Steven Goh's Penang Food, Budget Travel and Unique Lifestyle

Lazing at the beach, drinking fresh coconut juice, enjoying the sea breeze, getting a good sun tan and watching girls passing by with bikini’s have always been a dream for me. This is what I am wishing for during my retirement time, nothing to worry about life and financial, dining without looking at the figure and so on. Well, this is my long term goal of life.

(Stefanie Chuah, Miss Malaysia/World 2009, Runner Up)

However, there is a break away which can fulfill all the requirements above.  Packing up a few dresses which include your swimwears, prepare RM180 for the ticket and heading to Pulau Payar.

There are only 2 places that able to depart to Pulau Payar, one is Langkawi and the other one is Swettenham Pier, near Penang port.

It is indeed quite a long journey to depart from Penang port to Pulau Payar. The duration of travel takes approximately 2 1/2 hours. My advice, prepare some snacks and breakfast for your journey would be a wise choice.

Instead of sleeping during the whole journey, you can always walk to the deck of the boat to have a wonderful view back to Penang. What a beautiful island, from far.

If you are feeling tried after watching scenery, you can always take a short nap during the journey. Remember to beware of your outlook, someone is dripping saliva when sleeping.

The boat will drop you at the Pulau Payar platform upon arriving. The platform is quite big and stable.

At the side of the platform, you are allowed to snorkelling within the safety range to enjoy underwater coral and fish.

Fishes gathering around you once you step into the water. This underwater pictures are contributed by Waco Chan.

We were told by the safety guards that they always see naked ladies swimming at the island nearby, which I am very doubtful of.

There is also an underwater observation on the platform that allows you to enjoy the underwater world if you are not used to snorkelling.

There are many fishes under the sea which I am not sure of the species too.

There was also a mermaid who followed us to Pulau Payar for the modeling photo shooting session. Her name is Stefanie Chua, the winner of Miss Malaysia/World 2009 Runner Up.

Special thanks to Patrick Soon, the owner of Studio Moon Spell for the great arrangement so that I have the chance to brush up my shooting skill.

After first half, lunch was served at 12:30pm. There were 20 over varieties of food available to choose from. Anyway the taste of some of the dishes still have room for improvement.

After the lunch break, the second half session was to Pulau Payar Marine Park, to reach there we were taken a ride on a small motor boat.

The surrounding of the beach was very clean and picturesque.

You can see through the sea bed with its crystal clear sea water.

In fact, you can see dozens of fish swimming by.

The only drawback at this place is they have stopped the shark feeding session. As the life guard claimed there were too many casualties and also accidents happened. This program needs to be terminated. Therefore, not much sharks can be seen around nowadays.

Overall, this is a great place to relax and get away from the bustle city. There are many species of fish around and it was very comfortable to walk under the soft white sand beach. Other than the quality of the food that needs to be improved, the rest is up to standard.