An Unplanned Visit to Penang Hill

It has been quite demotivating recently, so I planned a ladies' day out last Sunday. We were aiming for the afternoon tea at Suffolk House. Unfortunately, when I arrived, this is the sign that's waiting for me:

I have to make a quick decision so that the girls will not be disappointed. I have a few restaurant options in mind but my criteria was: it has to serve English Afternoon Tea in a pleasant environment. The first one that came into my mind was David Brown's Restaurant. I love the picturesque restaurant whereby we can enjoy an afternoon tea along a pond with fresh air. So, I made a call, confirmed that they do serve English Afternoon Tea, and headed to Penang Hill after met up with the girls.

They were very excited with this unplanned trip to Penang Hill. Some have never been up there, and most of them couldn't recall their last visit decades ago.

 

By the time we reached the cable car station, I was shocked to find that it is under renovation. (I would have gave up if this ad hoc plan doesn't work too.) Luckily the cable car is still in service. The two-way ticket cost RM30 per adult. However, if you have a MyCard, you can get your two-way ticket at the price of RM8 :)

The cable car ride is always fun if you are at the first car. The kid sit next to us was a bit nervous since this new cable car provide better (or scarier) view compare to the older version. I love being elevated while seeing more and more areas of Penang Island, and getting closer and closer to the green. (By the way, do you know that technically, this is a funicular and not cable car)

 

Just love the panorama view of Penang Island on top of Penang Hill. Like every other tourists, we took lots of photos before we even start exploring Penang Hill. 

After a short walk from the cable car station, David Brown's Restaurant is on your left. You won't miss it since you can easily see the patio umbrellas decorating the blue sky.  

You will first arrive at the newly renovated viewing platform (Sky Terrace) of David Brown's Restaurant. Great view, yes! Seems like a great place to chill, fully agree! Lively jazz music makes you wanted to stay, I can understand that. However, if you are here for the afternoon tea, don't get distracted. Please don't stop here. Keep going, find the stairs and continue your journey. 

You will then come to this lovely part of the restaurant, the original bungalow. The pond is full with pink and purple water lilies. If you are lucky, you can meet a few cute frogs jumping around too.

We were very excited. The garden is excellent for afternoon tea, the patio is very welcoming, and the indoor is with very authentic feel too. It was not very hard to choose though (who wouldn't want to sit under the trees by the pond with cool breeze and birds chirping?!). However, we couldn't help but to explore everything about the restaurant before we finally decided to sit down and take a look at the menu.

The price is slightly high for Penang standard. Obviously you are paying for the view :)

However, we have planned to pampered ourselves at Suffolk House anyway so price is not the issue here. It is already budgeted :)

This set comes with a pot of tea for two. RM78

We ordered all the 3 different choices listed under the afternoon tea menu. The food is just so so, but we love the ambiance. The girls imagined that this is how 贵妇 (ladies) spend their afternoon: chit-chatting, wandering around from time to time to take photos or for a sudden change of view, enjoy the tea, have some bites, laughing and joking around......

While we were there, besides being constantly harassed by 3 little wasps that love strawberry jam, we also spotted squirrels and musang running around between the trees.

We spent more than 3 hours at this restaurant, and we had lovely time. The fact that this is unplanned, the fact that this is a little surprise in life, the fact that we were close to the nature, the fact that we have friends that we can share some wonderful time, make these few hours memorable.

We left before sunset because some of the girls have other plans after the prolonged afternoon tea.

We wanted to take some selves-portrait photos but even the Facebook Queen couldn't get satisfying shots.

The "Big Sister" (not me!) decided to ask the tourist that was laughing at us be our photographer. So here's our group photo to conclude our Penang Hill Surprise Visit :)