Thriving Tourist Island of Penang

Coming to state of Penang, the only thing I knew about it was that you can get one of the most fabulous tasty food here. But once I arrived and spent 4 nights here, Penang Island offers much more.

We arrived at George Town from Kuala Lumpur via Aeroline bus. I have to admit, I have taken my share of buses during my travels and this bus kicks ass! It offers luxury bus travel for an affordable price. What makes them stand out compared to other buses is that they run the bus like it's an airplane. For 60 RM one-way, you get to choose your seat including a solo seat. It has a bathroom. It offers a meal and drinks. And ... the seats have leg recliners! It was just absolutely awesome to have that on the 4.5 hours ride. I had no trouble falling asleep within the first hour of our bus ride.

The bus took us all the way over the Penang Bridge (13.5 km), that connects the island to the mainland, to Penang Island. So there was no need to hop off at Butterworth and take the ferry (although you can do that as well). We still had to take a taxi into George Town to our hotel. It cost us about 25 RM from the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal.

George Town is UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site housing beautiful architectural time pieces influenced by the colonial times as well as the those from Malaysian, Indian, Thai, Burmese and Chinese cultures. You will see perfectly white mosques and colourful temples all over the city and island. For the places outside George Town, you can take the bus but we got lucky and had a taxi driver come to us asking if he can give a tour. You will find that many taxi drivers will approach you all over Malaysia with this offer. You can haggle the price with them. They will also have a limit on the amount of hours. Go over and you may be charged a bit more. We got a 4 hour tour for 100 RM for the 4 of us which was really good. We also went over the hour so that is how we learnt about the extra charge :)

The most intriguing mosque I have seen is just outside George Town called the Floating Mosque of Tanjung Bungah or Masjid Terapung. Despite being called a floating mosque, it isn't really floating on the sea per say but built on stilts to give it that illusion. Like any religious building, there are rules regarding your participation in the mosque. I ended up just taking photos around it and from the doorway but did not enter. Even though I have not participated in any mosque, I appreciate the ever so peaceful calling of prayers. There's something about it that just takes my toubles and worries away.

The Kek Lok Si Temple was the most fascinating for me. It is a 7-story Buddhist temple. Our taxi driver, David, took us all the way to the top and even got stuck just burning his tires for a few minutes at one point because of how steep the roads were getting. By starting at the top, it made it easier (esp. with retired parents and aunt) to go downwards instead of up. At the top, you will see the big statue of  Kuan Yin statue (godess of Mercy). Believe it or not, the statues that caught my eye and made me smile was not of any god or godess but little chinese horoscope statues scattered everywhere around the top area. They were so cute and I couldn't help taking photos of them. There were even ones of disney characters! In order for you to go down to the lower level from the top, you can take a cable car for about 2 RM. From there, it's just stairs from one level to another. Take your time and enjoy. There's plenty of food and clothing stalls once you are finished.

As for getting around in George Town, there's a free bus (yes I said free - I know how we all love free stuff), the Hop On Free Central Area Transit (CAT). The bus will have MPPP as a sign or FREE CAT. It comes around quite often and stops at 19 designated stops all over George Town. They are all numbered so it makes things a little easier. It also goes to the ferry and bus station where you can catch the free (yup - again free) ferry to Butterworth station on the mainland of Penang. I only found that out because I had the pleasure to meet an American traveller named Meg who was going to Butterworth via this station to catch a train to Thailand. I am always happy to meet people and hear their stories. There are many things to see and do in George Town and if you just want to relax, you can always hit the beach nearby (the free shuttle goes near there) and have a drink. It's such a relaxing place that there's no need to rush unless of course you have a limited time here; then you may just have to with everything to see and do.