Scoobydo

Thanks Bakedbean once again. I have checked out other hotels. Has anyone stayed at the Lone Pine Hotel
Batu Ferringhi, It looks such a charming hotel to relax, close to the beach.
Sounds perfect!
Yes we will definitely hire a car and see all of the island.

The more I read about Penang the more I am looking forward to visiting the island, I cannot wait!

bakedbean

Try checking it out on tripadvisor. It re-opened not so long ago. Certainly a good location in my opinion if you want Bt Ferringhi. Short stroll to Eden Parade in the evenings - lots of eateries, both upmarket-ish (Olio) and local eateries (Golden River and O'Mama) and a night market.

If you want to base yourself somewhere more central, for exploring Penang, a few of my friends rate the G Hotel next to Gurney Plaza on Gurney Drive. No beach there but there's always the swimming pool, and nice promenade along Gurney Drive.

Cannot remember if I mentioned before but, if you are looking for great beaches, consider a side-trip up to Langkawi. Only takes about 40 minutes from Penang Int'l airport. Langkawi and Penang are like chalk and cheese. Langkawi is real chill-out, fab beaches and scenery. It's also a duty free island, despite being Malay.... never have figured that one out Mind you, August can be rainy so maybe save that for a winter trip.

Happy planning

Scoobydo

Great thanks for info,

more research-but enjoying the surfing!
Yes I did look look on Trip Advsor that's The one that caught my eye, always open to suggestions- I am thinking although it's our anniversary in August it's not the best time to go to this Island as the weather season monsoon July - mid September what month would recommend for both Penang and the island's?

The islands- yes definitely a visit mmm! Which one? Maybe try a few
I will check out the other places you mentioned.
Have you fully retired or do you work?

Thanks

bakedbean

I guess the winter months are the best months weatherwise - the humidity is not so severe and more sunshine. You can get heavy showers any time of the year in Penang but, I think I am right in saying that, August and September probably the most rain. We've been getting hefty downpours most days for the last couple of weeks I think. Having said that, the sky has now cleared today (late afternoon) and it's beautiful blue skies and sunshine at the moment.

Have to say though, if you are looking for beaches and sunshine only, you'd probably do better going for a holiday in Thailand. It depends what you want really.

I am fully retired and have been so for almost 5 years... gosh, doesn't time fly when you're having fun. Spent first 2 and a half years in Phuket. Now settled in Penang and no plans to move.

ex reg

We've always looked at the Ah Beng Guest House off the beaten up near Frinji.

It ackchewlee looks OK and the owner obviously has a sense of humour.

bakedbean

Where is that, ex-Reg? I just did a google and nothing came up at all.

Atilla

Lone Pine is really nice. Go there often socially and for breakfast. Their restaurant, The Bungalow, is good too, good range of food (Chinese, Nyonya, western) and all reasonably priced.

rusty747

Hello everyone. New joiner here so please be gentle with me. We have just moved (with work) from Singapore to Dubai but have a condo in Penang which will be our holiday home for a few years (hopefully not too many) before we retire there permanently. My wife is Malaysian (which was the initial driving force to retire in Malaysia) but the more we see of Penang the more I am convinced that we will be very very happy there. We have been regular holiday visitors since 2006 and bought at 10 Island Resort Batu Ferringhi which has just got its OC.
The one question we don't know the answer to is how much money a month we need to live. I appreciate that this is a variable for everyone but there would be just the 2 of us. Condo maintenance fees excluded would RM10k pcm be enough? We are homebirds and would be very happy with our condo facilities, a walk on the beach, weekly shop and happy to eat out at the local restaurants. All answers and opinions appreciated.

PS. We usually stay at the Paradise Sandy Beach (or Bay?) hotel Tanjung Bungah. Great beach access and facilities and the food is quite reasonable too - though we actually preferred the local Indian restaurant just over the road.

bakedbean

Hi Rusty and a warm welcome to the forum

I am living full-time in Penang and retired, and seems like a good place to be. There's certainly a lot worse.

I know this isn't Penang, but you can check out this thread below where someone was asking Cost of Living in Selangor. I guess it will give you an idea.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=cost

As you said, there is an element of "how long is a piece of string" as we all spend on different things, have different hobbies etc. Alcohol I suppose is expensive so, if you drink a lot, that would have a heavy impact on costs. If you like aircon, that would also be a bigger cost.

I'm struggling to think of anything else that is costly to be honest. Local food is cheap, petrol is cheap - but, if you've been visiting Penang for quite a while, you will know all this already.

10island is in a lovely position. I suppose you will have the joys of renovation to look forward to next <sigh>

rusty747

Thanks for the reply Baked Bean. Yes, renovation! We have employed Ethnic Interior Design from Gotleib Road who have been ok so far. They have looked after all the necessary approvals from water, electricity etc and are generally acting as our agent as well as our interior designers. All being well, work should start in a couple of weeks.
I do like air con but we are on a high floor so I was thinking maybe an open window would do during the day - assuming not too much sand comes in with the breeze. Ceiling fans also being fitted. Alcohol? well, bit of a variable there too. I like the very occasional glass of wine and will always ensure there are a few cold ones in the fridge in case we have guests but no, we are not really into alcohol and I could certainly live without it.
Our one 'luxury' I guess would be satellite/cable TV with all the channels we could imagine. I like the UK sports channels and ITV/BBC/SKY is a must. My wife is into the ZEE TV channels and we both like the TNT/MGM/FOX movies etc.
But I would envisage spending most of our time occupied very happily by condo facilities, walking, internet, TV and gym with a weekly shop and eating out simply and cheaply at local eateries on a daily basis.
We would probably buy a car but nothing flash. Not sure whether to go new/local or older/imported though.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Rgds
Rusty

Atilla

With cars I think it depends what you like, how much you think you'll use it, how much you want to spend, resale value and servicing.

<snip> But in short I opted for a Toyota Vios:

1) Very popular
2) Small size (great for town and parking but big enough)
3) Engine size, plenty for what I need (and I often travel to KL and Thailand - where Vios is also very popular) and very economical to run
4) Price, with MM2H discount, about the same as many of the smaller local cars without discount.
5) Toyota reliability (Honda also good)
6) Good range of service centres here and everywhere I go. Servicing cheap and I dare say any of the dozens of private service centres can work on a Vios
7) Good resale should I ever come to sell it.

But it's all down to needs. I nearly bought a 4x4, just because you can, and quite reasonable too. But fathomed I don't need it. So I sat down and pondered what precisely will I use the car for. My car spends 95% of its time parked up. It needs to get me from A to B to do shopping trips and runs around town. End of story really.

I've always driven BMW 5 series and, in the Middle East, 4x4s (as well as), but here, esp in Penang, just not needed IMO. In fact for me, the perfect combo is small car and a small motor scooter. I'm likely to buy a Honda PCX soon. Much better option for poking around the numerous side streets in Georgetown and makes running errands a piece of cake. Rather than having to take the car where you spend half the time stuck in traffic and the other half looking for parking (in Georgetown).

rusty747

Thanks for that. We are in a bit of a dilemma re car as I have been advised to apply for MM2H asap (in case the rules change) but don't really envisage living full time in Penang (and therefore needing a car) until 2017 so if we import it looks like we will not be abe to do so tax free. The alternative would be to delay the MM2H application and hope the rules don't change but I'm not sure I would be comfortable with that. Decisions Decisions!

akee

Get a second hand car. You can get some good deals where the owners only drive on the island.

federicoPa

Hallo to everybody.

I am planning to spend all my next years (as retired) in a calm place with good climate, good food, good people and good sea.

At present I have an option in Goa, but I am a bit tired of the indian bureaucracy, that seems not liking so much the foreigners.
I have another option in Phuket, but I am worried about the cement (and bad tourists) that are expanding all over the island.

So I am thinking now also to Penang, and I am looking if it is easy to find and buy a villa with private swimming pool in a protected compound.
In Phuket this kind of solution is very common, but I do not see many choices in Penang.

Does anybody knows the situation regarding this type of accomodation and/or has any good real estate agent to suggest me ?

Many thanks

Federico

bakedbean

Hi Federico,

Yes you are right, Phuket has plenty of pool villas. We used to have one - now sold. We moved from Phuket to Penang.

Unfortunately for you, Penang villas are very expensive. You can google and see. There isn't so much spare land as in Phuket. I imagine it would be very hard to actually find a villa with pool in Penang. Maybe some of the big houses around the back of Pulau Tikus, but they will be seriously expensive. Have you thought about Melaka, or somewhere else in Malaysia?

If you're really intent on getting a pool villa rather than a condo, I'd have to put you in the direction of Phuket, though every place has its problems. We didn't really take to Phuket... it was OK for a while... but there is a LOT of corruption and underhand dealings. Has nice food and beaches though. It all depends what kind of lifestyle you want, to be honest.

The retirement visa in Thailand is an easier one to get than Malaysia, but it's only for 1 year (renewable) and you have to report to Immigration every 90 days as well. The MM2H visa is a far far better visa, though you need to jump through quite a lot of hoops to get it. But worth it, in my opinion.