Food in Penang

Penang is a god send to whet your appetite.

You can get some of the best chinese and mamak food in Malaysia in Penang.

It's suffice to say, that any trip down to Penang will not be complete without sampling the staple food of Penangites - the irresistable Nasi Kandar dish.

Beautiful thing about this dish is that you can get it around the clock - even in the wee hours of the morning!!

You can find a nasi kandar outlet in practically every corner of the island.

But some of the more popular outlets are:

i. Nasi Kandar Line Clear in Penang Road,

ii. Tajuddin Nasi Kandar in Queen's Street

iii. Nasi Kandar Beratur @ Kapitan Keling Mosque

iv. Nasi Kandar Deen at Jelutong

v. Kassim Mustaffa at Bayan Baru

But Penang is not only about nasi kandar. The chinese dishes on offer here are to die for.

Some of the local favourites:

i. Laksa - at Tanjung Bungah (opposite Shamrock Hotel)

ii. Char Koay Teow - road side stall at Anson Road

iii. Hokkien Mee (aka Prawn Mee in KL) - Jalan Bawasah behind Burmah Road Giant

Another place not to be missed is the night food court in Gurney drive.

This is a wonderful spot as you get to sample all the famous foods in Penang in 1 single place.

Be sure to try the pasembor and mee goreng mamak here. One of the best in Penang.

Then there is the exquisite Sup Hameed stall in Penang Road.

You can get the best tasting chicken, mutton and beef suops here - paired with fluffy white breads.

Simply to die for.

Penang  Road is also where you can get the famed Chendol - a sweet cold drink to quench your thirst.

While here, don't forget to visit the Chowrasta Market.

You can get the scrumptuous hand made tau sar peah here - a rich pastry not to be missed.

This place also offers nutmegs and other pickles of your choice.

Penang

This island city is steeped in history and is also known as the Pearl of the Orient.

But we call it the gem of Malaysia. Simply because it has all the charms that you could imagine:

Food - check

Penang is a food haven as you can find some of the best food in the country here. And needless to say, this is the birth place of the famed Nasi Kandar, a must try item.

Beaches & waterfalls - check

it is an island after all

Shopping - check

from designer goods of the highest order right down to the cheap fake stuff - you can get 'em all here

Nighlife - check

the island has a wide variety of clubs / bars to offer. Find 1 that suits your style and to party through the night.

Sightseeing - check

Georgetown, the capital of Penang, is listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site for its well preserved heritage buildings.

Unique experiences - check

there are several unique adventures to experience in this bustling isle - from pedal-powered trishaw rides to the motorized furnicular hill trains to the ferry rides across the channel. Each one is surely not to be missed.

So there. Now you know why we say that this place is a gem. It offers everything that is Malaysian in a nutshell.

About Kuala Lumpur

Capitol of Malaysia

Basically KL is where most of the Malaysians end up after finishing schooling and university as most of the jobs opportunity is here.

So the city is actually growing very rapidly with so many people migrating here and the vast developments as in traffic, accommodation, businesses & etc

Well for those of you who are planning for a trip down here, it would be a great holiday as I would say KL has a lot to offer, maybe not on natural beauty anymore but more of what a big city can offer

You have good hotels, good food catering for the diverse range of different ethnicity living here ranging from Malay, Chinese, Indian and also food that caters for the expat community, shopping malls, most of the ppl are nice and friendly

Let me write here as in being a tourist in my own country. I mean since I know it very well this is basically what I will do when I arrive to Kl.

Upon arrival in KLIA or the LCCT(Budget airport)- u can get a cab from the taxi counter at the airport. Its OK to buy the tickets from here as it safe and the prices are relatively logical

to your destination. The counter person will issue you a ticket and what you need to do is just queue up at the taxi area and hop in and you will be taken to your destination.

We would recommend you to get to the best area for tourist- Bukit Bintang area if you have not made any hotel bookings yet elsewhere.

Other places in Kuala Lumpur

If you looking for something to shop dirt cheap with all those branded items, always try shopping in China Town (Petaling Street)- Oh ya…don’t forget to bargain as the prices can be sky high.

Well, there's always a difference in prices offered to locals and foreigners. Recommended is to try to bargain of 50-70% of the first said offer. If they are ok with your bargaining its advisable to buy rather than walking off as it might cause some discomfort with the traders.

Food stalls in that area is great too and 1 very recommended place to go if you wanna have few beers would be the Reggae Bar. It's more of a backpacker joint but you still can see some mixture of people. On a personal note, we do love this place a lot.Nice ambiance with some Bob Marley music at the background.

From Bukit Bintang if you take a cab wouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to arrive without an unusual traffic jam.

Few other recommended shopping malls will be Midvalley, Sunway Pyramids, One Utama. This are huge malls but most probably you have the same thing back in your place.

Genting Highlands - the only legal casino that you can find in Malaysia and the weather here is relatively cold for Malaysian standards. Ranging from 14 deg to 25 deg.

Plenty of hotels and a great indoor and outdoor theme park. Would be a great to spend time here too.

Batu Caves - would say this is one of the most known Hindu temple in Malaysia due to the Thaipusam festival. It is basically a temple situated at a hill. This would give some sort of a different experience to you. 

Try climbing up the 272 flight of steps to the main shrine and enjoy the view of kl from the top of the hill and enjoy the beautiful view of the temple inside the cave.

Shopping in Kuala Lumpur

Main reason we are saying that it would be great if you could stay Bukit Bintang area, is because it might cater for all your needs.

If you want shopping, you can always go to Sg. Wang plaza, Bukit Bintang Plaza, Lot10, KLCC. If you want awesome food  you can go to the food stalls in Jalan Alor and there are plenty of restaurants

here and there which will suit your appetite any time of the day.

Hotels in Kuala Lumpur

Bukit Bintang- As for hotels you have the 5stars and the budget hotels here. So you can suit your budget.

Just to name a few very good ones if you have the budget -Shangrila, Westin, Ritz Carlton,Concorde, Equatorial, Park Royal, Dorset,Mandarin Oriental, Traders Hotel.

if you are looking for something with a tight budget you can also opt for the budget hotels at Jalan Alor or at Changkat Bukit Bintang area.

If you are not carrying too much of a luggage, what you can do is ask the cabbie to drop you of Jalan Alor for the budget travelers or go to Jalan Sultan Ismail for the upstream level hotels.

Nitelife in Kuala Lumpur

Night life scene in KL is awesome too. Being raised in KL, I still would say the clubs in Jalan P.Ramlee is still the best. Just to name a few Thai club, Beach club, Rum Jungle,

Just take a stroll here and see what is to your liking. If nothing suits you, you can try the clubs at Changkat Bukit Bintang- Havana, Gypsies, Nevermind. Well just go there and see it for yourself

Pretty sure you will find something you like.

There are also many bars, clubs, pubs here and there in KL. We will write about it soon.

Another nice area for you to have a great nites out with your buddies with some good dinner is by going to Bangsar Shopping complex.

 Its relatively an OK shopping complex which caters mostly for the expat community. There are a lot of bars in it. Just to name a few- WIP, George & Dragons, Chillies, La Bodega and ETC.

 if you take a cab to this area from Bukit Bintang it might take you like half hour or less without traffic and with traffic it might take you an hour. So it advisable if you want to cab around in KL try to avoid the peak hours, 7-9.30am and 5-7pm.