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Persiaran Gurney drive seaside marina Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 4 — One day in Penang (Around Georgetown, Gurney Drive, Penang Hill)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Feb 09, 2011
/
Malaysia, Travel

Date: 28th September 2010

When we arrived the previous night, we left a rainy Singapore to land in Malaysia, where the rain had followed. We prayed the sun would come out the next day.

Old Penang guesthouse window sunny day — And today morning, our prayers were answered

We decide to set out early as we had only a day in Penang. While the others got ready, I decided to take a few snaps of the place we were staying.

Old Penang Guesthouse is a restored building that retains the charms of the colonial era with rooms at rates from the current backpacker era.

Old Penang Guesthouse upstairs restroom — This is the shower room and toilets upstairs

Old Penang Guesthouse library tv room — They have a ‘living room’ of sorts where you can watch TV & read the papers while you serve yourself breakfast

Old Penang Guesthouse breakfast — This is breakfast: toast, butter (but usually margarine) & fruits

Old Penang Guesthouse notice board — I made list of things I wanted to eat when in Malaysia

Old Penang Guesthouse wooden staircase — You’re instructed to walk softly at night as the flooring is all wooden

Old Penang Guesthouse breakfast area — The dining area

Old Penang Guesthouse view outside — The skies were getting clearer

Once we were all ready, we soon stepped out to head to the harbour, which was walking distance from where we were staying.

Penang Love Lane cheap hotels — There are a lot of budget hotels on Love Lane (that’s the name of the street we were on)

Penang Chulia street daytime 7-Eleven — There’s a 7-Eleven very close to our guesthouse

Penang Han Jiang ancestral temple — Han Jiang ancestral temple

Penang Georgetown Nagore Indian mosque — Nagore Durgha Sheriff mosque

Strolling through Georgetown reminded me of Fort Kochi (I need to put up those photos as well) in Kerala, with its heritage buildings by the sea.

Penang Georgetown Old Chinese temple roof — Many places of worship in and around Georgetown

Penang Georgetown old Chinese temple — Lim Kongsi Clan Temple; when we entered, there was this one dog ‘guarding’ the temple

Penang Georgetown old temple dog — Which came hopping all the way towards me and my camera. And then Loi patted it. Then it went and peed in the bushes.

Just walking past the many temples – be they Indian or Chinese, mosques etc. you get a sense of the religious harmony that exists in Malaysia. Of course, this was only the start.

We reached the road by the ferry terminal and made our way to the other side.

Penang Tanjong marina bus station — There’s a bus station near the ferry terminal

Penang marina harbour restaurant — There’s a sea-facing restaurant at the end of this walkway

Tanjong marina penang docks yachts boats — That’s where the ferries dock

We stepped into a few travel agencies to inquire about ferry prices to Langkawi. Everywhere, it was the standard RM60 (Rs. 900/US$20/€15). It was the same price quoted by the guy at Old Penang Guesthouse, but fearing he may have been quoting a higher rate, we thought we’d ask near the ferry terminal itself.

We bought our tickets for the next day and continued our walk.

Penang clock tower Georgetown circle — Georgetown’s landmark Queen Victoria Memorial Clocktower

Penang sea park — A short distance from the clock tower, and you get the beautiful sea

Fort Cornwalis Penang Georgetown — This where we went next; entry is just RM 2 (Rs. 30)

Fort Cornwalis Sir Francis Light statue Penang — Statue honouring Sir Francis Light

Fort Cornwalis Penang Sir Francis Light statue Ramesh — Ramesh dishonouring Sir Francis Light statue

You can read about the history behind Fort Cornwallis on its Wikipedia page, but from a tourist’s point of view, its nothing spectacular. Then again, when the entry is just RM2, you shouldn’t be expecting much.

Fort Cornwalis Penang sea steps cannon — But we still hung around a bit longer

Fort Cornwallis park Loiyumba umbrella hot Penang — It was quite sunny

After checking out the fort for around 15 minutes, we made our way out.

Fort Cornwalis is right near the Town Hall grounds.

Penang esplanade Padang Kota Lama grounds — Town Hall & City Hall buildings in the background

Penang sea park tree shade sunny day — The esplanade is a nice place to laze under a tree on a sunny day

Penang esplanade Mithun Loiyumba umbrella — I wasn’t imitating Loi, it was sunny (Photograph by Ramesh)

Penang bay road car parking — We continued our stroll along this path

Then, a young, kooky Japanese couple came excitedly towards us and asked us if we could pose for a photograph with them. Assuming they’re tourists wanting to pose with tourists from another country, we figured “Sure, why not”…

Penang Japanese tourists Mithun Ramesh — … and so we asked them for one for ourselves too!

They weren’t the only Japanese we came across. The Japanese were aplenty in Penang, we would later find out.

Penang Mahkamah Tinggi statue headless lady — The building in the back is the Penang High Court

Penang Georgetown town square mushroom cloud — That was one big ‘nuclear’ cloud

We decided to walk towards the popular Gurney Drive.

Georgetown old museum building — Penang museum

Eastern & Oriental hotel Georgetown Penang — The Eastern & Oriental hotel

Georgetown Penang worship plant sea — We stopped here for a break as Ramesh was quite tired from all the walking

Penang bay boats sea facing apartments condos — Gurney Drive was over there

32 at the Mansion restaurant Georgetown Penang — The Mansion, a high end restaurant

Penang tall building club — We got back on to the main road

Persiaran Gurney drive empty food court Penang — We even stopped by this food court for lunch but it was empty — and closed

Penang three buildings — So it was back to the main road

Persiaran Gurney drive premium condos Penang — And a few minutes later, we were finally on Gurney drive

Persiaran Gurney drive road luxury condominiums Penang — A LOT of luxury apartments on this stretch

It took us more than 30 minutes of walking to get to Gurney Drive. If you think that’s too much (or can’t do it), just hail a cab.

Though there were many restaurants along this stretch, plan was to have lunch from the food court at the end of Gurney drive, which is a very popular local joint.

But first, we had to quench our thirst.

We entered the only major shopping mall on Gurney Drive, Gurney Plaza. They have the usual gamut of mall brands and about the same as far as eateries and coffee shops go. I don’t remember how or why, but we sat down at the Chili’s in Gurney Plaza for beer.

Chilis Gurney Plaza Guinness beer — We ordered Guinness… and I stared at the ceiling… for some apparent reason. (Photo by Ramesh)

Gurney Plaza stores shopping mall Penang — The mall isn’t bad at all. We picked our Malaysia SIM cards from the 3rd floor which housed a lot of tech stores.

Gurney Plaza shopping mall Gurney drive Penang — Gurney Plaza shopping mall

The plan was to sit somewhere and have some beer along with lunch, but after the heavy mugs of Guinness and nachos we ordered, we were honestly quite full.

Persiaran Gurney drive food court Penang afternoon — The food court was closed too. Seems like they only open at night.

Persiaran Gurney drive roundabout McDonalds — This is the major roundabout at the end of Gurney drive

Post ‘lunch,’ we realized we still hadn’t seen any of Penang’s major attractions. So we boarded a local bus and headed to the main bus station.

Penang public bus inside — The plan was to see Kek Lok Si temple and take the tram ride up Penang hill

Inside Penang local A/C bus windows — The ride took nearly 20 minutes

Once at the Komtar bus terminal, we boarded a bus from Lane 1 that goes to Kek Lok Si temple.

Penang Kek Lok Si Air Itam apartments — This ride took another 30 minutes and was headed towards Penang hill

Penang Air Itam restaurant — Passed through mostly residential areas and housing colonies for the middle class

Penang Kek Lok Si town Air Itam — When we reached the town of Air Itam it was already well past 5pm

Penang Kek Lok Si Air Itam town — But there it was: Kek Lok Si Temple

Unfortunately, the locals told us that we were too late and it was closing time. Sucks.

Penang Kek Lok Si temple — So all we could do was zoom in and take photos

Penang Kek Lok Si Buddist temple closeup — Seemed like some renovation work was going on

Penang Kek Lok Si temple tomb — I really wanted to check out the biggest Buddhist temple in Penang…

Penang road to Kek Lok Si temple Air Itam — … but we still had to go further up to get to the temple.

So yeah, if you want to see Kek Lok Si temple, make sure you are here well before 6pm.

Instead of waiting around, we decided to head to Penang Hill (or Bukit Bendara as it called locally). So we hailed a cab as the locals said it would take us at least 15 minutes to walk it there.

Penang towards tram ride — The Chinese taxi driver quoted RM7 which sounded reasonable, so we got in

The journey barely took 5 minutes.

Penang Hill tram ride closed construction — We soon reached the foot of Penang Hill and could see the tram line

But unfortunately (again)….

Penang hill tram ride closed Loiyumba — Loi didn’t take the news too well

Turns out renovation work here as well. Couldn’t the taxi driver have told us it was closed? Of course he could have. But he didn’t… ‘cos he was a greedy b@#$%&*!

Disappointed at the turn of events, we decided to simply head back to town. Oddly enough, the very same bus we took to come here was waiting for departure near Penang hill.

Penang Air Itam Kek Lok Si temple background — As you can see, Kek Lok Si temple isn’t that far from here

Penang Air Itam Indian temple — The cultural mix in Malaysia is truly admirable

Penang Air Itam residential building — Passed through the same landmarks

Penang State Mosque Masjid Negeri Georgetown — Penang State Mosque

Penang school boys street vendors — Hmm, not that different from India isn’t it?

Penang restoran Chu Yoke — (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Rahim burger street vendor Penang — Banjo is fried egg (Photograph by Loiyumba)

We got down near the ferry terminal but contemplated going back to the rooms just yet. I wanted to have dinner at Gurney drive, so from the ferry terminal bus station, we availed the Hop-on free bus.

Georgetown Hop on free bus Penang — The Hop-on buses follow a particular route

The Hop-on bus was taking a long route, so we got down at KOMTAR.

Georgetown Komtar Tower tallest building Penang — Komtar Tower — the tallest building in Penang (Photograph by Loi)

Once we reached KOMTAR, we checked out the adjoining mall.

The offerings are anything but glamourous. Not a high-end mall at all. Just the usual clothes, electronics, grey market goods, coffee shops etc.

Georgetown Komtar ICT mall shops Penang — We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in here

We boarded another bus to get to Gurney Drive.

We got down near Gurney Drive… or at least we thought it was near Gurney Drive.

Penang Gurney Drive Solok Midlands — We walked through a residential colony

Penang Gurney Drive at night — Before finding ourselves behind Gurney Plaza

In the afternoon, Gurney Drive was quite empty…

Penang Gurney drive food court crowds — … but the scene is quite different at night!

Penang Gurney drive beef slices — Beef. Looked yum.

Penang Gurney drive food court seafood Sotong Bakar — As you can see from the above photos, lots of sea food available here

Very limited (to virtually no-existent) pure vegetarian options though.

Before we sat down for dinner, I wanted to check out another joint near the roundabout that I had seen during the day .

Penang Gurney drive seafood restaurant — Saw the lobster sign and assumed it was another food court by the sea

But turns out it was a big ‘mid-to-high’ range restaurant. Looked nice but we didn’t want to spend too much and sit for long — because it was only going to be me & Loi eating. The vegetarian in our group Ramesh still had nothing to choose from.

Penang Gurney drive marina at night — Anybody notice the drain vent in the sea — or is that litter?

Once back at the food court, myself and Loi each ordered what we wanted.

Penang Gurney drive food court oyster eggs — I chose ‘raw oysters and egg’ scrambled

Penang Gurney drive food court dinner — Loi had his boiled meat on a stick. With some beer of course.

Us two had to eat first, and then head back to Gurney Plaza so that Ramesh could find some vegetarian to eat.

Penang Gurney drive food court boiled meat — But Loi wasn’t done with his boiled meat. He wanted more! 🙂

Soyabean curd dessert Penang Gurney drive food court — I had Soyabean curd with hot brown sugar sauce for dessert (RM1 = Rs. 15)

After we were finally done, we headed back to Gurney Plaza so that Ramesh could now eat.

We went back to our rooms by taxi.

Old Penang Guesthouse Red Inn New ABC pub Georgetown — Old Penang Guesthouse, next to Red Inn, next to a pub

But instead of calling it a night, I told the guys I wanted to roam around a bit more. So as Ramesh and Loi went back to the room, I walked on.

Gelugpa Buddhist Association temple Georgetown Penang — This temple was just across Old Penang Guesthouse

Love Lane Inn guesthouse at night Georgetown Penang — There are several budget hotels and guesthouses on Love Lane

The reason I wanted to walk around a bit more was because I wasn’t truly content with all that I saw today. I don’t think I can say I ‘saw’ Penang. I visited Penang, sure, but I don’t think I saw all there was to see.

We landed in Penang after 3 crazy days in glamourous Singapore. So obviously, everything felt a world apart. Throughout the day, every mall we went to, all we talked about was how much cooler Singapore felt. Well duh. Obviously its a unfair comparison… but given how little we actually got to experience in Penang, we could only feel disappointment.

When we were planning our trip, we knew before hand there wasn’t anything stunning to see in Penang. In many ways, it is true. Especially if you have travelled throughout South India, seen Singapore or Thailand, Penang really doesn’t offer anything great in terms of new experiences. Sure, I would have loved to have gone for the tram ride up on Penang hill… and seen Kek Lok Si temple all lit up at night. But we all wanted to even take a ride on Penang Bridge. I also realized Penang isn’t just the island, but there exists Province Wellesley with towns like Butterworth and other attractions on the mainland as well.

So clearly, there was a lot more to Penang than I thought.

Red Garden food court back entrance — I saw this ‘food garden’ which I thought I’d check out

Red Garden food night line dancing Georgetown Penang — Line dancing + food court = Not bad

Red Garden food court Georgetown Penang — Not enough space in tummy to try out everything edible Penang had to offer

Red Garden food court night market entrance Georgetown Penang — This is the entrance

Ho Ping Chinese restaurant Georgetown Penang — Ho Ping the food is safe to eat 😛

Kampung Malabar Georgetown Penang — Yes, this street is named after Malabaris

(You can read about the history behind Kampung Malabar here . Besides me, I didn’t find any other ‘Malabari’ — it’s all Chinese)

Chinese traditional sculptures at-night Georgetown Penang — Saw these outside, what I presume was a store dealing in sculptures

Chinese stone sculptures at night Penang — Why didn’t anybody steal them? I dunno, probably too heavy to lift and run with

Penang Georgetown World Heritage building — Georgetown is a UNESCO World heritage site

Georgetown Penang brick paved roads at night — The same road was wet yesterday

Crystal Guesthouse backpackers Georgetown Penang — Penang is very easy on the pocket

Would I have liked to have stayed just another day longer? Yes. I was curious what was across Penang Bridge on the mainland to see. But alas, this was our last and only day in Penang.

Tomorrow, we were going to be heading across waters to another island — Langkawi!

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tigers staring

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Nov 07, 2010
/
Malaysia, Singapore, Travel

Date: 27th September 2010

We only had from morning to evening in Singapore today, so we decided to skip Sentosa as the journey all the way to the theme park wouldn’t be worth it unless we could spend time at Universal Studios as well… for which we didn’t have “sufficient funds”. So, Singapore Zoo it was.

This being our last day in Singapore, I decided to take a few photographs of ABC Hostels, in case you were curious as to what its like from the inside.

ABC Backpacker hostel reception Singapore — The reception

ABC Backpacker hostel reception free internet Singapore — The hostel provides free internet; we found it quite slow

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen Singapore — This is the kitchen

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast kitchen restroom Singapore — …where you’d come to make your own breakfast or anything else

ABC Backpacker hostel breakfast table Singapore — Once made, you have to sit outside. Once done, wash the dishes yourself. (Photo taken by my friend Loi)

ABC Backpacker hostel rooms Singapore — Our room was at the end to the right

I didn’t take a photo of the room we got because it was in a mess, but picture this: not a big room, big enough bed for 3 mid-sized adults, functional split A/C, well-lit, with a mirror and table. That’s it. If you want more than a room for just sleeping, its best you book yourself into a regular hotel.

After finding out how to get to Singapore Zoo, we set off for Bugis MRT station.

To get Singapore Zoo, we first needed to get to Ang Mo Kio MRT station, and then take a bus from there.

Ang Mo Kio bus station Singapore — Ang Mo Kio bus interchange

But as soon as we got down, there was a van waiting with a woman approaching tourists with a deal. Buy the entry ticket with 4 tram rides and a drop to the zoo in a van (one way) for SGD23 (SGD18 + 5 for the tram rides). We knew the entry fee is SGD18 (Rs. 620/$14/€10) for adults so it seemed like a good deal (but what do we know). Plus we didn’t have to take the bus.

Singapore Zoo entry ticket special — The entry ticket costs SGD18 even if you were to buy it at the zoo entrance

When the van quickly filled up with other tourists, we set off.

Ang Mo Kio branch office Singapore — This part of Singapore was noticeably different

Ang Mo Kio metro road traffic Singapore — It’s still well connected by the metro

Driving to Singapore Zoo lush greenery — There was lush greenery around these parts

After a 15 minute ride, we arrived at Singapore Zoo. The weren’t a whole lot of people in queue — but we just walked straight in as we already had our entry tickets.

Singapore zoo elephant statues — They have real ones too

First up, monkeys…

… then parrots.

From this point on, the zoo truly begins.

Singapore Zoo greater mousedeers — Greater mousedeers they are called

Singapore Zoo asian small clawed otter — These otters were ‘busy’

Singapore Zoo siamang hidden in tree — There was a siamang (a type of ape) hiding in the trees

Singapore Zoo Tiger Trek gate — Next up, my favourite animal

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger den — There they are!

Singapore Zoo white Bengal tiger yawning roaring — Its roar was sooo… (oh who am I kidding), it was only yawning

Singapore zoo babirusa wild boar — Babirusa, native to Indonesia

The zoo has a few sections for smaller creatures, like reptiles which are on display in enclosed exhibits.

Singapore zoo pygmy hippo water — The pygmy hippo… or at least half of it

Singapore Zoo desert warthog — Desert warthog a.k.a Pumba

Singapore zoo Australian lizard — This was at the Australian Outback section

Singapore zoo carpet python — Carpet python

Singapore zoo Australian kangaroo — If you don’t know by now, they’re called kangaroos

Singapore zoo Australia kangaroo meaning — This I didn’t know

Singapore zoo Australia Steve Irwin tribute — Remembering the late Steve Irwin

Singapore zoo big bird small head — Funny looking thing, this bird

Singapore Zoo Hamadryas baboons entrance — Next up, baboons!

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons ibex — They have to share their space though

Singapore zoo hamadryas baboons acting human — It’s fun watching monkeys behave human

Singapore zoo banded mongoose sand — Banded mongoose

Singapore zoo saddle billed stork bird — Saddle billed stork

Singapore zoo black backed jackal — Black backed jackal

Singapore zoo elephant fountain statue — Next up were Asian elephants

Singapore zoo elephant show panorama — This is where they have the shows

Singapore zoo Asian elephant SBI adopted — Good on SBI for doing so

Singapore zoo African penguins — African penguins

Singapore zoo African penguins info — Didn’t know there were penguins in Africa

Singapore zoo crocodile eyes above water — Guess what this creature was

Singapore zoo crocodile under water — Yup. I didn’t bother knocking on the glass or anything. I was too chicken.

Singapore zoo lake boat ride — Boat rides on the lake are also available

Singapore zoo chimpanzee trees — This is where the chimpanzees play

Singapore zoo chimpanzee — Couldn’t get a clear shot of its face

Singapore zoo pony rides — They have a few ponies at the kids area

Singapore zoo model house old chinese — This was some model of an old farm house

Singapore zoo KFC restaurant — Oh the irony of seeing a KFC at a zoo

Singapore zoo mandrill baboon — Mandrill baboon

Singapore zoo proboscis monkeys sign — More monkeys

Singapore zoo Malaysian horned frog — Malaysian horned frog. Waited for the guy to turn around. He didn’t.

Singapore zoo American bullfrog — American bullfrog

Singapore zoo pigeon hair small head — This is one of the most intriguing-looking pigeon-type bird I’ve seen

After this, we entered a fairly large netted section which enclosed a few bats, birds and some more interesting animals of this world.

Singapore zoo huge bat flying wing span — Took this on the same settings as the last shot, which is why it came out this way. Still, kinda cool.

Singapore zoo long tail animal closeup — You can get pretty close to these animals but you are asked not to touch them or feed them

Singapore zoo sloth hanging eating — Sloth. How these animals eat upside down is amazing.

Singapore zoo fragile forest — Went in here next

Shooting the above leopard proved to be quite difficult, and in this video you’ll see why:

Singapore zoo leopards — They did stay still eventually

Singapore zoo puma — Puma, the real thing

Singapore zoo lion — Finally, his highness truly

Singapore zoo lion tongue — 😛 to you too

Singapore zoo lion den ground panorama — The king gets a pretty big ground for himself

Singapore zoo feeding giraffes — You can pay to feed the giraffes and get your photo taken

Singapore zoo wind blowing trees — It was very windy and looked like it was going to rain fairly soon

Singapore zoo cheetah — The fastest animal on the planet, the awesome cheetah

Singapore zoo birds cleaning rhinos back — The rhino and its cleaning birds

Singapore zoo orangutan island — ‘Orangutan island’

Singapore zoo old big orangutan — I know you can’t make out much of what this is

The one above was a very big ape (I believe an orangutan), quite old in age who was kept in this glass enclosure and it was quite dark… so you really couldn’t see it. It was moving around very slowly but unfortunately, due to the darkness inside its “cage” and the reflection on the glass, I couldn’t really get a good shot.

Singapore zoo polar bear exhibit — Aww shucks, I really wanted to see the polar bear

Singapore zoo tram ride — Despite having paid for 4 rides, I never availed the tram rides

With that, we were finally done. Well, sort of. We could have stayed back longer and waited for some of the animal shows. But it was 2:30pm, we had to have our lunch and the skies were quite cloudy.

I still wanted to go to Marina Bay Sands and since Ramesh and Loi were against it, I wasted no time and decided to go on my own.

Singapore Zoo Night Safari entrance — Something for next time

I waited at the bus station just outside and in under 5 minutes, got one that goes to Ang Mo Kio MRT station.

Singapore Tagore Drive road — They have a street named Tagore Drive; not sure if it’s after our Rabindranath Tagore

It was nice to drive through the residential side of Singapore. Compared to all the commercial glitz and glamour of the central business district, Ang Mo Kio seemed so quaint and… nice.

Anyway, I arrived at Ang Mo Kio bus terminal in around 15 minutes and got down to take the underpass to the MRT station. Ang Mo Kio is located on the red line, so the train goes straight to Marina Bay — the last stop. The ride took another 15 minutes.

Once I was out of the station/construction site (it looked like they were upgrading the station) it was still drizzling.

Getting to Marina Bay Sands Casino Singapore — That’s where I was headed

Singapore marina bay rainy day — It was tough holding a camera on one hand and an umbrella on the other

Singapore marina bay financial district offices rainy day — When I saw this, I smiled 🙂

Why did I smile? Because seeing the above instantly reminded me of another ‘marina’ I was at in April. I could help but go: “Ahh, so that’s where Dubai got the idea from!”

Singapore Marina Bay City Gallery rainy day — Marina Bay City Gallery

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Singapore — The mall at Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel

Marina Bay Sands mall shoppes Singapore — More stores are set to open

Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall Ferrari store Singapore — Felt like going in just to see the car

Singapore Marina Bay Sands shoppes mall canals sampan rides — They offer boat (sampan) rides on these canals

Singapore shoppes mall to Marina Bay Sands Casino hotel — To get to the hotel and Sky Park counter, you need to go down this

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Casino way to Helix Bridge — Go up, come out the left side of the lobby, which leads out to the Helix Bridge

Singapore Marina Bay Sands observation deck sky park ticket counter — Then take a left and go down this escalator. Down here is the ticket counter for the Sky Park.

And when I got there they asked me to wait because the sky park was wet.

$@#%!

Turns out they have a “wet policy” which essentially closes the observation deck to visitors if the observation deck is wet. I asked them if I could go up as I was leaving Singapore in a few hours but they said sorry, they couldn’t make an exception.

I told them I couldn’t wait as I had a flight to catch in a few hours time, so I didn’t.

I made way back up disappointed and decided to check out the hotel instead.

You could tell by looking at the guests coming down to the lobby they were high rollers; in town to gamble a lot of money away.

Since I couldn’t check out the Sky Park, I thought I’d at least check out the casino.

Buuuuut… the casino has a strict dress code… and a “No Photography” rule — both of which I didn’t qualify for. I didn’t even bother using the “but I’m leaving Singapore in a few hours” excuse as one sight of the huge security men at the casino entrance will make you think otherwise.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Shoppes escalators — So I made my way back to the mall

Singapore Marina Bay Sands office buildings rainy day — Damn you rain god! Ruining everything!

Singapore Marina Bay Sands wishing well rain oculus panorama — Saw this “wishing well” of sorts outside the mall. I had to take a closer look.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands casino hotel rain oculus wishing well coins — If you are wondering what those are… they’re coins!

I went to the other side of the mall to where the buses to the Marina Bay MRT station are.

Singapore Marina Bay Sands convention center — Besides having a 2500-room hotel, casino and a shopping mall, they also have Singapore’s largest convention center

Singapore Marina Bay Sands Sky Park rainy day — Sigh. So close, yet nowhere near.

It sucks I couldn’t check out Marina Bay Sands Casino & Hotel the way I had planned. Oh well, another thing for next time.

It was past 4:30pm when I boarded the bus back to the MRT station. The drizzling hadn’t stopped, and I had to take the metro back to our hostel. I got to the hostel before my friends did and I used the time to get out of my wet clothes and re-pack. When the other two arrived, we took all our bags and walked towards Victoria MRT.

We took the MRT all the way to Terminal 2 at Changi. As soon as we got out, right in front of us was a board showing the layout of Changi Airport. Three big terminals… and then one tiny red square. That was our budget terminal 🙂

It was so funny, I regret not taking a photo of it. It was like the big guys just wanted to keep rubbing it in on how cheap people who avail budget carriers are, just so they would quit and use the regular airlines instead.

Anyway, we were at the budget terminal by around 6:30pm for our 8:15pm Tiger Airways flight. And then the flight got delayed by 30 minutes. While we could pass time by availing the free internet and having snacks at the airport, it was still annoying as it only meant our arrival at Penang would also be late.

Waiting at Singapore Budget terminal airport — A minute before announcing it was time to board, most of them were sitting on the floor

Singapore Tiger Airways Penang flight delay — Departing 20:15; current time – 20:38. Oh Tiger… 🙂

Once the plane did finally take off, we all three agreed on one thing: we were definitely coming back to Singapore!

Even though it was only 3 days, we loved every bit of it. Except the rain bit, we all hated that. We also decided we would come back during F1 week but stay much longer.

Singapore Port container ships at night from plane — Thats just some of the many container ships at Singapore Port

We landed at Penang, got through immigration quick and soon took a pre-paid taxi to head to Georgetown, where our guesthouse was.

Penang tree lights airport Malaysia — Hello Malaysia

Penang taxi at night Malaysia — It was raining here as well

It took more than half an hour to reach our hotel in Georgetown, that’s how far the airport was. We were going to be staying at Old Penang Guesthouse during our time on Penang island.

Old Penang Guesthouse triple room interiors — We booked a triple/family room

Since it was nearing 12am, we quickly went out in search of dinner.

We were told there were 24 hour restaurants, mostly serving Indian cuisine, not too far from our guesthouse. We walked under our umbrellas and got into one.

Penang dinner Nasi Kandar rice mutton curry — What I had: Nasi Kandar

Basically rice with your choice of meat and a mix of curries. Yum it was.

There were many ‘Indian’ restaurants in the area.

Penang restoran Kapitans 24hrs Indian restaurant — Kapitan’s is quite popular – and open 24hrs

Penang Old Trafford Man Utd burger stall — Yup. A burger stall honouring Machester United. Just one of many such tributes we came across in Malaysia in honour of England’s most famous football club.

Penang Reggae Bar The Meeting Point Georgetown Malaysia — There is a 7-Eleven and quite a few bars near our guesthouse

Once back in the room, and a warm shower later, we did our calculations and thought about what had to do tomorrow.

Penang Yeo's Glass Jelly drink can — In my ongoing quest to try out things I’ve never had before, I drank this. It was okay.

Our first trip to Singapore was done, and Malaysia had begun. We only hoped it would be nice & sunny in Penang tomorrow.

Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Malaysia 2010: Day 4 — One day in Penang (Around Georgetown, Gurney Drive, Penang Hill)

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Oct 08, 2010
/
Malaysia, Singapore, Travel

I know I haven’t posted anything new in over a week, but that’s because I was travelling. This time, it was a 10 day trip to Singapore and Malaysia – both first time visits for me.

While the next few posts are going to document what I saw and feature some of the 3,900+ photos I took, I thought I’d make a post first on how much planning and research went into this trip, which itself was a process I enjoyed.

When I got back from my Thailand trip last year, the friends I travelled with in India in the past said we should do an international trip. Ramesh, the gearhead of the group said he would like to go for the Malaysian Formula 1, but this was in March. As it was too soon – and I still had my credit card dues to clear – I said I couldn’t do it.

So I suggested we plan for the Singapore F1 instead, to be held in September. This would give us a good 6 months to prepare. We soon figured there wouldn’t be much to see in Singapore and since we were going all the way there, we might as well see another destination as well. Hong Kong was in consideration but given how expensive the city was, we chose Malaysia instead.

First up was booking our flights. We set the dates for Formula 1 weekend, and since we figured it was going to a busy period, we decided to book early.

We were going to do this trip on a budget and since it was only going to be a one way journey to Singapore, flying Singapore Airlines was out of the question as the one-way fares were too high. We instead opted for the budget carrier Tiger Airways. I got my one way ticket for around Rs. 4,500 (US$101/€73) when booked late March and this was for direct flight which leaves Bangalore at 11:30pm and arrives at Singapore at 6:30am. Seemed convenient to us.

We initially wanted to fly straight from Singapore to Langkawi but unfortunately, tickets were sold out. So we decided to fly to Penang instead and then take a ferry from Penang to Langkawi.

From Langkawi we would then fly to Kuala Lumpur. After spending a few days in Malaysia’s capital city, we would fly back to Bangalore via Air Asia. The return ticket cost me around Rs. 3,625 (US$82/€59) including a pre-booked meal, up-sized baggage limit (20kgs) and a selected seat.

Since we were going to be three people, we made our hotel reservations well in advance. Most of our rooms were booked using Hostels.com, hostelsworld.com and only the Langkawi booking was made using agoda.com. Just about every flight and stay booking was made months before our journey, saving us a lot of money and giving us enough time to plan our itinerary.

When calculating how much cash we needed to carry, we considered the entry fees, daily food expenses and the balance amount we’d have to pay at all the hotels we booked via hostels.com and hostelsworld.com (both only accept 10% of the amount at the time of booking and the remaining 90% have to be paid in cash on at the time of check in). I also decided that all large purchases would be made on the credit card, so in the end, all three of us converted around Rs. 20,000 in Singapore dollars, Malaysian Ringits and the rest in US dollars.

We also needed to plan our luggage and what all we were going to carry. The thing with budget carriers (at least in the case of both Tiger and Air Asia), you have to pay for check-in luggage. We paid for the minimum of 15kgs for our onward journey but opted for 20kgs for our return. We also planned it in such a way that we wouldn’t carry 3 different deodorants or shaving creams, thereby minimizing space used as much as possible. In fact, Loiyumba, the third friend on this journey had the least luggage (one backpack) while going since he said he wouldn’t be shopping much. Of course, I told him all that would change while coming back. 🙂

We knew this being our first trip – and due to time and money restrictions – we wouldn’t have been able to do everything. As for our planned itinerary, it went something like this:

Day 1 (Singapore)

Arrive at hostel 8am approx. – rest for some time – go to Sim Lim Square by 10am for camera equipment shopping – head to Little India – from Little India to Arab Street/Kampong Glam – then head to Geylang Serai – from Geylang, by sunset, head to city for River Cruise – watch the F1 pre-race show, head to Clark Quay for dinner

Day 2 (Singapore)

First head to Singapore Zoo – then check out Orchard Road, have lunch from the hawker centers – photo session at Merlion Park – check out Marina Bay/Raffles Hotel & Marina Bay Sands hotel – Chinatown, from where we’d have dinner

Day 3 (Singapore)

Pack up and keep things ready – head to Vivo City Mall, take monorail (SGD$3) to Sentosa – Sentosa cable car and other attractions – Jurong Bird Park – be at Changi airport by 6pm for flight to Penang

Day 3 (Penang)

Check in to hotel at 10pm and then head to Gurney Drive for dinner – buy ferry ticket to Langkawi (if still open)

Day 4 (Penang)

Buy ferry ticket to Langkawi – visit Kek Lok Si (largest Buddhist temple in South-East Asia) – Bukit Bendera, the tram ride up to hill-top – drive on Penang Bridge and then come back – head to Batu Ferrenghi till sunset – drive back to Gurney drive at night for dinner

Day 5 (Langkawi)

Go to Eagle Square as it is in Kuah, where the ferry docks – head to hotel and check in – post lunch, try and rent bikes to go to Gunung Raya, the Langkawi Sky Bridge

Day 6 (Langkawi)

Island-hopping tour – drive around post lunch – hit the beach and relax

Day 7 (Kuala Lumpur)

Catch morning flight to Kuala Lampur – check in by noon – check out Bukit Bintang area – head to KL tower in the evening to get a view of Petronas and the city lit up – China Town for dinner

Day 8 (Kuala Lumpur)

Wait in line for Petronas Towers tickets at 7am – depending on when our time slot is, plan the rest of the day – visit Batu Caves – if there is time, check out National Mosque, Masjid Negara

Day 9 (Kuala Lumpur)

Shopping

Day 10 (Kuala Lumpur)

Shopping – depart for airport by noon

Well, that was what we thought of doing. But did we accomplish all the above? For that, tune in to my blog the next few weeks 🙂

Read the series here:

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 4 — One day in Penang (Around Georgetown, Gurney Drive, Penang Hill)

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)