4 Days 3 Nights Girls Trip in Penang with My Good Old Friends

4 Days 3 Nights Penang Itinerary

The trip of a lifetime for my good friends and I.

We have been saying for ages that we should have this girlie trip together but you know how’s life like – you get a job, you get married, have a baby and then have more babies along the way – you just can’t seem to find a suitable time to get everyone together.

So after knowing each other for more than 2 decades, we finally got our act together and make time for our first ever trip together to Penang.

It was a fun, memorable trip filled with lots and lots of good food (we were eating almost every hour during the day) laughter, teasing and even a little bit of drama to spice up our lives.

I am so glad we made time for each other because gems may be precious but good old friends are priceless.

Below is our itinerary

Day 1 – Arrival in Penang and trying the best Char Kueh Tiow

Arrived at Penang International Airport. Booked a Grab from the airport to the hotel.

We checked into our hotel which is RM110 per person per night. We stayed at the Vouk Hotel

The room size was big and decent. We have a connecting room to each other.

Went straight to Siam Road for the best Char Kueh Tiow. We ordered 5 plates because the average waiting time was 45 mins!!

After CKT we went to have Penang Road Famous Teochew Cendol @Lebuh Keng Kwee. It’s really aromatic because of the Gula Melaka and the fragrant coconut milk they used to make the cendol. Definitely the thing to eat in the hot afternoon.

Then up to Penang Hill we went. Due to the haze, we couldn’t see much of Penang city which was a bummer.

We spent a couple of hours up in Penang Hill strolling, posing and enjoying the scenic walk up on the hill.

Time for more food again after lots of pic taking…For dinner, we went to Sin Kim San Coffee Shop where we had lala, lobak and fried oyster omelette (or chien).

Then we capped off the night with live music and cocktails at an ancient chinese hidden bar called The 12 Senses – It’s located at a traditional shop house in Unesco World Heritage Listed Site – Georgetown – My friends and I arrived and we were greeted with a big painting of Bruce Lee and a Wing Chun dummy. So upon seeing that, the cheeky me started doing some Bruce Lee kung fu moves and lo and behold – I found the hidden door to the Chinese themed speakeasy bar.

Day 2 – Shopping in Prangin Mall and strolling in Armenian Park and KTV

Woke up to have our first breakfast in Penang.

My friend AM said Mandarin cafe has one of the best hokkien mee in town, so we took a GRAB from our hotel. Of course we also ordered CKT because hey we are in Penang! You can eat CKT for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 🙂

After breakfast we decided to have more food…we tried one of the best tau fu fah in Penang. It was so smooth and silky. We were so full but couldn’t resist having another bowl.

After so much eating, it was time to go get some shopping done at Prangin Mall. We basically just shopped at Magic Boo cause my friends wanted to get some hair products.

As though the big breakfast in the morning wasn’t enough, my friends decided to go to Macalister Durian Corner to try the famous Black Thorn which is originated from Penang. However since durian season was almost over, the BT we wanted was too expensive and it wasn’t that great – so we opted for something cheaper.

After that we went to Lorong Selamat for the famous CKT with big prawns. Then we went to New World Park Food Court to try some assam laksa.

From there we headed to China House which is located at 153 Beach Street. It’s the longest cafe in Penang measuring approx 120 meters from one end to the other end. It has a very artsy fartsy vibes to it. It offers a huge selection of cakes but I was too full to have any of it. My friends did order a tiramisu cake and they said it was delicious.

Right at the end of the cafe, we found a nice serene garden with fancy mural on the wall. Definitely a good backdrop for more Instagram worthy shots…

After China House, we went for a walk around Penang’s famous street art in Armenian Park. Thanks to the visionary Penang Municipal Council who hired graffiti genius Ernest Zacharevic on 2012, it really help transformed George Town and made the murals on the wall world famous and it was even featured in Lonely Planet’s Street Art edition.

We managed to take pics at two of the world’s most famous mural by Ernest Zacharevic: Kids on Bike and Boy on a Chair.

Coincidentally we were in Penang during the mid autumn festival in Sept. We strolled along a lovely park called Armenian Park which is filled with beautiful colourful flowers and the Council has spruced up the area with bright and colourful lanterns. So of course we took the opportunity to take more photos together. It’s like we were in a magical place.

As it was getting dark, we left the magical place to head down to 1st Avenue mall to continue the rest of our night with 4 hours of non-stop karaoke at Red Box! The KTV place served food and drinks but I was really too full from our non-stop eating earlier during the day. So my friends and I sang our hearts out till past midnight.

Day 3 – Taste the famous Lean Huat Hokkien prawn noodle, cheesecake at Moody Cow Dessert Cafe and foot massages at Kaki Spa

We woke up early to go to Swee Kong Coffeeshop at Pulau Tikus because we were told we have to get in before 9am to have a chance to taste the famous Lean Huat Hokkien prawn noodle. Another stall we tried is the one making Indian sweet appams (crepes) using claypots. It was soooo good I even ordered more after the crepes just melted in my mouth in seconds. Apparently even the royals love it so much, the Sultan has the appams flown in once a month to his palace. Definitely a treat fit for a King!

From Swee Kong coffee shop, we went to Little India because one of my friends wanted to find a sari. So we spent a couple of hours there looking for the perfect sari.

After that we went to Moody Cow Dessert Cafe which was suggested by one of my IG followers. Apparently it’s a famous cafe well known for its cheesecakes. And what is so amazing about their cheesecakes? Well, the chef is amazing at using clever combinations of local and western ingredients to create the most delicious and oddly sounding cheesecakes names. Have you heard of Chempedak (Jackfruit) Madness cheesecake? Or Salted Egg Yolk Cheesecake with Chicken floss or Musang King Durian Cheesecake? Well neither have we, but we decided to go for their bestseller which is Chempedak Madness which cost RM42 for a huge piece. Yes…we shared one piece of cake among the 4 of us and we were full! As strange as the name sounds, the cheesecake is actually quite delicious.

After the cheesecake, we took Grab which took about 30 mins from where we were to Air Itam Kek Lok Si to order two bowls of assam laksa. I am not a big fan of assam laksa but I guess it must be good since there were a lot of people eating.

After that we headed to Deen Maju for more food…because hey we’re in food heaven after all…We went to Deen Maju for their famous nasi kandar.

After all the good food, my friends and I decided to take a break from eating and go for some nice foot massages at Kaki Spa.

Can’t believe it was time for dinner again. Seriously this trip was all about eating and eating. We hardly have any break from eating. So off we went to the Old Green House for supposedly another famous place for Penang Hokkien Mee. While we were there we saw a lot of people eating Bak Kut Teh so we couldn’t resist so we order a bowl as well. No regrets because the soup was really tasty! After dinner, we decided to have an earlier night since we have been sleeping really late for the past two nights!

Day 4 – Pitt Street Kueh Teow Thng for kueh tiow soup, another CKT at Tiger Char Kway Teow and shopping at Gurney Plaza

It was our last day in Penang and my friends and I headed to Pitt Street Kueh Teow Thng for a very nice breakfast. The kueh tiow soup was very tasty. After all the greasy food that we had, having this was really refreshing. So I ordered another bowl just for myself. It was delicious. My friends told me the fish balls are not your usual fish balls because they are made using eel meat and it was softer. There are also pork lards in the dish to enhance the fragrance. The kueh teow texture was smooth and delicate. The soup was light, flavourful and mild in taste.

After that, guess where did we go? Of course it was to another eating place. Cause in that area alone there are two other worthy stalls that we needed to check it out. If you like curry noodles, this stall came highly recommended by our Grab Driver. So we walked there from the Pitt Street Kueh Tiow Tng restaurant to Tua Pui Curry Mee. We ordered a bowl to share and my friends ate it cause I was really too full to have any. They said it was really delicious and creamier than other curry noodles they have tried.

Finally we walked a few streets back to this stall called Tiger Char Kway Teow because it’s also very famous for its CKT. Well you know I have a weak spot for CKT. So I just gotta try it. We ordered two plates with the duck egg. It’s nice – saltier but still nice.

So that CKT was the final brunch menu for us in this Penang trip. We started with CKT and ended with CKT too. A fitting end to our 4 days and 3 nights girls trip to Penang.

We went shopping later at Gurney Plaza before we checked out from our hotel to head straight to the airport. It took about 40 mins drive from our hotel to the airport.

I really enjoyed this girlie makan trip with my good friends. Penang was a good short getaway for all of us. If you are thinking of a great place to have the best time with your girlfriends, I would highly suggest for you to check out Penang. It’s extremely affordable, it has the most amazing and the most delicious street food, it’s so easy to Grab everywhere and the people are really warm and friendly.

Now here’s the list of all the food (makan) places we went for your quick easy reference:

1. Siam Road Char Kueh Tiow – 82, Jalan Siam, George Town, 10400 George Town
2. Penang Road Famous Teochew Cendol – Jalan Penang, 27 & 29, Lebuh Keng Kwee, George Town, 10450 George Town
3. Sim Kim San Coffeeshop for lobak, lala and or chien – Jalan Rangoon, George Town, 10400 George Town
4. The 12 Senses for the hidden bar and cocktails with live music – 12, Lebuh Presgrave, George Town, 10300 George Town
5. Mandarin Cafe for Hokkien noodle and CKT – 1 N, Lorong Delima 3, Taman Island Glades, 11700 Jelutong
6. Genting Cafe for chee cheong fun – Lorong Delima 3, Taman Island Glades, 11700 Jelutong
7. Ti Shen Fresh Soybean Tau Fu Fah – 2 Lorong Delima 6, 11600, Georgetown
8. Macalister Durian Corner – Jalan Macalister, George Town, 11400 George Town
9. Lorong Selamat Char Kueh Tiow – 82, Lorong Selamat, George Town, 10400 George Town,
10. New World Park – for assam laksa -There are lots of stalls here which you can try – quite a clean and newer food court -New World Park, 102, Jalan Burma, George Town, 10050 George Town
11. China House for the desserts, cakes and coffee and just a nice place to chill – 153, Beach St, Georgetown, 10300 George Town
12. Red Box Karaoke – serves buffet dinner too – 1st Avenue, 182 Jalan Magazine, 10300 Georgetown
13. Swee Kong Coffeeshop for the appom and hokkien noodles – 232, Jalan Burma, George Town, 10350 George Town
14. Moody Cow Dessert Cafe for the amazing cheesecakes – 170, Jalan Transfer, George Town, 10050 George Town,
15. Pasar Air Itam Assam Laksa – 1, Jalan Pasar, Pekan Ayer Itam, 11500 Ayer Itam
16. Deen Maju for Nasi Kandar – 170 Jalan Gurdwara (Brick Kiln Road) 10300 Penang
17. Restoran Old Green House for the prawn mee, Bak Kut Teh and CKT – 223, Jalan Burma, George Town, 10050 George Town
18. Pitt Street Kueh Tiow Thng for the eel fish balls noodles – 183, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, 10100 George Town,
19. Tua Pui Curry Mee – 23, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town
20. Tiger Char Kueh Tiow – 179, Lebuh Carnarvon, George Town, 10450 George Town,