Day 72: Penang - foodies' paradise

We arrived at Butterworth, the jetty for the ferry to Penang island, at 4am. Another night bus without much sleep. The first ferry was at 6am, so we stayed at a restaurant near the bus terminal. There were several locals eating already. Their eyes were glued to the only TV set showing a cheesy Bollywood film. At 5:30am, we walked to the jetty. There were about 50 people waiting, including a few kids in school uniform. Poor kids.

Katy watching a Bollywood film at 4:30am

We came to Penang with one goal in mind – to taste even more Malaysian delicacies. Since I was here one year ago, I knew roughly where the good eats were. The hawker food for lunch was simply delicious (loh mee, chicken rice, hokkien mee). For dinner, we went to Gurney drive to check out the largest hawker center in Penang. While strolling at Gurney Plaza to kill time (hawker food starts at 7pm), something caught our eyes. It was a Korean BBQ restaurant. How can you say no to kimchi and bulgogi? After the Korean BBQ dinner, we were so full and vowed to go on a vegetarian diet the next day. When we woke up the next day, we went back to the hawker stalls near our hotel for lunch. Then we had hawker food again at another place for dinner (oyster omelete, lamb chop, fruit rojak). The food was simply too good to resist.


At Penang, I also got a much needed haircut and for only 9 ringgit (US$2.7). This beats my previous record in Vietnam (US$3). I was very happy with the cut. The “hair stylist” had been working in the same shop for more than 30 years. Unbelievable.

coconut-man at work in Little India

Katy posing with a mascot (she was happy with the free balloon)