12 Things to Do in Penang
Penang, Malaysia has been known as one of Southeast Asia’s finest destinations for many years now. Aptly called as “Pearl of the Orient”, Penang offers amazing cultural heritage and diverse population which cannot be found anywhere else around the globe. In general, Penang is a great place all by itself and travelers find this small place full of interesting things to do and many places to visit even on foot. Here are some recommended things you must do while visiting Penang.
01 Climb up Penang Hill: Your trip to Penang should include Penang Hill. This popular tourist spot is also known as Bukit Bendera, referring to its most developed peak, the Flagstaff Hill. The most recommended way up to Penang Hill is through the Penang Hill Railway. This is a funicular railway that will bring passengers all the way up to Flagstaff Hill. Funicular train leaves every 20-25 minutes interval and carries up to 80 passengers per trip. Penang Hill is also accessible by 4×4 vehicles through the “jeep track” which is a tarred road most commonly used by residents of the hill.
There are also trails that one can follow such as Moongate trail, trail from Air Itam Dam to Tiger Hill, trail from Hye Keat Estate and one coming from the Municipality Park. From Penang Botanical Gardens, it will take 3 hours to reach the top of the hill by foot.
02 Shop at Batu Ferringhi Night Bazaar: Batu Ferringhi Night Bazaar is a nightly affair in Batu Ferrunghi starting from 7pm until 1am. After the sun sets in, the whole stretch of Batu Ferringi is transformed into a night market definitely worth checking out. You will find over 1000 stalls in Batu Ferringhi which are lined near the main road. Shopping addicts will surely have a high time sorting out goods ranging from clothes to paintings and everything in between.
03 Enjoy food and sight at Gurney Drive: Gurney Drive is famous for its mouth watering cuisine. Aside from the food, this road is made popular by having the best view of the sunset. Just outside the Georgetown City, Gurney Drive faces the sea of Penang, truly a relaxing experience and quite fulfilling to the stomach as well. Dinners are served in this side of town where most hawker stalls open around 6pm. One can find something to please the palate, for sure. Top 3 recommended dishes to try are: Char Keow Teow, Asam Laksa and Hokkien Mee. You will also find Gurney Plaza Shopping Center in Gurney Drive which is one of the famous shopping spot in Penang. You will find popular Malaysian and foreign brands in Gurney Plaza.
04 Be a Shopaholic: With all the shopping centers in Penang, you will never run out of options. Penang is considered as the biggest shopping destination in northern Malaysia with huge department stores and shopping malls in and out of the island. Queensbay Shopping Mall in Bayan Lepas is the largest and longest shopping mall in Penang Island housing more than 400 local and international shops. Gurney Plaza, on the other hand, has the biggest Cineplex in northern Malaysia. Pranglin Plaza is noted for local finds.
05 Enjoy dazzling 360 view of Penang from KOMTAR: During your visit to KOMTAR, go to the 60th floor to enjoy the fascinating 360 view of the Penang Island. KOMTAR is the tallest building in Penang and proved to be an important landmark for the area. This building houses government offices, shopping complexes, hotels and exhibition center.
06 Ride a ferry from Butterworth: A ferry ride from Butterworth is hard to miss since this is the main gateway to Penang Island. All ferry rides to Penang come from Butterworth terminal and provide a great photo opportunity for travelers featuring a magnificent landscape. The ferries run 24 hours a day.
07 Take a Georgetown Heritage Walk: Of course, Penang travel is more or less equivalent to Georgetown Heritage Walk. Georgetown Heritage Walk features century-old, historical sites and religious temples from various faiths. It is located at the northeastern side of Penang Island. Some of its famous attractions are the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Fort Cornwallis, Penang Islamic Museum, Pinang Peranakan Mansion and Queen Victoria Clock Tower.
08 Enjoy nightlife in Upper Penang Road: Your day in Penang is not yet over after dark, check out Georgetown’s nightlife in upper Penang road with live music, DJs and bands. Karaoke is a popular activity, aside from dancing and just plain chilling out. Bring your friends for a round of singing and drinking til wee hours of the morning!
09 Cross Penang Bridge, one of the largest in the world: Penang Bridge is Asia’s longest bridge and it offers a spectacular view of Penang. This bridge is the pride and joy of Penang and a national landmark. It is also a standing symbol of Penang’s economic development. Penang Bridge is host to annual Penang Bridge Marathon.
10 Visit largest Buddhist Temple in Malaysia: The Buddhist temple of Kek Lok Si is situated in Ait Itam and it is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. Kek Lok Si Temple is home to series of monasteries, prayer halls, temples and beautifully landscaped gardens. It is also the best known temple in Penang, Malaysia.
11 Meet Francis Light at Fort Cornwallis: Visit the historical Fort Cornwallis and meet the statue of Francis Light. This old star-shaped fort is located at the northeastern coast of Penang and the oldest of three lighthouses in the area. Fort Cornwallis also features the Seri Rambai Cannon as always seen in pictures.
12 Visit nearby Islands: Small islands surrounding Penang are also worth looking up to. Pulau Aman or Island of Peace is a small island that houses the traditional Malay village. Other islands include Pulau Tioman, Pulau Rawa and Pulau Babi Besar. Although there is limited information about these nearby islands, a local tourist guide can help you find them.
On the whole, Penang, Malaysia is a great place to visit due to its almost side-by-side visitor spots, travelers won’t run out of things to do. This list is just a taste of what Penang can offer its visitors and it is not entirely impossible to fell in love with this beautiful island. Truly, a Penang travel is a trip worth remembering!
Copyright (c) 2009 Nowal Khan
Sbarro – Franchise Review
Today Sbarro is known as a leading restaurant serving fresh Italian food. Surprisingly, it was not started as an Italian restaurant, but an Italian grocery store in 1959. In short order it became famous in its own right because of its fresh food and authentic Italian items such as home made mozzarella and imported cheeses. Extensively warm customer service, a welcoming environment, product range and quality, became the customer’s experience.
Sbarro still touts itself as a people oriented company, which is supported by the overwhelming success of this franchise.
It 1967 Sbarro initiated its first ever mall based restaurant in Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza Shopping Center. This was a revolutionary step and the completely new concept of Sbarro was born. It was an open kitchen, self serve restaurant serving Italian food. After 1967 the King’s Plaza business model was launched in different locations in the US and other parts of the world. Sbarro serves Pizzas, Pastas, Salads, and Desserts to its customers. MidOcean Partners (a privately held equity firm having their offices in New York and London) took over Sbarro in 2007.
Today there are over 1000 Sbarro locations in some 27 countries.
Initial Franchise Fees range from $15,000 to $45,000 and a total investment range of
$250,000 to $850,000. You will also have to pay ongoing Royalty Fees of 7%. You must have a minimum $150,000.00 in liquid assets and a net worth of $300,000.
This franchise is ranked #1 among the Italian quick service restaurants throughout the world, has a proven track record in customer satisfaction, franchise support, niche domination and financial where-with-all.
Sbarro is aggressively looking to expand through franchise sales and offers management training, design and site development, franchise management and development.
When looking to start any business it is important, particularly considering today’s market, that you look for specific ways to cut minimize or reduce overhead and risk. Any business is going to have risk, but it is important to have a full understanding of the amount of investment, startup cost and “ROI” (Return on Investment).
Most people are not aware that 80% of ALL franchise endeavors fail in the first two to five years leaving large debts looming for years thereafter.
One way and in my opinion the best way to cut overhead, startup and investment cost is to take advantage of the new age of entrepreneurship and start a business from the comfort of your home. Opportunities have emerged in the online market that are creating millionaires every single day. Learn more about the exciting opportunities tied to a business model that begins profitable by visiting: http://whatsbetterthanafranchise.com.
Shopping – The Hunter – Gatherer Effect
How many of us prepare to go shopping by writing a detailed list of everything we need to buy? We trawl through kitchen cupboards, fridges and freezers to see what we already have plenty of and what we need to replace.
Then armed with the list and a rough idea of how much we will be spending we set of to our local supermarket. We collect a trolley, the size of which usually depends on how much shopping we intend to buy, get out our list and enter the store.
This seems to be where reality ends, from the moment we set foot inside the shop everything we plan goes out the window, the colours and layout of the aisles and goods seem to overtake any reasonable thinking of usually sensible and, on the whole, sane people.
It’s almost as if our lists cease to exist as we are drawn to looking down every aisle and at every shelf at items we have never heard of let alone thought about buying.
Why do we do this? What power do supermarkets have over our thinking? Supermarkets do not cast magic spells over us, well not in the true sense of the word, but their use of advertising and subliminal messaging has the same effect.
The placing of goods is an art that has been perfected after years of research and effects all of us every time we shop. All the very basic food stuffs such as milk, bread and eggs are always spread out within a store so that to purchase all of them you have to travel through the shop leading you to “notice “other things you need, offers to good to miss, bargains. Very few people ever just buy what they came in for.
Bright advertising draws our eyes to items we may not need or would usually not buy. Special offers make us believe we are saving money or getting two for one, but are these really giving us a saving if we did not intend to buy them in the first place and are we sure the price is the usual selling price or has it been inflated for this offer? Not many of us take the time to note prices and when they change.
Taking children of all ages with you to a supermarket almost guarantees that you will not come home with just the goods on your list. TV advertising alerts them to foods they might like to try or that they have been “told” are good for them and it is very hard to tell them they cannot have them. They also have their own likes and dislikes regarding meals and treats so these will be added to your trolley.
So in the end the hour you had set aside to complete your shopping turns in to two hours as you have had to visit every section in case of missing a bargain or because you are searching for the special food item your child is desperate for otherwise he feels deprived.
By the time you have finished your list has become obsolete and your trolley overflowing once again with lots of things that will sit in cupboards and freezers until your next clear out.
So why do we let this happen to us time and time again? I think it’s the hunter-gather in us. Nowadays we hunt and gather in shops instead of forests but we still like the thrill of the hunt. Now the hunt is for offers and getting something we think is valuable for less. We don’t like to feel we are missing out on something so we will buy it telling ourselves we have saved money, so it’s a good thing. Supermarkets play on our desire for a bargain and we fall for it every time.
So ditch the list and just give in to the lure of the shops and now that every time you shop you will always come home with more than you intended unless you are really very strong willed!!