During our recent one week trip to Malaysia, we decided to head north to Penang, famous for being the food capital of Malaysia.
It was a beautiful drive up to the north and we crossed the new 22.5km Penang Bridge which is the longest in South East Asia.
Georgetown
The capital city of Penang and Malaysia’s second largest city, the historical core of Georgetown has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
If it weren’t too hot, I would have loved to walk around and get lost in the streets of this city famous for its rickshaws.
Several places we visited there include:
Penang Esplanade or Padang Kota Lama
Located in the north-eastern tip of Georgetown, this waterfront area has broad walks allowing amazing views of the sea.
A mandatory playground break on the esplanade
The city hall, town hall and Fort Cornwallis are also located here.
The Food Court is a good place to try some delicious local cuisine. Below are pictures of mee sotong (squid noodles), sotong kangkung (squid and morning glory), pasembur (Malaysian Indian salad), cendol (dessert with coconut milk) and kuey teow (stir fry flat rice noodles).
Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
Another popular seafront promenade in George Town is Gurney Drive, also home to the famous Hawker Centre. Most important things to try here would have to be char kuey teow, asam laksa (rice noodles in a spicy fish broth) and cendol.
Our son slurping away his asam laksa like a true Malaysian
Penang 3D Trick Art Museum
What a fun place to spend some time and take pictures with family or friends. I would highly recommend it!
Penang Botanic Gardens
As we were too lazy to walk in the heat, we paid a little fare to get on this open-air vehicle that drove us around the Gardens. We even saw wild monkeys walking around.
Khoo Kongsi
Khoo Kongsi is one of the most distinctive Chinese clan associations in the country. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit of the magnificent clan house and several other buildings that make up the complex.
A super cool fish pond that was once a drain
Queensbay Mall
A trip to the largest shopping mall in Penang was not to be missed during our short time there. It served as an easy meet up spot for family and friends. The food court was similar to the hawker center in Gurney Drive but with the comforts of air conditioning. Below you can see the famous chili pan mee, seafood in a spicy sauce as well as grilled sting ray on a banana leaf.
Ferry ride
As we had time to kill, my dad thought it would be fun to take the free ferry ride back to the main island, so we did just that.
Penang
See what else we did during our one week in Malaysia here!
