Georgetown Sights

The street art in Georgetown was a big highlight for us, but there were plenty of other interesting sights. Lanterns and incense were in full effect, even in the heart of Little India.

After walking around the Esplanade area, we stopped for a quick ice cream at Chew Clan Jetty — wooden deck passageways above the water with businesses and homes on stilts.

bicycles and two-seater TownBikes available for rent

Where We Ate

We spent a good amount of time in hawker markets on our trip to Singapore, so we felt more or less prepared for the experience in Penang. First you get a table and order drinks from the roving table waiters. Next, you order the food you want at each individual stall, telling them your table number. Food is delivered to your table, and you pay for each item on delivery, so it’s preferable to have exact change as the food runners are very busy and may not be able to make change.

We had good luck the first time at Red Garden Paradise, ordering dim sum, chicken satay, and a large Guinness. Our second visit was a little rougher as it was quite busy, there was a .50 surcharge per dish (because of Chinese New Year), the lady who delivered our beer wanted to be paid on the spot (rather than at the end as is customary), and one vendor delivered the wrong dish. Many places were also out of noodles. Still, the dim sum, fried noodles (that we did find!) & oyster pancake were all fine. The karaoke-style entertainment on that evening… well, let’s call that an experience :)

brightly lit food stalls and a sea of plastic chairs and tables

 
dim sum and satay @ Red Garden Food Paradise; curry mee @ Mews Cafe

Our other meal was at Mews Cafe for Curry Mee and Beef Rendang. We ended up here after searching for a place that was open on the eve of Chinese New Year. Attached to a smaller boutique hotel, it was more expensive than the food court, but also much more relaxed. Both of us were satisfied with our meals and I liked the outdoor seating area.

Shopping

I couldn’t come home without one Chinese lantern, thankfully there were plenty of places to pick one up. We also purchased some famous salted egg pastries (the pandan one was my favorite), pepper beef pastries (delicious), cracked pepper crackers, and a box of pineapple tarts. I also found a few spices at the Pacific Hypermarket and a small incense burner at a shop in Little India.

at about $0.50 each it was hard to only come away with a few of these!

We used the mornings to explore until it became uncomfortably warm, then retreated to the hotel pool area for some shade and book reading. Worked out perfectly for us!