Penang Travel Tips Part 3 : Things To Do

Chowrasta

Go here for two main reasons :
1) Books : Books are really cheap here…you can get old and new books. New books will cost you only RM20 and they are of good quality. Bring loads of money cos trust me, you will be tempted to buy the whole shop! Readers are referred to this post and this post on how to get there and which bookshop specifically to go to.

2) Food : People usually buy tau sa pneah (RM6 per box), nutmeg (oil and fruit) and other junk food like jeruk from here. The tau sa pneah here is halal cos they use vegetable oil. However they do have the one with pork lard which costs more so make sure you ask first. Located at the ground floor. Note : If you’ve never tried tau sa pneah before, let me tell you that it’s pretty awesome!


Kek Lok Si

This is simply a gorgeous temple that you must visit. There is one area which is full of Buddha statues…lovely. And you can take the lift up to see the Quan Yin statue. Remember to take the camera along cos you will want to take lotsa pixx. It is basically up on the hill so you will have to make your way up…either by foot or by car. But it’s better to walk up cos along the way up there are plenty of stalls that sell stuff for cheap. All imitation goods of course. Tip : Bargain to below 50% then work your way up. Usually if you don’t get what you want and walk off, they will give you the price you want.
Location : Air Itam
Hours : During weekdays, I know the stalls only open from 5.30pm onwards. Of course I haven’t been there in years so I could be wrong.
Getting there : you can take the Air Itam bus from Komtar. Tell the driver to tell you when to get down. Alternately you can drive.


Night market

Along Ferringhi stretch. You can get anything you want here…clothes (funky clubbing tops), lovely accessories, CDs, VCDs, DVDs (all original of course! :p), bags, paintings, beach stuff etc. Remember to bargain down. For the best place to get the original DVDs, I would recommend this place : As you’re heading towards Ferringhi, after the traffic lights in front of Golden Sands, you will see this huge green-neon parking sign to the right. Park there (it’s smack between the stalls) and when you walk back out, it is the 1st stall on your left right next to the bridge.
Hours : they are usually open only in the evenings from about 6-7pm onwards. On the weekends, they can go up till around 1am.


Beach

While Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah are spectacular, I think there are better beaches around like Miami Beach and other places. Not too sure though. In Tanjung Bungah, you can just cut through Sandy Bay to use their beach. If the guard gives you grief, then you can use the public entrance towards the left of Crown Prince/Jewel (near the residential area).
In ferringhi, if you can’t go thru the hotels you can just get to the beach at Bayu Senja/Sunset Bistro. They have a lot of water sports there.
Oh and there is also another place called Monkey Beach which is past Bayu Senja. Apparently you can rent a boat and go there….supposedly they have lotsa water sports there. Will update once I get more details on this.

Warning : I would strongly advise against swimming in the sea. Even though I know they say it’s seasonal, the sea is full of jelly fish la…many many many of my friends have been stung before. One while he was sitting right next to me! (Did you enjoy pissing on yourself, Din? Heh heh)


Botanical gardens : *Yawn* If you love nature and long walks and soul searching blah blah blah
Location : Waterfall road. Head towards Ferringhi area. When you reach the Waterfall Rd (you will recognize it by the lovely Indian drawings on the road), instead of turning right at the traffic lights heading towards Gurney, go straight down.


Snake temple : Never been there before but I hear there are no more snakes there.


War museum

According to my friend, it’s quite a nice museum…not in terms of décor la…in terms of the stuff they have there.
Location : Bayan Lepas. After passing by Seagate (another popular eating joint) on your left, go straight down till you reach the curve in the road. Follow the curve to the right and just a few minutes away will be the turning to the museum on your left. It’s located in the jungle.


Boat ride

You can take boat rides all over Penang I’m sure. The one I took was from Seagate (Bayan Lepas) and we went all the way round Pulau Aman. On our way back, the sun was setting and the view was just spectacular!! You can rent a boat from any of the fishermen along the sea there.


Camping

At Kerachut. Apparently a good spot for fishing as well. Not safe for girls to go alone though, if you wanna spend the night that is. And pack your own food.
Location : Keep driving straight down after Ferringhi.


Penang Road

This may seem odd but there is nothing I enjoy more than walking along Penang Road. Not in the day time of course when your ass will be on fire, but towards the evening time when it’s a lot cooler. There is just so much interaction and culture there….the things you get to see are just amazing….the different kinds of people, the traders trying to sell their goods, the different kinds of food you can get. It’s really nice. You can also take a death-defying trishaw ride from Cititel to Komtar which is lovely but will make you crap in your pants cos of the way these fellows ride.

Ferry

We do this sometimes…just hop on to the ferry and go to Butterworth and back. It’s just gorgeous especially at night when you can see all the jelly fish all glowing brightly in the sea. And the breeze is fabulous. Journey to Butterworth is free; trip back is only RM1.20 if I’m not mistaken. But usually we just hide in the lower level where the cars are till they start moving again. Hee

There are many more places that I used to go to back in my undergrad but I can’t bloody remember, sorry. As always, suggestions are most welcomed!

Part 1 (Accommodation) and 2 (Food)

Next : Night life