The next best homestay is Hins’s Villa @ Tanjung Bungah. Hins’s Villa @ Tanjung Bungah is able to receive the presence of 20 guests at a time.
For your information, this homestay is located in Tanjung Bungah which is 3.9km from Straits Quay Convention Centre. It is equipped with 5 bedrooms which are 3 Queen beds and 2 Single Twin beds and 3 toilets.
For those of you who like to swim and want privacy, don’t worry because this homestay really meets your needs.
Hins’s Villa @ Tanjung Bungah has a private swimming pool with a very beautiful and perfectly maintained yard.
Using a different theme, which is industrial, it can make this homestay stand out and look more attractive compared to other homestays.
It is also equipped with air conditioning, free Wi-Fi access, a BBQ set and a bathroom set. The accommodation price starts at RM980 for one night. You can book your stay at Hin’s Villa @ Tanjung Bungah below. For every completed booking, I’ll receive a commission.
Along the beaches of Batu Ferringhi is the first Hard Rock Hotel in Penang, Malaysia which opened it’s doors on 19th September 2009.
Upon entering the car park, you’ll be greeted by a huge Hard Rock Penang guitar at the entrance. If you can’t play the guitar, at least you can strike a rock-star pose with the giant guitar monument.
Then just at the entrance of the hotel lobby, look down on the ground and then up. On the ground, you’ll see a reflection of the Hard Rock Hotel logo. Above is like a rain shower of lights projecting the logo and the lights change colours every few seconds.
Hard Rock Hotel Penang is a 6-storey hotel with 250 guest rooms and 11 types of rooms. The hotel has the largest free-form pool in Penang. The swimming pool consists of sand islands, three water slides and private poolside cabanas.
Here is a sneak peak of a room directly facing the swimming pool.
Here’s some sneak peek of a room while we were in Penang back then.
Overlooking the bed is a picture of John Lennon, illuminated by the purple light from beneath.
The room was fitted and decorated with an LED TV, a handy smartphone to make international calls, and a bedside lamp with it’s own fingerboard and real guitar strings.
In the bathroom is a picture of Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll.
All pictures taken are throwback to my visit at Hard Rock Hotel Penang in 2014 and 2018.
You can book a room in Hard Rock Hotel Penang through the link below. Do note that for any booking made, I’ll receive a referral from the completed booking.
McDonalds have their drive thrus. Touch N Go is literally touch and go at tolls. In Penang, we’ve a eat and go cendol – Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul.
The famous Teochew chendul is easily recognisable by it’s pushcart and incredibly long queue. Being located along Lebuh Keng Kwee, a small road just off Jalan Penang, there are no tables and chairs to sit and eat. You’ve to stand by the roadside and eat, or tapau (take-away).
Queues are super long, but because it is fast moving, it won’t take long to be your turn.
Lebuh Keng Kwee in 2018Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul in 2018Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul in 2014. Compare the prices then and now.
A timeless Malaysian dessert of shaved ice dessert with soft fresh pandan-flavoured palm flour noodles immersed in light coconut milk, sweetened by gula melaka and kidney beans thoroughly boiled in 4 hours.
A must try specialty for you to know why it’s become famous.
Especially during a hot day, it’s something to quench your thirst! Definitely will also cool you down in this hot, humid Malaysian weather.
From Penang to the Klang Valley
Founded in 1936 and with more than 80 years of history, Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul has come a long way. Undeniably, it is one of the popular cendol places even with franchises throughout Klang Valley.
For the non-Penangites, you can still indulge in the famous cendol in the franchises in the Klang Valley in Selangor, Malaysia. Of course, nothing beats the original. When in Penang, why not head directly to THE Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul itself in Lebuh Keng Kwee.
In Penang, it is a must to eat Char Kuey Teow. When you ask the Grab driver where to get “good” Char Kuey Teow; the commonly, famous recommendation would be at Lorong Selamat.
Where is the Char Kuey Teow
Locally known as Lorong Selamat Char Kuey Teow, it is located in Kafe Heng Huat, a coffee shop along Lorong Selamat in George Town.
Kafe Heng Huat in 2014Kafe Heng Huat in 2014
The Char Kuey Teow
The Char Kuey Teow (CKT) in Kafe Heng Huat is controversial for it’s mixed reviews from the service to the taste, to the size of the prawns, and to the price.
Furthermore, because it is a recommendation, be prepared for the long waiting time. Hence, you should plan your journey to avoid waiting, just for a plate of Char Kuey Teow.
After a plate of Penang’s famous Char Kuey Teow and a bowl of Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul; it’s time to burn them calories.
Take a stroll along the streets of George Town and nearby streets, capture fun memories with murals and sculptures, and play a part in Penang’s heritage.
1. Boy on a Bike
Boy on a Bike can be found on 12, Lebuh Ah Quee. It is one of Ernest Zacharevic’s original and famous murals.
2. The Real Bruce Lee Would Never Do This
Just after Boy on a Bike and around the corner is this Bruce Lee and cats mural. This mural was painted by ASA, Artists for Stray Animals, for the 101 Lost Kittens project.
The street is named after Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee who generously donated his house to the Municipality for vehicular access ensuring that his name lives on for posterity. Cheng Keng Kwee is also known as “Ah Quee”.
In 2008, George Town was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The following year, the Penang state government held a competition – Marking George Town – and Sculpture At Work won it. Across George Town, 52 cartoon steel-rod sculptures reflect the history and unique characteristics of selected streets in George Town.
In 2012, Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian-born artist was commissioned to create large-scale street art murals for the George Town Festival. The project was called “Mirrors George Town”. Some of his most famous murals are Boy on a Bike, Children on Bicycle, Boy on Chair, and more.
In addition to Zacharevic’s murals, there are also several murals depicting cats and dogs by “Artists for Stray Animals”. You can explore an overview of the most famous and popular street art murals in George Town, Penang below.
Here’s a throwback to the bitter-sweet museum of Chocolate and Coffee Museum in Penang. Checks on Google Map and the museum’s Facebook states that the museum has permanently closed it’s doors on 31.12.2020.
Nevertheless, sharing some snaps from the museum taken way back in 2010. The museum was once located along Leith Street in George Town, Penang.
If you’ll like to visit other Chocolate museums in Malaysia, there are similar chocolate museums in Kota Damansara and Kuala Lumpur.
Penang Hill, Bukit Bendera, or Flagstaff Hill is the most developed peak in Penang.
They are one and the same. Penang Hill is also known by the Malay name Bukit Bendera, which actually refers to Flagstaff Hill.
At 833 m (2,733 ft) above sea level and Georgetown at it’s peak, Penang Hill has an amazing panoramic view of the island and mainland. Penang Hill is also part of Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve, recognized by UNESCO as the third Biosphere Reserve in Malaysia listed in the World Network of Biosphere Reserve (WNBR).
How to Get to Penang Hill (See you at the top)
Penang Hills covers a number of hills. To get to the peak where the observation deck is, you’ve to ride the funicular train via the Penang Hill Railway from the foot of the hill at Hill Railway Station Road.
The Penang Hill Funicular Train is the most popular and convenient way get to the top of the hill. The funicular’s tunnel track is also the steepest in the world and the longest track in Asia, adding to its uniqueness.
Love Lock
If you’re visiting Penang Hill with a significant other, pop by the lover’s promenade at the open-air observation deck. You can fasten a love lock 823 m (2,700 ft) above sea level on an 80-meter wide fence overlooking the city of Georgetown! Love locks are available for purchase on-site and you can decorate them individually and secure them along the fence. Though you can also bring your own if you’d like.
Feast 833 meters in the sky
Feeling hungry? Pop by the Cliff Cafe (also known as the Astaka Bukit Bendera), a three-storey food court where you can feast on a variety of local delights.
From a green-hued mansion, let’s visit another colourful mansion in Penang – the Blue Mansion. The Blue Mansion is given it’s colourful, distinctive name because of it’s external decorations and indigo-blue outer walls.
The Blue Mansion is Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion.
Where is Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion
The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a government gazetted heritage building located on Leith Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.
Photos taken in 2010
History
Named after it’s owner, it was built by the merchant Cheong Fatt Tze at the end of the 19th century. The mansion has 38 rooms, 5 granite-paved courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 vernacular timber louvre windows. It served as Cheong’s private residence as well as the seat of his business activities in Penang.
Like the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze’s architectural style and interior was inspired by a combination of East meets West. Features of the house include Gothic louvred windows, Chinese cut and paste porcelain work, Stoke-on-Trent floor tiles made of encaustic clay in geometric pieces all shaped to fit to a perfect square, Glasgow cast iron works by MacFarlane’s & Co. and Art Nouveau stained glass windows.
“The Blue Mansion is the perfect epitome of the grandeur and achievements of Cheong Fatt Tze, which today stands as a landmark in the fabric of George Town Penang’s vibrant heritage as a boutique hotel and historical attraction”
Today, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a landmark heritage building in the UNESCO World Heritage city of George Town in Penang. It has received multiple architectural awards, including UNESCO’s Most Excellent Heritage Conservation Award in the Year 2000.
The Camera Museum opened it’s doors in Penang to the world on 15 January 2014. It’s the first camera museum in South East Asia. The museum displays up to 1,000 vintage cameras and accessories.
Where is the Camera Museum
The Camera Museum is located in the heart of the heritage area in Georgetown, Penang. The museum is housed in a 2-storey shop house on Lebuh Muntri.
There are 3 rooms to explore: Dark Room, Obscura Room, and the Pinhole Room. In the Dark Room, explore and learn how films are developed. Obscura Room showcases the idea of the first invented camera in the world. In the Pinhole Room, you will have the experience of being “inside” a camera.
A stroll along the waterfront Esplanade in Penang features historical landmarks. Not to be missed is Fort Cornwallis.
Fort Cornwallis holds much historical significance. It is a bastion fort in Georgetown, Penang and the largest standing fort in Malaysia.
Where is Fort Cornwallis
Fort Cornwallis is bounded by Light Street to its south, Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah to the east and to the north, and The Esplanade to the west.
History
Captain Francis Light, took possession of Penang Island from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786. Where Light first landed on Penang Island in 1786 was the spot where Fort Cornwallis was originally built.
The fort’s purpose back then, was to protect Penang from pirates and Kedah.
If Captain Francis Light originally built the fort; how did it come to be known as Fort Cornwallis? The fort was named in honour of Charles Marquis Cornwallis, the then Governor-General of Bengal who had lost to George Washington in the 1781 Battle of Yorktown during the American Revolutionary War.
The fort was originally built using nibong (a Malay term meaning ‘palm trunk’) stockade with no permanent structures. In 1789, three years after the simple stockade was completed, Light began rebuilding the fort using bricks. The new design, which features a star-shaped fort, was similar with other British forts in India. Indian convict labourers were brought in for the construction of the brick fort. It was completed in 1793 at a cost of $67,000 (Spanish dollar).
Fort Cornwallis was repaired and rebuilt between 1804 and 1810. Fort Cornwallis was completed in 1810 at a cost of $80,000 (Penang dollar) – an enormous amount at the time.
Even though the fort was originally built for the British military, its function, historically, was more administrative than defensive. For example, the judge of the Supreme Court of Penang, Sir Edmond Stanley, an Anglo-Irish barrister, was first housed at Fort Cornwallis when the court opened on 31 May 1808. During the 1920s Sikh police of the Straits Settlements occupied the fort. During World War 2, the Japanese used the fort as a detention centre, as well as a site for military workshops and storehouses.
The fort was gazetted on 8 September 1977, under the Antiquities Act 168/1976, as an Ancient Monument and Historic site. In 1991, the management of Fort Cornwallis was privatised by the Penang state government in an effort to enhance its appeal as a prime tourist destination. Today, it has become one of Penang’s prime tourist attractions.
