Malaysia Part 3: Penang

Penang:
The trip from Kuala Lumpur to Penang:
We started our trip by taking a bus - a “Super Nice bus” - that what they called but in fact it was super horrible. The bus waited in the wrong platform with no note on the screen. We asked the information desk and they didn’t know if the bus had arrived or not and finally when we found the bus we thought the bus would stick to its schedule but the bus took off 90 minutes late. On the road the bus had a problem with the roof. It made a sound like zzzzzzzzzzzzz for six hours.

Once we got to Penang many taxi drivers tried to charge us three times more than the real price to go to Batu Ferringhi.

Batu Ferringhi is very nice place a lot of cultures, religions, night market and western restaurants that served pork, and Halal restaurants as well.

Thai Temple:
I adore Buddhist art and the Thai style is my favorite, with gold color covering the roof and a huge statue of Buddha. And there was a cute cat hiding from the sun in front of the entrance door.

The cute cat

Hindu Festival:
The Hindu festival was huge. Roads were closed and traffic was bad. We walked a long distance to get inside the festival. Indians were dancing on the road, there was music, Indian food and beverages every few meters and flowers everywhere, but unfortunately trash was everywhere, too. I was enjoying seeing new culture and people celebrating their feast until I saw the men with hooks tearing their back I respect all cultures and religions, but it was horrifying.

Little girls playing

Butterfly Farm:
It was great to see different types of butterflies flying high, landing on the flowers and eating. There was one sad thing about the place, though. Some people weren’t careful and stepped on butterflies.

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Food in Malaysia:

P.S: I wasn’t paid to write this post it is my personal opinion.

Food in Malaysia:
Food is my favorite thing in Malaysia from street food to fancy restaurants. It is always cheap, spicy and delicious.
Malaysia has Halal food, but Western restaurants serve pork and there are many international restaurants as well. Everyone can find his taste.

Kuala Lumpur:
Street food and fried bananas! I never knew the bananas can taste that good before.
We went to an Indonesian restaurant and ordered 5 dishes and drinks for less than 20$. I had a drink called ice teler. It’s iced juices with tropical fruits. It’s the best juice I ever had.
Secret Recipe restaurant and café is very good and cheap.

Ice Teler

Penang:
Tarbush restaurant has Middle Eastern and Indian cuisines. The falafel there was amazing.
There are many western restaurants along by the beach.

Langkawi:
In Langkawi I had the best food ever in the Mexican restaurant. I had a heavenly dish - it was my first time to eat deer and oh my god it was great.

Venison

In the Lebanese restaurant the Falafel was overcooked and they served it alone with no bread, no sauce, and the chicken kebab was cold.

There’s a Russian restaurant in the quay for romantic nights: dinner with sea view and fresh breezes. I had beef in a pot and it should be happiness in a pot. It was nothing less than great.
Beef in a Pot

The Friday market had all kind of food: beef, chicken and vegetables. Everything is tasty and cheap.

Budget Traveller Diaries:

Escaping the Korean Winter to Malaysia:

Late January to February are the coldest months in Korea. My husband and I wanted to escape the winter to a warm place where we could have fun, see new things, eat new food and hang on the beach and Malaysia is the perfect place for that.
We made a budget $100 per day for two people including the accommodation. 
If you are a budget traveller and don’t mind the small seats and buying water on the airplane, Air Asia would be good for you.

Kuala Lumpur: 

We landed in Kuala Lumpur around 6:00 A.M. Sunrise was the first thing I saw in Malaysia. We went to a three-star hotel downtown which cost $38 per night. 


Things I did in Kuala Lumpur: 

1- went to China town seeking cheap shopping but I wasn’t impressed with the products. But on the way we visited an old Chinese temple. It is amazing how art can live so long and yet touch you when you see it. 


2- shopping in big shopping malls. Compared to South Korea, Malaysia is very cheap so even when I bought a dress from a big mall it was cheaper than a street shop in Korea.


3- bears street. I loved that street. There was a bear from every country. Can you guess how the Egyptian bear looks? 


4- doctor fish. Once I put my feet in the tank I couldn’t stop laughing. The small fishes are so tickling! 30 minutes for 30RM about $10. 


5- Bird park. It is a huge park with nice artificial waterfalls allowing you to walk very close to the birds and feed them, but some birds are very aggressive - they left marks on my hands! While passing by a big bird’s cage we saw a small mouse stealing the bird’s food. To leave the park you must take a taxi from the taxi counter where they charge you double for the short trip.

6- in one of the traveling guides, the writer recommended Cosmo world so we went there and other than rides there wasn’t much to do but the haunted house was great and funny. It was all manual! The worker leads the way and pushes the statues in front of us it was fun. 


7- Sunway Park. It was the best thing in Kuala Lumpur. A water park and extreme park and wild park where we watched an animal show starting with only 3 animals, but yet was good. Scream park? I have no idea what it is. We didn’t check it out.
Bears Fight

Extreme Park

Things to avoid in Kuala Lumpur: 
Taxies are the worst thing in Malaysia. We went for dinner with a friend who lives there and we took a taxi two short subway stops from our hotel. The taxi driver refused to use the meter. My friend asked the driver to use the meter and he refused again saying: I will tell you how much it is. 

My friend told him that refusing using the meter is illegal in Malaysia. Use the meter now or we will report you. 
So the driver used the meter with a big sigh and dropped us in the main street. We walked a few meters to the hotel but the creepy thing is the driver followed us step by step to the entrance of the hotel.

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