To accommodate our early flight back to Singapore, the hotel has kindly replaced the in-house breakfast with generous packs of bread and muffins. But we managed to try some kway teow soup from a famous road side stall that’s open only in the morning, right in front of the hotel. The warm bowl of soup was perfect for a rainy morning.
I spent the waiting time running around, observing the airplanes taking off and touching down the runway, playing with my new toy helicopter and buses. Our flight was right on time. We reached Changi Airport at 12.50pm and upon collecting our luggage we had lunch at nearby Toast Box. I tried their nasi lemak and iced teh.
Breakfast was at Mango Tree’s restaurant at house #17. The restaurant actually serves only vegetarian food but for breakfast they provided some non-vegetarian dishes as well. We were seated at a long table for 6 and the dishes were then served to us promptly: lime juice in bottles, fruit platters, vegetarian bao, roti canai with curry and char hor fun. There’s no prize in guessing my favorite dish: bao! Oh, I loved the lime juice too.
It’s breakfast time
As there was still some time to spare before our booked MPV arrived, we walked to a nearby shop and bought some local snacks.
At a local snack shop
The nice auntie driver took us to Bukit Bendera a.k.a Penang Hill. She also very nicely offered to buy one ticket using her IC to get the local resident’s rate, as it’s much cheaper.
At Bukit Bendera
I enjoyed the funicular train ride very much! We got the prime spot – the very first row beside the train operator. I couldn’t get my eyes off the view 🙂
Getting to the top
The hill offers a panoramic view of the island. It stands 830m above sea level.
On top of the hill
Our lunch menu was penang laksa at a roadside stall near Kek Lok Si Temple, which was our next destination. For side dish we had prawn-stuffed fried tofu and spring rolls. All washed down with sugar cane juice.
Kek Lok Si Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. We reached the temple by walking up the stairs – luckily the path was sheltered, with souvenir shops lined up along the way.
At Kek Lok Si Temple
There’s a pond named Liberation Pond filled with turtles on the way to the temple. I fed them with some spinach leaves.
At Kek Lok Si Temple
We stopped by St. George’s church and Cheong Fatt Tze mansion for a quick view. Then we had ice Teochew cendul at Lebuh Keng Kwee. The number of people crowding the roadside stall was more than enough to entice us to try the sweet dessert.
I woke up bright and early, ready for our trip to Penang. It’s a cold windy morning with persistent rain, making it difficult to call for a cab, considering it’s a weekday rush hour. After a few failed attempts finally we secured a maxi cab booking so that we could all travel together.
I made sure everyone’s got their passports on the way to Changi 🙂
Before the flight
It was the second day for Tiger Airways to fly from T2 since the closure of Budget Terminal the day before. It’s good as it meant I could get my dose of kaya toast and teh before boarding :p
6 of us occupied one whole row. The view from the plane’s window was fascinating but I dozed off soon after as it took very long for the plane to take off.
Buckling my seatbelt
We reached Penang International Airport behind the scheduled time, and it was raining. Luckily there was a transport arranged for us already. The airport did not look so nice as it was under renovation. After 30 mins drive we reached our accommodation, The Mango Tree Place.
The rooms are located in several houses along Jalan Phuah Hin Leong. We got the Terrace Suite at house #3. The office occupies separate house, and the restaurant another. House #3 has a spacious living room and 2 suites: Garden Suite at first floor and Terrace Suite at second floor. I immediately loved the look and feel of the place, especially the big clean white bed at the master bedroom. I tested the bed and it felt great!
At Mango Tree Place
After check-in, we made our way to New World Park for our late lunch. It was still drizzling so we borrowed umbrellas and brought it wherever we went. I had wanton noodle soup while the rest ordered char kway teow. The taste was just okay.
At New World Park
We then took a bus to Gurney Drive. The bus took a long time to arrive, but it was almost empty and it costed only RM7 for all of us. We initially wanted to explore the famous street but we cancelled the plan as the wind and rain still persisted. After dinner at Gurney Plaza we took cabs back to Mango Tree and had a good night sleep.
Nicholas' Odyssey 