Penang is a horrible place to visit.
Character: Male, 1.74m, 80kg body builder, big biceps, big chests and 6 pack abs muscles. Millionaire many times over and a successful businessman. My good buddy.
Andrew: I attended a trade forum in Penang. I spent a week in Rasa Sayang Holiday Resort. I enjoyed the hotel facilities but the food was so rich. I ended up eating only salads and fresh fruits. I ate Penang char koay teow every opportunity I got. I loved it.
Batu Feringghi is an hour drive away from Georgetown. It was inconvenient to travel around. The road is so narrow and the traffic jams when it rains. I went to Gurney Drive. I told my friends not to eat the sea food. It was exposed and only partly cooked. Some of my friends had food poisoning. It was terrible. The Penang people don’t seem to suffer from consuming the food though.
There were motorcycles everywhere and when the wind blows in to shore the aroma ( the stink ) of the mud filters in. 
. It doesn’t feel like being along the beach at all. People were scrambling for parking spaces.
We also went to a big big temple many storeys high. I don’t know the name in Air Itam. On the way up, we had to pass an alley surrounded on both sides with hawkers and small businessman. It was all so loud and hot inside the alley.
Some Singaporeans with me asked the price of a souvenir. The price quoted was RM36.00. We had seen the same item at Batu Feringghi being sold for RM5.00. We then moved on. The guy raised his voice, pointed his fingers at us and cursed us for asking the price. Wasting his time.
” Lulang ai be to be. mai beh mai lai. Liao si kan. tui lah tui lah. ”
You folks want to buy, buy. Don’t want to buy don’t come go home. Don’t waste my time.”
I told him, ” We are tourists. We want to buy things from you. Why can’t we ask the price? Furthermore this is a temple. A holy place. You spoil the serene holy place with your shouting.”
He got fed up, shouted and screamed obscenities at me.
I laugh when I remember someone telling me Penang is the Pearl of the Orient and a tourist paradise.
Penang is a terrible place to visit. The people are unfriendly. Especially the trades people. At a shopping complex in Gurney Drive, the businessmen were unfriendly too. I bought altogether about RM5000 worth of goods there but it was a terrible experience. I will not go there again if I can help it.
We are buying. It is not like they are doing us a favor. I noticed in Penang the foreign tourists with blonde hair and blue eyes always get better treatment although they spend so little.
I had booked another week’s stay at G Hotel in Gurney Drive but canceled after the temple experience. Penang people brag about the food. I don’t blame them. That is about all they have left. Their food. I packed my bags. I rather spend my money elsewhere.
Beng, blog about this. Tell the Penang people how ugly Penang has become. All the investments have been made on Penang, the promotions by the various hotel chains etc so the show must go on. But basically, it is an over-blown place. The Penang people have screwed up. In the rush for prosperity and development, Penang has lost most of its beauty. It is noisy, dirty, crowded, unfriendly and hot.
Tell the Penang people not to be so proud or unfriendly. Look not at appearances or judge people by the clothes they wear or the color of their hair or eyes. At least here in Sibu, we do not discriminate unfairly. Money is money whoever has it.
Bengbeng | interesting characters
Nice to hear of another side to penang that is not well known. penang food hawkers still rely on locals for most of their custom, so the food is still v good value, because locals will not tolerate rubbish. but the souvenir hawkers, they cater to tourists who are, lets admit it, fools who will buy any rubbish.haha. so the hawkers will butter up the tourists because these people will buy at any stupid price they care to mention. They know local tourists fr other parts of malaysia are not good customers, because we msians know what is good value and what is rubbish. haha. so naturally they don’t fawn over local tourists. buying souvenirs in touristy places is a stupid thing to do. haha. but if u want to do so, just remind the shopkeeper that u r not a stupid angmoh tourist, u r msian. Then u bargain.
I think everywhere not only Penang also has the negative side. But honestly, I love penang food.
Although I am in Penang, I am truly happy that you are honest about the island. I am a true Penangnite and I read your blog with outmost shame that our state government has decided not to do anything when they had the opportunity to do so. Hence, if you are in Penang, permit me to take you to places that you will enjoy. Maybe you will then have a better experience.
penang is not what it was when i was growing up there many years ago. i suppose this is what happens when places get popular.
having said that, i have been all over malaysia and i see this green eyed imp everywhere. everyone’s getting greedy. let us all take a lesson from this and not be like this ourselves.
My family loves Penang. Each time we go to Malaysia, my husband and kids ask to go to Penang. We all love the food and shopping but I cannot disagree with your good buddy that there is arrogance in the traders, especially in Air Itam. We too got told off but we just ignore them and refuse to buy. There are few exceptions where they will allow you to batter and as you make a move to walk away, they will call you back and sell to you at your agreed price.
As for Guerney Dve, we don’t go for the seaside but the choice of food available. We make sure we tell the proprietor to provide us with fresh seafood and cooked to perfection so that we will come back the next 4 nights. We have never been disappointed by the array of seafood.
Anthony: hawkers judge themselves by their business and they depend on returning customers
Keeyit: Penang has a wide choice of food.
Jeffrey: Thank you very much for your generous offer. Thank you.
Philters; There is this pressure to survive when prices keep going up.
Judy: You know Penang so well
Hmmm… got to go penang try the food one fine day…that will be at least 4 years later when I return Singapore..:P
Hello.
I am a penangnite but i agree what u mentioned.
Some people just cant control their stupid attitude.
But maybe u can try some foods here other day?
I am sorry for those people’s attitude.
For God’s sake, Penang is not the only place where those selling souvenirs have a fucking attitude. Go back to your own tourist place and visit your own tourist souvenir place and see how they treat the tourist.
And Penang food, everyone around the world said that it’s good. You are the only saying that is not good.. so I guess you are the ONE with no taste at all.
And pardon me, Penang dirty? I admit it’s not as clean as Singapore, but heck.. I bet KL is just AS DIRTY as Penang.
So you think your money very big? Paying such small amount of money and you expect 5-Star treatment from the hawkers?
I think you are just one mutha fucker that do not know how to respect others so I’m not gonna give you the respect as well. If you bloody hate Penang, pleae don’t come again yah as we do not welcome assholes like you to our place.
Thank You.
P/s: You think Penang is horrible? I think you are more horrible than Penang. You CHEAPSKATE!
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Happy New Year 2008 to everyone!
Happy New year to you and your family too
Hi,
It is nice to read your comments about Penang (may it be bad or good).
My boyfriend and I are planning to go to Penang early March this year.
Can anybody please suggest any good places to go? - especially the seafoods..
I am really looking forward to this trip.
Any help would be very much appreciated
Thanks!
Penang is fucking stupid place to live. You are stupid to visit Penang. Our taxi drivers are rude and are highway robbers. By the way we only welcome white people and hopefully our daughters will marry them and run away. By the way we Hockeins don’t like Malays and Indians coz they are stupid and lazy.
cant agree on all of the points you’ve mentioned… but since that’s what you saw.. so that’s what u say… =)
to me… it still feels wonderful to go back to this quaint little island which i call home..=)