Bayview Hotel (Georgetown) 城市海湾酒店 - The One with a 360 Revolving Rooftop Restaurant @ Penang Island [Malaysia]

With the summarised itinerary cleared, it's usual for me to touch on the accommodation next and for the recent Penang trip, we stayed two nights at Bayview Hotel in the capital of Penang; Georgetown!

For such a nice looking hotel, it's shocking to find the main signage / logo to be so outdated; the design would likely be the norm more than twenty years ago.

Hotel lobby where Alex and his boss checked in for our group - did i mention that i was joining Alex and his colleagues for their company's get-together? Oh well, not that it's strange since i know the boss much longer than Alex and this was my third trip with them!

Drinks for hotel guests that were ready for self-dispensing right at the hotel lobby; a nice gesture as weather in Penang is renowned to be hot (some said worse than Singapore) and your throat will welcome the orange / cucumber infused iced water.

Room

1437 - the 37th room on the 14th floor. Included with our keycards were the breakfast vouchers and our WiFi password that's valid for two days and allowed login to two different devices.

The kind of hotel corridor that gives me the chills. Thankfully, our room was the first one once we exited from the elevator and that kind of assured me. In case you are wondering, i didn't encounter anything paranormal in the hotel.

Interior of 1437 - quite small (when compared to the Park Plaza Hotel Bangkok) but the essentials (to me, those refer to the bed and air conditioning) were present. I love the pillows as they were plush and comfortable to the neck.

Flat screen television, mini bar fridge, electric kettle and most importantly, the two complimentary bottles of mineral water.

Inside the closet - a safe, an ironing board and an iron in one of the drawers. I have a tendency to look into the wardrobe as there's one item i would grab. The laundry bag which shall be used to house my dirty laundry until i am back in Singapore.

Aside from the retro-looking telephone, i am glad i took the time to read the notice. Seems like many hotels are going the eco-friendly way; to change your towels, you have to leave them in the bathtub! Yes, i made it a point to replace for a clean towel every day when i am overseas. Sorry for being eco-unfriendly.

View from the hotel room.

It's amazing, isn't it?! From my room, i can see Komtar, the tallest building in Penang and also the old streets of Georgetown which were listed as collectively as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO!

Look further and there's the 13.5-kilometer Penang bridge; one of two vehicular carriageways connecting Peninsular Malaysia to Pulau Pinang.

Noted a park next to the hotel although i wouldn't be caught sitting there any time. I might as well chill in the hotel at night and in the daytime, i presume it would be hot and why would i want to waste my time sitting in a tiny, normal-looking park when i am overseas?!

Bathroom - the kind common in a dated hotel even though i read from the website that the rooms were newly renovated. Maybe the room they have in mind didn't include the bathroom.

Hair dryer - didn't use it as i prefer to towel dry my hair or let it run through its natural drying process. Mum would love it, as i have always said.

There's a bathtub! Again, we didn't use it at all as there wasn't sufficient time to soak in. Furthermore, i would very much like a rainfall shower!

Another sign of staying in a hotel that stopped its time a few decades ago - who uses this kind of slippers for bathroom!? Wait, i am not complaining since i don't use bathroom slippers.

Located at the lift landing on the 14th floor, this corner offered the same impressive panoramic view of Georgetown!

Noticing that the room across from ours was undergoing housekeeping; we asked if we could step in to check out the view and darn was it soothing! I can so imagine a beach nearby where i can frolic in the water!

Breakfast

For a person who dislikes having hotel breakfast, i must say the variety was wide and food generally tasted better than other similarly-starred hotels. I enjoyed their soft and fluffy banana cake and nasi lemak!

Amenities

Gymnasium - opened from 6am till 9pm daily, access would only be granted using the keycard you are holding for your hotel room.

Rather comprehensive equipment even though there were two reasons i didn't make use of it; one, i didn't have time and secondly, even if i can pull out some time, i am usually too full to exercise.

View of the swimming pool from the gym.

Swimming Pool - operational from 7.30am till 7.30pm, i only dropped by to take pictures for the purpose of this post. Nope, we didn't take a dip as again, no time. I might have done it if this trip were similar to the relaxing one i made to Bangkok in April!

Do keep in mind that the deep end of the pool was 3.5 meters; hence, please be mindful if you have young kids with you. In addition, there's also the Jacuzzi pool.

If you are looking for a tan, do drop by only in the afternoon as the swimming pool was surrounded on three sides and our dear mr sun can only peek in from the west.

Convenience store where you can buy travel sized shampoo, shower, toothpaste, non-prescriptive drugs (panadol) and even souvenirs. Right next to it was a Japanese restaurant.

Tailor shop - i am hesitant when it comes to tailor shops, especially in hotels since the clothes are not likely to come cheap and there are just too many horror stories of tailors who didn't do a good job.

I am unsure on the pricing but the reviews of the tailor shop seemed to be quite good. Don't trust my words and pictures on this; check with our knowledgeable mr google. I believe he has better answers for you.

Three Sixty° Revolving Restaurant and Sky Bar - yes, we did go up on the first night to meet up with a few colleagues of Alex and had a great time chit chatting!

We mainly stayed in the sky bar area and only went to the restaurant when the disco lights got too glaring for our eyes. According to the notice i saw at the lift landing, the restaurant would only revolve from 7pm till 10pm.

Travel Counter - situated in the lobby, you can either book the packages as listed above or book a van / car (as we did). Arrangements for airport transfer can also be made from the same counter.

Do refer to the above on the location (floor) of the amenities in the hotel.

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Verdict

Personally, i don't have a major grouch with the hotel even though some design / items are seriously outdated (i can live with those). Service wasn't particularly good or bad; just normal and i thought the key selling point was really on the view you can get from the hotel room.

Don't be too shy to ask for a map showing nearby attractions or famous food to try. Most hotels actually have such a map and some don't necessarily publicize it which is kind of strange to me.

Location

25-A Farquhar Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia

Map

As above.

Website
https://www.bayviewhotels.com/hotel/bayview-hotel-georgetown/

For the itinerary of my 3 days, 2 nights trip to Penang, please click here. 

Seng Bee Steamed (White) Chicken Rice 成美食雞飯 @ Ang Mo Kio Central 724 Hawker Centre [Singapore]

Even though the current hype is on the recently-released Pokemon Go, i just couldn't be bothered with the game and opted to go out only because i needed fresh air outside of Yishun! 

Within 30 minutes, i found myself at this hawker centre in Ang Mo Kio central; i couldn't even remember when my last visit was and thought it was quite a few years back when the Gang of Four patronised a supposedly famous yong tau foo stall. 

Alex remembered the lemon chicken rice was great at Seng Bee (yong tau foo was closed) and i decided to make things easier by ordering the steamed chicken rice. Pity that his lemon chicken was already sold out. 

I was wondering why there was so much rice on the plate and questioned Alex as i am on a carbo-restricted diet; it's already a sin to indulge in chicken rice and i seriously don't need more rice! Turned out he was charged S$3.50 instead of S$3.00. 

Whatever the case, the rice was soaked in garlic and chicken stock goodness that was utterly sinful (but so delicious) and in my opinion, there was just too much rice. Chicken meat was smooth, oily, succulent and could have been enjoyed better if it was de-boned and de-chicken-fat; latter was weird for a person who loves fatty food as i simply couldn't stand the sight of steamed chicken skin! 

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Shall insist on the S$3.00 portion the next time i visit. Oh, another item could also be added to level the competition with the chicken rice stall in Yishun; achar! 

Location

Block 724, Ang Mo Kio Ave 6, 

#01-31, AMK 724 Market,

Singapore 560724

Map

As above

Pricing

Steamed Chicken Rice - S$3.50 a plate

Renovation Part 4 - Moving In & My Review of RenoGuyz

<<< Part 3

Five months have passed since part 3 of the house renovation and now that i have stayed in the flat (and hosted quite a few gatherings) for a few months, i think it's about time for me to give an update coupled with the review of the contractor, RenoGuyz at the end!

Things should have been easier after the renovation but you are so wrong; the homeowner gets really busy after the renovation when the furniture comes in and you are on high gear for the move to make the place your home!

In my case, i got most of my furniture from taobao.com; while a courier company helped with the import and transport to my house, i had to assemble myself. Honestly, i was looking forward to the satisfaction of seeing the finished products i put together. I think it's a man thing.

There were a few big ticket items i got from taobao.com; an expandable dining table, a sofa bed, a television console and a study table.

Most were neatly packed by the manufacturers as i had contacted them individually to add in additional brackets / protection as the product(s) was for export to Singapore. There was the rare exception as the above shows.

If you enjoy assembling IKEA products with their given bolts and nuts, then buying from taobao might be for you. However, instructions are mainly in Chinese and even then, they are not as comprehensive as IKEA and that could be frustrating!

Take for example the TV console; there were two big blocks with a manual on how to fix them together and then, twenty over smaller pieces of wood with literally no information on how to put them together. I figured them out only after close to two hours!

TV Console - i found a similar set about 30 centimeters shorter in length in Singapore and it cost about S$700; i got this for less than S$400. Note the hole where a drawer should be; the face had fallen off. Key takeover - redress would be difficult as you couldn't get the manufacturer to come to Singapore just to fix it.

Expandable Dining Table - my most satisfactory big ticket item; don't be too quick to discount it as this can stretch till 2 meters and it has been most helpful whenever friends visit my house!

Study Table - I almost pulled out my hair assembling this as the quality was quite bad, instructions were unclear and i totally hated the colour as it was purplish white and i have asked for bright white.

Sofa Bed - this was the easiest as it came fully assembled except for the steel legs. If you prefer to have this convenience, look out for the Chinese characters ""整装". The one which requires assembling will indicated "组装".

Living near my parents means that the move to the new place doesn't require any professional movers! Having numerous pieces of luggage at home would benefit you as that's how i transport most of the items; from clothes, piggy banks, bottles of vodka to even my computer! Multiple trips are required though.

As of Chinese customs, a simple ritual is required to cleanse the new house before moving in and there's no one better than my superstitious mom to conduct it.

The one action that most Chinese would recall - roll the pineapple into the house so that the household can prosper! Sadly, my unit number had yet to strike the lottery.

Mom continuing with her ritual while her son stood stupidly at one corner, not knowing what else he can help with besides taking photographs of the mom. My only duty was to check the Chinese almanac beforehand to ensure that the day was favourable for house moving.

Don't ask me what has become of the pineapple - i believe my dad had slaughtered it to indulge on its sourish, sweet flesh since i don't have an altar in my new house.

Items bought and brought for the ritual - mine was really simplified as i noted there were others involving feng shui master, certain products that had to face the main door etc.

Cleaning continued after the ritual as the newly renovated house continued to be rather dusty and i absolutely couldn't stand the stinging smell of laminate glue used for carpentry! Thank god i had already purchased the Haier Robot Floor Cleaner!

I admit i salivate a lot when i sleep and it can be embarrassing whenever i sun my bolster outside the house. Hence, it's a need to get this waterproof bolster cover!

Two factors would determine if the house is ready; one, you can sleep in the house and secondly, you start to cook! I love my built in oven even though it was of a lower range.

First attempt of making something from scratch was a disaster though; the healthiest muffin (as claimed) was terrible-tasting and i was left with eleven pieces. Such a waste! 

The washing machine area - as the block i lived in is more than 30 years old, the rubbish chute is located inside the flat. I enjoy the convenience of throwing rubbish even when i am half naked even though some friends dislike it due to a higher chance of encountering the roaches. 

My quaint little black and white themed kitchen - it wasn't as big as the one in my parents' place and i regretted not extending the island space as i already found the area to be quite cramped when i do my cooking. Friends living in new flats / condominiums were however super envious as the space was just right for them! 

Living room - it's only been a few months but i am already thinking of new ideas for the house; a new set of blinds that should be much better looking than the curtains i currently have and maybe a new built in cabinet for the two dozen vodka bottles that are still in my parents' place! 

Well, to be continued i guess! 

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Review of RenoGuyz

Since i embarked on the blogging for my flat renovation, i have received comments and numerous emails asking me for the review of my contractor and i thought it's appropriate to come out with this piece a few months after moving in as after-completion service is still as important. 

Although i originally liaised with the boss, Nicholas, the main coordinator i worked with was actually Brayden. Now, Nic is famous in the renotalk forum for being a straight talker and that's something i value. Brayden is more diplomatic yet he wouldn't hesitate to give his two points when he feels that something is wrong; however, he can be a bit blur. 

Unlike horror stories told to me by friends who had gone through house renovations, mine was relatively mild and even when there were issues, they were quickly resolved. My major grouch was with doors; toilet doors and master bedroom door were of wrong colours compared to the catalogues! Fault was on their subcontractors (door manufacturers etc) and i can only say thank god the colours are still acceptable.

The door problem continued with my main gate which totally riled me up as the colour, brownish red, was totally unacceptable. My concept had always been black and white; hence, why would i choose a rusty looking red colour!? Eventually, they got the subcontractor to replace the gate even though i wasn't informed that it was to be re-sprayed, which means my house would be without a gate for a night and by that time, i had already moved in. 

Both Nic and Brayden were apologetic over the incidents and i can see they were trying their best to address the issues rather than coming out with dozens of excuses to save their asses. I don't expect perfection and from friends' reviews so far on their renovation journey, there's bound to be a few frustrating incidents. 

I held back my last payment as there were a few unresolved items involving paintwork and gaps in between tiles as i am also worried RenoGuyz would ignore me once i make full payment! Actually my fear is unfounded as they continue to entertain my questions, even today! 

Cost of Renovation: S$36,000 

(includes plumbing work and electrical). 

It never fails to solicit quotations from various sources and for discussion on your upcoming renovation, you may call Nicholas at 9690-7887 or Brayden at 8668-0899.