Chulia Street Tour 3 Penang March 30th 2012

Chulia Street Tour Part 3..

Continuing the tour from about halfway down. All these places are on the right hand side apart from this first Photo of the antique camera - yours for 5,800 RM!

Chulia Street Tour 2 Penang 30th March 2012

Chulia Street Tour 1 Penang March 30th 2012

This is a photo tour of the right side of Chulia Street, Georgetown, Penang. The series starts from the Jalan Penang and working towards the ferry dock. This page is primarily here to give perspective visitors some idea of accommodation available as each place I come across will be photoed. Reviews can be found on Google  or the Thorntree Forum.

Page 1

Looking towards KOMTAR froim JAYA Cafe

Turn Left in Chulkis St

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On The Right..

 

Chulia St, Georgetown, Penang 30th March 2012

Chulia Street..


From the guesthouse, it's a short walk to the top of Chulia Street, turn right along Penang street and about 50 yards on the right is Jaya cafe and an amazing variety of food laid out ready to Consume. A busy place serving mostly the Indian community, but some tourists are brave enough to venture in. Southern Indian inspired cuisine, but it's not all hot spice, according to the man dishing up anyway! As this is breakfast, despite being nearly lunchtime, i'll take the cautious approach and opt for a couple of slices of omelet, on rice with a ladle of mild curry sauce. The only coffee is Nescafé but that's alright for breakfast. The whole lots comes to about £1.30. Extremely tasty for an  omelet, filling and very good value for money.

Today is street pounding day - a look at Georgetown and why it has world heritage status. Chulia street, the main artery as far as budget travellers are concerned, being the place to find digs and even those on a splurge can get some nice accommodation at a heritage hotel. There really are not that many tourists about, late season perhaps, but those that are here seem to be the less alcoholic types, more for a cultural experience which helps maintain the areas quaintness I suppose. Traffic is rather busy along this small road, mostly cars, buses and bikes all making for rat runs it seems, but nothing like the mayhem of Bangkok.

Clean Streets

The streets are clean, no strewn garbage anywhere and there seems to be a sense of pride among locals. Lots of sweeping up, plenty of wheelie bins around too and it's 500 RM if caught littering! The Cantonese Association hall is about 400 metres in, on the right heading down from Jalan Penang. Nothing special on the outside, but curiosity kicks in as the archway to the main hall has some rather interesting carvings, and the architecture generally is worth a photo. But, inside it's a different story - an amazing array of Chinese artifacts, paintings and more carvings. The old timer at the desk, smiles and lets me take photos. Asks if I would like Chinese tea, rude to say no, so it's a good time to sit and rest a while. The tea, an acquired taste to say the least. An earthy flavour, but relaxing, a little drowsyness sets in if anything - what is in that tea?

At the bottom of Chulia Street, it's a busy main road from the dock towards the Southern parts of the island and the airport. It's a struggle to get across, but eventually there is a gap. Heading Southwards then, along the waterfront and on the left are a collection of wooden structures, arranged neatly in rows towards the waterfront. A walk along the first row here reveals a community living above the water - houses on stilts. Quite away into the harbour, a bit smelly as there is garbage floating around and in between the legs. A fishing boat tied up here next to a house with an old timer sitting on his door step. Just out of curiosity I ask him "how much for an hours ride? ". After some mumbling it turns out to be $50, and that's US Dollars! Not this time and I walk off leaving the chap mumbling away, something about being in the British Army. Just opposite is a food court, worth investigating. Again, it's a struggle to get across the road, but the lure of some real Chinese food was worth the risk. Its big, about 20 booths line the edge, and everything in Chinese cuisine, and close to the stuff pumped out by the Chinese takeaways back home. It's all cheap too, 80p to about £1.20 per dish, a foodies paradise I would think.

OK, that's enough street pounding, it's hot, no breeze so only one thing to do - find a giant shopping mall, and cool off. I can see the KOMTAR tower, it's never that far away from anywhere in the town. 10 minutes from the waterfront and there it is, a giant complex of four malls. Starbucks is well represented in Georgetown, especially here in the malls with 2 outlets to choose from. 1st avenue has some comfy seating so that's the place. It's £1.70 for their medium, which actually is the British large, and it's good too. Easy to get hooked on this place with lots of cool air, good value coffee and lots of style wandering about, yep it's all here. While I'm here might as well go for some of that Chicken rice, if I can find the place again of course.

Pollution in Penang, Malaysia 29th March 2012

Empty Beach

Batu Ferranggi...it's Polluted

It was a good nights sleep despite the heat. This fan is well powered and pumps out quite a good circulation. I need to pay for another night here, it's OK actually, not noisy at all, so no need to pound the streets seeking anything better, and for the price I doubt there would be anything significantly better anyway. This place is functional, has all I need for now anyway. Another 18 Rm and off to find something to eat.

Prices here in Georgetown seem quite good at the little cafes and canteens, I'll check the restaurants later. A bowl of fruit salad with yogurt and a coffee came to about £1.60, a bit more expensive than of late but still quite reasonable and within budget! A look at the tourist map to find the nearest beach since It's been about 7 weeks ago that I last saw any sea and sand. Batu feringgi is marked as the place to get some beach time. All indications are this is a resort town as numerous hotels are indicated on the map - Hilton, Hard Rock all the majors have a presence here. The map even has a bus guide, so it's a breeze finding the right bus and as all routes are via the KOMTAR then it's just a case of getting there or waiting at any stop on the way. Bus 101 is to Batu Feringgi and it stops at the bus stand right outside the guesthouse, according to the cafe owner.

A collection of tourists are there waiting, so that's a good sign at least. 101 pulls up and it's 2.70 Rm, about 55p to Feranggi, about 7 miles north, way to far to hike. Bus winds through the suburbs and eventually joins the coast road that circumnavigates the island. Several mosques and temples pass by, and there on the right, a giant Tesco store. It's actually a picturesque drive, climbing and descending with the terrain. On the left, mountain-side covered in thick jungle whilst on the right, looking down on little coves with small beaches. Doesn't look to be any easy public access to these though.  More beaches before these, on Gurney Drive where a string of high-rise hotels and housing blocks are located. Again, access here looks rather limited, and private for the most part.

"Batu Feranggi", mumbles the bus driver. It's a small place, just a village dominated by high-rise and hotel blocks. Bus stops opposite a McDonald's, a convenient landmark if ever there was one! Not many people about considering this is a resort area, no hive of activity that could be expected from such commercialised area. Over the main road and it's just a few meters from the beach through a lane running in between a few stalls and a cafe. Empty! No one on the beach, well, couple of tourists sunbathing, that's it though. A bit more activity in the distance, further north towards a gathering of fishing boats. Trekking along the beach towards the north passing cafes and restaurants - empty, all of them bar a couple having a drink. A prime spot for food poisoning sadly, festering rice and prawns from yesterday I would suspect! For the quiet beach experience, well, it's quiet all right and bring some refreshments otherwise it's a hike upto McDonald's. Actually, I did notice one or two food stands along the beach road, but it still means making that effort, a far cry from the beach experiences in Calangute, India, Cambodia and even Vietnam is getting there slowly!

Expand the Photo to See The Pollution Extent

Oh dear! This isn't good sign, especially for those expecting to swim, I wouldn't even paddle in this water. A brown sludge, a slick of gunk is floating just a few meters from the shoreline and continues as I walk further north, getting worse if anything. A little fishing hamlet ends the beach hike. It's a tatty scene, garbage strewn around with tumbledown dwellings although the boats anchored makes a decent photo. Up a track and onto the beach road, continuing in the hope there maybe something to discover. There was a discovery all right, the worst case of pollution I have ever seen! Thick brown sludge extends from the shore line of this next stretch of beach, to someway out - all very disappointing.

Might aswell head back south towards the village as the beach time i was hoping for isn't going to be, not in Batu Feranggi at least. No point even walking back along the beach so it's a track along the main road. A little Middle Eastern cafe, looks moderately busy, all locals, so I grab their version of fried chicken, nice, nothing like the KFC of course.  Passing the Hard Rock Hotel, worth a nose around since the version I experienced in Las Vegas a few years ago was good. Yep, I would stay here. Plenty of life, things going on and live bands most nights according to posters around the place. Price of a burger meal was about £15 eek!

Just by the Beach Road

A quick look around the village but nothing really to see. Typical beach shops and stores and towards the hills, rundown residency blocks. I guess holidaymakers to Batu Feranggi are going to spend plenty of time in their hotels and hotel pools and getting bus's to Georgetown. I wonder how much couple of weeks at the Holiday Inn is and are people told about the polluted sea.

It's the same bus back, getting off at KOMTAR this time. A wander around here, might spot a bargain. Actually, it's the Prangin Mall, still part of the overall complex, just an extension really, 6 floors worth. In an obscure corner, down a corridor is a food stand. They have chicken rice, how or what I don't know but time to find out. Turns out being chicken baked in hoi sin, sliced and placed onto boiled rice, accompanied with a bowl of chicken soup. Nice, and only about 70p. Back to base, and the search for some strong, reliable wifi begins.


NOTE: Video should be available here in the short term anyway. Pollution in Batu Feranggi