Discovering Penang - The Pearl of the Orient

Since moving to up north in May, we have not discovered enough of Penang as we have almost always been out of town over the weekends. This month, we decided to stay put and get ourselves around a bit. There is so much to see!

We went the Little Penang Street Market held every last Sunday of the month on Upper Penang Road. This bazaar aims to promote talents in the form of handicrafts or acts. Other than the customary handmade costume jewellery and accessories such as handbags, there were some really interesting eye openers. I found this lady sewing all these cute little baby booties by hand! And an ex-headmaster folding and selling these:(!)

patriotic paper planes!

We made a trip to Balik Pulau for a new friend’s open house. It is located, like what its name suggests really on the other side of the island. I discovered I have car sickness sitting behind with an empty stomach, keeping an active toddler entertained while being driven on a looooong windy road. Balik Pulau is famous for its ang he (red lobster) durian and asam laksa. It has to be a really rewarding kill five birds with one stone trip to get me back there again!

The second house warming the following week was at Botanica SP Setia. It does look like to own a piece of landed property in Penang, you will have to move to the edge of it, far, far away from the city centre. Honestly, most of these new townships are self-sufficient but the idea of staying far away from the city where everything is hasn’t appealed to us yet.

On Merdeka Day, we wanted to go to Queensbay Mall for some shopping since the sale is on but it seemed like the whole of Penang had the same thought! So we took a detour and drove to the Batu Maung area instead. We saw a newly built and nice housing area Southbay. Not surprisingly, these three-storey terrace houses in a gated community are in the millions. There is also a place called the Aquarium in Batu Maung. We were a little skeptical visiting the Aquarium as the signboards directing us there looks dilapidated and uninviting. We will have to bring Baby O back there again some day now that a friend have given us the assurance that it is quite a visitable place.

There is currently a fun fair set up at Queensbay. We went to relive some childhood memories one of those nights and brought Baby O on her first ferris wheel ride. Her expression was nonchalant though she enjoyed watching all the blinking lights off the wheel!

We also managed to see parts of Air Itam while paying a friend a visit in his new showroom status apartment. There is a new development by the Belleview Group coming up but I have to say Air Itam is full of... erm... cemeteries! So if you intend to get an apartment there, just keep in mind what sort of view you want to come home to.

The day before yesterday, we just had to get to one of the Ramadhan Bazaars on the last day of puasa before they are closed for another year. This one is near the Sunshine Market. There weren’t many stalls left, presumably most have gone back to prepare for the big Raya celebration. There weren’t many choices of food left too but we managed to get what we were looking for, lemang, and lots of it! We had to buy a whole bamboo for RM12 as it was the last day. The problem is, we don’t have enough rendang to go with it! Hmm... time to google up some nice rendang recipe.

Then there's swimming in Batu Ferringhi, checking out a pottery class, and trying lotsa new restaurants with yummy food!!! We have to start compiling a food guide soon!

Fun! Fun!! Fun!!!