A Slice of Heaven . . .: Penang

We just came back from a short 3 nights getaway to Penang. It was a very special holiday cos it was the first time the entire family travelled together with the kiddos in tow! We took advantage of the long Vesak Day holiday and decided on a relaxing beach holiday with a little something for everyone!

A little hash brown treat pre-flight

The 1 hour flight was thankful a no-event both ways. The last time Julianne flew was 6 months back when we returned from Melbourne. She’s clearly more curious about the plane now and was most fascinated by the in flight demonstration of use of the safety equipments on board.

I last visited Penang way back in 1988 or 1990 thereabouts so it has been a good 20 odd years. Not that I remember very much of that trip but Penang is still very much a laid back town doing its best to maintain her heritage and charm in the form of some UNESCO heritage sites like the Chew’s Jetty and Peranakan Mansion we visited. We had a driver with us who took us around to take in the sights and charm of old Penang. He of course also brought us (and our tummies) on a delectable food tour that no visitor to Penang should go without. If you ever visit Penang, I highly recommend you engage the services of Ocean Jupiter Tours. Minder our driver knew Penang at his fingertips and was always ready with some history and story to the places we visited. Tell him what you want to eat or a specific place you want to go and he’s all ready to take you there plus extra surprises like that to-die-for samosa he brought us to. He was also most accommodating to our schedules – picked us up from the hotel at 10am and got us back in time for the kid’s nap around 2ish before picking us up again to take us to our dinner destination.

At the Chew Clan Jetty

The Peranakan Mansion

Street Murals

We stayed at the Shangri-la Rasa Sayang – a lovely hotel in Batu Ferringgi by the beach. Our two little kiddos were naturally happiest in the hotel with their cartoon, snacks and swimming pool. Not surprising since I didn’t think they care very much for Penang char kway teow or chendol. I was a little concern about what I was going to feed Jules on the trip so the plan was to pack food from the hotel’s breakfast buffet spread for her lunch and order room service for her dinner to bring along if we had to. The breakfast buffet spread was really good with a Japanese selection even so udon and Japanese rice saved the day. We also skipped all that tourist traps in Gurney Drive and had our fill of hawker food from some of Penang’s most famous coffee shops and had really good Nonya food for dinner at Ivy’s Nonya Restaurant – oh that yummy chicken kapitan! I should add that the complimentary high tea at the hotel was also such a delight – that scone with clotted cream and strawberries was such a treat especially when they made an exception for the hubs and I to enjoy it in our room cos we had to watch over Jules while she napped.

Feeding our tummies. Yes we ate all of that!*

Jules was really happy on the trip and I’m sure it had all to do with having her Sophie Che Che with her. Our parents’ rooms was just opposite ours so she was just room hoping here and there as if it was home. She got to hold hands with Sophie, sing songs during the car rides, have breakfast with her cousin and splash around the pool together – it was like wonderland for her! The first thing she did when she woke up in the morning was to run to her shoes and ask to go out! She also picked up some new words on the trip – thanks to Sophie being such a good ‘teacher’! So nice to see the both of them playing together now although I sensed moments of jealousy when I was cuddling Sophie and our little Miss Jealous also decided at that time that she wanted Mama to cuddle her. Children.

Couldn't be more happy with Sophie Che Che around

It was a really good break for everyone. We took the heritage sites, ate our fill (and i mean ATE ALOT) and the kiddos had fun by the pool (although the beach wasn’t anything to shout about). The hubs even managed to go jet-skiing one afternoon.