A Walk in the Garden

I have lost count of the many times that we kept wanting to visit one of Penang’s famous tourist spot, Penang Hill but never actually happened. It was only last weekend that we finally step our foot there again, after so many years since our last visit.

We reach the base of Penang Hill around noon and there isn’t much visitors except for some foreign tourist. I overheard from one of the workers conversation with a tourist that the lack of visitors are due to Ramadhan month. On normal weekends, even the queue to buy the train tickets would be so long and you can imagine how packed the train going to be with everyone trying to cramped in just like sardine in tin. But lucky us on that day, there isn’t any queue at all and we managed to get on the next train without any delay. The journey up took us roughly about 15 minutes to reach the middle station and another 15 minutes to reach to the top of the hill. The weather was gloomy with little drizzle but we certainly enjoyed the colder and fresher air up there.

Railway from the top

Penang Hill has not change much over the years. So basically there is nothing much to do either. We just took some walk around, enjoying the garden view and sceneries overlooking to the heart of Penang, Georgetown and across the island, Butterworth. We stopped for ice kacang (a local favorite dessert with shaved ice, colorful sugar syrups and assorted fruits, jelly and nuts) to avoid the rain from wetting us. When the rain stops, we continue our explorations again *smile*

View from the top

The heart of Penang - Georgetown view

Bunga Raya

There is one place that I feel in love with, though. David Brown’s Restaurant and Tea Terrace – “A British-styled restaurant with authentic heritage ambience serving fine British cooking and local favorites”, as quoted by the owner. The restaurant that is sitting on top of Strawberry hill has a stunning view of Penang Island's city and port view. The surrounding is full of plants and beautiful flowers. Right in front of the building, there is a large lily pond full of blooming lilies. As the weather was pretty pleasant during our visit, we took the outdoor table and ordered a set of tuna sandwiches to go with the fruit tea. It is definitely a nice get-away place from the city to sit back and relax while enjoying the afternoon tea with my loved ones.

David Brown's Restaurant & Tea Terrace

Garden

Interior

We stayed for quite a while to enjoy the beautiful garden before we head back home!