A short trip to Penang in December was in order and I was considering taking the ETS as I didn’t think I could face being stuck on the highway. Then I thought of trying out MYAirline and was happy to find I could fly to Penang for RM49 one way (lower than taking the ETS!) so I quickly purchased return ticket. MYAirline only flew once daily to Penang at the time.
I took the 09:00 JetBus from TBS to KLIA2. Gosh, the last time I was there was in early March 2020 before the world closed down. The bus journey took about 50 minutes and I had ample time to walk around before going through security and walking to my gate. I even had time to perform dhuha prayers.
We took off just after noon – a slight delay from the ETD of 11:45 and we landed an hour later. I made my way to the bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for the bus to the city. It was a hot, bright and clear day and I even dozed off during the hour-long journey into the city. I went down at Lebuh Downing and walked to the Espalande Park food court. I was surprised to find a relatively short queue for Hamid Pata squid noodles. At last! I had tried getting the noodles the past two times I was in Penang (in July 2020 and December 2021) but the queue was just too dauntingly long. Alhamdulillah for the rezeki although at the end of my meal, I told myself that was the last time I had the noodles but they were too spicy for me.
I then walked on to McLane hotel (I actually walked past the road it was at and had to turn back). I checked in and rested after performing prayers. It was just too hot to venture out!
I went out at 17:30 and walked around. Some shops were already closing and I remembered to look out for hairdressers as I was due for a haircut. Well, those I stopped to ask charged between RM20 to RM35.
I was trying to find a halal hokkien noodle stall (Rafi Hokkien Mee at Jalan Burma was no longer there) when I was approached by an immigrant. He said he needed money to buy milk for his kids so I gave him a red note. He said it wasn’t enough but I said that was all I could spare. I watched him go before I continued my walk. My dinner was a mixed berry bubble waffle at Urban Artisan.
On New Year’s Eve, I woke up early and after morning prayers, headed out. I first had vegetarian wan tan noodle soup before walking over to Aimi Lim Halal Hokkien Noodles at Toon Leong Coffee Shop. Alhamdulillah.
I headed back to my room and finished packing. After my shower and prayers, I checked out and walked to KOMTAR bus terminal. I had to wait for half an hour before the bus arrived. It took a shorter time to get to the airport and I only found out after clearing security that the plane was delayed by 30 minutes.
I wasn’t impressed with the queue to enter the boarding room – perhaps it was because the boarding room was glassed over. We finally boarded and took off shortly after.
So that was a quick trip to Penang and I got to try out a new airline too. Alhamdulillah for the rezeki and opportunity.
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