Ali's Ferringhi Guest House

Tip 4

by l_joo

Another restaurant in photo for you to have an idea of how Batu Feringgi look. Most of the shops restaurants along the road are not more than 2 storeys in heights probably they were built those days.

Monkeys along coastal road

by SLLiew

When driving from Tanjung Bungah to Batu Ferringhi, we stopped to see the monkeys. Wild short tail macaques.

Be sure that you park safely and watch for passing traffic as you take some photos and as the children have fun coming close to our distant cousins.

Always remind me that should bring along some "ecologically friendly" food to feed the monkeys as their primary interest in approaching human beings is for "easy food". Fresh fruits and peanuts are good options. Processed food and sodas should not be given.

So always be prepared to stop with a camera and some monkey food.

Sign boards in different languages

by SLLiew

In a multi-racial society in Penang, you will see sign boards of advertisements, shops and hawker stalls written in one or more languages.

1) Malay - Latin alphabets. Mandatory in all signs. "Keluar"= Exit, "Masuk"= Entrance, "Selamat Jalan"=Good bye

2) English

3) Chinese - using Chinese characters especially in shops in downtown George Town. Some of older generations of Malaysian Chinese can only read Chinese and not Malay nor English. Different dialects are spoken, mainly Hokkien besides Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, etc.

3) Tamil - Tamil script. Especially at Little India.

Batu Feringgi

by l_joo

Batu Feringgi was said trace the name back early days when locals saw foreigners (probably Portuguese) landed here and since given such name Feringgi (foreigners). There's a hotel Feringgi Beach here and the beach somehow given an exotic name Miami Beach. Photo on top is Miami Beach taken by me. A mobile vendor selling all kinds of snacks, drinks, foods, etc. The Miami Beach is right here but you can't see with big pine trees there. After the recent Tsunami, not far from here built a temporary victim village, while further up along the road is the bustling nightlife beach where all the big hotels located, big restaurants and especially so many worldwide tourists.

Nowadays in the Batu Feringgi's jampacked tourists area, you can notice an obvious cultural diversity especially European women in swimsuit while sitting beside them saw numerous Middle-East women in full black robe (Hijab if not mistaken). Besides Europeans and Arabians, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, South Americans, Africans, etc, all gathered around here especially at night from 7pm till 12pm.

Batu Feringgi is not about backpackers, is more for family travels, more towards 5 star hotels, etc. But at night, the street bazaar can be a good place for all low budget and luxury. Chulia street is for low budget, Batu Feringgi for luxury, tourists can see the different and choose to stay where they want, very simple.