Holiday Quickie With AirAsia: Penang

Dying to go on a holiday but can’t apply for leave from your boss? Well, actually you don’t have to if you want a quick weekend getaway. In fact, we managed to have a “quickie” holiday over two days. Yup, no leave application needed if it’s just the weekend! It really is possible. Here’s how we did it with a trip out of Singapore to Penang:

DAY ONE

11.45am: We boarded our AirAisa flight to Penang from Singapore. 

1.00pm: has always had 75 minutes later, we landed at Penang. Time to explore all the best food and fun Penang has to offer.

Hotel Check-in

We were welcomed by Areca Hotel, a row of heritage shophouses that has gone through recent renovation. Situated in the George Town city central, the hotel is within walking distance to many of the food streets. After check-in, we headed to one of the numerous massage establishments in the city to unwind our body and mind before dinner.

Food Trail

After a relaxing massage, we embarked on a food trail to discover the wide variety of Penang’s diverse cultural cuisine through Kimberley Street, Cintra Street and Chulia Street. 

Bar Hop

Penang might be a heritage island, but the nightlife can be equally enchanting. There are some speakeasy and hidden bars that were hard to locate, but they serve a fantastic combination of great live music and killer cocktails. Bars we recommend are Manchu and Magazine 63.

DAY TWO

Some say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I headed to OO White Coffee & Café, a kopitiam that serves good local food. Check out these gastronomical delights! If these are not enough to make you hungry, I am not sure what would. 

TOP @ Komtar

At 249 metres, the KOMTAR Tower is the tallest building in Penang, and is home to the highest glass skywalk in Malaysia. Situated on the rooftop at level 68, the Rainbow Skywalk gives visitors an amazing experience of walking on glass while watching the world below go by.

KOMTAR also houses the world’s highest rope course, The Gravityz, on level 65. The 30-minute challenge rewards the courageous with a bird’s eye view of George Town. For the less adventurous (read faint-hearted), the observatory deck on the same floor offers an equally stunning sight of the city. 

Tek Sen Restaurant

Tek Sen is probably the most famous Chinese restaurant in George Town, and also one of the best places to dine at for some good ol’ Penang-style zi char. 

Armenian Street

There are plenty of photo opportunities at Armenian Street, where it is popular with visitors for its wall murals and street art. We also did some last-minute shopping here for local handicrafts and souvenirs before we head to the airport for our return flight.

Time check — 8.40pm. We touched down in Singapore, and our holiday to Penang took us a total of 33 hours, flight time inclusive. Is that quick or what?

This article is written by Khim Chuan.