[travel] Penang, Malaysia

This is one post that’s been a long time coming!! 
I thought I’d start writing about my travels, since it’s something Nek and I both love so much and dream about often… we love to travel not just to see someplace new or go on a break from everyday life, but to experience different cultures and ways of life. I mean when I think about all the different countries, cultures, beliefs, traditions and upbringings people all over the world have, had it gets me all excited! And I want to learn about as many of them as possible! It’s my dream to find something I can hold onto from those people be it a part of their culture/ tradition that I love, or just a wonderful memory of that place, or an amazing experience we had there. I believe that travel truly can make you richer, in life.  And every time I travel, I hope to learn something that can make me a better person!  🙂

ANYWAY, back to telling you about Penang… Nek and I have been to there together twice now and I have to say I really like it. It’s a Malaysian island (and State) and that time we stayed in Georgetown, the spot with the most little hostels… We’ve actually been to Penang together twice now, but I actually go quite often, and will be heading back there again this September for my visa… so if you’re a past client and are in Penang and want to meet up, send me an email!! I love catching up with you all!

Our trip started from Samui, as you may be able to guess, haha! We booked the trip to Penang from one of the many tour/travel organisers on the island, which means we got to take the ferry across to Surat Thani…

And drive nearly 11 hours on a minibus, down all the way past the border of Malaysia, over the  bridge connecting the Penang island, to the mainland and into Georgetown. We had some nice views driving through the last bit of Malaysia watching a storm come in while the sun set as well! 🙂 
view of minibus drive from Had Yai to Penang, Malaysia. Driving, view, Malaysian view, sunset time, beautiful palm trees,


When we got to Georgetown, we found this nice old hostel that I had stayed in on my previous trip there alone, got some delicious INDIAN food for dinner and chilled out for the night.

view on the drive to Penang, Malyasia, travel from Had Yai to Georgetown by minivan, by minibus, Thailand to Malaysia by mini van

The next morning we explored… I love the rustic feel in Georgetown. 

Georgetown, rustic town, old style, art, Malaysia,

We always love to go to this breakfast market and get some delicious brekkie!

breakfast in Georgetown, Malaysia. Early morning breakfast market, steam, cooking, Malaysian breakfast

breakfast in Malaysia, Georgetown, Penang, dim sum and noodle soup Malaysian breakfast

Hahah, spot me if you can in the background somewhere, Nek snuck a photo of me 🙂

Then we had a walk around the market areas before we headed off for the day 🙂

walking the Markets in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

street photography, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
flower sellers in the markets, colourful flowers in Malaysia, Cherry May Ward travel Photography

This restaurant was so busy, we thought maybe we should have tried the breakfast there!

Street photography, street stalls, breakfast, markets, busy restaurant, popular restaurant in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

markets selling dried goods, market stalls in Penang, Geogetown
flower sellers in the markets, colourful flowers in Malaysia, Cherry May Ward travel Photography, drying flowers in Penang
We got on a bus to Batu Feringgi beach 🙂 The bust drive is nice and scenic once you get to the coast, so keep a lookout!
Motorbike parked on sidewalk, Penang, Malaysia, Man looking at Camera

Here’s a look at Batu Feringgi beach…
Batu Feringgi beach, Penang's beaches, Malaysian island beaches, travelling to Malaysia, travel, walking on the beach, Feringgi Beach, Penang

….But the day we went there, there wasn’t much happening at the beach and the weather wasn’t that great so we decided to go straight to the Teluk Bahang National Park. 

Teluk Bahang National Park, Penang National Park, pier at National Park,

Acting the part of tourist is fun, especially when it’s a great excuse to get lots of photos of each other, haha!

There were fishing houses floating in the sea, and a storm brewing!

We actually really liked the hike in the park, and we saw heaps of monkeys, we planned to walk to another beach in the park called Monkey Beach..

Teluk Bahang National Park, Penang National Park, pier at National Park, hiking in Teluk Bahang National Park, walking, bush walking, hiking in Malaysia, hiking in Penang


The only thing was it was, it started raining quite heavily when we were half way there on another beach, so we decided to head back out when the rain slowed down. 

beautiful views over the water from Teluk Bahang National Park, rain storm brewing at Penang National Park, pier at National Park, hiking in Teluk Bahang National Park, walking, bush walking, hiking in Malaysia, hiking in Penang

Here’s one of the cute guys who guided the way for us!

monkeys in Teluk Bahang National Park, wild moneys in Penang National Park, friendly monkeys, cute monkeys in the wild in asia, monkey in asia, monkey in Penang, Malaysia

After a full few days of doing stuff, we ended the day by walking the gorgeous streets in Georgetown and finding some nice places to chill.

night scene of Georgetown lane ways, beautiful, rustic town, Penang, Malaysia, street scenes at night,

Micke’s Place was so nice! The owner, Micke, is so friendly to everyone visiting his shop and is there to offer any travel tips from his own experience. We had dessert there and it was SO DELICIOUS!! We had a crepe with orange flambé and chocolate and ice cream and a few drinks.  Highly recommended!

Micke's Place, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, delicious food and great company, Love Lane restaurants,

Micke's Place, Georgetown, wall illustrations, wall drawings, artistic guests, drawing on the walls, I love Micke's Palce

Micke's Place, Georgetown, welcome, Micke's Place menu, lovely decor, beautiful restaurant, local, travellers, nice pit-stop, sweet, great restaurant in Georgetown, Penang,

Then MORE walking proved handy after dinner, then dessert but we ended up finding another place we just had to pop into… Moustache Houze!

Moustache Houze, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, nice decor, great decor, good drinks and dessert, popular cafe
Haha 😉
Giant Moustache, Moustache Houze, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, popular cafe
cafe in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, popular cafe, beautiful decorations, wine bottles with flowers, good lighting

This was the deciding factor; Nek fell in LOVE with these lights haha! So we luckily were about to get a table just before they were closing, and get some photos of their inspiring decor 🙂 Nek loved them so much, he wanted to use these lights at our Bar, or house! I think they are pretty cool too!

beautiful decorations, cool lights, awesome lights, cool hanging light globes, good lighting, Mirrors with frames, cafe in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, popular cafe,
 beautiful decor, bookcase made from pipes, cool decorations, cafe in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, popular cafe,
They had mummy drinks, and again desserts (but we didn’t have any more though!) and cocktails.

The last day was just relaxing, so we didn’t get many photos, except for the breakfast haha! Yummm, I LOVE Cha siu bao!!
breakfast in Georgetown, Penang, iced coffee, iced tea, dim sum, Cha siu bao, delicious, yummy!

Penang, Georgetown lane way, motorbikes, ladder, colourful, rustic, old,

Georgetown is a very historical town, full of colour, cute rustic lane ways and lovely people! If you have a few days to drop by, I definitely recommend it! 

colourful shoes in Georgetown markets, lane way, no parking sign, motorbike, Penang, Malaysia

Best of all, there’s a lane called Love Lane ….. <3 🙂 
Love Lane Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, historical art, historic art in Georgetown lane ways, cute alley way illustrations in Penang,

Have a lovely and happy mid-week, Wednesday!

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