Have Perut Will Travel...: AEROLINE KL to Penang: A Long Journey North

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Saturday, 23 December 2023

AEROLINE KL to Penang: A Long Journey North

We've leaving for Penang!

After what seemed like an eternity since we bought our Aeroline bus tickets the day was finally upon us. We left our condo at eight in the morning, and after a slight delay (someone forgot his headphones?) we made our way down to the condo lobby.

We hailed a 6-seater Grab car for a fare of RM12.00 (approximately USD3/EUR2) to Corus Hotel and arrived ten minutes later. With time to spare we left our luggage at the Aeroline ticketing counter and walked across to have breakfast at our usual spot beside Wisma MCA.

Thosai, Roti Canai and a round of drinks came to RM13.80 (approximately USD/EUR3) and we soon headed back to Corus Hotel.

We were allowed to board at 9:15am and departed at 9:35am. We drove onto the DUKE Highway and drove past the Segambut Toll ten minutes later. We then drove past the Jalan Duta Toll Plaza five minutes later, well and truly on our way as we headed onto the North South Expressway.

The Malaysian government declared today and the 26th toll-free, and as a result traffic began to slow a short while later along the Rawang stretch. Traffic came to a standstill several time and three hours into the journey we had not even reached Ipoh.

Two hours later and we still hadn't reached Ipoh. It looked increasingly likely that we would arrive in Penang after nightfall? To make matters worse there were a couple of inconsiderate parents who allowed their unruly children to run riot in the bus!

The bus made a 15-minute pitstop at the Petronas station in Simpang Pulai at 3:00pm before resuming its drive to Penang. Three hours later found us along the Parit Buntar stretch, and although traffic was still crawling we found solace that we were about to cross into the state of Penang.

We drove across the bridge at 6:45pm and true enough by the time we arrived at Queensbay Mall it was already dusk.

We disembarked, collected our luggage then hailed a 6-seater Grab car to our Airbnb for a fare of RM27.00 (approximately USD6/EUR5). The Grab car picked us up at 7:30pm and after a 20-minute drive we arrived at The Green House, Popus Lane which would our home for the next 10 days.

We were absolutely famished so after depositing our luggage at Unit 8 we walked out to Nana Tomyam just across the street. Too knackered we did not film our enjoyable Thai dinner there. Another trip to Nana Tomyam would be in order some other time.

After dinner we walked back to the Green House to shower, unpack, and rest up. We will feature this cosy old abode on another day as well.

Tomorrow our adventures in Penang begin in earnest!