We need to send another parcel of souvenirs and other stuff we don't need back home so we are not hauling a load of stuff all over the place. We've come to use the mail system to lighten the load during our trips... with airlines cracking down on baggage weight limits it is cheaper to send excess items by post rather than get a surprise at the airport and have to pay excess baggage fees. As it is we have already off-loaded about 12 kilos of items.
So we ask the front desk at the hotel for a cardboard box and they come up with the perfect one ... an A4 printer paper box. Perfect size and you can stash quite a bit of stuff. The next problem is to find packing tape and brown paper. They have some rule over here, all parcels for postage must be wrapped in brown paper. So the hunt is on... where to get them in the middle of Georgetown? The hotel manager suggests a little Chinese shop hidden amongst the hundreds along Chulia Street... Teng Bee, about 200 meteres down the street.
We join the morning mix of bikes, traffic and people on the street and manage to find Teng Bee, a very small shopfront almost hidden by hawker stalls outside. We edge past two old Chinese men sitting by the entrance and enter Aladdins Cave! We immediately spot packing tape, rolls of brown paper, small scissors and black feltpens... everything we need for the task.
Back at the hotel, we fill the box and wrap it ready for postage. Now is the time to rationalise our baggage and check the weight... 20 kilo limit for checked baggage and either a 5kg or 7kg cabin baggage limit (depending on the airline) and they are now weighing cabin baggage at check-in so you need to be on the ball.
We check out at midday and with our trusty TomTom to guide us, we ask it to lead us to the nearest Post Office. After a few missed turns in the heavy traffic, we manage to find one down by the ferry terminal. Another 8 kgs of stuff on its way home.. with what we've already sent that's like another suitcase we don't have to lug around! Got me stumped what it all is but there's quite a few souvenirs, gifts (as if Amelia needs any more clothes!)... and items for the scrapbook (The Woozie Book... long story.)
We've a few hours to kill before our flight to Langkawi at 7pm and no visit to Penang is complete without lunch or dinner at The Eastern and Oriental Hotel... E&O, or as the expats call it "The Eggs and Omelete". We stayed here with Charlie back in 2008 and it was very luxurious with a lot of history (Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward and other famous people have stayed here) but is also very expensive.
They have done quite a bit of work on the building and the original restaurant the rich and famous used to haunt, Sarkies Corner, is now a la carte and the buffet is in a refurbished part of the hotel. We head for the buffet and it is as spectacular as we remember it to be when we were here last. The food, all different culinary specialties, is presented and prepared to perfection. Liz chooses freshly cooked to order Kwai Tao and I go for Hokien Mee... freshly cooked after I chose the ingredients. It's not Pho but it'spretty damned good. It allgoes down well with a couple of Tigers. If you ever get to Penang, you absolutely must do lunch at the E&O... it's a very pleasant experience.
We spend the rest of the afternoon exploringsome of the fishing villages on the south side of the island near the airport. Batu Maung is a traditional old Malay fishing village and the only give away is a row of new townhouses facing the beach. From here though you can see the new bridge between Penang and the mainland under construction. It is going to be a very long bridge... the current one is 11 kms long, the new one will be 24 kms and it is a pretty impressive sight.
We drop the car off early and do all the check-in, security and waiting thing before our departure to Langkawi right on time in an almost empty Firefly Airlines ATR 42-500. We climb out over Penang as a spectacular sunset lights up the clouds and the Andaman Sea below. Liz is giving her new camera a work out but it's hard taking sunset shots out of an aircraft window... but she's enjoying the view and it does look spectacular.
No sooner are the wheels up and we cruise for about 5
minutes than we start our descent into Langkawi... a total flight time
from takeoff to landing of 25 minutes. We see the twinkle of lights on
the islands and soon enough we touch down.
We grab a taxi voucher (24 ringits or $7) and drive the familiar route to The Berjaya Resort on the western side of the island. There is a new hotel at Telaga Harbour and, according to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant on the island... we'll give it a try one evening.
Arriving at the hotel lobby, it is hot and humid but the ceiling fans are pleasant in the lobby lounge which we plan to come back to very shortly. As we check in we are introduced to the Duty Manager who welcomes us back to the Berjaya... these people really do their homework ... after being escorted to our chalet set amongst the rainforest, a young lady arrives with a cake ... "Welcome Back".
It's a nice touch and says a lot about the way the tourism industry here in Asia wins points for service... a lesson the tourism industry back home should take note of. "Service"... what is that?
Our chalet is about 50 metres from the water and overlooks Burau Bay. We're getting closer to the chalets on the water with each trip! They have refurbished the rooms since we were here 2 years ago and they now look like a room transplanted from Traders in KL. Everything is new whereas the old rooms were functional but a little rustic.
A Tiger and a snack is in order so we wander through the resort to the Lobby Lounge where a trio is performing some oldies... for some oldies... and there are a lot of people enjoying a cool drink and just relaxing in the ambience of the lounge. We grab a snack and then head back to our chalet... a long day and we're glad to hit the sack and maybe have a sleep-in tomorrow.
So we ask the front desk at the hotel for a cardboard box and they come up with the perfect one ... an A4 printer paper box. Perfect size and you can stash quite a bit of stuff. The next problem is to find packing tape and brown paper. They have some rule over here, all parcels for postage must be wrapped in brown paper. So the hunt is on... where to get them in the middle of Georgetown? The hotel manager suggests a little Chinese shop hidden amongst the hundreds along Chulia Street... Teng Bee, about 200 meteres down the street.
Back at the hotel, we fill the box and wrap it ready for postage. Now is the time to rationalise our baggage and check the weight... 20 kilo limit for checked baggage and either a 5kg or 7kg cabin baggage limit (depending on the airline) and they are now weighing cabin baggage at check-in so you need to be on the ball.
We check out at midday and with our trusty TomTom to guide us, we ask it to lead us to the nearest Post Office. After a few missed turns in the heavy traffic, we manage to find one down by the ferry terminal. Another 8 kgs of stuff on its way home.. with what we've already sent that's like another suitcase we don't have to lug around! Got me stumped what it all is but there's quite a few souvenirs, gifts (as if Amelia needs any more clothes!)... and items for the scrapbook (The Woozie Book... long story.)
They have done quite a bit of work on the building and the original restaurant the rich and famous used to haunt, Sarkies Corner, is now a la carte and the buffet is in a refurbished part of the hotel. We head for the buffet and it is as spectacular as we remember it to be when we were here last. The food, all different culinary specialties, is presented and prepared to perfection. Liz chooses freshly cooked to order Kwai Tao and I go for Hokien Mee... freshly cooked after I chose the ingredients. It's not Pho but it'spretty damned good. It allgoes down well with a couple of Tigers. If you ever get to Penang, you absolutely must do lunch at the E&O... it's a very pleasant experience.
We drop the car off early and do all the check-in, security and waiting thing before our departure to Langkawi right on time in an almost empty Firefly Airlines ATR 42-500. We climb out over Penang as a spectacular sunset lights up the clouds and the Andaman Sea below. Liz is giving her new camera a work out but it's hard taking sunset shots out of an aircraft window... but she's enjoying the view and it does look spectacular.
We grab a taxi voucher (24 ringits or $7) and drive the familiar route to The Berjaya Resort on the western side of the island. There is a new hotel at Telaga Harbour and, according to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant on the island... we'll give it a try one evening.
Arriving at the hotel lobby, it is hot and humid but the ceiling fans are pleasant in the lobby lounge which we plan to come back to very shortly. As we check in we are introduced to the Duty Manager who welcomes us back to the Berjaya... these people really do their homework ... after being escorted to our chalet set amongst the rainforest, a young lady arrives with a cake ... "Welcome Back".
It's a nice touch and says a lot about the way the tourism industry here in Asia wins points for service... a lesson the tourism industry back home should take note of. "Service"... what is that?
Our chalet is about 50 metres from the water and overlooks Burau Bay. We're getting closer to the chalets on the water with each trip! They have refurbished the rooms since we were here 2 years ago and they now look like a room transplanted from Traders in KL. Everything is new whereas the old rooms were functional but a little rustic.
A Tiger and a snack is in order so we wander through the resort to the Lobby Lounge where a trio is performing some oldies... for some oldies... and there are a lot of people enjoying a cool drink and just relaxing in the ambience of the lounge. We grab a snack and then head back to our chalet... a long day and we're glad to hit the sack and maybe have a sleep-in tomorrow.
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