Penang

Charm

Never really wondered why people loved going to Penang over a weekend. To me, Penang was a place which was somewhat similar to Singapore, maybe just a little cheaper. So to see it for myself, my friends and I, those I met during the Fujifilm photowalk, decided to take a flight down to Penang over a weekend to see what was in store for us.

Boy, we were in for a treat. Excluding the heat of course. That definitely wasn’t a treat.

Georgetown

We decided to stay in this Vintage House situated at the heart of Georgetown at Lebuh Victoria. It really was a rustic place which had its own charm to it. It housed all 6 of us comfortably and I would really recommend everyone to stay there when you are in Penang. And once we settled in, we were ready for our adventure.

And did you know that Georgetown is an UNESCO World Heritage Site?

khoo kongsi

The grandest clan temple in Penang, it is also one of the city’s landmarks to visit. Once you arrive, you could feel this serenity both inside and outside the temple which calms you down. Located in Cannon Square, it is also the oldest part of the city in Georgetown. The clan complex resembled as a miniature clan village. That explains the vast area in front of the entrance where it is a good place to take a group shot. Was relatively quiet on the day we visited, but crowds throng on other days for sure.

Streets of Georgetown

The common words that you keep hearing about Penang are rustic, old-fashioned, untouched and many others. I can safely agree to all those terms that were given to Penang. Some other words they missed out were, beautiful, quiet and charm. One of the main reasons to visit Georgetown was to visit as many murals as we could. It was first begun by Mr Ernest Zacharevic, who is touted to be Malaysia’s answer to Banksy. People thronged at the more famous ones and finding them was already an exciting thing to do. Once discovered, everyone would naturally take their phones or cameras out to take a picture to remember them by. If you are alert, you can see some of his work in Singapore as well! Another thing that I really loved about the streets were how every wall or gate has not been touched and the colours tend to tell a story themselves. I leave you all to the pictures who will do the talking.

Cheong Fatt tze mansion

Affectionally called the Blue Mansion, this mansion was built by Cheong Fatt Tze. The mansion was built during the 19th century and building materials were brought in from as far as Scotland. UNESCO awarded it the Asia Pacific Award for Cultural Heritage Conversation in 2000 and it has not looked back since. It is also a small hotel with minor facilities. You might want to stay here if you are into old fashioned places. Did I mention we had a firecracker of a lady as our tour guide? She was amazing.

cafe living

This is the part of Penang that I really had no clue about till I got there. The cafe business there is huge and the cafes put those in Singapore to shame as most of them are ridiculously beautiful! And they hit the most important pre-requisite of every cafe, they were very laid back. Visited Narrow Marrow and Awesome Canteen and they were very much my favourite. Give it a click and visit them!

This part of the trip was a mega last minute trip. Once we arrived at the place, we realised that we did not have much time to fully explore the temple.

kek lok si

This part of the trip was a mega last minute trip. Once we arrived at the place, we realised that we did not have much time to fully explore the temple complex. So we literally ran for it! The gazillion steps up were definitely not easy, but persevere we had to. Good thing there was a cable car up to the main complex where the biggest Guanyin statue in the world greeted us. Was really amazed as to how big it was but the temple itself was a beauty of its own. Enjoy the photos.

au revoir

I will never forget Penang and would definitely come visit again. This time longer. Till the next post,

Ashok Kumar