Penang free and easy travel with private driver (Blue Mansion and Penang Hill)

Day 1

We had a short 3D2N holiday visit to the Penang Island, located at north west of the Malaysia peninsular along the Straits of Malacca. Once part of the British colony along with Malacca and Singapore, today Penang Island still carries much of its colonial and pre-war architecture heritage, especially in its capital, George Town, which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. In more recent years, new attractions such as the famous Penang street food and street art murals have attracted many tourists both Malaysians from other states and foreigners to the island.

I was travelling with my wife and our close friends, which we took the morning flight from Singapore to Penang International Airport. We have chartered a mini-bus with driver for the local travel for the next 3 days. As it was close to lunch time after we cleared the immigration, we went straight to have our lunch first in George Town.

Penang International Airport

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Book your Penang private car  (with driver) with Klook

Hot Bowl White Curry Mee @ Jalan Rangoon

The journey from the airport to George Town took around 45 minutes. The traffic within the George Town city centre is congested and slow, as many of the streets between the pre-war era buildings are single lane. Our first stop of the day is the Hot Bowl White Curry Mee at Jalan Rangoon.

Hot Bowl White Curry Mee

The shop itself is not very big, but still not too crowded when we arrived. The specialty here is of course the White Curry Mee, which the standard bowl comes with bean curd puff, cuttlefish, cockles and duck blood. However, they allow customization, which you can choose to opt out some of the standard items or add other ingredients such as prawns, fish ball, crab sticks and others. Depending on individual, you can further add the homemade chili paste to the soup, which makes the curry spicy and even more tasty.

Article about the White Curry Mee

Original White Curry Mee

We also ordered their deboned chicken, which is another popular dish. The chicken is tender and juicy, especially the light soy sauce which is very fragrant.

Deboned Chicken

Overall, we were very satisfied with the meal. After lunch, our driver came back to pick us and we headed to our first attraction, The Blue Mansion.


The Blue Mansion

The Blue Mansion, also known as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, was built during the late 19th century by Chinese merchant Cheong Fatt Tze (張弼士). It used to be the private residence of the merchant's descendants, until 1989 when a group of locals purchased the property and conducted massive restoration works to transform it to a boutique hotel cum museum as seen today. The restored heritage building has won a several awards, both locally and internationally, including from UNESCO.

We arrived at the mansion just in time for the next guided tour, which was conducted in English. We bought the entrance tickets and took some photographs in front of the building and the main hall before the commencement of the tour.

The Blue Mansion

Rickshaw Exhibits

Entrance to the Blue Mansion

The guided tour is around 45 minutes long and covers only the central part of the building. The 2 ends of the building house the hotel guest rooms, which are not accessible as part of the tour. The guide tour touched on various subjects, such as the history and lifestyle of Cheong Fatt Tze and his family, the unique blend of Chinese and Western architecture of the building and its glamorous interior designs and furniture, and the daily accessories used by the family.

Waiting area before commencement of the tour

Overlooking the 2nd Level and Sky Well

Overlooking the Ground Level from 2nd Level

Guide explaining the history of the Mansion and its founder

Wooden bed used by the family

Dinning area opened to the hotel guests only

The hotel room area not accessible to the tour

After the tour, we departed to check-in to our Airbnb lodging, which is an apartment in a condominium near the Komtar Tower.

Our Airbnb apartment

Joez Coconut Jelly @ Jalan Dato Keramat

After we settled down in our Airbnb apartment, we had made arrangement for our driver to bring us to Penang Hill. But before that, we made a quick stopover at Joez Coconut Jelly to have some dessert first.

Joez Coconut Jelly

It was a small simple shop with no fanciful decorations, and they focus simply on serving coconut juice and related desserts. We ordered their popular coconut jelly and coconut shake with pearls. The coconut jelly was refreshing and authentic, served cold in the coconut shell which comes with the coconut meat. The coconut shake on the other hand didn't fair that well. It was very sweet and the taste of the vanilla milk was too strong and over powers the coconut.

Storage of coconuts

Coconut Jelly and Milk Shake

After this, we continued our journey to Penang Hill.


Penang Hill

Penang Hill, also known as Bukit Bendera, is 833m above sea level at its highest point. It used to serve as a retreat location for the British during the colonial period, but today, it is a very popular tourist destination in Penang Island among locals and foreigners. The cooler climate on top of the hill and the magnificent aerial views of the city the summit offers are the main attraction for the visitors.

Our driver dropped us at the Lower Station of the Penang Hill Funicular Railway at Air Itam. After buying the tickets, we queued for another 20min before we managed to board the railway. The ride uphill to the Upper Station took around 10min, with stops at a few intermediate stations.

Penang Hill Lower Station

Inside the Funicular Train

Penang Hill Upper Station

Funicular Train arriving the Upper Station

After alighting the railway, we went to the Sky Walk located just next to the Upper Station. This is the place that offers unobstructed aerial view of the surroundings. Looking to the east, we could see the entire George Town, with the Komtar Tower (tallest building in Penang) being the most striking landmark. We could also clearly see the city of Butterworth across the Selatan Strait. On the south and south-east view, we could see the famous Kek Lok Si Temple (極樂寺) and the first and second Penang Bridge respectively.

View of George Town

View of First Penang Bridge

Southern view which Kek Lok Si Temple can be clearly seen

One of the many bungalows on Penang Hill

After the photo taking session, we walked past the Viewing Deck area, where there were many little push carts selling accessories, food and drinks. We continued further down, which we could see many sculptures around, as well as an exhibit of the old generation of the Funicular Rail Carriage. Not far away is The Owl Museum, which focus on 3D Illusions Art, and the Love Lock. The Love Lock is an area where couples could buy a lock and write their love vow on it, which symbolise locking their love together eternally.

Map of Penang Hill

Sculpture of a pearl in the shell

Love Lock

Numerous locks on the side railing

We walked further uphill towards an area where we can find a mosque, Hindu temple, children playground and a replica of an old cannon. Near the Hindu temple, we could also see the aerial view of north western side of the island, which there is still mainly covered with vegetation.

Hindu Temple

Figurines of Hindu Gods and Goddess

After this, we made our way back to the Upper Station and took the Funicular Railway to the Lower Station. By this time, it was already dinner time, which we arranged our driver to bring us to Jelutong Night Market.

Jelutong Night Market @ Jalan Van Praagh

Jelutong Night Market is located within the residential suburb, to be exact, stretching along Jalan Van Praagh, Jalan Ooi Thiam Siew and Jalan Tapah. It is only opened on every Friday night, starting from the evening time. The night market is mainly made up of temporary stalls selling mainly snacks, food and drinks. Many of the food stalls make use the back of the lorry to cook and prepare their food. Other than the traditional local delights, there were also several stalls selling Taiwanese and Japanese food concepts.

Food stalls by the roadside

Cheese Potato stall

Cheese Tart stall

Stall selling cakes

We first visited the Char Koay Teow stall, which is one of the few stalls with their own tables and seats. While waiting for the dish to be cooked, some of us went to buy other snacks, such as Japanese cheese tart, cheese potato with sausages, grilled squid, grilled chicken and pork sticks and sugar cane juice.

Char Koay Teow stall

Char Koay Teow with chili

Cheese Potato with sausages and egg

Grilled Squid with sweet and chili sauce

After this, we decided to further walk down to explore the streets. Frankly speaking the first round of food wasn't enough to fill our stomachs. But looking at the big crowd and little available seats and table for our group at the night market, we had decided to take-away the food back to our Airbnb apartment. We went in different directions to buy more food, such as Char Koay Kak (also known as fried carrot cake), Penang Laksa, Muah Chee, pan cakes, rojak and soya beancurd.

Char Koay Kak stall

After the frenzy shopping, our driver picked us back to the apartment. We dropped off at a supermarket near our apartment to purchase some bottled drinks, fruits and potato chips. I could see that everyone really enjoyed the street food that we had bought and they were relatively cheap.

Penang Laksa

More Char Koay Teow

Rojak

Muah Chee with fried onion shallots

Pancakes

After the late supper, we continued to talk through the night before we decided to go to bed and call it a day.



Follow the links below to the other days of my Penang tour:

Day 1: Hot Bowl White Curry Mee, The Blue Mansion, Joez Coconut Jelly, Penang Hill, Jelutong Night Market

Day 2: Chok Kee Porridge Cafe, Kek Lok Si Temple, Pasar Air Itam Laksa, Ah Leng Char Koay Teow, Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul, Penang Street Art Murals, Mugshot Cafe, Gurney Drive Hawker Centre

Day 3: Jalan Transfer Roti Canai, Chew Jetty, Pinang Peranakan Museum, Perut Rumah Nyonya Cuisine

The museum visit to know all about Malacca's history

Day 3

This was our last day in Malacca. As usual, we had our breakfast at our Aldy Hotel Stadthuys, this time trying out some other set meals different from the previous day. Our coach will pick us up at 1.00pm to return to Singapore, thus we had only planned for a visit to one attraction after our breakfast.


History and Ethnography Museum (The Stadthuys)

The History and Ethnography Museum is housed inside The Stadthuys building. It is a 2 storey building and the entire museum complex is large, which require several hours to completely appreciate all the exhibits. The museum is split into 2 portion, the history and ethnography section.

Once we entered the museum, there's a large exhibition hall on the various artifacts, porcelains, weapons traded and found in the region across various eras, from the Malacca Sultanate to the European colonial periods.

Porcelain Exhibits

Kris - Weapon used by the Malay warriors

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On the second level, we will walk through the history of Malacca, with detail explanation of each ruling period. On the Malacca Sultanate, there are numerous painting illustrations about the founding of the Sultanate, lifestyles of the people, and folktales during that period. The European colonial section showcase the rise and fall of the Portuguese, Dutch and British, the ships they used and their governance over Malacca. Lastly, there are also section that showcase the Japanese Occupation and the modern history about the incorporation of Malacca into the Malaysia Federation.

Malacca during the Sultanate period

Malacca during the Portuguese period

Malacca during the Dutch period

There's one section dedicated as the Zheng He's Gallery, which showcase Zheng He's maritime voyage through the Straits of Malacca and the growing relationship between the Malacca Sultanate and Ming China at that time.

Illustration of Admiral Zheng He

Historical information about Zheng He and his fleets

Illustration of Parameswara's visit to Emperor Yongle in Ming China

The ethnography portion of the museum focus on the culture and lifestyles of various communities in Malacca. Due to shortage of time, I did not spend too much time in this section.


Lunch at Jonker 88

After a lot of walking in the History and Ethnography Museum, we went to Jonker 88 to have our lunch. Jonker 88 is a shophouse unit along Jonker Street located just beside the Jonker Walk Heritage Park.

Jonker 88

The shop itself is not very big and seats are limited. We had to split up and waited for a while before we got the tables. It's self-service here, thus we had to queue up further inside the shop, placed our order and collect from the food there as well. Jonker 88 is famous for their laksa and chendol with gula melaka syrup, which almost everyone is ordering. However they also sell other food like nasi lemak, fish soup, soup noodles and ice kacang. The laksa and chendol was really good, which is worth the time waiting in the queue.

Our lunch

Baba Laksa

Goodbye Malacca

After the lunch, we went back to our hotel and check-out the rooms. Overall, we had an enjoyable stay in Malacca, although we had missed out on the night market at Jonker Street, which is only available during the weekends. I will recommend a visit to the Malacca City, especially for those who love history, good food and the Peranakan culture.



Follow the links below to the other days of my Malacca tour:

Day 1: Aldy Hotel Stadthuys, Jonker Street, Hoe Kee Chicken Rice, Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall

Day 2: St. Paul's Church, Porta de Santiago, Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum, A&W, Maritime Museum, Malacca River Cruise, Dutch Square, Tang Shifu

Day 3: History and Ethnography Museum (The Stadthuys), Jonker 88

Malacca: The must-see historical sites

Day 2

We had our breakfast at our Aldy Hotel Stadthuys, which was included in our stay. They have a few breakfast sets to choose from, ranging from local Nasi Lemak, Roti Prata to American breakfast with toast bread, egg and sausages. The breakfast was good and the portion was just nice for us. The service of the staff was also great, as they constantly refill our hot tea and coffee. After the breakfast, we were ready for the day.


St. Paul's Church

Our first stop is the St. Paul's Church, located on top of the St. Paul's Hill just in front of our hotel.

View of Aldy Hotel Stadthuys enroute to St. Paul's Church

View of Maritime Museum in the shape a ship, the Flora de Lamar

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The church was originally built by the Portuguese in 1521, which makes it the oldest church in South East Asia. Given its historical value, it is considered as a must-visit attraction in Malacca today. What visitors could see today is only the 4 walls, as the roof of the church had long collapsed.

Interior of St. Paul's Church

Introduction to the St. Paul's Church

There were many old Portuguese tombstones in the church too, which were discovered in the last excavation around the vicinity and later fixed to the church walls.

Tombstones attached along the wall

One could also see the statue of St. Francis Xavier in front of the church, who established a school in the church in 1548. Other than the church itself, the summit of St. Paul's Hill also serves as a good spot to enjoy the view of the Straits of Malacca and the historical city.

Statue of St. Francis Xavier

View of Straits of Malacca from St. Paul's Hill

Stairways towards Porta de Santiago

Porta de Santiago

After the church visit, we made our way down the stairs on the eastern side, which led us to the Porta de Santiago (also known as A Famosa). It is a small gate house and the only remaining part of the fortress that used to surround the St. Paul's Hill. It was built by the Portuguese in 1512, making it one of the oldest surviving colonial architectural remains in South East Asia. During the British colonial period, the fortress was almost entirely demolished, only to be stopped by Sir Stamford Raffles and Lord Minto, saving the small gate house that we see today. Other than the gate house, we could also see several replicas of the old fortress cannons around it.

Porta de Santiago

Introduction to Porta de Santiago

Today, Porta de Santiago and the St. Paul's Church are very popular wedding photography sites in Malacca.


Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum

From Porta de Santiago, we took a short walk to the nearby Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum. The structure of the museum is entirely made of wood and is a replica of the actual palace for the ruler of the Malacca Sultanate that existed before the arrival of the Portuguese.

Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum

The museum has 3 storey, and it features the history and cultural heritage of the Malacca Sultanate, the royal court, exhibits of various accessories, costumes, weapons, and musical instruments used by the royal members.

Models depicting the famous legend on the founding of the Malacca Sultanate by Parameswara, which a mouse deer kicked his hunting dog into the river

Scene of a state assembly

Exhibits of jewelleries used by the royal members

Exhibits on the Javanese traders

There's a park in front of the museum, which visitors could enjoy the greenery and flowers.


Lunch at A&W in Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall

After the long morning tour, we went to the nearby Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall to have our lunch at A&W fast food restaurant. Everyone was looking forward to the meal, as most of us had not eaten A&W for a long time, since it is not available in Singapore. We ordered the all-time favourites like Chicken Coney, Curly Fries, Root Beer Float and Waffle with Ice-cream.

A&W Mascot

A&W Meal

Maritime Museum

We continued our tour in the afternoon to the Maritime Museum located by the Malacca River. The museum is in a shape of a 34m tall and 8m wide ship, a replica of the Portuguese ship known as Flora de Lamar, which visitors in Malacca could not have missed it.

Maritime Museum

The museum focus on the maritime history of Malacca, dating from the Malacca Sultanate to the colonial periods of the Portuguese, Dutch and British. The museum also exhibits the various goods traded in the region, such as porcelain, silk, textiles and spices etc, as well as various models of ships that used to trade along the Straits of Malacca. To our disappointment when we arrived at the museum, it was closed for renovation. We could only take photos of the "ship" from outside, before we head to our next attraction.

Malacca River Cruise

The Malacca River Cruise ticketing and departure point is just a short walk from the Maritime Museum. We bought the cruise tickets and waited for a while before we board the boat, which could accommodate a maximum of 40 passengers. The boat ride last about 45 min, starting from the Maritime Museum and then upstream to the Spice Garden before turning back to the start point. The whole journey is around 5.5km long, passing by the several historical buildings, shop houses converted restaurants and cafes, mangroves, and more modern buildings further upstream of the river.

Giant Water Wheel

Christ Church seen from the river cruise

Murals of Zheng He and trading scenes during the Malacca Sultanate

A small theme park by the river

Dutch Square

After the river cruise, we made our way to the Dutch Square for some photo taking, which is the most picturesque landmark in Malacca. The surrounding buildings are all uniquely painted in red and primarily built during the Dutch colonial period as their government administrative centre. The famous infrastructures consist of the Christ Church, The Stadthuys, Clock Tower and the fountain.

Christ Church

The Stadthuys at the background

Clock Tower

Fountain

After the photo taking, part of the group returned to the hotel for rest, while the younger ones continued with another round of shopping at Jonker Street .

Dinner at Tang Shifu in Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall

Our last meal of the day is with the Tang Shifu (汤师父) located in the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall. Tang Shifu is a popular restaurant chain in Malaysia, which specialise in Chinese soups and cuisines. We ordered different types of soups, such as their Souper Tang Signature Soup, Ginseng Chicken Soup, Scholar Excellence Soup, along with other dishes like Claypot Beancurd, Braised Pork Belly, Stired Fried French Bean etc.

Tang Shifu (Source: Photo from Soupertang.com)

Souper Tang Signature Soup (Source: Photo from Soupertang.com)

After the dinner, we spent some timing roaming around the shopping mall before calling it a day.

Follow the links below to the other days of my Malacca tour:

Day 1: Aldy Hotel Stadthuys, Jonker Street, Hoe Kee Chicken Rice, Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall

Day 2: St. Paul's Church, Porta de Santiago, Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum, A&W, Maritime Museum, Malacca River Cruise, Dutch Square, Tang Shifu

Day 3: History and Ethnography Museum (The Stadthuys), Jonker 88