Holiday Cruise Ship With Stopover Travel Day 2
Star Cruise Line Super Star Virgo
Today is more like a Malaysia cruise as we shall be having our stopover travel in Penang. Looking forward to our holiday cruising, we could hardly contain our excitement and waited excitedly for our mini Penang vacation and Penang tour. Passing by the Straits of Malacca, our holiday cruise ship was directly on course for Penang as we soaked in the views of the mountain ranges that we sailed past until we reached Penang. We also managed to snap more sunset images as well as clouds images.
Penang is one of the most famous islands in Asia and perhaps the best-known tourist destination in Malaysia where you can find mysterious temples and palm shrouded beaches that has attracted curious visitors for several hundred years. Since 1985, it has been joined to the mainland by the Penang Bridge which has become a modern symbol of the island.
Optional Penang tour for a mini Penang vacation during the stopover:-
* Trishaw ride and city tour
* City tour and shopping
* Temple tour
* Agricultural tour
* Independent activities and shopping
* Cultural and sightseeing tour
* Nature tour
View of Penang from our holiday cruise ship
You could board a trishaw for a unique ride through Little India and pass by the heritage building and Chinese Water Village built on stilts. Or visit Khoo Kongsi, the clan temple which is one of the most celebrated historic attractions in Penang. Or visit the Wat Chayamankalaram which houses the world’s third largest reclining Buddha. If you prefer nature, you can visit the Butterfly Farm, a sanctuary for over 120 species of rare and exotic tropical butterflies which comes complete with a hatchery and a “Preserved Butterflies of the World” museum. You can then follow up with a visit to the Tropical Spice Garden which showcases a living collection of over 500 species of local and introduced flora from Malaysia and around the world, with particular emphasis on tropical herbs and spices and set amongst lush nature. A great place to visit is the Batik Malaysia Factory where you can witness the traditional technique of batik painting using wax and dyes. If that does not suit you, you can choose to visit the Malay Village and Snake Temple or do some shopping in Penang.
For our group of ten, we had arranged with a mini van driver to bring our whole group to certain specific places for our very own special combination of Penang tour in Malaysia.
Day 2 of our holiday cruise started off with a session of ‘Relax and Stretch’ at the Universal Gym. At least we managed to get a short workout to stretch our very stiff muscles.
Universal Gym
The Apollo Spa next to the Gym where you can have a relaxing massage or foot reflexology
Oscar's Hair & Beauty Saloon
to make you look good
After the stretching exercise, we proceeded to Bella Vista for breakfast food of Western cum Asian origin. You could choose from a variety of eggs such as sunny side up, omelette, poached, etc… There was also a selection of meats to choose from such as sausage and turkey ham. For the Western breakfast, you could have the French Toast or the spicy noodles for the Asian food choice. The spicy noodles was not very spicy and quite appetizing. There was also a buffet selection of other breakfast foods such as breads, cereals, yoghurt and fruits.
Breakfast time
Fried eggs over easy & ham
Omelette and ham
Spicy noodles
When breakfast was over, we proceeded back to our cabin and sat at the balcony enjoying the sea breeze and taking in the sights of the calm and beautiful sea as well as the mountainous range as we pulled into Penang harbour.
View of Penang harbour
Penang bridge in background
Our holiday cruise ship reached Penang
Malaysia at approximately 1130 hrs.
Those who had booked the optional
Penang tour assembled according to the various assembly times.
By the time we transferred to the tender boat from the ship to
Penang shore, it was almost 1300 hrs.
Tender boats taking passengers from Star Cruise Virgo
to Penang shore
Picture taking opportunities as you proceed to disembark the Star Cruise Virgo for your Penang stopover vacation
In the tender boat on our way to shore, excitedly waiting for our tour of Penang
The tender boat driver 
Our mini van driver was already there at the jetty area waiting to take us on our little Penang vacation tour. 
1st stop:- Chowrasta market. This is a market for the locals and as such, prices here are definitely below those in the tourist areas. Here we bought an assortment of dried goods as well as snacks.
Chowrasta station, just opposite the Police Station
Chowrasta Market
with a variety of local snacks
and dried goods
From Chowrasta market, we proceeded to Tean Ean Local Product Centre where they sold
Malaysia product such as local spices, nutmeg oils, bird’s nest,
Malaysia snacks and confectioneries.
Here we bought some ‘bak kut teh’ herbs and spices for boiling a popular Chinese soup usually with pork bones and ‘tambun’ biscuit, also known as ‘pong peah’, basically a soft round flaky pastry with various kinds of fillings available.
Tean Ean Local Products Centre
Factory in production
Bird's nest
Rheumatism oil
Nutmeg oil
Bak Kut Teh soup herbs and spices
'Pong peah' or 'Tambun Biscuit'
Another famous shop selling local Malaysia product in Penang and which has been in business for more than 150 years is Ghee Hiang, less than 5 minutes away from Tean Ean.
Next stop was at a roadside durian stall where we enjoyed the King of the fruits under the shade of the trees. This was the highlight of our tour and the reason why we did not have lunch on board our cruise ship before going ashore. The durians, known as the King of Fruits, were great! We managed to get the bitter flesh which tastes much better than the sweeter version.
We also had some mangosteens, a deep reddish purple fruit when ripe. The flesh is wonderfully sweet and tangy at the same time. Mangosteens are also known as the Queen of Fruits. Great to be able to have both the King & Queen of Fruits at the same time. It is believed that the King of Fruits is 'heaty' whilst the Queen of Fruits is 'cooling'. Thus a great combination.
Enjoying the King & Queen of Fruits:- Durians & Mangosteens
With the help of our driver, we consumed 6 durians and 2 kg of mangosteens at the local price of only RM89 (USD 25.40).
After enjoying our feast of the King & Queen of Fruits, we went to QueensBay Mall, one of the modern shopping centres in
Penang.
Here we did some shopping in Jusco, the anchor tenant in this building.
Jusco
At the food court, we bought some famous ‘kuih baulu’, small sponge cakes before enjoying some ice kachang and chendol dessert.
The chendol only cost RM2.20 (USD0.63) per bowl and it was very filling.
The ice kachang cost RM3 (USD0.86) per bowl and had a scoop of ice cream as well over the shaved ice with various kinds of filling and colourful syrup.
Kuih Baulu
RM10 (USD 2.86) per box
Ice kachang
Chendol, a coconut based dessert
We also tried the claypot noodle and claypot rice which was not too bad although slightly on the salty side.
The claypot rice
Claypot noodle
Queensbay Shopping Mall
Souvenirs in Tesco
As we still had some time, we dropped by Tesco before heading back to the pier and transferring to the tender boat.
By the time we boarded our star cruise line, it was 1830 hrs.
Transferring back to our holiday cruise ship
View of Penang sunset
Today, we again had the opportunity to relax and capture some sunset images as well as clouds images.
We never seem to have time to admire the sunset and clouds when we are back home.
We headed for the barbeque dinner by the Parthenon pool after taking a short rest. There was quite a wide range of food from appetizers to cooked dishes, meats being barbequed on the spot to fruits and desserts.
Barbeque dinner 
Meats being barbequed
We felt that the quality of the food was slightly lower than what we had experienced the last time we tried the barbeque on board the star cruise. This could also be due to the fact that we were not that hungry although their prawns were big, fresh, juicy and sweet. The prawns were the best of all the dishes! Or they just could not match the yummylicious durians that we had earlier.
The Star Cruise Virgo started sailing again at 1930 hrs. In total, we had berthed in Penang for 8 hours.
Following dinner, we proceeded to watch the show “The Land of Make Believe’. This is a show by the talented crew giving their best performance on stage. However, it just could not reach the same standard of the other professionally directed shows although it was a great show by non-professionals.
The cast from The Land of Make Believe
Some of the pay-as-you-dine restaurants that are available on board if you would like to try.
The Taj for Indian buffet cuisineSamurai for Japanese food 
24 hour Asian Bistro at Blue Lagoon
Plush Italian Palazzo Restaurant 
The Noble House for Chinese cuisine
Sunset images
WOW! It seems that we had got lots out of our “Malaysia cruise”. Our little Penang vacation was fantastic especially with the durians. Fortunately the weather was kind to us as well. It was a unanimous decision that the stopover travel in Penang today was one of the best holiday cruising stopovers that they had experienced. Be prepared to relax yourself on the holiday cruise ship and just enjoy. If you love to capture sunset and clouds images just like us, you will have lots of opportunities to do so.
Simulator games to keep the kids occupied
Waiting for breakfast in The Pavilion Room
Applying for the WorldCard Cruiser where you can have the opportunity to earn WorldCard points in more than 2000 establishments in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
The Star Cruiser application form
Items on sale on board the Malaysia cruise
Lacquer artwork on sale
In The Pavilion Room waiting for disembarkation
