Activities You Can Do at Penang Island! Travelling to the north Malaysia was always become significant among the locals or when somebody travel for foods. Yes for Foods at the very first place! I’m pretty sure there are no any doubts for it. Isn’t it?
Well this time Kongsi Lah! will share the info about travel to Penang Malaysia, not only for foods but we will discover underrated things and common things that doable in Penang, the small state in federation of Malaysia with the second biggest economy power among the rest 13 states in Malaysia.
Activities You Can Do at Penang Island
Introduction
Penang is one of the states located on the North Malaysia. Sharing land border with another 2 states namely Kedah and Perak. Chinese became the majority in this state since the island was hand over to Francis Light from the Kedah Sultanate back in 1786.
It takes 3-4 hours travel time from Kuala Lumpur by land transportation and about 30 minutes by flight from KLIA2. By demographic Hokkien Chinese make up of 56% of the entire population in Penang followed by the Malays and Indian.
Language
The most spoken language in Penang is Hokkien followed by Malay language and Tamil language. But of course almost everyone can communicate in either Malay or English. Overall, no language barrier for outsider to come to Penang since they are multi language community! What a beautiful of Malaysia!
Foods
The first and the foremost, Penang become the first state to visit for foods. Really! We can’t deny that variety of foods can be found in this small and unique state. The colorful atmosphere in Penang led the foods went through the assimilation among largest three different ethnic in Penang mainly Chinese, Malay and Indian.
Char Koey Tiaw
Char Koew Tiaw, a Chinese cuisine not only become favorite dish of the Chinese, but also enjoy by the Malays and Indian as well. In fact, the most famous and delicious “Char Koey Tiaw” in Penang was not cooked by the Chinese, but the Malays! Other than humans, foods also went through the assimilation process. The texture of the Malay “Char Koey Tiaw” is not taste like the origin Chinese cuisine but I bet you will love it soon.
Nasi Kandar
Of course, Penang and Nasi Kandar is always synonyms each others. You can try Nasi Kandar in everywhere in Penang that suit with your budget. Nasi kandar, which hails from Penang, is a popular Malaysian dish in northern Malaysia.
According to history, Nasi Kandar was brought to Malaysia 70 years ago from India when Tamil-Muslim immigrants roamed the port and dusty streets of colonial Penang, dragging around heavy baskets laden with home cooked dishes and rice.
Durian Balik Pulau
The second thing you can enjoy in Penang is to try the variety of Durians. The plants and the seeds planted was original from Balik Pulau, small district in Penang Island. There are a lot of hybrid durians in Penang you can try. We will list the top 5 as below, from the low cost until the premium durians.
- Musang King
- Duri Hitam
- Udang Merah
- IOI
- Tekka
Apart from the 5 listed above there are many more in Penang such as durian Kampung Kawin, durian D24, durian D168 and many more that you need to explore by yourself here. As per our own experience, the top 5 listed above is the most delicious we ever tasted in the rest of our life.
Talking about the price, it may be costly for us but worth it if your main travel goal to Penang is for foods. For Musang King, the price range start from RM60 – RM120 per KG.
Pasembor
Have you heard about Malaysian Rojak? Pasembor or “Pasemboq” is a Malaysian Indian salad consisting of shredded cucumber, potatoes, bean curd, turnip, bean sprouts, prawns fritters, spicy fried crab, fried squid or other seafoods and dressed with a sweet and spicy nut sauce.
Well I need to tell you again this Pasembor is not origin from India but it is a combination dish between The Malay rojak and the dish from Indian immigrant back then when British brought them to work in Malaya before Malaysia was formed in September 1963. I can say that the foods also not left behind for the assimilation process.
You can enjoy the taste of Malaysian (Malay, Chinese and India colorful flavor) in one dish! Here in Penang you may easily get them along Gurney Drive or Padang Kota, Penang.
Explore Nature
Bukit Bendera is mandatory to visit when to travel to Penang. Located at Air Itam Penang, you can enjoy the beautiful panorama and landscape of Goergwtown, the capital of Penang from the top. Explore nature is one of the activities you can do at Penang Island.
The Habitat Penang Hill
In or order to go to Bukit Bendera the first checkpoint will be to the Habitat Penang Hill. Enjoy the morning walk throughout the hill and enjoy the green scenery of Penang Island.
Little Village
Once arrived at Bukit Bendera, the interesting activity that we enjoy there is to visit Little Village. In here, you can see the beautiful decoration of Love Arch, Hobbit /elf village and the rabbit gardens.
Dinosour & Aviary Garden
Want to experience meeting ancient animals? Let’s see and learn about dinosaur species that are said to have existed since millions of years ago! This location is open from 8 am to 7 pm for you to get to know various species of dinosaurs.
It is very good place to bring along your kids to explore the ancient animals here. At least, while travel your kids also can bring back a good memory and new something new at home upon visited!
Batu Feringhi Beach
Last but not least, Kongsi Info! recommend you to visit Pantai Batu Feringhi @ Batu Feringhi Beach once you plan to visit Penang. Make sure you take this article on your notes/phone and save it for your reference once entered Penang.
After done with Char Koew Tiaw, Nasi Kandar, Durian, Pasembor and so on. The last on the list should be more relax activity. At Batu Feringhi Beach, you can enjoy the breeze, the air and buy souvenirs from Penang as a gift to your friends and officemates.
Activities You Can Do at Penang Island. Have you gain something new from this article? Do not hesitate to drop your thoughts and comment below!
