Penang Island
After our day of hill climbing and temple mountain climbing on Monday we decided to be a bit less physical for a day or so. We hired a driver named Zuri and he took us around to different places on Penang Island. Places you can’t see without a vehicle. For 200 MYR ($60 CAD) we hired him and his car from 10 am to 4:30 pm.
We toured around the Eastern side of Penang heading North to the resort area of Batu Ferringhi. This is where the best beaches are on Penang. There are some white sand beaches but at this time of year they are not suitable for swimming because of waves and undertow. We walked in our bare feet on the sand in the sun. It was pretty nice.
We then headed to The Tropical Spice Garden and toured around the rain forest looking at waterfalls and spice plants growing in this lush tropical paradise.
Our next stop was the handmade batik store and factory. It was a quick stop but very interesting. We saw how the designs are hand drawn on the fabric, some are stamped onto the fabric. It’s a process of using wax to block out colours and then dying the fabric.
Our next stop was the Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm. Its a huge domed building that contains a forest and walkways with butterflies floating around everywhere. It gives you no protection when it rains as we found out during a brief shower. It was an entertaining experience although the cost of admission was not a real great value, mostly because we had no interest in the indoor exhibits. We were there to see butterflies! The upkeep cost of such an enormous structure must be huge as the large indoor area is fully air-conditioned and the outdoor area is a rainforest and garden in a dome. There were many indoor exhibits which we zoomed past. This is an ideal place for kids to learn about nature and we ran into a few little kids there on day trips.
After leaving the butterflies we drove by the Western edge of the island and looked out onto the Malacca Strait. With some imagination or a very clear day you might see the North end of the island of Sumatra. We were almost level with Banda Aceh Indonesia where the huge tsunami hit on Boxing Day 2004. Probably about 250 km East.
We traveled along the 2 lane winding mountain road until we came to the Tropical Fruit Farm where we turned off and headed straight up the mountain. It was a really really steep hill! Once we levelled off from the vertical climb we stopped in a small parking lot. The store is basically a fruit stand and gift shop. We ordered a pineapple and passionfruit smoothie and a cup of dragon fruit for a snack. We sat looking over the steep drop from the patio as we enjoyed our treat.
Back on our adventure again we headed to the South Penang bridge named Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. Construction was started on 8 November 2008 and completed on 3 October 2012. It is the second Penang bridge. The overall length of the bridge is 24km with 16.9km over the water. It is also the first bridge in Malaysia to use Seismic Expansion Joints, Noise Reduction Seismic Expansion Joints and incorporated the High Damping Natural Rubber Bearing (HDNRB) that enables the bridge to withstand an earthquake of more than 7.5 on the Richter scale. The project team gave the bridge several S-shaped curves along its 24km length. This was intended to keep motorists’ attention on the road while driving and reduce accidents.
We shot a video over the entire bridge. It’s combined with the highlights of our day touring Penang Island. Check out the YouTube video below. There are chapter markers in the video description.
We continued North on the mainland of Malaysia towards the North and original bridge back to Penang. This bridge is 13.5 km long. The cable-stayed structure was the first road connection between the peninsula and Penang island and was built in 1982. There is still a very inexpensive ferry operating between Butterworth on the mainland and Georgetown on Penang Island which is used by travellers arriving by bus or train.
Back at our hotel we got cleaned up and walked to Kapitan Indian Restaurant for supper, the meal cost less than $10. The cool thing about the restaurant is that a robot brings your drinks to the table. It speaks in Malaysian and expects you to pick of your drinks from the tray and press the green button on the screen. We guessed what to do and after tapping the green button on the screen the robot toddled off bleeping and chirping.
