Air Pollution Index

At times the air quality in Penang can be less healthy than we would like, largely caused by forest burning in Indonesia and elsewhere in the region. At times you can both see the haze and smell it, the air heavy with the smell of a rural village with countless log fires burning. Nothing that you can do about it of course, save avoiding walking around in it until the worst has cleared

From reading the MM2H forum I often recommend (albeit it has gone a bit quiet of late) I recently found the website for the Dept of the Environment for Malaysia which contains links to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) showing whether the levels are green (low), amber (medium) or red (high). Useful site to check if you get that distinct smell of burning and are concerned about inhaling air less healthy than the norm, unless of course you are from the UK, miss Guy Fawkes night and long for the smell of of some wood burning, hell, in that case you can even head to a hawker and grab some chestnuts!!!

Restaurant: Muntri Mews Hotel, Muntri Street, Georgetown

I have previously provided a short write up about the very nice boutique hotel Muntri Mews which is located on Muntri Street (not far from Chulia Street) in Georgetown Penang. Previously the hotel only used to serve food on Friday and Saturday nights but that has now changed with evening meals being provided 7 nights a week.

In light of the change I visited the hotel again recently for an evening meal and to catch up with my friend Chona Bacani. It was a Thursday night and all the tables were full (I have since been during a public holiday week and the tables were again full) so it may be a good idea to book depending on which night you wish to go.

On this occasion I chose a chicken satay starter and a beef rib-eye rendang washed down with several bottles of Tiger at a very reasonable RM 8 per bottle. The satay I have to say was excellent and is easily on a par with that which I have had at my favourite satay hawker in New Lane. The chicken was moist, tender and VERY well marinated in a tasty blend of spices and soy sauce and was served with an equally delicious peanut and chilli sauce which made a for an exceptional starter. The rendang was also excellent. Again, tender pieces of meat served with a rich and fiery dark red sauce accompanied by steamed rice and enough salad to break up the dish with some variety. I finished off the meal with with a very nice banana fritter with ice cream with the fritter served in a crumb rather than a heavy batter coating which can at times be a little heavy. The whole meal, from memory, was only around RM 40 which was very good value for money.

I'm glad I returned to the Muntri Mews and will certainly do so again on a regular basis. They also serve a nice breakfast if you are in that part of town comprising either continental fare or tasty local Malay dishes with a range of hot drinks (an excellent latte), smoothies and juices. Very well worth a visit.

Malaysia Airlines 'Enrich' adds Etihad business partner

Very short update this merely to advise that Malaysia Airlines has added the UAE national air carrier Etihad to its list of business partners. Etihad flies to a wide range of destinations and frequent flyers with an eye on Malaysia may wish to consider joining the Enrich programme which will allow you to add any miles accrued through Etihad flights for redemption through Enrich. Details here.

Hotel: Evergreen - Gurney Drive, Penang

Regular readers will be aware that I stayed at the G Hotel when I came to Penang in April and was most impressed. Despite the temptation to stay at the G Hotel when I returned to Penang full time in July I decided to give the Evergreen a shot, primarily to compare it and write a review. So, that's what I did, stopping at the Evergreen for two weeks from 21 July.

One of the things I had seen written about the Evergreen was the that reception staff were miserable. I have to say, that upon check-in and over the coming two weeks I did find that the staff were generally less smiling and welcoming than the staff at the G Hotel. Checking in though was reasonably efficient and the lobby is pleasant and airy with free wi-fi. Four lifts service the hotel which is enough but at times the wait times can be long. Up on to the floors and it has to be said that the corridors are looking somewhat tired and piped music is played which is unfortunately loud enough that it is audible in your room at times, albeit it gets switched off around midnight.

The rooms themselves are spacious and comfortable enough. I had a superior room with a sea view and I have to say that in terms of the room alone I actually preferred it over the G. The G is very stylish but there is VERY little storage and over time I found the minimalist style somewhat cold. In contrast the Evergreen uses a warm mix of wood, beige, brown and gold to create a very warm feeling. The king sized bed was very comfortable and the room was well equipped. Free internet was provided in the room but wired only. In this case there is ample storage (wardrobe and drawer), large TV and mini bar which, unlike the G, was not free (albeit the G was stocked with soft drinks and snacks only). The bathroom is a little on the small side but was well stocked with toiletries. There is a bath but it is a little on the short side.

The pool area was unfortunately closed for renovations while I was there so I am unable to comment on that. There is a large bar/cabaret room which seemed to be reasonably well used by guests while I was there with live music most nights. I often find these places somewhat overpriced and lacking in atmosphere though so didn't use it myself. The hotel claims four restaurants but those in regular use are the Chinese restaurant which I didn't use and the Cafe Laurel. This is where breakfast and the buffet dinner is served. While both of those are OK they are nothing to get too excited about. Breakfast is OK with a mix of some basic Malay cuisine (which didn't vary much), Western fried stuff, Continental (bread and cheese) and Japanese. Juice and hot drinks are also provided and the is also an egg section for omelettes. The buffet dinner was slightly more so so for me and nothing remarkable. Some of the food lacked taste and much was often luke warm at best. In addition, the restaurant got very busy at certain times and long waits could be expected. For me, the offerings at the G were just better. But then the G has a 'rack rate' of almost RM 200 more than the Evergreen.

Finally, we get to location. I found the G much better in this regard as you could literally walk into Gurney Plaza, something which, because of proximity, I found myself doing most days when staying there. At the Evergreen I often wanted to but couldn't be bothered at it's a good 15 minute walk and with the heat/humidity and/or rain it can make it uncomfortable. Was it a big problem, no, would I rather have done without it, yes. It is of course even further to Gurney hawkers which, from the G, are just a 2-3 minute walk.

Overall I found the Evergreen pleasant enough and I did enjoy the stay. If staying for 14 nights you will likely get a special long stay rate here, just as you will at the G, IF you ask for them in advance. This brings the price of the Evergreen down from around RM 250 ++ a night to around RM 200 ++ (the ++ being +10% service and +6% Government tax). For that the Evergreen will throw in 3 pieces of laundry per day and two dinners in the Laurel. However, given that I got the G for just RM 50 more (250++) per night, albeit there were no free dinners, I just found the location of the G much more convenient which led to a better all-round stay. The extent to which that location, and the style of the G, appeals to travellers will vary according to taste and need but it's worth remembering that the long stay rate at the G gets you RM 200 off the rack rate (a rate which due to demand the G can often command) versus an RM 50 reduction from rack at the Evergreen.

Restaurant: Bella Marino - Straits Quay, Penang

I visited this restaurant some time back for a quick snack but thought I'd save doing a write-up until I had eaten a full meal there. Recently I did just that. Bella Marina is located at the increasingly popular Straits Quay though for me the, the place still has much more going for it in terms of eateries that it does shops. The restaurant is on the ground floor and is next door to Healy Mac's pub. It is decked out in the familiar Italian theme of green, black, white and red and is quite nicely laid out on the inside with a welcoming enough decor and design. That said I am not to keen on the narrow corridor of tables between the front and the rear of the restaurant which as where I sat last time and which felt decidedly claustrophobic. For me, the best places to get a table here would be outside or at least in the section of the restaurant which overlooks the marina.

Despite being just within the rainy season we took the opportunity to sit outside which was very pleasant, despite the somewhat dreary tones of 70s/80s music coming from the pub next door. The waiting staff were pleasant and and efficient if a little over enthusiastic. We started the meal with mushroom soup which was a little thin and watery for me and raised the question of how fresh it was . It was pleasant enough but at RM 11.90 was pushing the upper levels of price for the quality. So, somewhat uninspiring starter out of the way, it was on to the mains.

We ordered a pizza calzonne (a folded style of pizza) and a salmon salad. Starting with the salad I have to say I wasn't at all impressed. There was enough salmon for sure but the salad component consisted of a few capers, rather too much lemon olive oil with a handful of rocket leaves merely tossed on top. Presentation then, absolute zero and for RM 25 in a restaurant in this somewhat prestigious location I thought it was very very poor and over-priced. A chef undergoing the most basic level of training would learn how to dress simple, and even complex, salads so they look appealing and use ingredients that can deliver a wow in taste. Not here, in fact the impression that was created is that the chef simply couldn't be bothered. On to the pizza, we did ask for the salad to be served at the same time as the pizza and this did happen, though I suspect at the risk of pushing the rocket leaves dangerously close to their 'use by' date as the pizza took AN AGE to arrive, despite the restaurant being empty. The pizza did look quite appealing and the dough was crisp and tasty. But what of the filling? This was a big let down. The pizza was full enough but it consisted of mozarella cheese, turkey-ham, and potato!! Albeit it says this clearly on the menu one would have expected some further ingredients to provide the flavour many Italian pizzas can deliver. Sadly no, no garlic, no tomato, no peppers etc etc etc. Result, a bland and somewhat tasteless pizza that became a chore to eat towards the end, not helped by the large chunks of slightly undercooked and unseasoned potato. For UK readers, think of a second-rate Euro cafe take on a Cornish pastie but without the flavour. Sadly then the pizza too was a no no.

Bella Marina for me on this occasion was something of a let down and at RM 120, considering the food quality, quite poor value for money. Couple this with the fact that the last pizza I tried there was overly salty, took even longer to arrive (the place was busier that time) and was not helped by an overly enthusiastic waiter trying to whip the plate from under me as I placed the last morsel in my mouth, it doesn't create a good impression. For now at least, this gives me cause enough to give Bella Marina a miss for a while. On the plus side, there is a wide enough range of drinks here with a very pleasant mango/lychee smoothie costing around RM 8 and of course, as I mentioned, the location is good, a can of Tiger though edges up to the Straits Quay premium price of 10.90. It may well also be that the pasta and/or meat dishes are OK as well but in light of the lack of taste, poor presentation and poor value I have experienced thus far I'm afraid I won't be in a rush to try!!!

If I had to eat at Straits Quay I'd almost certainly eat elsewhere and for Italian I'll stick to Michaelangelos in Gurney Plaza thank you very much!

Digi Pre-Paid SIM: Price increases

From 15 September the price of Digi pre-paid SIM cards and top-up vouchers will increase by 6% as the carrier indicates it can no longer absorb bthe cost of the 6% Government Tax which is charged on almost every product. This means that an RM 10 top-up will cost RM 10.60 and an RM 50 will rise to RM53. IMO the costs are still very reasonable when compared to Europe.

Despite the slightly lower costs of calls and SMS on post-paid lines over 75% of customers across the main telcos in Malaysia prefer to stick to pre-paid.

Source: Daily Star - Friday 9 Sept

Blogger: Correcting Page Display Problems

Today I encountrered some fairly significant problems with formatting in that the blog seemed to just go to rats with the side bar displaying wrongly at the foot of the page. This has happened before. Apparently it is related to HTML formatting tags which get out of place. A search of Blogger help found this solution:

"There is an easier fix. You can identify the post simply by opening each post individually until you find one that has the dropped sidebar. Once you have found it, edit it and click back and forth between html and Compose a couple ot times. this will automatically correct the tags. You can then publish and the sidebar will be restored."

The full solution can be found here (it is quite a common problem and might plague you for hours unless you know the fix). So if you get hit by the format bug, this is the fix!!!

Ferry: Penang to Langkawi

Many will wish to visit Langkawi either when they are residents of Penang or even just visiting. One of the ways to get there is the daily ferry which leaves from Penang Port. There are just two times for the outward journey, bizarrely 8:15 am and 8:30 am!! The earlier ferry goes via Pulau Payar and the second one goes direct. The journey time for the direct ferry is about 3 hours and about 4 - 4.5 for the indirect.

To buy the tickets you need to go to the group of shops which are nestled around the port entrance which sits opposite the Immigration and LHDN offices at the top of Beach St, Georgetown, across the road from the memorial. You can choose from any of the tour operator offices which are open as they all charge the same (RM 65 one way or RM 115 return) but I’d just go straight to the office of Fast Ferry Ventures (FFV) as, if you use one of the other operators, they just seem to skip out of their office to FFV, buy your tickets and come back??

Both Langkawi and the ferries can get busy at certain times of the year, especially around public holidays, so it is sometimes safer to buy the ticket(s) several days in advance. There is no seat reservation but the boats are rarely full. You may find it useful to book and pay for your return too (but see below) and there are two return times 2:30 pm which again comes back via Pulau Payar and one at 5:30pm which is direct. I prefer the early return as it gets you back to Penang at a better time to have the evening free but it will of course depend on your schedule and preferences.

When catching the ferry you need to be at the departure terminal about 30 mins before departure. The terminal gates are in Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah which is actually just a continuation round the corner from where you buy the tickets (and heading further away from the main port entrance). There are black gates clearly marked First Ferry Ventures. Bear in mind though that at 8am traffic in Penang can be heavy so don’t cut it too fine!!! There is quite a walk between the customs check point and the boat so if it’s raining, or likely to, I’d suggest taking and umbrella.

So, what was the trip like? Well, for me, so so. The boats used on these runs are a little old and they are the low sitting higher speed ferries where the seating is arranged quite near the waterline and is very similar to an aircraft, mostly in two rows of four. The seats are quite close together and the boats and facilities are very basic making the cabin feel quite cramped, claustrophobic and stuffy, despite the air-con that does a reasonable job of keeping it cool. There is a TV screen at the front of the cabin and a film of some sorts will be shown which may or may not be any good!! The boat on the way out was very utilitarian with steel floors and suchlike and the one on the way back only marginally better. The method of stowing anything bigger than a ruck-sack (e.g. suitcases or cabin baggage for longer term stayers) is also very haphazard and varies from boat to boat, either being on the floor or in baggage ‘parks’ designed to take only 25% of what they carry. This can lead to a massive traffic jam when disembarking as passengers struggle to find and retrieve their luggage. Overall the boats are functional, at best, but little more.

Boat design and facilities are however of less importance than one other factor, sea sickness. People will vary in terms of their susceptibility to this rather unpleasant consequence of sea travel but even that can also vary depending on the sea conditions. Many who feel quite comfortable on a calm day will feel dreadful once you dial in some rain and wind which tends to make the ride very choppy. On the outward journey it was VERY choppy indeed and I’d say that over 50% of the people on the boat were sick with another 30% battling with the situation and trying not to be. Many yacht skippers (of which I am one) will tell you to focus on the horizon as much as possible to avoid the onset of sea sickness (on top of taking any travel medication) and if it really DOES get a grip they will tell you to get below into a bunk and lay flat out, preferably parallel to the sides of the boat (e.g. lengthways). This then is the problem with these ferries, there is simply nowhere to go!!! At least on a yacht you can get on deck with fresh cool air!! I saw countless people having an absolute dreadful time of it all which got worse as more people responded to the sounds and smells of large numbers of people being sick!!! Luckily it’s not something I suffer from but it was not a pretty sight and would have been the perfect setting for a reality horror movie called “The Vomityville Horror’!! While the effects will often pass quickly once you get closer to docking and out of the open sea, 3 hours suffering with this is a LONG time. Added to this, the travel via the indirect route (essential if you want an early return to Penang) can be a pain as the boat will often drop anchor for 30-45 minutes before it can get into Pulau Payar further troubling those with sea-sickness as the boat just bobs about and bringing a whole new meaning to the word boredom!!! Yep, this is no pleasant holiday boat trip round a bay with a thrown in barbequeue of the type that you may be accustomed to!! This issue is something you should consider when buying a ticket, and indeed, whether to tie yourself into a return.

So, that’s the Penang / Langkawi ferry. Would it be my preferred option to travel there? No. At a cost of approximatey RM 110 for a return air ticket, booked in advance with Air Asia, in contrast to Penang to KL travel where I would rather use the coach (see previous post), I would MUCH rather travel to Langkawi by air. Yes you have to get to the airport (but you also have to get to the ferry terminal), and yes you have to check in 1 hour before (but the ferry is also at least 30 mins before) but for the speed of the journey, the relative comfort, the travelling conditions and the avoidance of the dreadful sea sickness (and being surrounded by it’s consequences and with nowhere to go), for me there is NO contest, air travel all the way!!! Your choice but forewarned is forearmed!!!

Vehicle Purchase - Further Considerations

At last I think I'm starting to get to the end of the road of the decision over which car to purchase. As I have mentioned before, when I first came here I thought quite simply that I would just get a Honda CRV, Accord or Toyota Camryas they are nice comfortable cars and, with the MM2H tax incentive, the prices are quite attractive. If you see my previous post regarding insurance premiums however to you will see that road tax and insurance for vehicles with engines of 2.0 litre and over are expensive, they also guzzle fuel faster, alarmingly so in some cases!!!

Further ponderings led me to thinking about just how much I'll be using the car, where and what for, concluding that 95% of the time it will be parked at the apartment with main journeys being to Tesco, the beach, Georgetown, the hawkers and of course Bagan!! With the traffic and parking problems it very quickly leads many people to the decision that small is better with many of the small cars here also being comfortable and capable enough for the odd drive to KL too. Any longer journeys that may require a larger and more powerful car can always be dealt with by way of rental if you don't need to do it too often.

At the moment therefore I'm pretty much torn between two: Toyota Vios and the Honda City. I did consider the Civic too but it's merely a bit larger than the other two but has a 1.8 L engine too, which again for me, starts to needlessly push up the running costs.

Now, aside from the fact that I think I like the look and spec of the Vios more than the City there is also another running cost consideration. Servicing. Honda requires you to service the vehicle every 5,000 km or every three months. With Toyota it's every 10,000 km or six months. This is worth bearing in mind in cost terms but also in terms of hassle of for me it would be a real pain to have to get a vehicle serviced every 3 months. Every 6 will be bad enough but 3!!!! Each time a service was due I'd be thinking "but I only just had it done!!!". Worth bearing in mind IMHO!

So that's another thing swaying me in favour of Toytota and the Vios in particular, and I'd suggest anyone contemplating one goes for at least an 'E' or 'G' spec (the specs above G merely relating to different body kits).

TM Streamyx: Paying online (HSBC) / billing language

A quick one for existing and any potential users of HSBC that may not be aware. TM Net / Streamyx, the providers of landline and broadband internet offer a range of options to pay your bill here including via ATMs (local banks only), credit card auto-pay, online banking and at various cash collection points.

For customers of HSBC who wish to pay online you merely select the 'Pay Bill' option on the on-screen menu and select the letter T (to display companies listed starting with the letter T). There are however two entries for TM. TM Malaysia Berhad and TM Net. To pay for landline and Streamyx charges the correct one to choose is TM Malaysia Berhad, otherwise you will get an error message saying that the account number you entered is not in the correct format.

Also, the default billing language for TM is Bahasa Malay and, while the bills are not too difficult to interpret for those who do not speak / read Bahasa Malay it is easy enough to contact them (I used the 'Contact Us' facility on the TM website) and asked if the billing language could be changed to English. After a couple of days I got a call back to confirm it had been done. One thing you will see on the contact form is a space for the IC (ID card) number. Unless you have one, merely break you passport number up until it fits and each of the three boxes has at least one number in it and the card will then be accepted. No more 'Google Translate' for this bill ;-)

HSBC: News and non-HSBC ATM Charges

For those contemplating opening up HSBC accounts here it is worth bearing in mind that it may be useful to open up a local bank account to at CIMB, Maybank, Public Bank or wherever. The reason for this is that as HSBC is classed as a foreign bank, charges for using your ATM card in one of the local banks are RM 4 for each usage. Not a great deal I know but, if you use ATMs a lot these charges will mount up over the year. If you are in Penang you will be aware that there are not that many HSBC ATMs around with the ones I use being mostly at Downing Street (Georgetown), Gurney Plaza and Queensbay Mall. Charges between the local banks are RM 1 for using another bank's ATM card but, as there are so many branches of the main local banks around the need for that should be rare.

One piece of news that Penang readers may not be aware of is that there are plans to open another branch of HSBC near to Island Plaza, Tg Tokong some time next year so that will be another outlet to use.

And finally, at times I like to use Standing Orders to pay some bills. With HSBC at least, you can set up 'auto-pay' arrangements with some payees and particularly payees who are listed under their 'Pay bill' list. Others, that need to be paid by inter-bank transfer (MEPS-Giro), may not set up using the auto-pay feature. In these circumstances you merely need to call HSBC tele-banking or pop into a branch and you can set up a 'Standing Order'. This will ensure your bill gets paid on time and saves the hassle of having to constantly log-on and pay by way of one-off transfers. For me it's very useful for instance to pay the monthly apartment rental. That leaves me more time free to worry about the state of collapsing Western economies!!!! :-D

Bagan: Final few weeks

Quick update to say that this is the final few weeks for Bagan in it's current location in Tg Tokong before it closes it's doors to relocate to Georgetown. There will be at least one farewell party around end of September / beginning October and I'll post more details as they become available. Meanwhile if you want to enjoy the dining there and / or catch up with the sounds of Rozz, Sue or Dasha and The Frequency and of course listen and dance to the great sounds of DJ Jey, you only have a few weeks left to do it at Bagan!!!