Penang Day 2 (21 March 2013)

We had the buffet breakfast in the hotel and kway teow thng seems to be a popular dish, it’s what the kids had for breakfast. The Adventure Zone mascot Polly came round to say hello to the kids, but my chicken-hearted daughters didn’t go up to say hi.

The sightseeing officially began today. Norman came at 10 am to pick us up and our first stop was the Penang Butterfly Farm, which was relatively nearby. Hundreds of butterflies flitted around an aviary, they were literally everywhere. 

Nat was freaked out and didn’t want them to come anywhere near her. Sasha was a bit calmer, Ma put a hat on her so they wouldn’t come too close to her face. There was a particular B&W species which was abundant, one even landed on my hand.

Had a hard time spotting other varieties but I did see them.

There were some other exhibits to show the kids too, like ducks, iguanas, loggerhead turtles, giant millipedes and shield bugs.

From the butterfly farm, we made our way uphill to the Tropical Fruits Farm. It was either this or the Spice Garden and I thought fruits would be more interesting for the kids. Spotted three monkeys which the kids were looking forward to seeing, but they were not fast enough.

Was worried there would be a lot of walking and climbing uphill but luckily there was a van to bring us to a spot that had different trees within walking distance and there was a guide on hand to explain what was what. Luckily it was a little cloudy so despite being 12noon, it wasn’t hot. 

We saw avocado trees, passion fruit, dragon fruit, coffee beans, pineapples, soursop, cinnamon bark and nutmeg among others and at the end of the tour, we could redeem our tickets for a fruit buffet and fruit juice. Of all places I recognised my ex-classmate Nikki’s sister Nanette among the tourists.

It was past the girls’ lunchtime by then and though they snacked on Milo, cereal and fruit, Sasha was still queasy driving down the hill and puked into a bag. We decided to go to the nearest place for lunch and that ended up being the Hard Rock Café.

The girls were happy with their fish and chips, and ice cream and received balloons too. I enjoyed my chicken quesadilla. We invited Norman to lunch with us and the only downside about the restaurant was the stench of stale cigarette smoke.

Took a quick walk to check out the hotel pool. Colin and Debra and their boys happened to be in town the same time as us, they stayed at the Hard Rock. We tried to meet yesterday but it didn’t materialise and they departed this afternoon. Next time will consider staying at the Hard Rock, so much cooler!

 

There was a mosaic Beatles feature wall and when I told Nat it was The Beatles, she remarked, “Those aren’t beetles, they’re men!”

We snoozed in the afternoon and in the evening we took a taxi to Gurney Drive for RM$28. Ordered an assortment of food like Assam Laksa, Penang Char Kway Teow and kway teow thng but the laksa and fried kway teow were disappointing. Maybe we didn’t order from the right stalls. 

Managed to squeeze in an hour of shopping at the next door Gurney Plaza. Nick kindly took the kids off my hands and I grabbed whatever I could in the time I had. Only managed 3 pairs from Vincci, some rompers, bibs, undies, a skirt and cardigans for the girls.

I did get my mango dessert fix thanks to a Hui Lau Shan outlet though. Ordered some mango pudding and mango mochi to go, and had a sago, coconut, mango drink. Why can’t they come back to Singapore?

Penang Day 1 (20 March 2013)

Here we are in Penang on our first holiday with the mummies, I suppose I have to be very patient the next few days with 2 kancheong spiders to deal with i.e Nick and Mildred!

We took an Air Asia flight this morning from Changi, it was on time and comfy. My first time trying them actually and for short flights I would take them again.

I sat with Sasha while Nick had Nat. The pumpkin was a tad nervous about flying and we managed to get an infant seat belt so she sat on my lap throughout. The meals I ordered were decent, at $5 they were better tasting than the Scoot meals to Taiwan and better value.

Nat is not allowed to wear nail polish but I did allow her to paste nail stickers for this trip, but they barely lasted an hour with no top coat.

The girls were excited to be in Penang, we have a storybook called ‘Paul Goes to Penang’ so I am trying to bring it to life for them. We had a driver named Norman who fetched us from the airport, he is going to be our driver for the next few days. Sasha power-napped in the van on the way over and did not fall back asleep again.

We are staying at the Shangri-La Golden Sands in Batu Ferringhi, I chose it only because it has a kids Adventure Zone with indoor playground in case we get stuck with bad weather.

Our adjoining rooms were not ready even though we arrived an hour past the 2pm check-in time. Had to wait about another hour for the room and killed time at the coffeehouse to have a proper lunch.

After unpacking, we headed down to the pool, the water was nice and warm. Ever since Sasha dunked herself in the Hard Rock pool, she’s developed a phobia of the water and it was so hard to persuade her to get in. She was content to just sit on the steps and dip her feet.

Nick tried to teach Nat some basic swimming moves, I think we need to find a pool to practice more regularly rather than only on holidays! She did try to kick and with a bit more practice I think she can be persuaded to tread water.

After showering and changing, we ventured outside the hotel in search of food. Settled on a restaurant called Malaysian Kitchen which was family-run by an Indian owner, and her husband was Dutch. They had a cute son named Aryan and I swear Sasha was flirting with him. She was all giggly when they talked and played, and even held his hand for a photo. 

The food was decent, nothing to shout about but considering the restaurant setting, it wasn’t expensive. I had goreng pisang with chocolate ice cream for dessert and that was a nice ending to the meal though…I miss the nasi padang that used to be at Asia Hotel, they had a lovely goreng pisang with sweet corn ice cream dessert…mmm.

Journey comes to town

It’s Restaurant Week but I only managed to make it to one lunch and that was yesterday at Stellar, 1-Altitude. Went with Wai Leng, Cheryl and Phil, so Cheryl and I treated Phil as a farewell lunch.

The menu sounded promising, but portions were a little disappointing, depending on what you order. To start with, I went for the pan seared scallop with corn puree, quail egg, frisee and uni butter. Scallops were puny and the salad skimpy. Wai Leng who had the sushi and sashimi assortment had more on her plate.

For my main, I went with the grilled tiger prawns with capellini, sakura ebi and lobster jus. The prawns were quite charred but still moist on the inside, though Cheryl complained hers were uncooked. It was nice and I could have eaten double the portion but it was gone in no time!

My dessert was a banana pecan pudding with roasted rice ice-cream. The pudding was more like a dry cake but the ice-cream was interesting. By the end of the meal, I was still a tad hungry and had to buy a snack!

National Parks Board had set up some swings in Raffles Place to celebrate their anniversary and it was one big giant playground. Must bring the girls one day!

This evening Nick and I attended the Journey concert at the Indoor Stadium. This was part of my Xmas present to him and I suppose he enjoyed himself, even if Steve Perry was not lead singer.

The band have a Filipino replacement in the form of pint-sized Arnel Pineda whose rags to riches story is an inspiration. He went from singing in clubs to being spotted on You Tube and the rest is history! 

We had a pretty good view and there were about 6-7 songs I recognised like Open Arms, Faithfully, Only the Young, Any Way You Want It, Don’t Stop Believin’, Who’s Crying Now, the ones I didn’t were a bit of a bore. There was some drama at the end though, when a fan made it onstage and tried to thank the band for acknowledging a boy in the audience with cancer who had written to them but she was led away by security.

I just wish Bon Jovi would come…they are on tour this year but no Asian dates, bummer.