Beach Route HOHO Bus Rolling Tour, Penang

As mentioned in the previous story, on the first day, we took the HOHO Bus for a ride, literally. As in we didn't get off to explore the listed tourist attractions in and around the bus stops. We just comfortably sat in the airconditioned bus, sometimes sitting at the open top for the cool breeze, all along listening to the recorded descriptions and/or the live annotation by the tour guide/conductor of the HOHO bus.

This is a wonderful-enough introductory tour, to get to know interesting facets about Penang. Ah yes, when this "Beach Route" bus reached Gurney Plaza (a mall), we hopped on to the "City Route" bus (no additional fee), continuing to view Penang's tourist attractions, (well, most of it) just sitting on the bus.

Going back to the hotel, we boarded another "Beach Route" bus!

Mind you, we started at mid-morning and ended back at Holiday Inn by dinner time. Aba matagal din! But you won't be very surprised if you knew that Penang (1,048 sq. km.) is bigger than Singapore that is only 733 sq. km. Ah, to better understand their "sizes", Metro Manila is only 636 square kilometers!

So ano na nga.., what did we see?!

Sige, let's start the interesting litany of scenes while on this Beach Route HOHO Bus!

This is the second floor of the bus. Note that the rear half is airconditioned, front is open-top..,

The red arrow points to the stairs going down or coming up! Note, there are two TV screens sa harap. Additional information about places along the bus route are shown and there're recorded annotations that you can hear wherever you are on the bus. You pass by that door to sit up front on the open area.

From Holiday Inn westward, next stop was Hard Rock Hotel, that of course has a Hard Rock Cafe, that you my dear Pinoy readers will be interested about! But we weren't getting off anywhere from this bus, remember? So, I just said "mamaya ka Hard Rock Cafe, mamaya or bukas ng gabi, wait ka lang dyan"!

This place is actually still walking distance from Holiday Inn, probably just about a kilometer away.

The next stop was Tropical Spice Garden. As the name suggests, it's a garden of spice plants/trees.

Not what I or MJ would like to explore, though we read there are over 500 kinds of live/growing spices in there whatever those are! It's actually an event venue too. And they cater to camping and glamping!

HOHO bus continued heading west-southwest, along white-sandy beaches, entering the Teluk Bahang town proper after about 4kms, zooming through the town streets, all the way to their Taman Negara or National Park. We could hear the annotations say this is Malaysia's smallest national park, yet equally lovely with white sandy beaches, sea turtles, lighthouse, more than a hundred bird species, plus more!

Well I did hear from previous visits that this is a usual camping / training site for boy and girl scouts, not only of Penang, but even of all Malaysia as they hold jamborees in there. And I told MJ, there was a seafood restaurant with a funny-sounding-name by the beach, but I unfortunately forgot that name!

So we reached the bus stop at Penang National Park's entrance. Some folks got off, we did not. And the bus promptly turned back to the roundabout going to the next stops on our way to Taman Rimba.

Interesting to see a fish market managed by a fishermen's association. Ok ah. Meron ba tayo ganyan?

I'm actually just guessing. But the name says "Persatuan Nelayan Kawasan Teluk Bahang". If my little Bahasa is still correct, it says association fishermen area bay bahang.., thus, Fishermen's Association of Bahang Bay Area? Samahan ng mga Mangingisda sa Area ng Bahang Bay? Ah, something like that!

Palengke at mga kainan yan! Wow, they own/manage a whole fish market? Wow, why not, di ba? Eh sa atin, ano ang ginagawa o ano ang business ng mga association o mga cooperative? Sana ganyan din!

Then we saw this restaurant, and MJ asked if this was that "funny-sounding-name" I could not recall..,

I said "no, ano naman ang funny sa Taitong"? He laughed while saying he can still remember that in a Chinese dialect, "Taitong" means "napakasakit" (he speaks a little intsik, pero di marunong magsulat)!

I laughed too, but said "this is/was not the one". I said it had something to do with armageddon hehe!

Ah, because the topic touched on languages, we tried translating things, like I said 'Pasar Nelayan' is 'palengke mangingisda' or 'market fisherman' so it means 'fishermen's market' - now 'seafood market'!

"Kedai" is tindahan/store, "Makanan" is kainan/eatery from the root word "makan" which is kain/eat - sa binisaya 'makan-an', in waray "makaonan"! "Laut" is sea, dagat o laot natin! So, seafood restaurant!

Fun comparing our languages.., aliw, because there are many similarities!

But those signages have interesting info (para sa ating mga yoniP). It says "no pork served" - because most Malays are Muslim, bawal ang baboy sa kanila. Though not majority, Penang is still 45% Muslim (that's 61% in all of Malaysia). So if you have a business, you adjust to most of your patrons. No pork!

Did you know, ang "baboy" natin is "babi" sa kanila? Ang "inom" natin "minum" nila! Hawig di ba?

One more thing about that seafood restaurant, there's something curious about that signage at lower-left. It says "Closed on Tuesday but open on public holiday". Do you know why? Ako, hindi sure dyan! But I'm certain it's not because they are Malaysia or Penang. It's probably because the owner is insik!

So what kung insik, bakit nga nagsasara kung Martes? Ah eh.., di nga ako sure. But I have seen many Chinese restaurants that close on Tuesdays sa iba-ibang bansa. Baka hina negosyo, wala kita. Ganun!

Still in the area of downtown Teluk Bahang (still near the national park), there is also this restaurant..,

I said "yun yun, yun yung weird na pangalan ng restaurant"! And MJ said "wag ka naman sumigaw oy"!

We laughed since the name really sounds funny weird (to us). "End of the World Seafood Restaurant"? Doesn't it sound morbid for an eatery name? It kind of implies 'katapusan mo na pag kumain ka dyan'!

Oh well, walang basagan ng trip - that's the name they want, so let it be!

I did share with MJ that the restaurant was located on the water, by the beach near the little pier, and I wondered why they relocated to the very middle of town, by the rotunda (near the public market). Plus, it already looked huge and a bit more upscale. The original place was like a shack on stilts by the sea.

Timely that the bus conductor (tour guide?) passed where we sat, so I asked him my questions. Ohh, so it was swept away by the tsunami too, and when they rebuilt, they did it here, away from the water.

May istorya naman pala.., kumbaga nag-end of the world pala sila nung nagka-tsunami more than a decade ago. Which reminds me, Penang Island is just across the Malacca Strait to Banda Aceh, the northern-most portion of Indonesia, which was the epicenter of that earthquake and tsunami of 2004.

Anyway.., speaking of that rotunda nga pala.., it has a big big 'monument' of the pitcher plant (seen in the forests of Malaysia). This is an important landmark as 4 roads from/to out of this town, converge here. And one of those roads is called "Jalan Titi Kerawang". Wala lang, just saying. Y R U smiling ha?

Let's proceed! And by the way, also in one corner around this rotunda is their 'Balai Rakyat' - municipal hall kumbaga sa atin. It's a beautiful building. Beside it is a 'masjid' (mosque) too. Town center talaga!

Few steps from the above, we saw many people come to this place on their own 'private guided tours'.

One billboard says that way to the 'Upside Down House' (Galeri Rumah Terbalik = Gallery ng Bahay na Baliktad), another says that way too to the 'Toy Museum', and that building at the back is 'Craft Batik'.

Look look, I saw that group of seniors came from a bus and piling into the Craft Batik showroom..,

This town, Teluk Bahang, has many things to show the visitor. But I mostly love the atosphere. It's as if you are just visiting a provincial town in the Philippines -very laid back, no traffic, no highrise buildings.

But just a kilometer onwards from this center of town is the 'Escape Penang' (adventure park)

It boasts of the Guinness World Record of having The Longest Tube Water Slide among its activities.

As if that was not enough, across that is Entopia (their entrances are just about 300 meters apart)..,

It's a really big butterfly farm (with other insects and interesting flora).., with gardens, a restaurant and souvenir shop. They even sell their published books about butterflies and other creatures. A must see!

Just a few meters more onward (I think not even a hundred meters) is the gate of Taman Rimba

This is the farthest and last bus stop of the HOHO Beach Route. Bus enters that gate, rests there for a while (just about 15 minutes), then continues (returning) on its route back to Georgetown's city center.

Taman Rimba (forest park) is a recreational original rainforest park with gardens, playgrounds, picnic and camping areas, trails, even a forestry museum! There are accommodation facilities too! Do note to say 'Telok Bahang', not just "Taman Rimba" since there are many "forest parks" even just in Penang!

The warning sign at right says Danger, Health Risk, Risk of Infectious Diseases - do not drink unboiled or untreated water from rivers, ponds, waterfalls, mud as they may contain bacteria or parasitic virus.

Aside from the above warning, they also have the 'non-smoking policy'. Of course, uso rin dito yan!

But 2 meters away from the 'warning' is situated the actual smoking area. O di ba? Pampalubag-loob!

Here was our bus as we waited for it to 'take-off' again after its 15-minute rest period..,

Here's something cute, we thought only two of us would be riding on this bus upon departure from the (and out of) Teluk Bahang's Taman Rimba, since we did not explore the park like other tourists did. We just waited. But we were surprised, about 4 or 5 minutes from departure, folks of various nationalities, races, ages, hopped-on. Eyes wide, we wondered where they came from as we didn't see them earlier!

Maybe they came from the eateries on the sides of the foliage where the driver went? Interesting!

Anyway.., this was the view from where the bus waited, as we readied to depart from the park.

That grassy incline across the road is also an interesting feature of Teluk Bahang. It is a dam!

I didn't go up there, I've seen that years ago. My companion went, but only took pics of his face. Nge!

If you can read the signboard at road level, it says 'Empangan Teluk Bahang'. Empangan means 'dam'. It is a reservoir up/in there, but it's like a lovely park all around the edges (see the top of the greens). It has nice cool walking jogging biking park up there. Parang La Mesa Dam sa Fairview but twice bigger.

Speaking of La Mesa Dam, we all know there are dragon boat teams that practice or have races there, right? It's the same thing at this empangan in Teluk Bahang which is why I visited in 2011 (yata yun) to watch an international dragon boat race. Baka sa kanila tayo nakigaya to use a dam for dragon boats.

Alright, we were on the move.., somewhere after (beside) the Escape Adventure, I saw this..,

The wide beautiful clean campus of SMK Teluk Bahang. National High School kumbaga sa atin, but, it has some distinction! That 2nd line, kumbaga sa atin says, "may sinasabi". Parang 'me karats', ganun!

About 500 meters from the school, immediately before the masjid and the Balai Rakyat, I saw this..,

D'Heritage Penang Coffee, Chocolate & Herbal Products". Wala lang, just noting that, and saying here! Why? Because, some time ago, I received a gift (chocolates) with that brand. And, they were delicious!

Moving on, let's skip the bus stops already mentioned above. And I caught a view of this beach..,

They call this 'Tropical Beach' because it's just across the road from the Tropical Spice Garden! Not so many people visit this beach, because, there are no accommodation facilities in this area so far, other than the camping/glamping thing of Tropical Spice Garden. But there are eateries and cafes - already! Thus, folks who stay on this beach are mostly locals with their own vehicles. So, less crowded - at all!

About to enter back to Batu Ferringhi, we saw the Love Island (islet actually) on Teluk Pisang!

I learned years ago, that that islet, now commonly called 'Love Island' or 'Lovers' Island' was where the name "Batu Ferringhi" came from. "Ferringhi" was then a local word for "foreigner" (just like how Thais call us "farang"). And it is said that the seafaring 'ferringhis' frequented that rock (batu) to dock when they'd come to this area to fetch fresh water at a nearby river. That name stuck, until a town emerged!

That strip of beach, by the way, is also 'public', but even lesser people stay there. Why? Because those structures are owned (and only used) by their government officials. It is all fenced (concrete) out front and there are signs that say "rumah peranginanginan kerajaan negeri" (state government rest house).

Hindi naman daw sa bawal dyan. Ayaw lang (daw) ng madlang pipol nila na nakikita dyan, dahil tataas daw ang kilay ng karamihan pag nakita kang andyan, thinking.., pamilya ka ng opisyales ng gobyerno!

Parang sa atin din kumbaga. Yung pag opisyales.., 'alams na alams na'!

Anyway, after that islet, beyond/behind that promontory is the start of Batu Ferringhi Beach!

Well, the very start is called "Kilat Beach", but that's already the stretch that is Batu Ferringhi Beach!

Oh another trivia: "kilat" means "lightning" in Malay! In Tagalog "kidlat" yan, but in Bisaya "kilat" pud oi!

In Waray-waray, that is interchangeably "kidlat" (Western Samar / Leyte) or "kilat" (Northern & Eastern Samar). Pero ha Paypayon kanda Mano Lyndon, danay it "linti".., ata "lipak" pa ngani kon asya namanla!

This is front of the Bayview Beach Resort - one of the biggest in the area of Kilat Beach..,

Actually I haven't heard of a place using "Kilat Beach" as a reference, much less an address. Everyone just use 'Batu Ferringhi Beach' since that is the most popularly well-recognized therefore easily found!

And our HOHO bus was back at the Hard Rock Hotel bus stop. But we were still just passing by..,

That is the entrance. Can you see that red sign at left behind the trees? That is the Hard Rock Cafe! As mentioned above, I said to my self "mamaya ka or bukas ng gabi, susugurin din kita, Hard Rock Cafe"!

Hoy hey, nearing Parkroyal, I saw this new development. A condominium named "By The Sea" Penang!

So the 'residential' developments has already reached this part of the island. Oh well.., that's progress!

Let's fast-forward skipping where we stayed (Holiday Inn) and we passed by the Shangri-la Resorts..,

That is the gate of their Rasa Sayang facility. But before this is the equally wide Golden Sands Resort.

Shangri-la got it big in Penang. Total beachfront of these two resorts is probably half a kilometer long!

Some 3 kilometers onwards (eastwards) we reached Miami Beach. Yes Miami Beach HOHO bus stop!

I think the beauty of this beach is that all big developments are across the road, on a hill in fact. Thus, the white sand is devoid of buildings or high rises. Like there's the Hilton Double Tree Resort, they had to build a pedestrian overpass from their premises, because it is high up and far to walk to the beach!

There is even an up-market village of big townhouses (I was told most residents there are foreigners), plus the already tall building of Miami Green Condominiums that perches on top of all these. Actually, if I may say so, it's inconvenient from any of the above, going to that beach hehe! So, it's not crowded!

Oh, along the way after Miami Beach, I saw signage that said "Mount Pleasure"! We joked and laughed when MJ said, "baka sa likod nandoon ang 'Sensation Valley', 'Arousal Gardens' and 'Horny Hills' haha!

From here going east, starts Penang's urban skyline. High-rises on the hills, yet the coast is beautiful.

This is Tanjung Bunga area. We just passed by the Penang Watersports Center, but no bus stop there (the last one was at Shamrock Beach) so I didn't see much of it, much less take photos! But we could see in the vicinity that there's everything that floats, since there are still beach resorts in this city area.

I like this photo where I think I accidentally captured two separate mosques in one shot, did I?

This one on foreground is called "Ma'had Tahfiz Al-quran Kasyfu Al-ulum". Oh, it's a religious school?

But this one looks really grand and wide. It's like floating on the water's edge, by a white sand beach!

I saw a board that said "Masjid Terapung" - oh, that means exactly a "floating mosque", wow! Hey btw, I have not gotten to asking around yet, but I wonder why many mosques are built near or on a body of water like the sea or a lake (sometimes even man-made). Water must have a deep meaning in Islam.

Next stop was at Flamingo By The Beach - my pics of it were not good. I got this instead!

It's a well-known, well-reputed international school right beside the Flamingo Hotel By The Beach. Btw, I seem to recall that this Flamingo Hotel By The Sea had another name then, but yes, already a hotel.

There is even another high rise hotel after Dalat. And the most interesting part in this area (all the way from the floating mosque) is that behind them all, is Tanjung Bungah Beach, with its nice white sands.

Here's another condominium row. The Cove (left) has (I think) four very tall buildings..,

The other tall buildings at right are also condominiums (One Tanjong) - and behind all of them is still a white sandy beach, although I'm not anymore sure if still part of Tanjung Bungah Beach. Nice anyway!

As the bus passed by Penang Swimming Club, I looked back towards its boundary with One Tanjong.

Golly gee wee! Those are all toys! I mean boats! Are they still part of the swimming club? Wowness!

Another "by the way".., from the swimming club to the next condominium (Golden Bay) is also a white sand beach all the way to Mercure Hotel, then it connects to Tanjung Tokong Beach up until the yacht club. All I could say is, OMG this island.., ang daming beaches for the son-of-a-beach like me! Paraiso!

Anyway, so we entered the city area of Georgetown, and we just turned left at TESCO Tanjung Tokong.

TESCO is a leading supermarket in the UK, and Penang has many of these stores in various locations. Wala yata sa atin nyan, although sometime ago, I saw TESCO-branded items at SM. Maybe they have partnered instead, since they are the same business - yung me hypermart, me kung anu-anong store.

Those two tall buildings are part of Jazz Hotel, serviced apartments and condominiums. Nice that the HOHO Bus passes this way (via the Straits Quay Marina Mall) for the tourists' 'maximum sightseeing'!

Like these buildings (Quayside Penang Condominiums) are fairly new in the neighborhood boom..,

On the other side (left) is already the Tanjung Tokong Beach, aside from a wide beautifully landscaped swimming pool in the middle of those four buildings. Though feeling ko me tama ang architect nyan - bakit yung dalawang nakaharap pa sa dagat ang mas towering? Nawalan ng sea view yung other two!

Sabi tuloy netong kasama ko... "nakialam nanaman" hehehe!

Anyway, I think the purpose of having the HOHO Bus pass this way is just to showcase the whole new development of commercial and residential what-have-yas on reclaimed land. Well, maganda naman! It's like a city on its own! Many complexes are not even done yet. Plus, they are 'reclaiming' more land.

After the fly-by at that new seaside development (parang Bay City), back to main street Georgetown, 

We were turning left back unto Jalan Tanjung Tokong, this left corner is another big mall called Island Plaza, and from here onwards ah dikit-dikit na ang mga building all the way to downtown Georgetown!

This Tanjong Tokong Road (Jalan means Road, Kalsada, Daan, Dalan) is by the way their main road in this area na parang EDSA natin. The bus turns left towards the coast again at Gurney Drive because it terminates at HOHO Stop No. 1, at Gurney Plaza. Gurney Drive is like a shorter version of Roxas Blvd.

Actually, behind the trees (at right side of the picture) is already Gurney Plaza (Mall). And HOHO Bus Stop No. 1 is just near that white car. Malapit na di ba? Ironically though, after I took the photo, it still took us 10 minutes (about 3 kilometers) before reaching and stopping at Bus Stop No. 1. How come?

Malaysia drives on the left side of the road. Being so, look at the picture, we were on the left, but this is a city and a busy thoroughfare, so a bus cannot make a u-turn or even right-turn just anywhere. So, the HOHO Bus has to 'circle-around'. Which is good for tourists' sight-seeing purposes anyway, right?!

So the bus went straight, turned right at Birch St., right again at Jalan Kelawai and I saw this..,

That is the stupa of Wat Chayamangkalaram. It's a Thai Buddhist Temple, the oldest such in Malaysia.

I wasn't paying much attention that I only caught that 'end portion' of the temple. Its entrance is way at left, on Burma Road - speaking of which, also lies the Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. Their gates are just across each other. Both temples are historical, dating back to the 1800s. Don't you wonder? It is an interesting period in the relations of these three countries na me kinalaman ang mga British. Da!

Anyway, the bus then circled passing by Gurney Paragon Mall (this is the seaside area again)..,

And, finally.., next door, to the entrance of Gurney Plaza Mall..,

And final finally.., the front of Gurney Plaza Mall! HOHO Bus Stop No. 1 is to the right..,

On lower-right-corner of the pic, there's a couple walking. They were going to HOHO Bus Stop No. 1.

And here's HOHO Bus Stop No. 1 - I took these pics before we got off the HOHO Beach Route Bus!

Note: that waiting shed is always 'wrapped' in ads, AND, they change often! Their 'ad expiry dates' are perhaps short-term. As of now, "Asyete ni Adela" ang starring! "Minyak Masak" means "Cooking Oil"!

This is also where most tourists ride the Beach Route Bus going back to Batu Ferringhi and onwards! Note too, matrapik during rush hours, if you can't avoid it, better be on this bus kesa nasa taxi (mahal)!

But let's go inside Gurney Plaza Mall. There's something interesting!

To me, all malls are the same, since they sell the same things, right? Even most of the restaurants!

I am sure, all of you are familiar with that restaurant name, right? Dyan kami kumain sa Gurney Plaza.

As usual, as expected, the food was good - we had grilled beef steak and grilled fish!

I am a pork-lover, but.., when in Rome, eat what the Romans eat hehe! Beef and fish are equally good!

But this last picture should be the highlight of this HOHO Bus tour from Batu Ferringhi to city center!

Kaliwa si Zaldy, kanan si Marina! Pangalan pa lang, alams na, di ba? Yes, Pinoys also work in Penang!

Okay, let's ikot pa more.., in my next story!
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