6th - 9th April
We ventured out on the Thursday night to the Red Garden Food Paradise on Leith Street, a grand name, but what would be its pleasures inside?
It was one of those moments after entering where we looked at each other and said, "what do we do here?" We were greeted by a cacophony of sound from about two hundred people sat at round tables and an exotic aroma of about a thousand food smells wafting from well over forty food hawker stalls.
Walking round in bemusement we finally got it and here is the score. First of all find a table and remember it's number, bit like down the franchise eatery pub in England. Go to the style of food you prefer (Chinese, Malay, Indian, Korean... Etc), tell them what you want, tell them the table number, wait for it to be brought over - pay the man! Whilst waiting for the food, or before, summons over one of the drinks waiters who will get your order and bring it over in an ice bucket - pay the man! Repeat as many times as you want - just be ready to pay the man, or in the interests of equal opportunities - the woman!
As the "all you can eat eat seafood buffets" in Vietnam it's a great concept but what makes this one even better is there is entertainment. Yes, I don't know how they do it because for example mine and Lynn's Malaysian meal on the first night we went there only cost us £3.50 for both dishes, the drinks obviously cost us more. Well, we drank more! So how do they manage to put on all the entertainment?
We were serenaded by a bloke on the organ, a bit like the old pub singer days. He is then followed by other singing acts throughout the evening. It's great, and what's more, you can go up and chose even more titbits to nibble on, not forgetting... Yes you've got it!
We didn't make the Ladyboy act on our two visits to the place but we still have Saturday night to go. What we did do though was walk round the corner to Penang Street and visit the Soho Pub. When I say pub I don't mean one of those foreign mock ups that try to emulate a British Pub. This is the real deal, all wood paneling, stools, high tables, pool table, beer taps and optics. The only slightly ropey thing about the whole place is not the toilets but the DJ - Barry White in a bandana would describe the guy, pity he couldn't sing like the old Warlrus of Soul, he ruined every track by attempting to! Never mind, we had a great laugh about him. Forget Naughty Nuri's, this is definitely our new local.
On the Friday morning we received a message off my sister to get over to Batu Ferrangi and the Park Royal Hotel to join them round the pool. We took a taxi, £8, it was worth it as it was air conditioned and as we seemed to have the slowest driver in Malaysia we got a great view of the coastline from the twisting, turning coastal road without feeling car sick.
Half an hour later we were tentatively walking through the impressive lobby of their resort hotel and eventually met up with them all. What a great relaxing day we had, so relaxing we said, "bugger the bus to get back - taxi!"
It was back for our second taste of food in the Red Garden ( we went Chinese, duck and pork dishes), we spent a bit more this time as we also ordered freshly BBQ'd chicken wings. The whole lot came to£4.52, you just can't beat the value and the best thing is, it's all cooked fresh for you. As an aside there are many of these sort of food emporiums in the city, we just happen to like this one and.... We're still hoping to catch the Ladyboy show!
Next morning, 9th we set off to discover a little coffee shop on Lebuh Melayu, recommended on our tourist map as a must visit - we couldn't find it and spent half an hour walking the wrong way in blistering heat attempting to get to the seafront. We gave up and ended up in Paragin Mall - aircon at last.
It actually turned out for the best as we found a decent set of toilets, an ATM and grabbed ourselves some brunch. We also picked up a whole bunch of leaflets about Georgetown and discovered some more sights to see.
Eventually we got a taxi to the tourist info office as we needed to plan ahead for our onward journey to KL next Tuesday. It was closed, what a surprise, so we tottered round to the Penang Time Tunnel history museum and 3D mural street art on Green Hall Street. For under a tenner for the two of us it was a facinating little interlude and the young members of staff made us feel very welcome and took our pictures for us against the street art - highly recommended.
We went for a recce of the ferry terminal then hopped in a cab back to the hotel. Our driver had informed us a taxi across the bridge to Butterworth train station the following week would cost us about £14. Our concierge staff confirmed that was the price but when we told them our plans they encouraged us to take the ferry - it's free for foot passengers - no brainier then, ferry it is next Tuesday.
Now for a refreshing dip in the hotel pool!
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