Introduction

This is was a brief guide, written while I lived in Penang, to help visitors staying at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel to get the most out of their stay in Penang (Pulau Pinang or Pinang).

Note this was written in 2002/3 therefore some of the information may be out-of- date.

The State of Penang has a population of 1.2 million, more than half of which live on the island of Penang. The multiracial population is made up of mainly Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians. The island is 24 Km long and 14.5 Km wide and is shaped like a swimming turtle. The climate is warm and very humid with temperatures ranging from 21^oC to 32^oC. No need for sweaters however shopping centers, taxis and offices are kept very cold through air-conditioning.

The local currency is the Malaysian Ringgit (RM) and 100 Sen equals 1 Ringgit. The locals often referred to Ringgits as dollars (e.g. 2 dollars is RM 2). Note the exchange rates have changed since I was there in 2003, so the prices are only indications.

Phoning Home

Use a prepaid calling card to phone home. These can be purchased at any large shopping center e.g. Gurney Plaza, One Stop Midlands or at phone shops. Two popular brands include DigiChat or I-Talk which can normally be purchased in RM 50 or RM 100 denominations.

Places to See

For such a small island Penang has much to offer the tourist visitor. Listed in this guide are a few of the bigger attractions located near the Evergreen Laurel Hotel. The Evergreen is ideally located on the historic Gurney Drive. A popular place for the early morning or evening walker and many hawker stalls. The sun rises at about 6:50am and sets at about 7:30pm.

Penang is a safe place but take the usual tourist precautions, don’t flash money around and be careful of motorbike bag/purse thieves.

The times and costs in this guide use the Evergreen Hotel as the starting point and are only estimates. Always agree a price with taxi drivers before leaving. When entering temples remember to remove your hat and shoes (not socks). Do not take photos of priests unless you ask permission first.

Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram (Reclining Buddha)

Located on Jalan Kelawai the Buddhist temple of Thai architecture houses a newly renovated 33m gold-plated reclining Buddha, said to be one of the longest in the world. Across the street you can find my personal favorite temple.

Dharmikarama Temple or Standing Buddha.

The very well kept Burmese temple has a beautiful gardens, fish pools, a large standing Buddha and many other smaller temples and sights to see.

Opening Times: 7:30am – 6:00pm

Distance: Exit from the back of the hotel and turn right onto Jalan Kelawei. Walk for 5 minutes and you will see the two temples on the left.

Craft Batik Factory/Shop

This shop has a wide selection of original Batiks clothes, table cloths and pictures. If you are looking for cheap copies go to the night market. Just behind the shop is a small factory, ask someone in the shop to give you a tour and explain how the different Batiks are made.

Opening Times: 9am-5pm

Distance: Exit from the back of the hotel and turn right onto Jalan Kelawei. Walk for 1 minute and you will see the shop on the right.

Kek Lok Si Temple (Temple of Supreme Bliss)

Visible from the Evergreen, this huge temple is one of the finest Buddhist temples in South-East Asia. Standing majestically on a hill in Air Itam, this temple built in tiers culminates the beautifully crafted “Pagoda of 10,000 Buddha’s”. This is the “Disneyland” of temples, and is still being enlarged. It now features a small train connecting the lower temples to the upper temples and the Goddess of Mercy. There is no fee to enter the main temple complex but you need to pay to use the train or enter the Pagoda section. There are several vantage points to get great views of the city.

Opening Times: 8:00am to 7:00pm

Distance: 20 minutes by taxi / RM 15

Penang Hill

If you are looking for a short break from the heat, ride the Funicular railway for 30 minutes up to Penang Hill and enjoy some breathtaking views. Have a walk around the hill and see some of the charming bungalows built in the 1920’s. Visit the very colourful Indian temple and stop off at the Bellavue Hotel for a drink or food on the terrace overlooking the Island. If you call ahead you can order Steamboat – a delicious hot soup that comes with raw fish, vegetables and meat that you cook in the soup.

Opening Times: 7:30am ‘til late

Distance: 20 minutes by taxi / RM 15

Batu Ferringhi - Night Market/ Beaches /Hotels

If you fancy a walk on the beach to watch the sunset take a taxi to the best beaches in Penang, Batu Ferringhi, where the resort hotels are concentrated. Start at the Golden Sands or Rasa Sayang and walk along the beach or sit back and enjoy the two for one happy hour prices at Zigi’s Beachfront Bar. There are a large number of shops, pubs, Hawker centers and restaurants along the road (See Places to Eat). From about 8:00pm onwards the night market starts where you can barter for cheap t-shirt, imitation watches, clothes, pirate DVDs and CDs, batiks and other souvenir goods.

Opening Times: 8pm ‘til late for the night market

Distance: 15-20 minutes by taxi / RM 20

Botantical gardens

A good place for a walk after a long day in the office is the beautiful and tranquil 72-acre Botanical gardens, a favorite spot of joggers and walkers. A good place to see tropical plants and greenery from all over the world and also monkeys but keep your distance and don’t take any food with you. There are a number of circular paths that lead you around the garden.

Opening Times: 7am ‘til dark

Distance: 8 minutes by taxi / RM 8

Downtown George Town

If you have more time, a great way to see downtown is via a Trishaw. It’s a good idea to do this in the early morning or late afternoon when it’s not so hot. You can normally find trishaws at the start of Penang Rd or in front of the CityBayview Hotel; tell the taxi driver you want to take a trishaw. You need at least an hour and a half to see Georgetown, barter for a good rate with the trishaw driver (max RM 25 per hour). Ask to see Cheong Fatt Tze, Mansion, Little India and the Mahamariamman Temple, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Yap Kongsi Temple, Cannon Street, Khoo Koonsi Temple (RM 10) and Kimberley or Campbell St.

And if you have time also visit the Clan Jetties, Fort Cornwallis, the clock tower and city hall. As you will discover, every corner of George Town has something of interest to see, hear and smell.

If you feel hungry in the morning (before 12 noon) and you are near Campbell or Kimberly St look out for the large Dim Sum restaurants.

Distance: 10 minutes by taxi / RM 8. Trishaw max. RM 25 per hour.

Butterfly farm

An interesting visit for the weekend is the Butterfly Farm, located just past BatuFerringhi. The farm is home to 4,000 live butterflies of 120 species and includes an insect museum, scorpion pit, a number of spiders, lizards, fish, frogs and giant millipedes as well as art gallery and souvenir shop.

Distance: 25-30 minutes by taxi / RM 30

Places to Eat (within walking distance of the Evergreen)

Penang has been called a Hawker’s paradise, and Pengangites love to eat different food daily and around the clock. The local food is a mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Siamese, European and a few others thrown in.

Hawker stalls can range from open restaurants to a single stall on the side of a road. Do not be afraid to try the food, some of the best food in Penang is sold by hawkers at the side of the road or on the edge of car parks. Look for the crowded places and you will find that the food is clean and safe to eat. But beware some dishes are VERY spicy; look out for small green or red chillis.

Popular Hawker dishes from Penang include Hokkien Mee, Laksa, Char KoayTeow and Sar Hor Fun (see Hawker guide at end).

Tipping; restaurants and hotels will include a 10% service charge and 5% government tax on the bill. Tipping in other places is not expected.

Gurney Plaza

There are a large number of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and fast food places in and around Gurney Plaza, that cater to every taste: Sushi, Coffee Bean, The Dome, Fish and Chips, McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza, Hot Wok (try the Sunday buffet at 1:30pm), Harvey’s and Gurney’s Hawker food court (lower level) and more…

Apart from being a mall with a large number of internationally known shops, Gurney Plaza also has a large supermarket and several pharmacies on the lower ground level.

Opening Times: Many shops do not open until after 11am but are open ‘til late. Supermarket is open 9:30am-10:30pm 7 days a week.

Distance: You can walk there in about 15 minutes and catch a taxi back (RM

Hawker Centers

When entering a Hawker center walk around and look at all the different stalls, each will offer different dishes. Order your food directly from the stall and tell them where you are going to sit, they will bring you the food. Pay when the food arrives. Once you sit down someone will come and ask you what you want to drink, pay when the drinks arrive. Try the lime juice or ice tea. Tea or coffee, both hot and cold will normally come with condensed (sweet) milk unless you specifically tell them no.

There are too many Hawkers centers to mention but a number of very good ones can be found along Gurney Drive between the Evergreen and Gurney Plaza. Others include Safari opposite One Stop Midlands and Pulau Tikus Market.

Restaurants

If you prefer restaurants some of the more popular include:

• 68 Kelawai – Stylish restaurant serving international cuisine
• Bingo (Kelawai Rd) – Vietnamese
• Salsa (Kelawai Rd) – newly opened Mediterranean
• Roadhouse Grill (opposite Gurney Beach apts) – American style bar and grill
• Hot Wok (4^th floor Gurney Plaza) – Beautiful restaurant with wide selection of Chinese food
• Starbucks (opposite Gurney Beach apts) Coffee and snacks, opens from 8:30am ‘til late
• Casa Blanca (Behind Gleneagles Hospital) – Mediterranean cuisine
• Banana Leaf (Behind Gleneagles Hospital) – Indian food served on banana leaves
• Craven Café (Burma Rd) – Take-away/sit down Indian buffet and tandoorigrill (very local)
• Gurney 75 (Gurney Drive) – this is a bar but also has a restaurant (not sure about the food)

Not walking distance

The Temple of Fine Arts serves excellent vegetarian Indian dishes. Run as a charity you leave donations as payment. At lunch time they run a buffet.

If you are going downtown in the evening stop off at the Historic E & O Hotel (Lebuh Farquhar) and watch the sun go down with a drink on the back terrace. A bit expensive but worth the experience. The hotel does serve food, and I recently enjoyed an excellent Sunday roast dinner, but a better dinning experience within 5 minutes walk is either

• Japur Court (Leith St, downtown) – extremely good Indian food

or

• Mansion 32 (Lebuh Farquhar) – international cuisine similar to Kelawai 68

In the same area is the night-club/pub scene. The best pub in town is Soho’s(Penang Rd), they don’t serve food. Just to the left of Soho’s are a number of night-clubs, the most popular being Slippery Signorita’s.

Batu Ferringhi has a huge number of restaurants, hawker centers and bars along the road in front of the hotels. Try the Wizard of Food or the hawker center in front of the Golden Sands Hotel.

Penang

Cheong Fatt Tze

Batu Ferringhi beach

Reclining Buddha

Standing Buddha

Batik factory

Kek Lok Si

Indian Temple

Penang Hill Train

Mutiara

Sunset at Batu Ferringhi

Monkey at Botanical gardens

Trishaw

Clock Tower

Chowrasa market

Butterfly farm

Hawker stall

Temple of fine arts

Dim sum

Buffet

Sunset at E & O