Penang 2011 - New World Park Food Court

We had been to New World Food Court before during our last trip the Penang as our hotel was nearby, but didn’t realize how good it is until this trip. In fact our friendly tour guide who took us on a couple of half day tours around Penang highly recommended this place, so did a few taxi drivers. During our last visit a few years back this place was newly open and not all the stalls were occupied. This time round the place is fully humming and also quite packed with people - though not as crammed as Gurney Drive. The open concept is nice, and the high roofs allow air to flow freely and hence it was quite pleasant.


Everything we ordered was good. The Pasembor (Indian Rojak) was very expensive - RM15 for the plate - but excellent. The sauce had a great balance of sweet, savoury and spiciness. The pakoras were very crunchy and yet had great complexity of flavours.


The Asam Laksa was the best we had during the trip. Rich flavours spiked with lots of bird eye chilis which gave it a real kick. I could have ordered another one if not for the Prawn Mee that was waiting to be tasted. And it was also very good.


The Char Kuih Tiaw was also one of the better ones we had this trip. It was topped with some crispy bits for added interest.


The kids had Kuih Tiaw Soup with fish balls which they loved.


New World Park Food Court is located on Swatow Lane, not far from Komtar/ Prangin Mall. Besides the food court, there is also an open air retail centre attached to the complex which even boasts a Starbucks Cafe. The retail side doesn’t seem to be doing very well. Go there mainly for the food.

Penang 2011 - Snake Temple

The visit to the Snake Temple was one of the itineraries in our Island Discovery Tour. It was also one of the must-see things for the kids, especially my daughter. For some reason she was determined to get her picture taken with the snakes. I on the other hand has had a snake fobia since I was a kid.

The temple is located in Bayan Lepas - quite close to the airport. In fact you are sure to pass it on the way to George Town from the airport. The temple itself is quite small. It was built to honour a Buddhist monk Chor Soo Kong. Pit Vipers started to take refuge in the temple and the locals thought that they were protectors of the temple.


The braver ones can get their pictures taken with the snakes.


Today development has slowly taken over the natural forests in the surrounding areas, so there are less and less snakes from the wild. Instead the temple has set up a snake farm behind the temple to supply the snakes - so this is more of a tourist trap then a real natural phenomenon. As long as you are happy to overlook this harmless chicanery, the Snake Temple is still an interesting visit. Don’t miss the snake farm at the back where there is a very friendly albino python.

Penang 2011 - Hills and Temple Tour

We booked another half day tour through Viator - this time it was an afternoon Hills and Temple Tour. We were picked up from our hotel at 2.30 p.m. in a car. As the agent had been overbooked, they decided to fit our group into our own car - a Proton Perdana for a private tour. We didn’t mind at all.

Basically the tour only covers the Kek Lok Shi Temple and the funicular ride up to Penang Hills. The temple was the first stop. After a 40 min car ride, we arrived at the foot of Penang Hills where the temple is located. The temple has gained in size over the years, and now they even have a gigantic statue of The Goddess of Mercy reachable by their own private funicular ride. We decided to stay only at the lower levels, as to me the most interested part of the temple was the main complex and the pagoda.


The gigantic statue of The Goddess of Mercy sits at the top of the temple complex, reachable by a short funicular ride.


We made our way to the top of the 8-storey Pagoda, and was rewarded with nice views of George Town.


The Temple is very popular with devotees looking to get their prayers answered.


After spending a couple of hours at Kek Lok Shi, we were ready for the next stop which is not far from the Temple. The guide had warned us earlier that it may be a long wait for the ride as it was a public holiday. We decided to try our luck - but before reaching the station we knew our chances were dim. There were simply too many people - and the wait was up to 3 hours long !


We did get to see the infamous "Kancil Car Park". This building was supposed to be built to ease the car park congestion at the foot of the hill, but they forgot to check the slope and headroom of the ramps ! As a result, only the smallest car - a Kancil (Malaysian made car about the size of an Austin Mini) can use the car park. Somebody somewhere should be in a lot of trouble for this big mess up.


Our nice guide decided to make up for our lost opportunity by taking us to a famous ice kacang shop - Kek Seng on Penang Road, very near the Komtar tower. It was an old kopitiam full of old world charm. The furniture looked like they had not been changed for over 50 years.


The Ice Kacang was quite nice - but in my opinion not better then our own Swee Kang Ice Kacang in Kuching. The durian ice cream was creamy and delicious.


It was quite nice being driven around in our own transport - giving us the feeling of freedom and flexibility usually not available in a packaged tour. After the ice kacang - the guide was kind enough to drop us off at Gurney Plaza for some shopping.

Penang 2011 - Island Discovery Tour

We decided to book a half day Island Discovery Tour to venture out a bit from George Town. Booking through Viator - it was quite hassle free. You pay online, get a voucher with the local contacts - then call the local agent to confirm the tour. After we just landed in Penang, we got a call from the agent to remind us of the tour. Good service.

We were picked up from our hotel at 9.00 a.m. in a medium size van. Besides the four of us, there was a couple from Australia, and another couple from Japan - all very nice travel mates.

The tour starts with a drive to Batu Feringghi - and a visit to batik factory. It was a public holiday so the factory was only operating in holiday mode - with only 1 batik artist on hand to demonstrate the craft. It was interesting for the kids.

The shop had a lot of batik fabric on sale, and also some batik paintings. I was more interested in the batik blocks - and was very happy to be able to snatch 2 of them - the only ones they had at the moment.


Next was a drive up the hill at Teluk Bahang. We stopped at a small road side stall to see some local spices being processed - nutmeg and cloves. There was also a rubber tree right in front of the stall - so a little demonstration of rubber tapping. Frankly this part of the tour would have been more interesting if we had visited the actual spice plantations - but that was not to be.


Fresh nutmeg. You can actually eat the flesh which is a bit like a tart green apple.


View of the northern tip of Penang Island.


Next we drove through some Malay Kampungs in Balik Pulau (literally "back of the island") on the Western side of the island. This area is famous for durians and rice production. It is interesting to see that rice is still grown on this small island.


Our next stop was at the famous Snake Temple. Here is a sneak preview - I will have more pictures in a future post.


The final stop was to a German Jewelry factory. They produce mid to high-end jewelry - including some costing tens of thousands of ringgits. It was an interesting visit - but no pictures were allowed unfortunately.

All in all this was a relaxing drive around the whole island and you see some sights that you don’t normally see on a visit to Penang. The tour takes aroun 3 1/2 hours. Highly recommended if you have the time.