A Tale of Two Bridges

A friend invited me to join the family for a scenic drive across the second Penang Bridge which was declared open on March 1.

I was curious, so I gladly accepted the invitation which also includes dinner at the Red Chopsticks, an authentic Nonya cuisine restaurant in Bayan Lepas, Penang.

After dinner, we headed to the 24km long bridge that is the longest in Southeast Asia. Traveling on the curved bridge that is well adorned with lights felt like a never-ending ride. I fell asleep in the car, probably because of the sumptuous meal earlier.

When I awoke we had already reached the toll and we wanted to U-turn.  The toll collector told us to exit at Tambun.  My friend did that. We were looking forward to check out the curve and lights again.

But we ended up on the first Penang Bridge instead. The first one was opened in 1985 and stretched 13.5km.

It was odd that we got to use the 1st and 2nd bridge on the same night. While we were heading home we had a different view of the 2nd bridge from the 1st bridge as both bridges were running parallel to one another.  We wouldn't have been able to enjoy this view if we were on the 2nd bridge. Again, this was all unplanned.