Batu Ferringhi Beach

Good morning from Penang Island in Malaysia, along the Straits of Malacca!

I am more at ease saying I am at "Penang Island" than just "Penang", because this 'State' of Malaysia is composed of: part of mainland which is Seberang Perai (its capital city being Butterworth) and the island (of Penang - its capital city being Georgetown). So okay, I am now in a suburb of Georgetown!

Which is.., Batu Ferringhi, where my hotel is, and where I am now writing this - facing Malacca Strait!

Batu Ferringhi is in the north (more of northwest) part of the island, probably about 20kms from the center of Georgetown. Although this is one of the more popular touristy beach areas, it is quieter here.

But don't be deceived by my pictures! I took these at breakfast where most tourists were still asleep!

By midmorning, until sunset, and into the evening, this beach does become crowdedly bustling!

But if you come early, like I do, you can still see the long stretch of beach. This view is to my left..,

I estimate that to be about 2 kilometers of white sand all the way to that first hill. Not really very white sand, right? To me it looks kind of pinkish to somewhere peach or fuscha, if there is anything like that!

There are big resorts along that stretch (though not yet too many), like Parkroyal that is our next-door neighbor, Hard Rock Hotel and The Bayview, amid many smaller hotels, resorts, bars and restaurants.

There are even more beaches and resorts beyond those hills all the way to Telok Bahang, and there is even that secluded beach (Monkey Beach?) inside the national park - a protected jungle with a beach!

And this was my view to the right. that's also about 2kms to that promontory at the end near Shang!

Yep, there're the Shangrila Rasa Sayang Resort and Shangrila Golden Sands Resort beside each other!

Beyond that hill are more beaches and resorts all the way to Tanjung Bunga and central Georgetown!

Now let me tell you, those 2 (of 3) were 'bothering' my lazy morning. They made me move fast hehe!

Syempre nanggagalaiti at hayok na hayok akong sumakay! Mind you, they're not tourists, they are the crews/operators of a "jetski rental business", riding back and forth, to advertise, to entice people. And it's an effective marketing ploy, dahil, na-entice ako e! I caught my self saying "let me finish breakfast"!

I even caught them on cam when I took a video while panning around the area! I'll post that vid here!

So I was listed. We pala, kasama ko nga pala si MJ! We were the first two jetski customers of the day. Mas mahal dito compared to Phuket or anywhere Philippines. Its 100MYR for 15minutes, that's a little over 1,000PHP eh sa atin, its only 1,500PHP for half an hour. But we got discounts because umandar ang "barat obama". Basta narining ko na lang si MJ "we are your first customer, so give us a discount".

I silently laughed, because I knew ang ibig nyang sabihin 'buena mano' kami kaya dapat me discount! That's how we are in the Philippines di ba? First customer is "pampa-swerte". Di nga lang natin alam if that's also the case here. For all we know, baka para sa kanila e malas ang unang customer. Si MJ eh!

There's something unique on this beach, the service providers and rates are permanently identified!

Foremost, the entire Batu Ferrenghi beach strip is divided into zones. This area of Holiday Inn Resort and Parkroyal Penang Resort is Zone D. How did I know? Ayun sa billboard o, as in may picture talaga!

Next, they defined the service provider allowed to offer ride services - "Sky, Sea and Shore Sdn. Bhd." - and those are for the pictured rides, where the corresponding ride rates and duration are also printed!

That way, tourists are not duped by shady 'businessmen'. Magaling. Dapat tularan! Here's more: when hotel staff learned we were riding jetskis, one of them (the pool attendant) really went out to check on who we were dealing with, and he gave the thumbs up! Oist, the jetski operators have IDs! Laban ka?!

Out of curiosity.., I asked "what if there were too many guests who want to avail of the rides, could we get from other providers"? They said it shall still be the responsibility of the aforementioned registered operator to source out more equipment and staff - even if they have to subcontract it, but they are still responsible to all guests in their zone. Otherwise guests can go to other areas not covered by this law.

I still say.., magaling! So guests have nothing to worry about! All you do is 'chillax to the max'!

It's even romantic if you're romantic, like that couple! But signs are all over to remind you of the rules.

Then the horses came! There were two of them, but the other one got called by a would-be rider..,

Not that we intended to go horseback riding. I just wanted to take pics of a horse while on the beach!

We were not disappointed. We took pictures without even going out of the Holiday Inn garden area!

The beauty of all this was that the 'horseman' was busy watching some video on his phone while the horse just stood immobile, as if it were a statue! Other hotel guests even also came to take pictures!

That was some minutes that both horse and horseman didn't move! That horse must be really tamed!

Eventually, some hotel guests went near for more pictorials with horse and horseman as background. I could hear him say "10 ringgit" as he invited guests to ride. I was not clear if that 10MYR was only to clamber and just sit on the horse for photo-op or if it already meant horseback riding along the beach.

10MYR is just a little over a hundred pesos! Anyway, not very long after we gathered around the horse, a man (parang barangay tanod) came to talk to the horseman. I think he was saying some reminders. Then the same man turned to us announcing "no horse riding here" as he pointed to the billboard. Da!

I went closer to look at it.., oo nga! Those bottom drawings say No Littering, No Horses and No buggy! I knew they must have good reason for those prohibitions, so I asked the man why no horses or ATVs are allowed. And he explained to me that Zone D is always crowded with kids, so horses and ATVs are deemed dangerous in the area. He even smiled when he explained that horse dung is also unhygienic!

Orderly! Something our local officials, resort owners and tourism establishments should emulate!

Felines rule here!

I was not surprised that there were no dogs on the beach even at such an early morning time as I am aware the whole island imposed a 'no stray dog' policy sometime ago. But cats surprised me. OMG!

They run, roam, romp or rest on the sand like dogs normally would! That, was amazingly new to me!

Here's a cat patiently waiting for a crab to emerge from its burrow..,

He eventually caught that crab, but did not eat it. He just played with it until it was lifeless! Same thing that cats do with rats, mice or anything alive, right? I haven't seen a cat eat a living thing that it caught.

Remember that bird on the first picture above? This cat saw it landing on the sand, thus this stance,

But no, it did not attack. Probably just an instinct to crouch like that when they see a bird!

I very much like this scene.., a confident cat on a sandy beach watch the boats as if he owned haha!

Did you know I got easily owned by this cat? Yep, I just called it once, and as if he already claimed me!

Wherever I stayed in this area of the beach, that cat would come, embrace my feet for a while, then sit like that, as if to guard me! If I move to another place it also moves to be near me and just sit like that!

Curiously too, not once did that cat seemed to be asking me for food. It just wanted to sit beside me!

Probably because these cats seem to be always full as they are timely/properly fed by their owner?

Look at the red dots I placed on that picture. Those are all cats - I counted seven here, though I'm sure there were others not in the camera frame. I asked that man, he confirmed they consider cats as pets.

Isn't this place interesting? Nice clean beach, not so crowded (in the morning), and no mongrels!

Okay, let's go somewhere else and return to this beach for sunset!