Sunday, July 10, 2022

Brief Account of 4D3N Vacation in Penang

My ex-colleague and old friend Andy Lim Soo Lian invited me and my wife Soh Ai to join him to Penang from Tue. 5/7/2022 till Fri. 8/7/2022 to stay in his time-sharing Hotel Leisure Cove (under Leisure Vacation Management S/B), Jalan Tanjung Bungah, Penang.  We have earlier joined him to Greenhill Resort, Cameron Highlands in January 15th to 18th, 2022,  and to Desaru Beach Resort, Johor in February 22nd to 25th, 2022 utilizing his penultimate membership of Leisure Holiday.  

DAY 1: Tue. July 5, 2022

8.30am  Soo Lian punctually arrived at my house at BSL from Seremban.  We went to 45 Sky Restaurant at Section 11, BSL for breakfast.  

The traffic condition was very bad and it took us 1.5 hour to leave KL city to hit the North-South Highway.

11.05am  Stopped at R&R Rawang for a break and refreshment. We took kopi (2xRM1.50 hot, RM1.90 cold) and 3 pcs. of pau (RM9).  Left at 11.40am.

1.25pm  Stopped at Hentian Rehat / Agro Mall for a break.

3.30pm  Stopped at R&R Semanggol and took Mee Bandung Muar (3xRM5). Left at 3.50pm.

5.35pm  Reached Hotel Leisure Cove, No. 563, Jln. Wee Hein Tze, Tg. Bungah, Penang and checked into our 2-room apartment (room 508) with a very spacious sitting and dinning place.  The hotel is old but clean enough.  The sofa chairs are uncomfortable as the seats are too deep/long for leaning. .

8.05pm  Visited Coco Island Street Food, Persiaran Gurney (aka Gurney Drive) and savoured hawkers’ food like fried oyster (蚝煎--RM20, Dongbei dumplings (东北饺子 6 no. for RM12, lobak (卤肉 RM13, fried noodles 炒粿条和炒河粉).and kek hua hot (菊花热茶) drink (3xRM2.50).  The food was tasty.

10.10pm  Returned to hotel.

11.00pm  Good night.

R&R Rawang
R&R Semanggol
Hotel Leisure Cove, Tg. Bungah, Penang
Checking in 
Kitchen area
Master bedroom
2nd room
View from 5th floor balcony
At the balcony
Sitting room
Gurney Drive Street Food
Fried oyster (RM20 plate)
Dong Bei dumplings (RM1.3 each)
Lobak
Fried noodles
Seafood restaurant next to Coco Island
Hotel roof top's swimming pool
Surveyed the swimming pool 

DAY 2: Wed. July 6, 2022

7.30am  Left for Penang Hill. This morning’s plan was hiking.

8.10am  Breakfast at Kafe Lye Lye, Jln. Bendera.  All 3 of us took Penang prawn mee (3xRM5.50) and coffee (each RM1.50).

9.00am  Reached Penang Hill’s multi-storey car park building.  Lim’s university mate Chan CT came to join us.

Soh Ai took the funicular train (RM12 for return tickets) to go up the hill while we hiked. Lim, Chan and I being senior citizens bought a discounted one-way ticket (express lane) for RM3 each for the return trip.  

Both Lim (aged 69) and Chan (aged 65) are seasoned hikers, but I am only a first-timer.  So it tuned out to be a horrible hiking experience for me!

Lim had earlier predicted that our planned Heritage Hiking Trail of 4.70km to the peak (735m high) would take about 2.5 hr.

I only realized later that required hiking time can only be achieved by seasoned hikers like Lim and Chan.  On the other hand, I was so inexperienced and unprepared that I didn’t carry any bottle of water during the hiking, while both my companions carried a haversack..

The trail is all the way quite steep and strenuous to walk.  Shortly after 10 minutes of walk, I already found myself heavily panting.  My friends had purposely slowed down their pace so as to let me catch up, but I still lagged behind them most of the time. I sweated so profusely that my entire shirt and pants were soaking wet.

Midway along the trail, I was so dehydrated that Lim offered mineral water for me to drink and let me eat some rambutan plucked from the spot to gain energy.

Towards the last 1.2km trail, both my left and right calves cramped.  Luckily Lim helped massage and relieved my pains to a great extent. Chan then suggested for us to walk out (another 100m away) to the main road and tried catching an electric car to bring us up to the peak.  I seriously thought I couldn’t make it to the top by walking anymore.   

We were lucky to hitch a ride from an electric car for free and reached the peak at 12.45pm with Soh Ai waiting there.

I was so exhausted that I drank 2 bottles of 100 Plus to quench my thirst and had very little mood to enjoy the scenic views on the hill top.

1.35pm  We took the funicular train to go down Penang Hill and parted way with Chan.

We stopped by Air Itam to buy/take-away asam laksa and koay teow soup to bring back to our hotel.  I had been driving all day long but I was so tired due to hiking that I asked Soo Lian to take the wheel for the rest of the journey.

2.20pm  Returned to hotel.  After taking bath and eating the koay teow soup, I took a nap  on the couch from 3.15pm till 4.45pm. What a sweet nap it was!

Later I penned down a brief narrative in Chinese to share with some friends and posted in my FB as follows: .

其实我从没真正爬过山(hill hiking). 今早随旅伴Lim SL (69岁)和他的大学同学(槟城人)Chan CT 65岁)一起爬槟城升旗山(Penang). 他俩都是登山常客(hikathon members),带着内有必需品的背包登山,我却毫无经验,空手而上.

我们早上9点出发,沿着某一小径前往海拔735公尺的升旗山山顶(我太太则坐缆车).据知徒步距离只有4.7公里,但倾斜的羊肠小径对我非常吃力,不到半路我已气喘如牛,全身湿透,同伴们已放慢脚步让我拾级跟上,同时提供矿泉水给我喝,以及採摘路边红毛丹给我食用以补充体内盐量,我还是举步维艰!

走到最后1.2公里路时,我的左右小腿终于抽筋了.幸得Lim替我按摩舒筋,Chan则建议乘坐电动车代步,中午1245分终于抵达山顶,我已全身乏力,马上喝了两瓶100 Plus解渴,已无心浏览山上风景了,过后我们都坐缆车下山.

回到酒店洗过澡后,从下午315分睡到445,总算稍为解除过度的疲劳.

今日一之役后,我对爬山已小生怕怕了!

7.15pm  Left hotel.

7.35pm  Dinner at Tg. Bungah Hawkers’ Center.  I took braised duck rice (卤鸭饭 RM7, pig intestine (猪大肠 RM4.  Soh Ai ordered lobak (RM14.50).  A glass of barley drink cost RM1.80.

8.10pm  Visited Lotus’s Mall and later Plaza Gurney.  Window-shopping only.

9.30pm  Back to hotel. I took a bit of the Air Itam (bisu) Asam Laksa.

11.10pn  Hit the sack.

View from 5th floor balcony
Jalan Bendera (leading to Penang Hill)
Breakfast before hiking
Penang prawn mee stall
Penang prawn mee (RM5.50)
Penang Hill carpark complex
At the car park
Penang Hill funicular train station
Ticket fares for funicular trains
At the start of Heritage Trail Hike 
The sloping trail
Lim and Chan had no problem in hiking
View from part of the trail
I could hardly catch up with the pace of my friends
One of the temple places along the trail. I was then dead tired.
The place where we hitched a ride from an electric car
Finally reached the peak of Penang Hill
First train cabin in Penang
Refreshment at hill top cafeteria.  
Funicular train arriving
Incoming passengers alighting from the train
Lim and Chan in the front coach
Tg. Bungah Hawkers' Centre
My braised duck rice + pig intestine dinner
Soh Ai's favorite food - lobak
Plaza Gurney

DAY 3: Thu. July 7, 2022

Today happens to be a public holiday in Penang in conjunction with George Town UNESCO World Heritage Day :

8.40am  Breakfast at Long Sheong Kopitiam near our hotel. Savoured Penang white curry mee(白咖喱面 RM6) and Jawi chai kuay (爪夷菜粿 RM1.30 each). Coffee was RM1.80 per cup.

After breakfast, we walked to the nearby Tg. Bungah Market & Food Complex where I bought some fruits (RM10 for 3 packets of mango, guava and dragon ball fruit and a pair of sandals.(RM15).

9.20am  Back to hotel.

I had an appointment to meet ex-journalist/chat group friend Chiew Mui Kheng (周美馨) and her hubby Mr. Lee 李荣白 for the first time at New World Park Food City (新世界美食城) , 102, Jln. Burma. George Town at 12.00pm.

10.30am  Left hotel to go to George Town where we stopped by Ghee Hiang (  义香饼家) at Jln. Burma to buy a few types of tau sar pneah (豆沙饼) amounting to  RM62.60. The next-door popular tau sar biscuit shop of Him Heang (馨香饼家) was full of customers queuing in front of the door and that discouraged us from patronizing.

11.15am  We arrived at New World Park Food City (open space parking RM5 per entry) and ordered NWP signature ice cendol (RM4.50 per bowl) while Soh Ai ordered ice kacang + mango (RM9.50).  The cendol was not that nice but Soh Ai’s drink seemed better.

12.00pm  Chiew MK and Mr. Lee arrived on time. They came from Butterworth.

We had a very pleasant long chit-chat that lasted almost 4 hours (the initial plan was only 1 hour).  A lot of life experiences and stories were exchanged among us and it was indeed a great meetup!

3.55pm  After bidding farewell to Chiew and Lee, we proceeded to visit Chew Jetty (open space parking RM6 per entry) and had a coffee break (RM2 per cup) at a coffee shop along the main road.

4.55pm  Left for Komtar, George Town.

5.15pm  Reached Komtar.  Walked to Jln. Penang and savoured the famous Teochew Cendol (RM4.40 per bowl) before buying a variety of local products at a road-side stall (total RM77).

6.40pm  Visited Straits Quay Marina Mall (as recommended by Chiew MK) at Tg. Tokong, Penang’s seafronting retial mall sitting on reclaimed land. The sight of many small vessels in the water was indeed mesmerizing!

7.45pm  Dinner at GOODGOODAY Restaurant, Jln. Lembah Pernai near our hotel. The cost of 3 dishes of special seafood (mantis prawn) RM16, vegetable RM12 and beancurd RM15, rice RM3.60, drinks RM2.10.  Total RM48.70..

8.20pm  Returned to hotel.

10.10pm  Hit the sack.

Shops near our hotel
Coffee shop for our breakfast
White curry mee
Jawi cai kuay
Market & Food Complex
Inside the market & food complex
Ghee Heang biscuit shop

Tambun biscuits 
Him Heang with queue of customers at the entrance
Walking to the New World Park Food City
Cendol - taste so-so only
Ice kacang with mango and ice-cream
Chiew Mui Kheng and her hubby Mr. Lee
A group photo for commemoration
Lim (pic left) and Lee engaging in interesting conversation
A wefie with Chiew
Temple near Chew Jetty at Weld Quay
Chew Jetty
Monkey God
Prangin Mall, Komtar
Penang  Road famous Teochew Chendul
Teochew Chendul (RM4.40 per bowl)
Penang Road stalls
Local products bought
Straits Quay, Tanjung Tokong
Straits Quay Marina Mall
Our dinner at Goodgooday Restaurant

DAY 4: Fri. July 8, 2022

8.00am  Breakfast at Tg. Bungah Market & Food Complex where the first thing I did was to buy a copy of NYSP which published my column article today.  I took yong-tau-foo mee (RM10.40).

8.40am  Soo Lian and I walked to the beach behind our hotel to take a look at the Straits of Malacca.

9.35am  Soo Lian and I went for a swim on the hotels roof top swimming pool till 10.15am.

10.50am  Checked out from hotel and left Penang.

The northward bound traffic condition along the entire N-S Highway was seen to be very heavy with cars stranded for many kilometers, probably due to the upcoming long weekend holidays (i.e. Sunday and Monday are the first two days of Hari Raya Haji)..

2.25pm  Late lunch at Restoran Jin Cheng, Tapah where we had Teochew-steamed talapia fish (潮州蒸金凤鱼 RM32), black vinegar pork trotters (猪脚醋 RM14), stir-fried saplings (清炒树苗 RM8),  Chinese Pur-er teapot RM2.50 and rice (2 big) RM2.60. Total RM59.10.  We also bought some local products (RM49.38) there.

3.10pm  Left Tapah.

6.05pm  Returned home at BSL.  Soo Lian picked up his car and returned to Seremban.

That concluded our memorable vacation to Penang.  My total expenditure for the 4D3N trip was RM618.00 excluding petrol and tolls. 

Loading some of our luggage in the car prior to checkout 
A final view of Hotel Leisure Cove main entrance
Tg. Bungah Market & Food Complex 
My breakfast at a glance
Floating mosque at the seaside behind our hotel
A selfie with Soo Lianat the beach
Roof top swimming pool's notice 
Going for a swim before checkout
Ready to depart from the hotel and farewell to Penang
Tapah
Lunch at Tapah restaurant
Delicious Teochew-steamed talapia 
Local products bought from Tapah

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