Penang is also known as the Pearl of Orient. It is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Malaysia for both local and international tourists. This is my first trip to Penang, I'm really excited and anxious about what are the interesting that we are going to do. First stop, we pay a visit to my dad's hometown in Ipoh, Perak.
We went to Sharing Good Times biscuit factory to buy some snacks which is homemade. The newest flavor was durian. When hit the road, my dad told us that the things he used to do when he was a kid. We stopped by one of the shops to have a lunch break. My dad told me that
hor fan is one of the famous cuisine in Perak. After that, we hit back on the road to proceed our journey to Penang.
Unfortunately on the way Butterworth jetty, we were stuck in a traffic jam because there was an accident scene along the way. After a few minutes the scene of the accident was cleared, so we boarded a ferry which cars can enter. Dad stooped the car engine. We hopped off the car to look at the breath taking scenery. When I looked around, the scene was familiar to me. "I've seen this place before," I thought. Suddenly, it hit me! It was one of the scenes from Astro's hit movie
The Journey which Uncle Quan (played by Uncle Frankie Lee) and Benji (played by Ben Andrew Priffer) boarded this very ferry to distribute wedding invitations.
At 7.38 pm, we had arrived our destination-Penang. Our first night we stayed at E&O hotel- a British themed hotel. I loved it very much because I'm an avid royal fan. After unpacking our stuffs, we stretched our tired legs after the long journey. The next morning, we went to the hotel's restaurant to savour breakfast. They had a wide array of food from Malaysia's cuisines to Western cuisines to Japanese cuisines. After savouring breakfast, we took a long stroll along the pavement. At 12.30 pm, it's to for us to leave E&O hotel and head to Hard Rock Café Hotel.
But before we proceed to the hotel, let me tell you what I did. We headed to the Nyonya Mansion which is very renown place for both local and international tourists. What's more Singapore's 2009 hit television drama series
The Little Nyonya was filmed at this very mansion. The mansion was really This is my second visit to the Nyonya house, the first one was in my hometown-Malacca. The next stop was a visit to the Burmese and Thai Buddhist temples. Inside the main hall of the temple, there was a huge reclining Buddha or Sleeping Buddha known by us Malaysians while at the Burmese Buddhist temple, there were around 30 pictures of the story of the Lord Buddha.
We left the temples at around 6.00 pm because it was going to rain soon. On the way to the Hard Rock Café , I dozed off because it was a tiring day. At 7.00 pm, we had reached at our destination. Since I'm a music lover myself, there was a mini stage at the lobby for performers to perform at night. We were too tired to go out so we decided to have room service on our first night at the hotel.
The next morning, my mum's friend-Aunty Erissa who is a Penangnite took us on a bicycle and trishaw ride to visit to some popular places in Penang. My favourite part of the ride was the Chew Jetty (姓周桥) - another scene from
The Journey and 2010's
Ice Kacang Puppy Love. Then we went to Penang's most famous Buddhist temple-Kek Lok Shi. This was my first time visiting to the temple. There was a huge statue of
Bodhisiva Guan Yin. To get up there you have to board a cable elevator to get a closer view of the statue. Wishing ribbons were available to write down your wishes. While on the way back to the hotel, there was a Hindu procession. We also bought sugar cane drinks too.
After getting enough rest, we headed for the butterfly farm. To be honest, I'm not into those topic on animals and insects because I have phobia on them. My 15-year-old sister on the other hand is not a problem. She loves animal since she was young. After going around the farm, we went to the souvenir shop to buy some souvenirs for our friends and family.
On our forth and final day in Penang, we had breakfast at the Hard Rock Café Hotel restaurant to have breakfast. After savouring breakfast, we went to the Cat Café. The upper floor of the café divided to sections-One is to enjoy your food and the other is for cat lovers to mingle with the cats. My sister enjoyed it very much. Next, we went to a camera museum which is just beside the Cat Café. Celebrities such as Joanne Yew-the main character of movie The Journey went there before to promote the movie.
It was indeed a trip to remember. I wish can go to Penang in the near future.
