Su Zhou, Shanghai, Yang Zhou ~ It was a much needed holiday! (Part 1)

Yeeha! Back from a long holiday and feeling much refreshed! Haven't update my blog for a while! Travelling posts are usually long and filled with a lot of details as my holidays are usually packed from morning till night! But nope! Not this one. This holiday was leisurely and relaxed as I spent it at my relative's place at Su Zhou (Reads: FREE ACCOMMODATION! Yeeha! :))

It was a ten days trip - fully maximising the 2-to-fly promo from Singapore Airline as they only allowed a maximum of ten days for the promo flight. Good enough for me since I do not have enough annual leaves to blow anyway! I traveled with my gran ~ my fav person in the world! Both the to and fro flights were red eye flights ~ flying off past mid night and arriving in early wee hours. What to do? The promo flight means the return ticket per pax is less than $500! Nothing to complain abt further at that price for SQ!

We were to stay with my uncle who had been working at Su Zhou for years. Staying with a working relative plus super cold weather means not everyday is jam packed with activities. But I love it that way! Enjoying cool weather while taking a break from the harsh Singapore lifestyle with no 101 items to be done like my typical holiday! I didn't plan anything for the trip, basically going with the flow on wherever my uncle suggested! It felt like a school holiday that I do not have to shoulder responsibility for. The only drawback was I'm afraid of cold temperature and had to wrap myself in several layers of clothing during the trip. 

First on Su Zhou. We arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport and went straight to Su Zhou to find my uncle via a 1.5 hour car ride. Since my last trip to Su Zhou more than a decade back, the city has changed a lot. It now contains many mega malls much like those in Singapore. They also have international restaurant chains like those in Singapore. Industralisation really changes places. The speed of development appear much faster than Singapore's neighboring countries. During my stay, I visited some pretty "atas" malls much like that in Sg's Orchard Road, went for karaoke, dined at classy restaurants, ate hong kong and taiwanese desserts and tasted some of the sweetest strawberries I ever had (bought from a supermarket) and took their MRT for $2 RMB. Overall my impression of Su Zhou was pretty good except for the air pollution that happened at the time of my visit. Some snap shots of Su Zhou:

The shopping area surrounding a beautiful river:

This area has the world longest "corridor screen" which is something like a meandering tv screen used to air major events like the olympics. I didnt have the chance to see it light up at night. But guess what I found here? - Ya Kun Coffee & Toast from Singapore! Haha!

Some food galore at various malls ( You get the idea. Wonderful food with 2 thumbs up! Except some local dishes properly require some adapting to.)

Of course, I'm not saying every inch of Su Zhou has been replaced by modern facades, there are of course pockets that reminded us of the past. And these are in fact the more memorable areas I'm more interested in. The following shot shows a small stretch of preserved land in Su Zhou called "San Tang Street". It is more like a tourist spot but hey don't you agree it is beautiful? They still have delivery boats running through the area.

Next up - Yang Zhou. We visited Yang Zhou during a weekend. It was a quick trip after visiting a city called "Dan Yang" which is something like a capital for all the spectacle shops in China. Everywhere in Dan Yang is occupied by spectacle shops! According to my uncle, spectacle lenses in China are all mostly made in Dan Yang. They take orders from other major cities and courier over the finished products. We went there because my gran needs to make a new spects and the cost to make it in Singapore was abt $400 for her prescriptions (My gawd!!). The cost of making her two pairs of spectacles (took them less than an hour to make em at the shop itself!) was only about $100 SGD. I'm impressed. However, Dan Yang is much more polluted than Su Zhou and Shang Hai and you will basically be breathing in dust. We hopped in one random restaurant at Dan Yang and the food was great. Especially the dish "Dong Buo Rou" - braised pork that has simmered for hours until the fats are supposedly melted. This is a famous dish so I recommend trying it in China!

We dropped by Yang Zhou to visit a popular tourist attraction surrounding a lake called "Shou Xi Hu". Due to the lack of time, we didn't get to spend long hours at the attraction. Mainly took a boat ride from one end to the other end. It was a beautiful area that was owned by a group of wealthy salt merchants in the past. According to the boat guide, the place was a must visit by previous emperor when ever he step out of the palace to visit his lands. And they even have a mini version of the place built at the ex-capital for the empress since she can't travel out from the palace. And when the emperor wishes to fish here, the salt merchants will ensure there is a catch by sending divers down the lake to hook big fishes on the emperor's hook. Funny. The place was scenic. But entry fee was not cheap! I think it was $200 RMB. The place was pretty but I think the entry price is too high?

 

(To be continued in the next post cuz I'm tired!)

Travel entry - My first visit to Penang M'sia via Air Asia, stayed Bayview Hotel Georgetown!

Ok, I think I had wanted to post my second entry on my Phuket trip but I procrastinated and by now I had visited Penang... Tsk tsk. So forgive meow to jump right in to my latest trip to a wonderful destination - Penang, cuz the memories are so fresh and pretty!

I'm not sure why I had never visited Penang in the past. I suppose I'd focused mostly on beach destinations and shopping heavens kinda places. Penang is better known for its cultural heritage and food. 

It was another one of my quick escapee over the weekend, 3 days 2 nights. This is a birthday treat to le bf. And I flew by Air Asia. I'm a budget cat so I usually travel by budget air if it's to a nearby country. I don't think we should spend a few hundreds more on a short 2-3 hours journey trip when we can better spend the money elsewhere like on shopping, food or hotel. The furthest I had ever flown by budget so far is actually Taipei. My experience so far with Air Asia have always been very good amongst other competitors. Anyway, my Air Asia flight to Penang fr Singapore is only abt 1 hr 20 mins, with zero delay! :-D Any Singaporean can fly there over the weekend to enjoy the glorious food!!!

My choice of lodging is at Bayview Hotel, Georgetown Penang. That was decided after a bit of online research. I'm very pleased with my choice as it was a very good experience. Firstly, the hotel accepted my request for a piece of cake for le bf as it was his birthday as a "surprise" on our check-in. Bayview Hotel staff responded online to accept my request within 1 day turnaround time! Upon arrival, Bayview's counter staff immediately "signaled" that they have noted my request. In addition, they upgraded my room from a Deluxe to a Premire Deluxe on the 14th floor with a clear view of Georgetown. Speechless right?!? Here's a pic of the ultra spacious room that comes with a bathroom with both a bathtub and a shower section:

View of Georgetown from my room:

And they gave us a whole cake! It is yummy too.

Although it is only a 4 stars hotel. I felt like I'd been given a 5 stars experience loh. ;-D The hotel booking also included breakfast. I think the breakfast was ok ok only la. There are many variety served but  I would say 70% are carbohydrate based with less meat dishes. Then again, Penang hawker food is so delicious, no need to focus so much on the breakfast lah! Just have a bite to get you going in the morning! 

Location wise, Bayview Hotel is located in a great spot near to a lot of nice places. The Blue Mansion attraction and the famous Red Garden Food centre is only 1-2 mins across the road loh! And majority of the other attractions are actually not that far away la. And the hotel is reasonably priced. So although I'm not paid for so much raving, I would highly recommend ppl to try staying there for a visit to Penang. 

Red Garden Food Centre: 

In my opinion, Red Garden Food Centre should be a Penang attraction itself because the food are super delicious there!!! We tried Wu Xiang, oyster omelet, pork leg rice, rojak, cendol and char kuay teow. I'm super happy Bayview Hotel is 2 mins away loh. I visited the place twice and all the dishes were superd and better than the hawker food we tried at another famous eating place - Gurney Drive. The place opens from the late afternoon till the wee hours.

I didn't visit all the attractions in Penang due to time constraint, only selected ones I am more interested in - Kek Lok Si temple, Clan Jetties, Peranakan Mansion, Khoo Kongsi and Penang Hill. I'd also paid a short visit to Komtar, Gurney Drive Night market and the Gurney Plaza Shopping Centre. I will try to touch on a bit of all the places in case anyone happen to need some travel research and chanced upon my blog :-).

Kek Lok Si temple @ Ayer Itam 

Ok this is a famous attraction in Penang and is my top recommendation regardless of your faith. Fyi there were Indian, Malay, Jap, Korean, and westerners all over the place. We took a taxi to this attraction as it is not very near.  Btw, taxi rides are not very cheap in Penang and you can actually bargain with the driver on the price. None of the taxis run on meters. Lol. Ride fr Bayview Hotel to Kek Lok Si costs us abt $30 or $40 MYR I think. There is a free tourist bus running through Georgetown for your info. We took it once in our trip to the Clan Jetties but decided to travel by foot or taxi subsequently to other places as it wasn't easy to hunt down the bus stops and there was not much time for us to waste. Anyway, check out the sights of this mega temple:

I suppose most ppl expect Penang to be a place of cultural experience and this place fits the bill. Having travelled to many countries, this is probably the biggest Chinese temple I'd visited simply because it is sprawling uphill and I believe it is still growing as devotees are pouring in money every year. The Guan Ying statue at the top is very big. 

You have to pass by a lot of small stalls selling all sort of random souvenirs before actually reaching the first attraction which is a turtle pond. After that you should be greeted by a few interesting temples before u pay a small fee to take an "inclined lift" to reach the top with the gigantic Guan Ying and another temple. Yes - they built an inclined lift! I'm sure u can actually walk up to the top (which is not a big distance) except we couldn't find the walking path so taking the lift is more convenient. 

The overall architecture of the temple is marvelous and it is obvious that the Penang Chinese were and still are very rich and devoted to their faith. The temple is a vibrant place u should not miss in your trip. 

After ending ur temple visit, you might be interested to grab a bite at the bunch of eateries found at the bottom of the hill. On the way to the temple, the taxi driver told us the Assam laksa at Ayer Itam market is one of the most famous in Penang so we dropped by to try for lunch. We shared one and found the taste a bit "exotic" in comparison to the Singaporean style laksa. And we went on to a food centre nearby to have some handmade noodles which were delicious. We had the herbal soup version and the dry version. Oh, by the way, we felt that the food portion in Penang is quite small - perfect for sharing a large variety of food. Lol

 

Penang Hill

The Penang Hill is often quoted a must to visit when one goes Penang. In my opinion, it is not as marvelous as some other attractions such as the mega temple Kek Lok Si. If you do visit the temple, which u should, then perhaps it make sense to drop by the nearby Penang Hill Ayer Itam station (15-25 mins walk depending on ur speed or you can take a bus which we waited forever for and ended up taking a taxi $10MYR after the long fruitless wait under hot weather) to take the tram up the hill. 

The main attraction of the hill should in fact be the funicular tram that rides up and down the steep slope. This I find particularly interesting. But it costs $30 MYR for tourists for 2 way which is a bit expensive. Anyway, the air is cooling on top of the hill and u get to see a good view of Penang fr up there. Otherwise, there is nothing much up there. U can perhaps get a drink or an ice cream to enjoy the cool air before taking the exciting tram back down.

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi

There are a lot of "Kongsi" in Penang. We passed by a few while searching for Khoo Kongsi. Before visiting the place, I don't really understand what is "Kongsi" because in Chinese language it translates to "company". I think these are the gathering houses of the Chinese clans in the past. These are more like "temples" honoring the clans, classified by surnames, with the Khoo Kongsi being the grandest. It's a really interesting place to visit because the concept is quite unique. In Singapore there are clan houses too, older generations' gathering places according to surnames, but not in the version of grand temples. U get to see how rich Chinese honor their family tying all the way back to their roots - by surnames. The place is well maintained and grand (especially the elaborated roof) although the attraction is not very big in term of size. There are quite a number of  large paintings to observe as well as interesting sculptures all over. It costs $10 MYR for entry.

Penang Peranakan Mansion

This is a famous mansion, a UNESCO world heritage site, that was featured in the very popular Singapore tv series - The Little Nyonya. Peranankan refers to the descendants of Straits Chinese , something unique to our part of the world. I'm not so good with history so I don't know how come some of us are Peranakan and some aren't when in fact all our forefathers came from China long long ago to settle along this part of the world. Anyway, Peranakan in Singapore are typified by some similarity - wealthy, English-Malay-Mandarin speaking, and with the ability to cook delicious Nyonya food. Haha! This awesome Peranakan Mansion gives an insight into how rich the Peranakan were in old days and their unique preference in home decal. Lol.

I think this mansion is sort of one of a kind. Not available elsewhere. There are Peranakan houses in Singapore as well, not as big as this one in Penang. There is a "secret" path leading to the ancestral temple located at the back of the house and it is amazingly big, so don't miss it. Entry to the place is $20 MYR. We were not offered a guide although we noticed some foreigners were given a guide... Anyway, worth a visit with or without guide. We saw two couples having their bridal shoots there to. Really beautiful place.

The Clan Jetties

Again, uniquely Penang and a UNESCO site. This is a row of jetties classified according to family surnames. You might be familiar with the concept of "Kelong", wooden houses on stilts on water. The Clan Jetties consist of a whole row of interconnected kelongs. I think the main attractive point is the concept that this still exist or co-exist with the rest of the more developed Penang. Essentially, you are simply walking through a fisherman neighborhood built on water. We visited the Chew Jetty as it is more tourist friendly and left thereafter.

Komtar, Gurney Plaza & Gurney Drive Night Market

Ok, if you need some quality shopping, Komtar is not the place. It's a seriously run down place with some random shops as well as a supermarket. I guess it should be well known for simply being the tallest building in Penang and that's all. However, the bus interchange is right beside it in case u are more keen to take the bus to the places of interest. 

We took a taxi to Gurney Plaza after our visit to Penang Hill as we intended to have our dinner at the famous Gurney Drive Night Market. The taxi is $30 MYR. Gurney Plaza is a decent mall quite similar to those in Singapore (maybe because it is actually a Capitamall) and it has a great cinema. We watched a movie there before heading out to the night market for food. This Gurney Drive market is really big, a long stretch lined with hawkers. We tried the Lok Lok, oyster omelet (again), char kuay teow (again), rojak (again - yes because the local delights are so yummy), ice kacang, and coconut drink. The food were nice. But if I have to compare, I think Red Garden is better!

Other than actual places of interest, Georgetown is famous with some wall murals and deco scattered all over. I think they make it interesting for tourists to hunt down. In fact, not all info can be found on the Internet, perhaps some are constantly added on. Here are some of my captures just because I happened to pass by. Haha!!! 

I think I will return again for more great food. Maybe I will stay at the beach area in my next visit. Hope my entry is useful to any wannabe Penang tourist!