Penang where he was to attend a court case. The accident happened around 1:10am of April 17, Thursday. His personal assistant Michael Cornelius Selvam Vellu also died. His driver and his son were injured while his Indonesia maid is in ICU.

Rest In Peace

Image source: The Star

Restrictions on reselling of houses in Penang

To curb property speculation, the Penang Government has put in place restrictions on selling of houses. This will come into effect from February 1, 2014.

From The Star:

Penang to place restrictions on reselling of houses
 
GEORGE TOWN: Houses in Penang purchased for RM400,000 and below will soon be barred from being resold within a specific time period without the consent of the state.

It was announced that the Penang Government would impose stringent housing rules from Feb 1 next year to curb property speculation.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said affordable homes bought for below RM400,000 on the island and RM250,000 on the mainland cannot be sold for five years, while low- and low-medium cost housing units priced up to RM72,500 statewide cannot be sold for 10 years.

He said owners of these units who want to sell them during the period would have to appeal to the state government first and units can only be sold to qualified "listed buyers" registered with the state housing department.
Lim said in a press statement Sunday that the ruling covers past and future purchases.

Camera museum in Penang

If you are a photographer or a photography enthusiast, here's a museum you may be interested to visit on your next trip to Penang.

In tribute and celebration of the invention, history and importance of the camera, a dedicated museum has opened its doors in Penang.

Located in a two-storey pre-war shophouse at 42, Muntri Street, the museum stamped its mark as the first museum devoted to cameras in Malaysia as well as South-East Asia.

The museum, which was officially opened last Thursday, housed over 300 vintage cameras.


Source: The Star

Penang freak storm havoc

A rare occasion of strong waves of 3.5metres high hitting the west coast of Penang island and Kedah on the mainland occured on Tuesday.

Two days later, yesterday, a freak thunderstorm created havoc on the island uprooting trees and causing gridlock on major roads including jamming up the Penang Bridge. Fishermen were advised to stay onland with wind going at speeds of 40 to 50km and hour.

More on Penang storm havoc Thursday

Penang hit by flood

In Penang, thousands of residents in low-lying areas woke up early yesterday to find water had flowed into their homes.

A downpour which started at 3am caused parts of Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Sungai Pinang, Jalan Patani, Jalan Air Itam and Jalan Datuk Keramat to be submerged in water.

Source: The Star
The water rose to knee-deep levels in several areas, and a high tide made the situation worse.

At least 3,000 people, mainly those living in the flood-prone areas of Datuk Keramat and Jalan P. Ramlee, were affected by the flood.

More:
- Flash flood in Penang
- A rude awakening

Penang's new tourist attraction - steel rod sculptures

If you have been to Penang in the last two years, you would have noticed some street art in the form of steel sculptures. These steel rod sculptures featuring caricatures are Georgetown UNESCO World Heritage Site's latest tourist attraction.

Located in various parts of the city of Georgetown, these 24 witty sculptures have been attracting both foreign and local tourists alike. People have been flocking to photograph these steel sculptures that have a story behind every one of them. They each denote a trade or way of life from a past era. A short description accompanies every sculpture. A lot of research has been put in to ensure that the sculptures are based on historical facts.

Yes, there is even a sculpture for Jimmy Choo, the world-renowned shoe designer who started his apprenticeship in shoe making at the shoe store, Hong Kong Shoe Store, located at Munstri Street. Thus the Jimmy Choo steel rod sculpture is installed here on Munstri Street.

Sculpture At Work is the brainchild of this project and contributors include local talented artists including Baba Chuah, Lefty Julian Kam, Reggie Lee and Tan Mun Kian.

Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, launched the sculpture project yesterday. Lim appealed to the public and tourists posing for pictures by these artworks not to touch or vandalise the sculptures.

The following are the steel sculptures installed since October 2010 under phases one, two, three and four. This is an ongoing project, so there will more being installed around the island.

01. Narrowest Five Foot Way (Stewart Lane)
02. Win-Win Situation (Muntri Street)
03. Kopi ‘O’ (Kimberly Street)
04. No Plastic Bag (Prangin Lane)
05. Property (Victoria Street)
06. Untrained Parakeet (King Street)
07. Mr Five Foot Way (Transfer Road)
08. Wrong Tree (Market Lane)
09. Cheating Husband (Love Lane)
10. Limousine (Carnarvon Street/Carnarvon Lane)
11. Waterway (Prangin Road Ghaut)
12. Escape (Acheh Street)
13. Bullock Cart Wheel (Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling)
14. Cow and Fish (Malay Street/Fish Lane)
15. Labourer to Trader (Jalan Kuala Kangsar)
16. One Leg Kicks All (Muntri Street)
17. Too Hot (Weld Quay)
18. Jimmy Choo (Muntri Street/Leith Street)
19. Three Generations (Kimberley Street/Sungai Ujong Road)
20. Ting Ting Thong (Seck Chuan Lane)
21. Tok Tok Mee (China Street/Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling)
22. Too Narrow (Soo Hong Lane)
23. Procession (Armenian Street)
24. Rope Style (Rope Walk)

Bring along this list when you visit Penang next. It might come in handy.


Source: The Star..Witty new attractions

Plenitude Penang International Dragon Boat Festival 2012

If you happen to be visiting Penang this weekend, an event not to be missed is the annual Dragon Boat Festival at Teluk Bahang Dam from 9am to 6pm. Yes, this popular and exciting event, The Plenitude Penang International Dragon Boat Festival, is back again in Penang, for the 33rd time.

Scheduled for June 30 and July 1, this year's event will see 14 international teams competing. Teams from South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Thailand, Philippines and New Zealand have confirmed their participation, as well as 13 Malaysian teams.

The public is welcome to witness the race at the beautiful Teluk Bahang Dam.

As for public transportation, Rapid Penang busses travelling to Batu Feringgi will extend their route up to the dam from 8.00am to 6.00pm during these two days.

If you are visiting, no worry about food as you will be able to purchase meals at the site using food-coupons which will be sold by the organiser during the event. A purchase of a minimum of RM10 worth of coupons will entitle you to enter in the lucky draw and stand you a chance to win a Grand Prize of a cruise to Phuket worth RM 4500, hotel stays, 50 Swork sunglasses worth RM799 and other great prizes!

That's not all. In conjunction with the festival, a photography competition will also be held for shutterbugs. Those with the best photos of the race will be awarded RM800 for first prize, RM500 for second prize and RM300 for third prize. Photo submission date is to be by 15 July 2012.

A workshop will be held for participants of the race on 29 June, from 10am to 6pm at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel and later at Teluk Bahang Dam. An expert coach from The Philippines will be conducting the workshop covering rowing techniques, followed by a Water Safety Awareness Course by a qualified trainer. Each participant team can send two representatives to the workshop.

Source: The Star..Bill tabled to make it compulsory for franchisors to register business

Rare strong waves hit Penang, Kedah

Also read:
2013, June 14 - Penang freak storm havoc


It was reported that a rare occasion of strong waves with heights up to 3.5m hit the west coast of Penang and Kedah since 1pm Wednesday.

In Penang, not less than 11 houses in Kampung Tsunami Tanjung Bungah, here were reportedly inundated with sea water.

A man watches the waves at Esplanade in Penang - The Star

In Kedah, checks found that most of the fishermen in Kuala Kedah were unable to go to sea the last two days due to the phenomenon worried that the big waves would do damage to their boats.

According to Director of the Forecast Centre of the Meteorology Department, Muhammad Helmi Abdullah, he said the incident was a normal phenomenon and due to the shift of the northeast monsoon winds to southwest winds since May 4.

He said wind speed of up to 50 knots was expected to last until Friday.


Source: Rare strong waves hit Penang, Kedah

Penang Bridge

Penang is a popular tourist destination, even for locals who want to get away for an idyllic holiday of sea, sun and food.

The above is an image of the Penang Bridge (courtesy of The Star). It is a dual carriageway toll bridge that connects George Town on the island of Penang and Seberang Prai on the mainland of Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula.

The bridge is also linked to the North-South Expressway in Prai and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway in Penang. It was officially opened to traffic on September 14, 1985. The total length of the bridge is 13.5 km (8.4 mi), making it the longest bridge in Malaysia and the fourth longest in Southeast Asia. The bridge was designed by Penang resident, Professor Chin Fung Kee, a well known civil engineer. Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd (PBSB) is the concession holder which manages it.

Currently, Penang Bridge handles 65,000 vehicles daily. It has a capacity of handling 85,000 vehicles daily. The bridge has been expanded from 4 to 6 lanes to accommodate increasing traffic on the bridge. Construction of the new Penang Second Bridge is underway. Beginning since November 2008, the second bridge is expected to be completed in 2013.


Source: Wikipedia

Penang tops the list of Asia's 10 Greatest Street Food Cities

Penang has been voted No. 1 among 10 of "Asia's 10 greatest street food cities". Hooray!!

CNNGo put together a collection of the best examples of street food from 10 of the greatest food cities in Asia, and also made some handy maps to show exactly where to get them.

Running down the list of Asia's 10 greatest street food cities are Penang, Taipei, Bangkok, Fukuoka, Hanoi, Singapore, Seoul, Xi'an, Manila and Phnom Penh.

Top of the street food popular in Penang include

1. Penang assam laksa (pictured), followed by
2. Hokkien mee*
3. Wonton mee*
4. Nasi kandar (rice with side dishes)
5. Rojak (a fruit salad with shrimp paste)
6. Lor Bak (stewed pork)
7. Curry mee*
8. Char kway teow (stir-fried flat rice noodles which Penang is famous for)
9. Koay chiap (another stewed port dish) and
10.Ice kacang (a desert of beans, nuts and fruits with ice shavings and syrup and cream).

* Mee is noodle in the Chinese and local Malay language


There you have it. Bring this list along when you visit Penang and try them all. You will be amazed and delighted at how good they all taste and how cheap they are too. Street food is great on the tastebuds and light on the pocket! Welcome to Penang!

New attraction at Penang Hill - Zigzag Canopy Walk

If you are planning to visit Penang in a year from now, you will be able to enjoy Penang Hill's new attraction, a 200m-long zigzag canopy walk and the 1.6km-long nature trail.

This eco-tourism project will commence work early next month and is expected to be completed in ten months. It will leverage on the hill's heritage and the use of green materials for construction.

The ‘heli-pad plateau’ will be located halfway along the nature trail and will be designed with an English-style botanic garden concept. There will be creeks and water features with benches and sitting areas. Water will be re-circulated from the hill stream and lighting will be solar-powered. Informative signage will be interactive.

The existing canopy walk along Summit Road will be dismantled and the materials salvaged for reuse.

Ticket prices have yet to be determined but the public has been assured that they will be affordable especially for locals.

Below is an artist’s impression of the canopy walk.

Source: The Star..Penang Hill’s new attraction

Skyrocketing Shophouses in Penang

When you visit Malaysia, a common feature you will notice is the prewar shophouses just like the ones in the image below. These are shophouses found in the inner-city of Penang Island. These shophouses retain almost the original look especially in the color scheme and the facade.

The standard features of these prewar shophouses are their high ceiling, wide wooden frontdoor, wood-panel windows out front while windows upstairs have full length shutters and natural ventilation from the placement of the wooden strips on the panel. These shophouses come in various sizes, one shophouse can be of 10ft by 36ft size, while another can be 17ft by 100ft. Shophouses are normally of two floors but can be as high as three floors in densely populated locations.

These shophouses have been refurbished and repainted in various color schemes.

When Penang was gazetted a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008, prices of these prewar shophouses have been going up ever since. Currently in Penang, the price of such a heritage building has reached RM2,000 per sq ft along prime streets — equivalent to the price of the poshest Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) condominium unit.

A glimpse of other famous heritage buildings in Penang..

Bought for RM2mil in 2008, Campbell House in Jalan Campbell is a 10-room hotel owned by Malaysia-born Nadya Wray and her Italian husband, Roberto Dreon.

Sold: The Nam Wah Hotel property on Lebuh Chulia was sold for RM7mil recently.

Old is gold: Located within the heritage zone, the centre shophouse (painted in yellow and white) in Lorong Carnarvon was sold for RM1.2mil while the derelict unit on the left sold for about RM700,000.

For more information on shophouses in Penang, read The Star..Skyrocketing shophouses

All images here are from The Star

Penang Hill

A trip to Penang Island is never complete if you do not visit Penang Hill.

A new funicular train up Penang hill attracts more tourists to visit the picturesque hill that gives fabulous aerial view of "The Pearl of the Orient".

On a clear day, you can even see across to the padi fields in Kedah on the mainland. Here's a short video to give you an idea of what to expect on Penang Hill.



For more information on Penang, click on the 'Penang' label below to bring you to more Penang posts.

Video source: The Star

George Town Festival 2011 features 12 Monkeys and more..

If you are in Penang this weekend, this performing art show is not to be missed. The George Town Festival 2011 will feature 12 Monkeys and More.

The dance performance will take place at the Penang Botanic Gardens this Saturday, and consists of works by local dancer/choreographer Zubin Mohamad, director of Beijing Opera Ghaffar Pourazar and Thailand’s Jitti Chompee. There will also be a piece by all three choreographers. The monkey is the link in all the works.

■ 12 Monkeys & More ... will be performed at the Taman Rekreasi Kuari, Penang Botanical Gardens on Saturday at 6.30pm. Free admission; bring a picnic basket and something to sit on! For more information on the performance and the festival go to georgetownfestival.com or call 04-261 6308.

More details in full article..Monkey dance

Are there fake eggs in Malaysia?

A homemaker in Penang lodged a report with the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) suspecting eggs that she bought from a market could have been fake eggs. This led to investigations by the Health Ministry and some egg samples were seized for testing, results of which are pending.

It has been reported that fake eggs were actually being sold in China for the last 10 years.


Image source: The Star

Penang, one of top 10 islands in the world

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If you haven't visited Malaysia, Penang in particular, you will have to visit it now. It has made it into the top ten islands in the world "you must see before you die".

Reprint of article in The Star:

Yahoo! lists Penang among world’s top 10

GEORGE TOWN: An online travel guide has picked Penang as one of the top 10 islands in the world “you must see before you die.”

Yahoo! Travel writer Gary McKechnie ranks Penang eighth on the list of the “must visit” places.

Other islands listed are Bali, Vieques in Puerto Rico, Easter Island in Chile, Ischia in the bay of Naples (Italy), Chiloe in Chile, Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Key West in the Conch Republic, Galapagos in Ecuador and Palm Islands in Dubai.

These destinations offered something that could not be found anywhere else, said McKechnie in his article ‘10 Islands to Explore Before You Die’ (http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-37926474).

He praised Penang as Malaysia’s food capital and suggested that visitors did their “food crawl” along George Town’s street stalls.

He recommended that foodies head to the area adjacent to the Kek Lok Si Temple in Ayer Itam to feast on delicious food of rice, noodles, fish, shellfish, chicken, pork and vegetables.

He also suggested visitors try out lor bak, lok-lok and ikan bakar.

On the local architecture, he described Penang as having a range of modern high-rise buildings to 19th-century British architecture.

He also pointed out a mix of beach resorts, preserved mangroves, fishing villages, temples, mosques and churches.

“Kek Lok Si was the best example as the largest Buddhist temple in South-East Asia,” he said.


Related articles:
Hotels in Penang - Make it a Beach holiday
Tune Hotel opens in Penang
20-storey Pavilion over the Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) Statue - Penang
Penang Street Food - Kimberly Street

Penang's Chinese New Year Sizzling Street Party

If you are in Penang, join thousands of people including tourists who will be making a beeline to the heritage enclave in George Town, Penang, today to take part in the annual grand celebration of Chinese culture.

A memorable day of activities and entertainment awaits visitors at the Chinese New Year Cultural and Heritage Celebration to be held from 3pm till midnight.

Armenian Street, Cannon Street, Chulia Street, Acheh Street, Carnavon Street, Kampung Kolam, Soo Hong Lane and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling will come alive during the one-day celebration.

By the way, while in Penang, you may want to also visit the Kek Lok Si temple in Air Itam from today until Feb 14 to view it in its festive splendour all lit up. It is said that during Chinese New Year, roughly 230,000 light bulbs and 10,000 lanterns will be lit every night.


Source: The Star

No More FREE Plastic bags and Polystyrene at Local Council Hawker Centres

If you are visiting Penang, this is useful information for when you go shopping. Do bring along your own shopping bag.

Penang's ruling on ‘No Free Plastic Bags’ and ‘No Polystyrene at Local Council Hawker Centres’ will come into effect tomorrow, Jan 1, 2011. This is in line with Penang's objective to reduce the state's carbon footprint as announced earlier by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng when tabling the 2011 Budget at the state legislative assembly.

The ruling will cover all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores including petrol kiosks and chain stores.

Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will have to adhere to the plastic ruling on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in order to ensure the renewal of their licences.

Shoppers will be charged 20 sen for each plastic bag requested. Money collected from the sale of plastic bags will be channelled to ‘Partners Against Poverty’ Special Fund to help the state’s hardcore poor.

For shoppers who buy in volume, used cardboard boxes and paper bags will be available at shopping outlets and hypermarkets.

Random checks will be conducted by government department officers to ensure adherence to the ruling.


Source: All set for double ban..The Star