Travelling Malaysia

Table of contents:

• When to travel; Malaysia
• International and domestic airports
• Getting around Malaysia
• Malaysian Accommodation – If you book via Airbnb through this Airbnb link, save 50 UK pounds off your first trip (New account only) If you have one already, use another email address, maybe?
• Malaysian food & drink
• Health & safety in Malaysia
• While you’re here, a few resources to keep you going and save you money.
• Penang Island
• Langkawi
• Good to know resources
• Pictures memories of Penang and Langkawi

When to travel Malaysia

Malaysia is hot and humid year-round; the ‘rainy season’ sees only a nominal increase in precipitation, except on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, when November-February sees heavy downpours. We stayed in Langkawi and Penang for over a year in lockdown and found Penang to be basically mosquito-free.

We also found it rained mostly during the night and if it did rain during the day it passed, quite quickly most times!

International airports

There are 7 international airports in Malaysia with Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) being the main transit hub but be prepared this is 75km south of the city. List of airports international and domestic.

Getting around in Malaysia

Domestic flights link Kuala Lumpur with destinations including Penang, Kota Bharu, Langkawi, Tioman, Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). Remember, even if you don’t go through immigration while travelling via an airport to other Malaysia destinations, you still need an ID or a passport for the airlines.

Within Peninsular Malaysia, comfortable buses connect most cities, and a good but limited-destination train service runs from Johor Bahru (near Singapore) north along the west coast via KL and Ipoh to the Thai border, branching at Gemas to run north to Kota Bharu via Taman Negara National Park.

Malaysian accommodation

Malaysia has the full range of accommodation, from campsites, hostels and small guesthouses to hotels.

More intriguing options include homestays and old British-era colonial resthouses; the chance to stay in a traditional tribal longhouse in Borneo shouldn’t be missed.

Malaysian food & drink

Malaysian food is almost universally superb and Penang is renowned for its cultural delicacies.

Chilli, coriander, tamarind, lemongrass, fish paste coconut milk and mint flavour many dishes, with seafood and chicken key staples (plus pork in Chinese communities).

Rice (nasi) and noodles (mee) are the carb sections of every meal, but the variations in each are stupendous.

Look out for regional dishes: the Nonya cuisine of Penang and Melaka blends Thai, Chinese and Indian influences – a home-made laksa (coconut curry noodle soup) is hard to top.

Tea and coffee share the honours in drinking stakes; alcohol is available but not as broadly consumed outside the big cities as in neighbouring Thailand or Singapore. Alcohol prices are usually much higher than it’s neighbouring counterparts.

Health & safety in Malaysia

Consult your GP or a travel health clinic for advice on inoculations and anti-malarial prophylaxis. Check out Fitfortravel

Various biting bugs, leeches, parasites and venomous snakes are found in Malaysia – particularly the jungles of Borneo – so wear insect repellent, don’t walk barefoot and take sensible precautions to avoid bites and stings.

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Resources:

Penang grocery stores website for you to check out grocery prices  www.coldstorage.com.my , www.jayagrocer.com. Eating out at western restaurants can run you about RM15-40 per person without drinks or local hawker foods RM5-10 per person per meal.

Equilivant of Amazon for Malaysia:   Not as comprehensive as Amazon…but it works for the most part. www.lazada.com.my

Cost of Living V Your Country: Hit this link

Fancy a second home in Malaysia? Subscribe and send us a brief message of your plans and we will instruct you how to achieve your goal. Tip: Different procedures and guidelines for different states, so let us save you some shackles 🙂

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Penang

I’ve been living in Penang in Malaysia now for over 4 months as a base as of 20/03/2020 with travelling two times to it before and now are on lockdown due to the worlds Convid -19 Virus. so we don’t really know when our travels will start up again. I choose Penang as my base after travelling to many countries last year and felt that I needed a period of settlement.

Penang ticks all my boxes for the following reasons: Great island, big enough to get lost and small enough to be found, it’s heritage, infrastructure, people, costs, easy entry visa (3 months)  food and all year round glorious weather. I feel fortunate to have a lockdown in somewhere which hasn’t taken to the panic buying and madness other countries have undertaken through going into lockdown and I truly believe the world will overcome this as it’s done for centuries with other diseases..

My base is the beautiful Batu Feringghi one of Penang’s most popular destinations (in fact, it’s the second most popular destination after Georgetown), Batu Ferringhi consists of a long stretch of soft, white sandy beach along a winding road named Jalan Batu Ferringhi, filled with a host of accommodation and dining. I choose the middle part which is close enough by Grab to the centre touristy part and George Town.

We have driven around the island and you can easily navigate within 2hrs or have leisurely stop-offs 5 -7hrs. There is also a daily bus every 15mins, 101 is the coastal road bus. You can also include various buses to visit the island.

List of street hawkers in this link, thanks to Penangfoodie. Please use or we lose!

Have a look at the mysterious cove beach pictures below in travel memories, I found this while exploring and many locals don’t know of its location and some say it haunted but from what I saw, someone has spent a lot of time there and put in a lot of effort for some reason to make it enchanted and possibly scary.

Langkawi

Langkawi is also special to the Tourandtakein tribe and is a great destination for a few days away from Penang. We usually go into tourist mode here and put work on a backburner.

Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah, is a district and an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. The islands are a part of the state of Kedah, which is adjacent to the Thai border.

A reasonably quick ferry return for 147 Ringgit from Georgetown and your in another part of the worlds paradise.Easy to navigate and some great attractions as well as a beautiful stretch of beach in Cenang.

Pantai Cenang Beach is a family beach vibrant with activities and tourists. This is one of the longest and most beautiful beaches on the island, and great for swimming, sunbathing and watersport activities. During the high tourist season (October to May), the beach can really get crowded. During such time you can go early in the morning when there is hardly anybody there and enjoy the beach. A must is to visit the Oriental village which leads to the cable cars and spectacular views. Please go when there is not a cloud in the sky! Around the area, you will find the crocodile farm, waterfall, local beaches and the road which leads onto a private golf course.