Gift items: Marsy (left) and her family members buying souvenirs during their visit to George Town Heritage Site at Armenian Street in George Town. — K.T. GOH
GEORGE TOWN: Highways and roads jamming up during long weekends are simply something to be put up with, going by the throng that come to Penang.
Lawyer Vincent Tan, a Penangite who works in Kuala Lumpur, said he and his family woke at 5am on Saturday and hit the road before the sun rose to beat the jam.
“We thought about staying in KL for the long weekend, but this is a chance for my two kids to be in Penang. They are in primary school, so this long weekend is their chance to come back and see our relatives,” said the 45-year-old.
Tan said there was no jam during his morning drive to Penang but he expected to face one when driving back to Kuala Lumpur this evening.
“Jams on the highway are a part of life during the holidays,” he said with a smile.
Others, however, avoided the highway exodus by flying.
Sabahan Marsy Terence, 29, flew in on Friday with 14 of her family members and relatives, for a “food hunt”.
“It has been so long since we visited Penang,” she said when met at Armenian Street in the heritage enclave here, adding that some of her relatives were here for the first time.
She said although the road was congested, it was easy for them as they used public transportation.
“We are walking a lot. The cloudy weather now is so cooling and comfortable for us to walk all over the city,” she added.
Marsy said besides food hunting, they planned to explore the heritage area in George Town and beaches in Batu Ferringhi before flying back to Sabah tomorrow.
Engineer Khairani Mohd Rawi, 26, flew in from Johor with friends and relatives.
“This is our second trip to Penang this year. Our last trip was for the durian season in June and we faced massive traffic jams everywhere on the island that time.
“So this time around, we flew in and chose a city hotel. We are using public transport,” she said.
She added that they would do some shopping at the night market in the Batu Ferringhi tourist belt and have breakfast in George Town tomorrow before flying back to Johor.
Also spotted wandering about were Italian Bruce Da Joiel and his girlfriend Julia Elamanant, both 25.
“It is so impressive here, just like our city Venice but more unique and culturally rich,” said Da Joiel, adding that they had first gone to Singapore before flying to Penang on Saturday.
Da Joiel found the food in Penang to be quite spicy but he and his girlfriend love cendol.
