being a beach butterfly

The Streets of Penang

On my birthdays, budget and schedule permitting, I try to go to the beach. The year before last was spent with Mitch in Whitsundays. Last year, as we were based in Singapore, we had to go out of the country to fulfill my birthday wish. Let’s face it, Singapore is a lot of things, but beach paradise it ain’t.

We decided to go to Penang in Malaysia for a few reasons:

1. We could easily take the bus from Singapore to Penang
2. Accommodations are MUCH cheaper there
3. We wanted to do water sports
4. We heard it’s renowned for its awesome food
5. We’ve never been!

Those are all good reasons, and so we did our research and booked our annual Chay’s Beach Birthday Getaway!

The first part of our trip was spent exploring Georgetown. You can’t go to Penang without seeing this historic UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Georgetown is the charming capital of Penang and it is made up of twisting streets punctuated with structures that hark back to the colonial era. Although, most of Georgetown now boasts more modern structures, every street still lends a peak of the old days. Colourful shop houses, old buildings, monuments and places of worship from the British reign still abound.

It is easy enough to get around Georgetown. If you are billeted close to the center of town you can pretty much walk to most of the places of interest. Although I have to warn you that it is not very pedestrian friendly and open ditches line both sides of the road. As long as you have your wits about you and you look out for the potholes and sewage on one side and zooming motorcycles on the other, you should be fine. Really. We were.

Now if you don’t feel up to the challenge, you can the take the bus. Rapid Penang runs a network of buses that would take you pretty much where you want to go. If you don’t mind waiting and getting lost a bit, this is an easy and convenient way of seeing the island. Before leaving your hotel, do your research or ask your friendly receptionist which buses to take to get where you want to go. Their bus shelters lack necessary information. But if you do still manage to get lost the bus drivers and locals will be happy enough to point you to the right direction. Not to worry though, getting lost is half the fun!

Cabs are not too expensive and the drivers are friendly and know a lot of the shortcuts to the one way streets. If you’re in a hurry or lugging a lot of things this is also a viable option.

However, our favourite form of public transport in Penang was the trishaw.

We found this is the best way to see the city whilst helping an “uncle” out. Open air and one with the elements. As well as a legacy of Penang’s past.

This is what we saw of Penang on three wheels and when we hopped off it to explore some more:

Don’t forget to ask trishaw uncle to drop you off at Fort Cornwallis to learn more about Penang’s past and what an important role this walled part of town played in Malaysia’s history. Get a cold drink to sip while wandering and mucking about too!