Second Week of the Holidays

I enjoyed the second week of the holidays the most. My mother took my family on a trip to Penang, Malaysia. We had been there before but this time, it was a different experience. Upon arrival, we took a taxi to the hotel. When we told the taxi driver our hotel location, he muttered a few words. Although he did not speak clearly, I could still make out what he said. He wanted us to know that at that hour, the road to the hotel would be congested. The congestion was not as bad as I had expected. I felt that it was the same as Singapore’s traffic conditions.

After checking-in, we went to our rooms. While travelling up to our rooms, the bellboy asked us if we wanted to tour Penang. He told us that his friend was a tour-guide and could bring us to places like their famous Tambun Biscuits factories, a chocolate factory and Penang Hill. As we have not visited these places before, we decided to give them a try. We happily employed his friend as our tour guide.

The next day, the tour-guide was very punctual and picked us up in the morning. He had planned our journey for us and we were pleased with his efficiency. Our first destination was the 830-metre high Penang Hill. We took a tram, which operates every half an hour, up. The fares were inexpensive – RM4 for adults and RM2 for children, which were around S$2 and S$1 respectively. The tour guide told us the reason for the inexpensive fares was that they were subsidised by the government.

The tram was really old and dirty; there were stains and patches of grease on its sides. It was filthy yet a large number of people used it daily without qualms. When we boarded the tram, it was very crowded. The tram was as slow as a tortoise. It felt as if it were moving at ten kilometres per hour. Finally, we reached the peak of the hill. The air at the top of the hill was refreshing and the scenery was beautiful. A cool breeze fanned my face and the wisps of mist were lovely to behold. This really made my day! After that, we took the tram down the hill. We were relieved that the tram was not as crowded as before.

The next destination was the chocolate factory. It was Penang’s very own chocolate factory. When we first reached the factory, the chocolates fascinated us. The whole place was filled with packets of chocolates and there were also big bags of chocolates, which were value for money. Unlike in Singapore, they put fresh fruits in their chocolates. What fascinated me was that although fruits cannot be kept after you have cut them, they were able to be preserved in the Penang chocolates. I was shocked when I saw the expiry dates – those chocolates could be kept for at least one year!

Penang is also famous for their white coffee. After the chocolate factory visit, we proceeded to a coffee factory. When we entered the factory, the staff welcomed us and kept offering us different kinds of coffee to try. We were treated to twenty-five different flavours of coffee until they confused our taste buds!

Our last planned destination for the day was the visit to Penang’s famous Tambun Biscuits. We visited many Tambun Biscuits factories before arriving at one which produced the flavour we really liked. After the copious tasting, I was thoroughly sick of Tambun Biscuits. Nonetheless, I will always remember this trip, as it was my first time trying different kinds of Penang delicacies.

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