Penang – Travels with Ali

~ Postcards from Penang, Malaysia ~

Once again we were back in Penang, almost a year to the day. Anthony was determined to accomplish what he failed to do last year and climb Penang Hill. It was my turn this year to succumb to food poisoning on our first night here. Fortunately not as bad as he was, just had to spend the first day in the hotel, sleeping it off.

We were staying in a place called the Ascot Gurney, situated on Gurney Drive. It was a fabulous hotel, ideally situated within walking distance to many restaurants and right on the waterfront.

A view from our room and the pool area, where I spent many an hour relaxing and reading.

Mixing the old with the new

We did some walking around and did some shopping, also had lunch in cafes and restaurants. I wasn’t fussed about doing any sightseeing as we saw so much the year before. I did manage to eat some of the massive lunch that we ordered, good job we were sharing!

The day dawned when Anthony finally made up his mind to climb Penang Hill. It was decided that he would take a taxi to the bottom of the hill in the botanical gardens and I would take the funicular train up. Once he had left I looked up how to get there and realised it was closed for maintenance that week! I was in a dilemma about what to do. Once I had spoken to him he said there was a jeep service that took you up the hill, so I jumped in a taxi to where the jeep service was.

Honestly these guys were raking it in, it was one jeep per party of four. When I asked if I could share they said no, but Anthony was allowed to come back down with me. It was organised chaos, you were given a number on a small sticker to put on the back of your phone, the price was astronomical and one guy said it was more expensive than his air ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Penang. I had to wait for around 30 minutes for a jeep to be free and then it was a 15 minute drive to the top. It took Anthony just under two hours to climb up.

Penang Hill

A number of hills are covered by Penang Hill, with the highest point being Western Hill that stands at an altitude of 833 meters (2,733 feet) above sea level. Penang Hill is a hilly and forested area that stands out from the lowlands of Malaysia. The area was used as a retreat during the British colonial period, and is now a very popular tourist destination due to its history and heritage.

Because of the funicular railway being closed most of the shops and cafes were closed also. The only place open was The Bellevue Hotel, where we sat and had lunch. Here we spotted black gibbons swinging through the trees. They moved too quickly for me to get a good photo.

Breathtaking views from the top, and so much flora and fauna to see. There were bees and dragon flies swooping in and out of the flowers.

🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

On our last night we decided to treat ourselves to dinner in a fancy restaurant. It was called Thirty Two at The Mansion overlooking the water. Having just recently celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary, I thought it was very apt.

The lobby and waiting areas

Not sure of the relevance of Boy George being hung on the wall, but he’s a favourite of mine so I snapped him at once.

There is also a beach bar at the back, called Beach Blanket Babylon.

The food was delicious and I would recommend a visit here if you have the time.

As usual though Anthony was still hungry, so off we went looking for pork satay which is not easy to find in Penang. We took a taxi to a street food market and saw there was a long line for the satay. Deciding he didn’t want to queue up, he went straight to the cook and got served straight away!

This is the end of our adventures in Asia, thanks to everyone for tagging along.

The Last of Penang – Day Five

There wasn’t meant to be a day five here, but here we are! Today is our 31st Wedding Anniversary, I had planned to be celebrating with my dear husband on the beach but instead had breakfast and lunch by myself. On the positive side Anthony did feel well enough to take a walk along the esplanade in the early evening.

We decided to have an early dinner right in the grounds of Fort Cornwallis, at a restaurant called Kota, luckily there was a “healthy vegetable broth” on the menu for Anthony. Fort Cornwallis is now under construction and there are plans to rebuild it exactly as it was in 1786 complete with a surrounding moat.

Captain Francis Light greeted us at the front of the restaurant.

This clock was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and stands sixty feet tall. One foot for every year of her reign.

Last photos of our trip below

This is Beach Street Fire Station built in 1908. A beautifully restored Edwardian style building.

Another Edwardian style building built in 1903 by the British

A typical home of a rich Chinese family over a century ago. Many years ago we did take a tour inside. It has been kept in exquisite condition and over 1,000 antiques are on display inside.

Apart from the drama with my dear husband, we enjoyed being back in Penang. Staying at The Prestige Hotel was a real treat and the Malaysian people were just so kind through the whole stay.

Next stop – Langkawi!

The Perils and Pitfalls of Penang Food – Days 3 and 4

After our very delicious dinner the night before my dear husband awoke in the early hours in incredible pain. He had succumbed to severe food poisoning, I suspect from a noodle stall on the quay when he walked back from Gurney Plaza.

As soon as possible the next day I went in search of a chemist. It was a blistering hot day unlike the day before. Well I searched in vain as I remembered it was a public holiday so had to make do with some gatorade I found in a mini mart. Of course we had to revise all plans and just stay close to the hotel.

Anyway to cut a long story short, the next day we found a chemist and bought appropriate medication. Around lunchtime he rallied and we went for lunch.

**My lunch which I managed to eat half of before the drama unfolded**

My crazy husband decided to eat a laksa for lunch, thinking he’s iron man. He then got up and said he felt dizzy and walked to the door where he promptly collapsed in the alley outside. I went slightly hysterical at that point and yelled for help. He was so unresponsive that I thought he had had a stroke. I can’t say enough good things about the people who rushed to our aid. An ambulance was called and off he went with me to find my own way.

Thankfully he was admitted straightaway to Penang General Hospital and was soon hooked up to fluids. I went back to the hotel where I called my son, his girlfriend and my daughter. Maddy, Laurence’s girlfriend was the first to answer and got the full brunt of my hysteria. Finally I spoke to Laurence who calmed me down. I decided to go back to the hospital and not wait for their phone call.

The Doctor said she wanted to keep him overnight but Anthony said no, it was quite a basic hospital with what he calls “starter block” toilets. So we went off armed with a prescription which we tried to fill at the hospital pharmacy, but his arm started spurting blood so we had to walk all the way back to ED to get this bandaged up.

We were supposed to be leaving the next day for Langkawi but I made the executive decision to stay another day in Penang, which in hindsight was a good decision.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I will be posting more positive stories in the next few days!

Four Glorious Days in Penang – Day one

Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Penang on Malaysian Airlines took just one hour. Our flight was at 2 pm and we arrived in plenty of time for a change! We printed our own boarding passes and luggage tags and while I attached the tags I asked Anthony to hold the boarding passes along with the peeled off labels. When all was done I asked him for the passes back but he had just promptly walked over to the security desk and handed everything over to be thrown away. Back he went to retrieve them. Just one job was all I said.

For the next four days we were going to be exploring Penang and staying at The Prestige Hotel. Close to all the heritage buildings and many restaurants to indulge in delicious food.

A luxuriously large room with great amenities with robes and slippers! No view to speak of though, oh well can’t have everything. I love the way the toiletries are displayed.

**The Swimming Pool on the 4th floor rooftop – luckily not segregated!**

**Malayan Railway Building from the pool**

After checking in and leaving our bags we had a quick wander around the neighbourhood. As I mentioned before it was a long holiday weekend here and this was in evidence as many places were closed and the streets were empty.

Penang is rich in history and culture and is such a wonderful place to wander around. It is a Unesco Heritage Listed Site. On 11 August 1786, Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company landed in Penang and renamed it Prince of Wales Island in honour of heir to the British throne. Source: Wikipedia. Francis Light is now credited as the founder of Penang.
Many of the buildings are beyond repair now but there are a few that are still resplendent and have been restored and maintained. It seems on looking around that there are buildings under renovation now, even a few with steel girders propping them up.

The buildings below are ones we passed on our walk to dinner.

**Beautifully restored French colonial building**

We decided on a French restaurant that night, I’m not one for spicy foods but I knew tomorrow that it would be Anthony’s turn. The restaurant we chose was called Two Frenchies. Their website states – “Two very good friends who happened to be French . . . and knew nothing about running a restaurant , decided one lazy afternoon that they were going to bring their culture of food to Penang”.

It was all delicious and the service was excellent. The wife of one of the chef’s kept popping by to see if we were enjoying everything.