Penang, Malaysia – Unveiling the Highlights and Hidden Gems

Penang is an amazing cultural destination, but much bigger than you think.

I have been dying to get to Penang since March 2020 when the Prime Minister of Malaysia kicked me out of the country.

Ok, so technically he kicked all tourists out due to Covid, but I took it personally and have held a grudge against him ever since.  (Cue Frankie Goes to Hollywood – I know you Zoolander fans feel me on this one)

Finally, a Chance to Go

When Peggy agreed to meet me in Malaysia after my Bali Yoga Retreat, I dusted off my 2020 itinerary and jumped right back into planning.

Our itinerary was 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur, 1 night in Ipoh, 2 nights in Penang, 1 night in Langkawi and 1 final night in Kuala Lumpur.

Penang is an island in the northwest of Malaysia. Well, actually, it is split between the mainland and Penang Island. The drive was less than 2 hours from Ipoh and would be about 3.5 hours from Kuala Lumpur. Penang is most famous for its UNESCO Heritage Site in Georgetown, the food scene, the beaches and the Tech industry.

Penang is known as the foodie capital of Malaysia – mainly for their Hawker scene, but they also boast two restaurants awarded one Michelin Star. These restaurants are Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery and Au Jardin. Unlike other Michelin Star restaurants, these are not impossible to get reservations for. However they do have limited days of service (Auntie Gaik Lean’s is Wednesday through Sunday and Au Jardin is Thursday – Sunday) and we were not there during those days. We were really disappointed to have missed out.

From Ipoh we booked a ride with www.mydaytrip.com over to Penang. We added a stop at the Kek Lok Si Temple to the drive, so that we wouldn’t have to worry about transportation to this must-see location once we arrived in Penang.  We hadn’t really figured out how we were getting around Penang, except to rely on Grab until we found a driver.

And Here is Where I Start to Question a Trip to Penang

<insert picture of that fucking bridge>

Sister Side Note (ssn) – I know that was an editing note, but it was too funny not to leave.

I knew that Penang was an island.  I knew there would be a bridge. 

What I didn’t realize was that the bridge was 13.5 Km in length.

But it was fine. I mean, giant prehistoric megalodons don’t live in the Strait of Malacca, right? Well, that’s the story I told myself. In Googling a Megalodon fact to throw at you, I found this:

“Fossil remains of Megalodon have been found in shallow tropical and temperate seas along the coastlines and continental shelf regions of all continents except Antarctica.“

So, clearly, we won’t be driving to Penang ever again. EVER.

And Then More Concern

Our driver, Raymond, starts to tell us about Penang (actually side note: it was a cute story, he is from Penang but lives in Kuala Lumpur. The morning we requested the ride, Raymond was just packing up to leave for Penang to see his family and accepted the request so he ended up getting paid for a trip he was taking anyway. Go Raymond!)…so anyway, Raymond gives us the scoop about Penang.  All the tech companies that have moved there, how it’s the second smallest state in Malaysia, but the population is almost 1.8 million people.

Now I’m starting to dread this decision.  A crowded island full of tech companies, NO THANK YOU!

Kek Lok Si Temple

The population of Penang is about 65% Chinese, we knew the temple would probably be a great place to start our visit.

We start to drive up, and up, and up, to the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. Kek Lok Si temple began it’s construction in 1890, and while the temple was finished in 1905, they do ongoing fundraisers at the Temple to raise money to expand and upgrade the site.

One of the fundraisers was the Wishing Tree. We loved this!  You choose a ribbon based on your wish (long life, love, happiness, good fortune, etc.). Each ribbon is a different color and a different wish topic and you hang it on their wishing tree. It was super cute!

You can also contribute by buying roof tiles to complete the roof over the God of Mercy statue. 

This incredible temple stretches over multiple buildings, statues and gardens set at the base of Air Itam Hill.  The attention to detail at Buddhist temples is mind-blowing, it was truly beautiful. We decided to drive up to the God of Mercy Statue, because it’s a rather steep climb up a lot of steps. 

On to our hotel

We stayed at The Mercure Hotel Penang, I have an affinity for Mercure locations (and all the Accor properties, really).  It was right on the beach, with a incredible view.  There was an Indian wedding going on in the hotel, which made for a beautiful back drop of activity.  The hotel is bit north of Georgetown so we had to use Grab for our back-and-forth as this is where most of the action is.

Sister Time Means Sushi Time

We love sushi!  And we especially love sushi with our sister.  By this point, we were starving after our journey, and both were ready for our first sister sushi meal of the trip. 

When doing our research, we found Kaiden Japas on TikTok and with a 5-star Google rating we were sold. So we grabbed a Grab and headed there.

ssn – the thing that struck me as we were driving from the hotel was that the entire shoreline was being developed. It made me very sad to see such a majority of property being stripped and replaced with modern hotels and apartments. I suppose it is inevitable, but we hated to see it.

We were there at opening time and the place was empty.  It was a cute little place in a strip mall.  We opted to sit on the couches by the sushi bar and spent a lot of time ogling the multi-page drink menu.

A Slight Language Barrier

The official language of Malaysia is Malay or Bahasa with Mandarin and Tamil also common. I speak a little Bahasa from my Bali travels so I thought we could muddle through.  However, we ran into our first real problem with the language barrier.

The problem was that the fairly young staff spoke Mandarin, not much English and my Bahasa wasn’t getting it done; additionally they were really shy.  I get it, they were young, but we were more than willing to stumble through in their language, or even pull up Google Translate. 

We managed to point at the drinks and they managed to get them ordered for us, WIN!  Kaiden Japas had a selection of boozy tea based drinks served in tea cups, so we had to start there.

Luckily, one of their other servers showed up who spoke a bit of English, and she was happy to help get our food ordered.

Sushi and More

We settled on sharing plates.  The Volcano salmon lava roll, added on crunchy octopus tentacles and the Ko-Ebi (fried shrimp) appetizers. Then they had to sub-out the shrimp for Karaage fried chicken.

It was all excellent! So glad we had that Volcano roll, it was a… well, a little hard to explain, see the picture below.  A plate of California roll topped with a lot of salmon, a soft-boiled egg, salmon roe, and a fantastic siracha mayo style sauce.  It was amazing and will take a while for me to recover from knowing I will probably never have it again! SO GOOD!

As we were ready to pay and get on our way, we were informed that the drinks were buy two, get one free. Not ones to turn down free drinks, we HAD to get one more. Would you expect anything less? The drinks were inventive, unique, and tasty.

Georgetown, Penang

Feeling fantastic after sushi and cocktails, we continued on to the heart of Georgetown. Georgetown is the capital of the state of Penang, but also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is known for it’s street art, but it is a very colorful area, with many cultural sites and old colonial buildings. It’s a little crazy how there are these old colonial houses, Chinese temples, and mosques right next to these big skyscrapers and tall apartment buildings.

Chew Jetty

Our Grab dropped us off down by the waterfront, and we spotted an area named Chew Jetty.  It turns out that Chew Jetty is actually its own UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Jetty is a couple of long docks with wooden stilt houses built around the walkway, creating an over the water village.

Mostly old, and in decline, there are still people inhabiting the houses, and plenty of tourist shops.  A few restaurants, a temple, a couple of ice cream shops; old, rundown, but still so full of character it was definitely a fun find for us. 

From Chew Jetty, we walked straight up Armenian Street to begin our street art tour.

Off to Find Street Art and Famous Penang Murals

The City of Georgetown Tourist Board hired Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic to create 6 murals for the Georgetown Festival in 2012.  And the urban art trend grew in Georgetown to fill the streets and create the largest tourist attraction in Malaysia.

The original Zacharevic works are now famous and are 3D depictions of the life of the people of Penang. Weather worn over the last decade, but beautiful.  However, there are now many other artists featured along Georgetown streets, including the 100 cats commissioned by the Cat Welfare Charity, and large building size murals. 

The Tourist Board then added to the street art by commissioning cast iron signs (52 total) to tell the story of different parts of Georgetown using cartoon like graphics.  You can find them next to the UNESCO sign, along Love Lane, and super cute one depicting Jimmy Choo (who studied shoe making in George Town!), they come with a brief narrative and can be found adorned all over the area. 

ssn – we completely failed at finding all 6 Zacherevic murals, but we found so many cool pieces. And so many beautiful architectural features! Walking around these streets was probably my favorite thing to do. It was its own kind of beautiful.

One of Our Favorite Bar Finds

While admiring the street scenes, we spotted an open bar called The Canteen at Chinahouse. 

We walk in and it’s dead, no one to be found. We wait a few, but Peggy has to find a bathroom, so we head down the hallway and find a man sitting at a small table eating noodles, he points her to the bathroom. 

Then another man comes down the hall, the bartender.  I ask about drinks. He says absolutely, but you should really check out the back alley and then come back for drinks.

I walk back, past the man eating noodles, find a black and white room, then through that to a courtyard, on through that to another room filled with books and paintings.  This is where we find a wine bar, and then continue through to the bakery.

It was fantastic! 

It started on one street and went all the way through to the storefront on the next street over. Beautiful, inventive, and fun.

We stopped at the wine bar, had one drink and we were off to see the rest of the street art before sunset.

Penang – Foodie Capital of Malaysia

Penang is known for being the food center of Malaysia.  The food scene was one of the most anticipated reasons for our visit. Due to our lack of ability to commit to a schedule, we hadn’t booked a food tour ahead of time (and there are plenty to choose from). Luckily, our Grab driver, Elaine, from the night before slipped in the idea of hiring her to drive us around for the day.

A local to take us to local street food spots.  DONE

Morning 2 Starts with Mimosas

ssn – but first after a light breakfast and watching the lavish Indian wedding on the hotel’s patio, we decided to walk on the beach. The shell hunting was fantastic but sadly, there was a lot of garbage. We wished there would have been bags available to pick it up. Then, out of nowhere, rain storm!! We were quite a distance from our hotel so we had to just do our best to find shelter along the way back. By the time we got to the hotel, we were soaked!! Luckily the wedding had been relocated to the lobby and seemed to be seamlessly carrying on. This would be the first…but not the last…downpour of the day!

Brunch isn’t really a thing in Malaysia, and it is actually really hard to find breakfast cocktails. In fact, none of our four hotels offered mimosas or boozy coffee with breakfast. Weird.

Luckily, we found Gravy Baby, and our beloved new friend Iqbal.  He was adorable and made our cocktails “with heart”.

Although it was a huge menu, it was an easy decision – mimosa flight for Patti and a Porn Star Martini for Peggy. And an Croque Monsieur to share.

ssn – Porn Star Martinis are my single favorite cocktail ever. Although everyone has their own twist, its passionfruit, vodka, vanilla and bubbly. So good but such an unfortunate name.

This is our new home away from home.

After a brief stop for a foot massage, we wandered down or more street art before meeting up with Elaine for our food tour.

But First, Dessert

The Penang favorite for dessert is called Cendol.  It starts with shaved ice, then they add coconut milk, jelled Pandan “rice noodles”, then they add palm sugar and sweet red beans. Sugary sweet and surprisingly good.

The Famous Char Kway Teow

Char Kway Teow is the most famous dish in Penang.  And it is a MUST try.

Elaine took us to the spot she claims to be the best, Googgle Man. Googgle Man was working hard!! And with a 45 min wait, it was clearly where the locals went.  Thankfully, Elaine offered to order for us to ensure it wasn’t too spicy.

They take your order, gave us a number and we found a seat. You pay when the food is actually brought out to you. So, we settled in for our wait, grabbed a couple of waters, and decided it would not be thorough research if we didn’t also go to another stand.

We chose the fried oysters, which was more like an omelet. The oysters looked suspiciously like clams, but hey, whatever, they were delicious!

Then the Char Kway Teow arrives.  And it is amazing! Fried noodles with prawns and chicken, bean sprouts; slightly spicy and absolutely delicious. Worth the wait and easy to see why it is their signature dish.

And a little failed excursion for more food

As it was Ramadan, we did encounter the problem of a lot of stands being closed during the day (fasting from sun up to sundown).

Luckily, we were pretty full, so we suggested taking the Penang Hill Funicular Railway to the top of Penang Hill.

A bit of a tourist trap

Elaine waited down below to visit with a friend at a souvenir stand.  We scored the front seats of the funicular on the way up.

And while it was a fun trip up Penang Hill, once we got to the top the rain started again.  Additionally, there aren’t any very good view points at the top of the funicular station. 

It’s either hiking out to the view point, or paying money to go to the restaurant for the view there. 

And then there are all kinds of add-on experiences for you to purchase. 

It felt very forced and fake.

And on the car back to the bottom they packed us all in like sardines.  I felt really bad for the people standing up.  While it is a quick ride, it is a steep venture down.

Luckily, we had found an absolute gem of a person in Elaine. She stopped and got us some deep fried banana, which were amazing. In a sweet, fluffy batter (somewhere between pancake batter and tempura) and deep fried, it was a perfect top off to our Penang food experience.

Then it was finally time for drinking

It was still early, so we had Elaine drop us back off near Love Lane (a cute, narrow street said to be named because rich husbands housed their mistresses there back in the day), where we were anxious to try out The Pokok All-Day Bar.  Mainly because Pokok is fun to say, but also because it claims to be an All-Day bar, but it doesn’t even open until 3 pm, so boo on them.

However, we loved it.  Mainly outdoors, we had a cocktail just before the rain started (again!) and we moved under the covered patio.

One and done was the regulation of the evening.

Chulia Street

Just a couple doors down from Pokok was The Tipsy Cow. 

In Seattle, The Tipsy Cow is a fabulous burger joint.  But here there was an adorable man outside drumming up business, and it had a fun name, so we decided to pop in for a quick shot. 

Because shots take up less stomach space.

This is the same strip on Chulia St. where Gravy Baby is, and then in the evenings you can find The Tipsy Cow, Pokok, Brews Sports Bar, The Original Reggae Club, and the Hong Kong Bar.  It really is a great block to start your drinking on.

On to the Hidden Bars

Speakeasies in Malaysia are simply called “Hidden Bars” and are growing in popularity.

ssn – being self-proclaimed Speakeasy Specialists, we had done our research and mapped out a list of seven.

We decided to start with Beso Rosado.  The pictures online were adorable, it opened first, and it was on the outskirts, so we thought we would start there and work our way inward of the neighborhood.

Beso Rosado

It was super cute.  You enter through a lobby covered in bright colored graffiti and a sofa.  Keep going back through the double doors and the bar room opens up to be all pink and pretty.

And the cocktails! WOW! Inventive and served in fantastic, styled glasses.

We loved them and wished we had stayed for longer, just to work our way through the different cute glasses, from ceramic panda bears to upside down golden pineapples.

However, one and done, and it was time to go.

A Rainy Failure Came Next

And here is where our night took a down turn.

Google said it was only .7 miles to Archipelago. About halfway there was when the downpour started. Ducking in and out of doorways, we find the picture from Google of a blue door.  Only there is no way in. We can hear music. But, nope, nothing.

Hidden? Definitely.

So, we find shelter, Google some more, find out the entrance is actually around the next block. We hoof it through the pouring rain.  Some nice man at a bodega offers Peggy a ghetto umbrella (read: big piece of cardboard).

Around the block, to where the entrance is really supposed to be, and the door is closed and locked. The woman at the café next door has never heard of Archipelago.

And now, I am PISSED. Like a sopping wet kitten level of pissed.

ssn – no exaggeration here, she is cranky!! I thought our night was over, for sure.

But We Push On

We debate giving up but decide to walk the quarter mile to Manchu Bar.  And if that sucks, then we give up.

The rain lets up, but my feet are soaked, and my shoes are spongy, and I’m having trouble rallying for the cause.

But we find Manchu Bar.

And we can’t figure out how to get in.  The entrance to the building is a little teeny room.  We scan the QR code by the door, thinking that will alert someone that we are there; however, this is just a Covid check-in site.

We check behind the curtains, nothing. I find a door behind the curtains, but I push and it’s heavy and doesn’t really want to move, so I give up.

Peggy Googles, and discovers that yes, that door is the entrance.  We push a little harder, the door gives way, and IT’S FANTASTIC!!!

Great ambience, very Chinese themed, with red lanterns, and the best thing ever in a bar:  a huge carved dragon hanging from the ceiling.

The drinks are slow to be served, but are a whole new level of cool, containing Asian ingredients like dragon fruit and Yuzu, but also, wait for it:  POPCORN.

ssn – yes, the Pop Pop Corn! Cachaca, popcorn syrup and Campari, topped with popcorn. It was so good!

I insist Peggy visit the bathroom, because it’s super cool, and the fake Chinese Warriors guarding the doorway freak me out when I come out of the stall.

Then Peggy finds out that the decorative headpieces around the room are actually costume headpieces and meant to be worn.

And you know this is where our mood picked up!

We are Still Wet and Worn out

But we agree that if we go outside and the rain has stopped, we will hit The Junk Café, just a few doors down.

Because the pictures remind me of other fantastic dive bars that we’ve been in.

And luckily, it has stopped raining.

And The Junk Bar turns out to be really cool. Fantastic décor, including bar seats that make the one man sitting at the bar look like he’s wearing a G-string.

The bartender is an eclectic man, who you can’t help but feel drawn to, not in a sexy way, but in a “please be my new best friend” kind of way.

And thus ended our pretty tame and sort of lame experience drinking in Penang.

Our Last Morning

We decided to leave the hotel a little before our scheduled flight to Langkawi, for the sole purpose of hitting up our friends at Gravy Baby one last time.

Iqbal is there and has already created an Instagram account in order to follow our adventures. He starts us off with boozy coffees, made of course, “with heart”.

This time we have the full breakfast, which was really good. They have a full selection of, well, pretty much everything:  baked eggs, Croque Monsieur, Eggs Benedict, and French toasts. The “Gourmet Breakfasts” had different combinations of everything from a Full English breakfast to my personal choice: Late Miami, with sweet potatoes, chicken sausage, turkey bacon (no pork to be found due to the halal requirements), and scrambled eggs and spinach smothered in Hollandaise sauce.

ssn – I opted for Baked Gypsy Eggs. Eggs baked in a spicy tomato sauce with spinach and gruyere, with toast for dipping.

And a new server, who is just adorable and flirty with his little winks and sultry stares.  It was adorable this young guy trying to get flirty with the old Americans.  But we appreciated it.  Especially when Peggy ordered the Porn Star Martini and his little face went “oooh, ok” with a little smile.

And then we were off to Langkawi for another amazing Malaysian experience. Sorry to leave Penang, but excited for Langkawi.  Malaysia just did not fail us, despite the rain.

Other Malaysia destinations:

• Kuala Lumpur
• Langkawi
• Ipoh