Let's Talk PENANG

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Currently in the top 3 places to check out    I know there's a fair few of you living there - some in Tanjong Bungah, spotted 1 in Batu Ferringhi somewhere on this forum.  So, a couple of questions, if I may.

1.  Why did you choose Penang?  Why did you choose to live in that part of Penang (T Bungah, B Ferringhi, or other location)?

2.  I know traffic is a problem but, if you avoid peak times on the roads, is it so bad?

3.  Anyone on here use the marina??  Difficult to access from the North?

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hi,

Only answers to Q3.

The marina is easy to drive to from Tanjong Bungah area. Just follow the road. The marina (citi marina) is next to the ferry terminal but it didn't look as if there was much wash. I'm meeting with a fellow yottie tonight and he's been berthed there so I'll ask. All I could see/ deduce was that the disco next door to the marina is probably loud (I've never come across a quiet one) so sleeping before 4am could be a problem.

However, the marina is itself is very pleasant, new, and the facilities are first rate. Yotties lounge, showers, laundry facilities. And it's a great location for walking into Georgetown.

The other marina is the one on the left-hand side as you drive to Penang over the bridge. Do you mean this one?

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Thanks Scott.  I meant the City Marina.  We just have a small dayboat so wouldn't be sleeping on it.  In any case, if we do MM2H, we may well sell the boat here and start again when we get to Malaysia.  I think I recall that it's not 24 hour access at that marina but that's no problem - you just pick the right days for tides.

Any other info re the marina and questions 1 and 2 gratefully accepted.

We're thinking seriously of checking out Penang fairly soon, especially as it's only a short flight from where we are.  Just waiting for payday 

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hi,

I met up with a yottie friend who had his boat in the Citi Marina. He says that the only comment is that it rolls something rotten. He lives on board so that wouldn't be a problem if you don't.

The rate for long term stays (i.e. 1-year) is RM1.80 per metre per day. Electricity and water are metered.

Citi Marina isn't quite as exposed as the previous marina just to the north of Sweltenham Pier. I think that this marina was part of a yacht club (?). Anyway the marina broke up.

I seem to remember that the problem with Citi Marina is that it silts-up.

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Scott, E&O the developer of Seri Tanjung Pinang in Tanjung Tokong is building a marina at the headland in the area.
Since I'm absolutely ignorant about yachting, I wouldn't know what to ask. You might get more information at their office on site.

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Scott - thanks for that info.  Well, that works out at less than half the price we're paying at the marina here on Phuket.  It doesn't surprise me at all.

BB - thanks.  I'd read about the E&O marina though wasn't sure it was actually built.  From what I've read, it's not going to be a "full service" marina as such, but will be interesting to see it if it materialises.

Anyways, we decided to stop faffing about and yesterday booked some Firefly flights for next month      If you've got any bad comments about Firefly, I really don't wanna know.

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A friend of mine used Firefly from KL (Subang) to Phuket a couple of weeks ago, and said it was great....also the airport has been spruced up and is very nice indeed!

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That's good to know Fizz.  Won't be going through Subang this trip as they do direct flights Phuket to Penang which is handy for us.  Looking forward to the trip - going with an open mind.   

Would still really like to hear about the different locations around the island from people that live there.  T Bungah, T Tokong, B Ferringhi, down the East side - tell me about it.  Good things, bad things.

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We live in Tanjung Bungah and love it. When we where looking for places to stay last year we initially focused on place in or nearer to Georgetown. Because we the fact that we lived in the centre of Amsterdam for nearly 2 decades made us think we had to live in a city centre again. I am very glad we dropped that thought and made our search broader. The thinks we like about TB are:
- It is still close to Georgetown/Gurney
- But you are also very fast on a Beach or even the National Park at Teluk Behang
- We live a bit higher up near the hills in Tanjung Bungah, it is very quit and we see lots of wild life like birds monkeys etc. (have to admit that apart from the occasional sparrow now and then we didn't see that much in Amsterdam so we are easy to please on this one)
- Most of the time it seems to be cooler than downtown Georgetown/Gurney drive.

As for the traffic, if you try to avoid the times schools end it is not that bad and compared to what we had to endure in the Netherlands the so called traffic jams here are a joke.

So that is why we choose Tanjung Bungah.

Have a great stay in Penang!

Paul & Rita

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Thanks Paul, Rita.

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 You really have to spend some time at the various destinations in Penang to fully appreciate the feel of the different locations.
Why Penang ........... It is that perfect balance of city, beach, cultural diversity and the food ... well that is another story. In truth there are better beaches, KL is a more sophisticated city and there are many places that offer the cultural mix. However, there is probably nowhere that does all three better than Penang. It has a good airport and is well connected by bus and road to other parts of Malaysia. It's a one hour flight to either KL or Singapore and from either you can go anywhere. Firefly is a good airline that has more destinations each few months. It has good hospitals if you need them as well as dentists and doctors.
All in all hard to find a better place.
Cheers

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hi,

Talking about Penang ... when I was there a few weeks ago I drove around and saw that the Mutiara, at the extreme end of Batu Ferringhi, was closed, boarded-up, shut down and otherwise not open.

It was the only place that I have stayed in with a walk-through wardrobe that connected the bathroom and bedroom. Of course you had to duck under the clothes hangers but ... good fun. Guess it never caught on, huh?

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We live in Batu Ferringhi just to be close to the kids' school (Uplands) which suits us best for now as there's a really nice community of 'school families' here.

If we retired here without kids we would probably live in Georgetown just for easier access to the 'grown up' facilities. As already mentioned, some expats find Tanjung Bungah makes a good compromise.

For a small island, there's plenty of variety here & something to suit everyone!

regards,
John

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Last year we moved from Kuantan to Mount Pleasure (what's in a name), Batu Ferringhi.
Why Mount Pleasure? It was cheap, high rise (absolutely no chance of flooding as we experienced many times in Kuantan) but the main reason is the almost constant seabreeze, the fabulous view on the sea and no mosquitos!
As Donohue stated the connections to the outside world are great. Every 3 months or so I'm going to my daughter in Singapore and and trip from Kuantan was a hell of a journey. Now I can choose between AirAsia, Jetstar and soon SilkAir.

I still prefer the easy-going living and driving style in Pahang, but Penang traffic is not that bad, the average speed is higher than e.g. in the Amsterdam/The Hague/Rotterdam area and once you see the pattern in the Malaysian driving style, it is surprisingly easy to move around. I even noticed a green wave system, or maybe it is my colorblindness.

Danny

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Thanks John, Danny for your thoughts.

Danny (or anyone for that matter) do you find you get any salt damage in your condo being near the coast?  Or maybe you're not so near the coast. 

When we were condo-hunting in Singapore some years ago, we looked at a high-rise condo near the coast (Meyer Road for anyone who knows it.  I'm sure Scott will.).  I think the unit was about level 15 and only a year old and we were shocked at the amount of salt damage.  We ended up buying a top-floor low-level condo unit, no salt damage problems but, alas, no sea breezes at level 5 

Think I feel a new thread coming on....