THE MOGGYS MALAYSIAN MADNESS: Anniversary Weekend in Penang

Nick and I recently celebrated our 25 year wedding anniversary. I know right! Crazy! We decided to take a bit of a road trip to Penang. As much as I would have love to have flown, Nick was keen to hit the road. It makes sense I guess. The trip to the airport from home is around 45 minutes, then check in, one hour flight, taxis to the hotel etc. By the time we would have arrived we could nearly have driven! All up it took us around 4 hrs each way and it was nice to see a bit of the countryside. A quick stop for breakfast in Ipoh which is around half way and we were in Georgetown, Penang by lunch.

We stayed at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel on the very outskirts of the old town. The grand old dame is 138 years old but doing well for her age. We stayed in the Heritage Wing which is the original section. I have to say although lovely it could do with a bit of a spruce up. Apparently the newer section is a bit more flash and we would definitely stay in that wing next time.

Our only real goal for the weekend was to explore the old part of Georgetown. Being an old British settlement the buildings are totally different to most of those in KL. In fact Georgetown is a UNESCO Heritage Site which will give you some idea of how impressive they are! The streets are also lined with beautiful old Chinese shop houses with many now converted into hotels, restaurants and funky bars. There is a Chinatown and a Little India as well as more Mosques, temples and churches than you can poke a stick at. All in all plenty to keep us busy as we wandered around all day and into the evening. Absolutely all doable on foot. Mind you, it was hot. I mean REALLY hot! Thankfully the pool at the E&O sorted that out pretty quickly. Free canapés and cocktails between 6 and 7 also didn't hurt. Well played E&O!