Holiday destination

Sites

1. Penang Hill

Penang Hill is a hill resort comprising a group of peaks on Penang Island, Malaysia. It is located within the Air Itam suburb, 9 km west of the center of George Town. Penang Hill is also known by the Malay name Bukit Bendera, which actually refers to Flagstaff Hill, the most developed peak.

As dusk sets in, watch George Town light up, providing a magical backdrop against the evening sky.

At Penang Hill, it is always an unforgettable, refreshing, and enriching experience. 

2. Escape Theme Park Penang

ESCAPE Penang hosts 40 exciting rides & attractions - rope & obstacle courses, ziplines, climbing, diving towers and the Guinness World Records Longest Tube Water Slide - immersed in the rich rainforest of Teluk Bahang, Penang Island.

3. Chong Fatt Tze Blue Mansion

The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a government gazetted heritage building located on Leith Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The mansion's external decorations and indigo-blue outer walls make it a very distinctive building, and it is sometimes referred to as The Blue Mansion. 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 louver windows. The mansion was originally built with careful attention to the principles of Feng Shui. It served as Cheong's private residence as well as the seat of his business activities in Penang.

4. Penang Street Art

Globally, there’s a very thin line between street art (more commonly known as graffiti) and vandalism. In countries such as the United States and Budapest, it tends to lean towards

vandalism. However, somewhat similar to the likes of the Berlin Wall, Penang has seemed to manage to strike a balance.

Penang seems proud of it and at the Tourist Information Centre on Beach Street a very useful map is handed out by the name 'Marking George Town'.

At the center are 52 steel-rod caricatures, entertaining and informative at the same time. They are distributed all over the core zone and the buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. As it says on the map they were done by the artists Tang Mun Kian, Baba Chuah, Reggie Lee and Lefty.

Also, the location of other street art, mainly paintings, is given on the map. Most famous is the work by Lithuanian-born Ernest Zacharevic, now a resident of Penang. Much photographed are his 'Children on Bicycle' and 'Boy on Motorbike'. Other known paintings are 'Indian Boatsman' by Russian artist Julia Volchkova or the 'Monkey God' in the China House by Thomas Powell from the UK.

Culture

1. Chaiya Mangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple

Chaiya Mangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple is renowned for its gold-plated “Reclining Buddha”, which is 33 meters in length and is the 17th biggest Reclining Buddha all around the world. According to history, Queen Victoria has granted land for the Thai temple to be built in 1845. Due to its colossal size, the temple is often packed with tourists.\

Besides, it also has spectacular architecture, in which some of which are detailed sculptures that narrate the legend of the Buddha. They were well-carved, gold-plated as well, and all around the Buddha seat. 

2. Little India

Covering an area around Queen Street, Chulia Street and Market Street, Little India in the city of George Town in Malaysia, is an ethnic Indian enclave. The oldest Hindu temple in Penang, Sri Mahamariamman Temple is located here.

Little India is also famous for Indian cuisine. It also serves as the main commercial and cultural activities of Penang Indians. The place becomes more lively during festival times like Deepavali and Thaipusam.

Centuries ago, stevedores from south India lived along parts of King Street which are called "Padavukara Tharuva" or "the Street of Boatmen". Market Street, which now forms the heart of the Indian enclave, was called "Kadai Teru" or "Street of Shops". The British called it "Chola Place" or "Little Madras".

Local Food

1. Siam Road Char Kuey Teow

This is the best Char Kuey Teow I have ever eaten in my lifetime!

Extraordinary queue just for a plate of Char Kuey Teow, Uncle Tan Chooi Hong, who is in his eighties this year, Char Kuey Teow is selling like hotcakes. He has been doing it for over 60 years after his father. In 2021, Uncle Tan’s Char Kuey Teow was listed in the article “50 Reasons to Love the World in 2021” written by BBC, while he himself was addressed “Humble King of Noodles”. 

If you are traveling to Penang, it is a must to drop by at Siam Road Char Kuey Teow in order to full-filled your taste bud. Remember to order a plate of spicy one! Oh wait, I mean two plates!

2. Kebaya Dining Room

Kebaya is the dining room of the Seven Terraces and is open to hotel guests and the public. Open daily, 6pm till 10pm. Christopher Ong has worked with the hotel’s chefs to create a menu of a new approach to Classic Straits Chinese Nyonya dishes. They have refined these using French cooking techniques and innovative products to deliver surprising new twists on this already fascinating cuisine. The effect is simple, delicious, full of flavour and dazzling. A four-course degustation menu of entrée, mains, vegetables and dessert is served in Chinese 'family-style' to allow guests to share the dishes. The Baba Bar is open daily from 2pm onwards, with live piano music in a very intimate setting.