ZenVentures

Backstory

Penang is a state in Malaysia located on the northwest coast of the Malaysian Peninsula. It has 2 parts, Penang Island, where the capital city, Georgetown, resides. And Seberang Perai, they are both connected physically by a long bridge named the Penang Bridge (Creative, I know). In this Entry, we'll be focusing on Penang Island and it's capital city, Georgetown.

What is there to do in Georgetown?

There are a lot of places to visit in Georgetown. This small pocket of Penang has been exploding with popularity over the recent years, meaning it is also packed with tourists, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you know where to look, you'll still have an experience like no other.

Georgetown is a melting pot of different cultures, from Chinese to English to Indian, everywhere has some influence of a different culture somewhere. Sometimes you'll feel right at home surrounded by a seemingly modern cookie-cutter city and sometimes you'll be served a steaming bowl of soup containing pig's blood whilst packed shoulder to shoulder in an alleyway. And sometimes you'll be straight in an old movie scene surrounded by buildings that have been standing since the early 1900s. Now, the first thing I absolutely must recommend to do in Georgetown is to try the amazingly mouth-salivating, delicious, gourmet, street food. I know, street food has a bad connotation with people thinking its dirty and all, but trust me it is very much the opposite, there are a bunch of flashy tourist trap food spots that you should definitely try to avoid, From what I know the best street food comes from bland food stalls and open air markets.

Fisherman's Wharf

A legendary place in Georgetown and one of my personal favorites is Fisherman's Wharf, an open air food court next to the sea featuring cuisines from all over the world, ranging from Chinese to Thai to English to Indian. There is also a lot of entertainment here, as it has an small arcade, a game center on the second floor, but I cannot confirm as I didn't get to go upstairs, There are also a lot of people renting out electric motorbikes and other vehicles, so you can feel the cold breeze of the ocean and get the smell of fish to enjoy. I recommend going to Fisherman's Wharf in the night as that's when it really shines and gets lively. Overall, it is an culture-rich food court filled with all a fisherman needs.

Street Art

The Street art in penang is very well known, created by a variety of artists, revered by all and became part of its culture instead of being cleaned like street graffiti. It's a great chance to take photos posing with the street art or just taking a photo of the street art itself.

Just take a walk around Georgetown and you're bound to see the realistic and iconic street art on the old buildings. The photo displayed on the left is also from another legendary spot, "Armenian street" which is a must visit for tourists too.

Kek Lok Si Temple

Looking for something a little more scenic? Kek Lok Si Temple is a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the sights. It's a Buddhist temple, the largest in all of Malaysia, featuring vibrant, monumental towers and statues spanning 7 storeys, it houses a 30 meter tall Guanyin Statue! The best part is, its completely free! It's an absolutely breathtaking and peaceful place for Buddhists and tourists alike, I do have to warn you though, it does have a lot of walking, the whole temple contains 1200 steps to get to the top, but it is completely worth it to walk all the way to the top.

Final tips and tricks

• From the months, April to October, it is classified as rainy season there, and that means a huge amount of rain, without fail every afternoon it will be raining, be sure to bring a rain coat or a strong umbrella if you plan on going during these months!


• For street food joints or food court markets, remember that you are obligated to order a drink if you want to sit at a table, a person will come up to you and ask what do you want to drink, if you refuse you will be asked to pay a fine for not ordering a drink, usually the fee is the same price as a drink, so it's better to pay for a drink and your seat instead of the fine.


• Some more insight on ordering drinks, you can ask for ice in your drink by saying "peng" at the end of your drink, for example "kopi peng", which means you would like an iced coffee, the opposite of this is "juak" meaning hot, so you can ask for a "kopi juak" which means Hot coffee. You don't have to use these words, but its just to immerse yourself more into the language of people of Penang which a majority of is hokkien.

That about wraps up everything I have to recommend and talk about for Penang and it's capital city, I've went to all of these places in the past and they are all amazing. If you do plan to go to Penang, the places above are a must visit to get the full experience.