Escaping Singapore For Charming Penang
5th February 2020
I’ve always been fond of Penang, and Malaysia in general. As a child I was lucky enough to spend many summer holidays playing in the sea up at Batu Ferringhi, which led to my parents eventually investing in a retirement property in Penang.
Whenever I feel like eating some good, but nostalgic food, I head to Penang. It isn’t always first on my list, as I’m still trying to tick off a long list of places I’d like to travel to in my lifetime, but for an easy, quick and relatively inexpensive weekend away from Singapore, you can do far worse than Penang.
Penang back in my day (wow, I sound old now) was NOT the hipster-colonial hybrid heaven that it is now, but such is the gentrification of life. There are two main areas to stay, Georgetown, which is the main city in Penang and where you’ll find the best cafes and street art, and Batu Ferringhi, which is the seaside town in the North. Often when I travel, I always prefer to be by the sea, although staying in Georgetown is far more convenient (even though it’s only a 20-30 minute drive between the two).
You’ll find wonderful converted shophouses and colonial-style hotels in Georgetown, and more familiar resort names in Batu Ferringhi. There’s no right decision, it just depends if you’d rather be by the sea or in the city!
Penang has some of my favourite food, which is a huge reason I actually go there! Two of my favourite things to eat are sizzling platters from a very nondescript stall down the side of the Golden Sands hotel in Batu Ferringhi and the famous pork soup from Hon Kei Food Corner.
As a family we’ve been going to the stall in Batu Ferringhi since before I was even born. It’s only open for lunch, and is now run by the daughter of the original owner. Nothing has changed, the stone tables are exactly the same as we used to eat on when I was a child. It’s extremely nostalgic for me, but really tasty too.
The pork soup was a discovery via my brother, and if you don’t go off-peak, you’ll be faced with a large crowd. I like to order the minced pork soup with rice, though I also really like the salted vegetable version. It’s like a hug in a bowl, I often dream of this!
You’ll find lots to do in Penang especially in Georgetown. You can simply explore the town, look at the famous street art, dive in and out of cafes, take your pick of delicious street food… but one thing I did on a more recent trip was to visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, which is a preserved old Peranakan house. If you are at all interested in Peranakan culture, I highly recommend a visit.
Please follow me on Facebook for my latest posts!