Check out Seven Terraces, one of the many heritage boutique hotels in inner George Town. You will definitely be impressed by the elegant, exquisite and enchanting baba nyonya style and architecture converted and restored from a row of Anglo Chinese terrace houses.
The Pinang Peranakan Mansion is situated 29, Church Street, Georgetown. The mansion is a paid homage to the Peranakans, also known as the Babas and Nyonyas, who was a prominent community of acculturated Chinese which is quite unique to this part of the world, especially in the Straits Settlements (Penang, Malacca and Singapore) .At the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, the typical home of a rich Baba of a century ago is recreated to offer a glimpse of their lavish lifestyle and of their many customs and traditions. With over 1,000 pieces of antiques and collectibles of the era on display, this Baba-Nyonya museum is also housed in one of Penang’s heritage mansion of extensive design and architecture. Built at the end of the 19th century by one of local history’s famous personalities, the ‘Hai Kee Chan’ or Sea Remembrance Store which has once served as the residence and office of Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Kwee. Though not a Baba himself, his Chinese courtyard house was much like a typical large Baba home of eclectic style, incorporating Chinese carved-wood panels and English floor tiles and Scottish ironworks. Having survived the many decades of neglect and decay, the mansion has now been restored to its former glory of a stately home as a museum for tourist and the locals.
New attraction was made lately in the inner George Town with various attractive wall paintings and street art, thanks to the effort and creativity of a Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic and few other artists. These art have made the cracked pale looking wall of those pre-war building into a professional drawing canvas and attracted many onlookers and tourists. Among them are “Little Girl in Blue” Mural at Muntri Street, “Little Children on a Bicycle” Mural at Armenian Street, “Boy on a Bike” Mural at Ah Quee Street, “Little Boy with Pet Dinosaur” Mural at Ah Quee Street, “Reaching Up” Mural at Cannon Street, “Bruce Lee in action”, “Cat and mouse”, “Uncle Auntie having a good laugh”, “Children playing basketball”, “Children on a swing”, “Chinese opera performer” and more. Newly added attraction was the Despicable Me minion character painted on a bollard at a lane off Armenian street.
To see more of street art and wall paintings, check out the following map below.
Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram Thai Buddhist temple situated at Lorong Burma, Georgetown Penang is famous for its Reclining Buddha statue. The temple built in 1845 can be seen with beautiful Thai crafts work and architecture on its entrance arch, pagodas, main shrine and around its vicinity. Annually, various Buddhist celebrations (ie. Wesak Day and Kathina Day) and Thai festivals (ie. Songkran festival and Loy Krathong festival) are celebrated at the temple.
Gurney Drive is a popular seafront promenade in Georgetown, northeast of Penang. From the promenade, one could have a view of the Butterworth, over at the mainland. Nice time to visit Gurney Drive is during the afternoon and evening when it is more windy. Morning jog at the promenade would be great as you’ll be rewarded with a scene of beautiful sunrise. Taking a leisurely walk at late evening and at night will give you sense of satisfaction as you could see beautiful lightings lighting up the promenade and not to be missed the wide variety of tasty Penang hawker food at the Medan Selera food court or head over to the seafood restaurants located nearby. Gurney Plaza and Gurney Paragon shopping mall is just located along the promenade, so shopping and chilling out shall be in your itinerary as well. Tired or planning to stay over the nite at Gurney Drive, there are several hotels which you could check in namely G Hotel, Evergreen Laurel and Gurney Hotel.
