Chulia St, Penang

[RickG16]

Heading to Penang soon. Anyone know how many RM I can expect to pay for a cheap single room on Chulia St? I hear that's the area to go.

 

And any tips on things to do over a couple of days? 

[LongTimeLurker]

Try Agoda for rooms prices and Tripadvisor for things to do.

 

In 2 days you can apply for your Thai visa on day 1, pick it up on Day 2, then leave.

[tutsiwarrior]

walkin' around Georgetown is very interesting, nice old crumbling colonial architecture...plenty of good eats on the main drag, mostly open front indian places with streetside tandoori ovens, etc...Georgetown is famous for it's local cuisine...

 

there's a shopping mall with a large food hall at the end of the street that also has very nice food, chinese, malay, etc...

 

if yer not onna tight budget there's plenty of places to get a beer, etc...

 

make sure ye gots all yer visa arrangements at the thai consulate squared away before yew relax as it's easy to get distracted...get down and submit yer application first thing...

 

 

[RickG16]

5 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

walkin' around Georgetown is very interesting, nice old crumbling colonial architecture...plenty of good eats on the main drag, mostly open front indian places with streetside tandoori ovens, etc...Georgetown is famous for it's local cuisine...

 

there's a shopping mall with a large food hall at the end of the street that also has very nice food, chinese, malay, etc...

 

if yer not onna tight budget there's plenty of places to get a beer, etc...

 

make sure ye gots all yer visa arrangements at the thai consulate squared away before yew relax as it's easy to get distracted...get down and submit yer application first thing...

 

 

Nice one.. Thinking of using a visa service as a time saver. Sounds like it saves a lot of hassle + taxis. 

 

Tandorri ovens sounding good!

[LongTimeLurker]

Not so crumbling these days Tutsi.  I was there back end of March and it's all spruced up.

 

Still not much to get excited about there though.

 

They have one of those hop-on hop-off tour buses you can get about on for 24 hours for a fixed fee.

[bartender100]

Soho pub is OK for a cool beer

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g298303-d2667128-Reviews-Soho_Free_House-George_Town_Penang_Island_Penang.html

[tutsiwarrior]

22 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Not so crumbling these days Tutsi.  I was there back end of March and it's all spruced up.

 

Still not much to get excited about there though.

 

They have one of those hop-on hop-off tour buses you can get about on for 24 hours for a fixed fee.

 

yeah...I was there in 2003 and my observation was from that time...at the time I thought that there was an architectural feature there that they should preserve but not so much that the place would lose it's 'charm'...good fer some snapshots with a rumpled white linen suit, a panama hat and a fag to send home to the folks...

 

re: tour buses there are some fancy resorts/nice beaches outside of town from what I hear...strip off the linen suit and dive right in...

 

when we were there there was a place that had a patio as you entered from the street that was a nice place for a beer or two in the evening...either on or close by Chulia Street...the hotel that we were in near Chulia, can't remember the name, had a nice interior terrace for that purpose as well...

 

 

[RickG16]

Sadly I'm off the booze at the moment.. So a good coffee is a bigger priority than a beer.

 

Looking forward to it.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 5/16/2017 at 6:16 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

when we were there there was a place that had a patio as you entered from the street that was a nice place for a beer or two in the evening...either on or close by Chulia Street

Sounds like a place called The Reggae Mansion if I remember right. It's still there on Chulia.

[RickG16]

Not sure whether to change baht into rangsit here, or use an ATM in Malaysia... any thoughts?

 

I would have to pay ATM fee in Thailand anyway. 

[LongTimeLurker]

4 hours ago, RickG16 said:

Not sure whether to change baht into rangsit here, or use an ATM in Malaysia... any thoughts?

 

I would have to pay ATM fee in Thailand anyway. 

Good luck in getting Ringitt, I couldn't get any in Pattaya and had to change US$ in Penang.

[RickG16]

1 hour ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Good luck in getting Ringitt, I couldn't get any in Pattaya and had to change US$ in Penang.

OK... Is a bit like Cambodia in Malaysia? I.e. ringitt for small change, dollars otherwise?

[LongTimeLurker]

On 5/26/2017 at 7:06 PM, RickG16 said:

OK... Is a bit like Cambodia in Malaysia? I.e. ringitt for small change, dollars otherwise?

No, I just changed US$ to Ringitt at the moneychangers along Chulia and paid everything in Ringitt.

[RickG16]

15 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

No, I just changed US$ to Ringitt at the moneychangers along Chulia and paid everything in Ringitt.

Here now, last night I used an ATM in a 7 / 11 that ominously just said you will be charged 'fees' for this transaction. I'm an idiot.

[overherebc]

On 15/05/2017 at 11:27 PM, bartender100 said:

Soho pub is OK for a cool beer

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g298303-d2667128-Reviews-Soho_Free_House-George_Town_Penang_Island_Penang.html

It has gone downhill quite a bit lately. Could do with a good scrub and clean out. Staff nowhere near as friendly and pleasant as before.

Most VR's and trippers go to the new area of outside bars a couple of hundred yards to the left as you exit Soho Bar.

Also noticed a few ladies with lumps in their throats inside nowadays.  ???.

[bendejo]

Kapitan Restaurant for tandoori.  Chulia and King Streets.

 

I really liked Penang when I first visited about 15 years ago. I ended up moving back and forth between there and Thailand for some years. They didn't even have a proper bus system back then.  A lot of the cleaning up it's gone through in the past ten years involved removing the vermin at the top as well, like the thugs who ran the gyspy bus racket. This probably helped them get World Heritage status.  Most of the atmosphere that drew me there is gone, but I was fortunate to see of it what I could in my time.  My ironic prediction is Chinese tourists will come to Penang to see what China was like centuries ago.

If interested in knowing what happened, this was made right during the transition, shows a (former) fave restaurant.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia-pacific/2010/07/201072641513755778.html

 

 

[RickG16]

On 14/08/2017 at 5:14 AM, bendejo said:

Kapitan Restaurant for tandoori.  Chulia and King Streets.

 

I really liked Penang when I first visited about 15 years ago. I ended up moving back and forth between there and Thailand for some years. They didn't even have a proper bus system back then.  A lot of the cleaning up it's gone through in the past ten years involved removing the vermin at the top as well, like the thugs who ran the gyspy bus racket. This probably helped them get World Heritage status.  Most of the atmosphere that drew me there is gone, but I was fortunate to see of it what I could in my time.  My ironic prediction is Chinese tourists will come to Penang to see what China was like centuries ago.

If interested in knowing what happened, this was made right during the transition, shows a (former) fave restaurant.

 

http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia-pacific/2010/07/201072641513755778.html

 

 

Nice post.  What's a gypsy bus racket btw?  

 

I'm heading back next week,  so nice to go somewhere second time around when you spend much less time looking for stuff!  

 

PS - did you settle in Thailand in the end?  

[LongTimeLurker]

On ‎20‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 7:24 PM, LongTimeLurker said:

Sounds like a place called The Reggae Mansion if I remember right. It's still there on Chulia.

Update

 

Reggae Mansion is no more.