Day 1
First family trip in awhile! Not the full force but the kids were all present (read: WWIII)
Off we go! And this little one has a seat on her own
Landed, got our SIM card, collected our Toyota Innova after the documents, orientated with the local traffic, negotiated the highways, got a little lost, followed some secret instructions to collect the keys, had a minor episode with the scary lift with a door-open button that doesn't function, went up the wrong floor and finally found the right unit again:
Tada! Seaview condo at Maritime Suite Penang
Quite nicely decorated right! The kids sure were happy, but mama was exasperated when she saw the stairway leading to the second floor. Had a hard time convincing Lemon to not go up unsupervised but I must say she was rather compliant on this aspect throughout the trip. So I share the bed with Bryan on top, Oliver with his mum on another, and Lemon with the grandparents at the bottom floor.
Almost sunset by the time we settled down and that also mean it's time for dinner!
New Lane Food Street! It's like everyone made way for me to take this photo, it really was much more crowded than it appears here. Also, first time buying parking coupon in Malaysia; thanks, random lady outside church that informed us of the risk of the car being toll away, I guess...
The famous Char Kway Teow with duck egg. Lives up to its name but only ranked second best by my dad, next day's was the best haha
Grocery shopping for some breakfast ingredient then ended the night at the gym, not too shabby.
Day 2
Woke up earlier than half the rest (only Bryan woke earlier to use his phone cos I woke him up when I went to the toilet at 6am, apparently), then it's time for a swim! Except the pool's length was probably less than 20m...
Breakfast then off we go!
First site of the day after an hour's drive!
Human mountain human sea
View is ok la~ not the best, even for this trip (see below!)
Next up: food!
The famous Air Itam Penang Laksa (do not try it if you don't enjoy the prawn paste smell! Smell is strong in this one!)
Love this shot! Street is so empty this late in the afternoon but when we came back two days later (see below), it was almost beyond recognition with all the cars and human traffic in the morning!
Super full but we still dabaoed these back to accomm! Penang Curry Mee! And yes, those are pig blood!
And these are apparently the best Char Kway Teow in Penang, according to my dad (compared to other CKT we had on this trip only)
Dabao-ed back cos the kids were getting cranky and we gave up on the initial plan to visit the temple. Rested and then headed out with Sis for more grocery shopping while the kiddos napped.
And then off to the next place on dad's request, despite the negative reviews we found online...
But boy is this place amazing! View is incredible compared to that of the Penang Hill and we even got a super worthwhile Diner Package for a slight amount to dine at the Coco Cabana restaurant at the top! Look at how thrilled mum is (she initially didn't dare to walk on the glass panel). Oliver disapproves, though the grin on his face betrayed his thumbs-down. Our local Chinese newspaper do have some nice recommendations eh (and dad sure looks proud he convinced us here, despite the hefty price)
View is good isn't it? The other wise of the view (it's 360 degree) from our table at the restaurant overlooks the bridge linking the island to the mainland, rather scenic too!
Sunset view was good too! Catching some egg yolk got dinner lol
And put 'em on the plate! Lol. Speaking of dinner, it's a semi-fine dining 5-course meal and it's really what makes this attraction so attractive! Other than good and exquisite food, it also allowed us to park ourselves here for a few good hours, from day to night!
Night view can wait (cos good thing must wait) but look at this masterpiece! Even their bread (sourdough bun really) looks so dang appetising!
The main: some chicken dish with orange zest. Other main was grilled salmon, equally good. And this is after a starter of potato pastry (complementary but Oli loved it so much we had several rounds of refill haha), awesomely rich wild mushroom soup, garden salad, mid-course sorbet to refresh the tastebuds and then followed by desserts + coffee/tea. Amazing or amazing?
The night scene; definitely worth the wait to spend more time here at the Rainbow Walk at Komtar Tower (spare yourself the disappointment in the rest of the tower)
Night decor is rather on point, isn't it
They also have this mechanised percussion band that basically mesmerised everyone (anything non-digital capable of subduing the three demons and letting them sit down for more than 3-minute is a win)...
And that pretty much ended the night and this was the situation just as I was ready for bed after gym. Demonized by the phone this boy (and looking less like me as he grows up; or issit because I'm grew older?)
Day 3
Here! But nope, we 姓郑 and 邓, not 周...
And yea, I really do kinda look like my sis haha
Looks like Kukup, doesn't it? And this was legit a candid shot; I was wiping my sweat cos it was too f*cking hot!
They gave up right from the start, we conceded towards the end and headed into a fruit juice stall for aircon and iced juice
Gave up on other bridge so went to Yixiang to buy our biscuit souvenir instead. And then it's the favourite activity yet again: food!
Another famous place
You know it's gotta be good (and famous) when people are willing to brave the intense heat from the sun to queue up for your chendul to fight against the intense heat
Lor Bak (aka ngor hiang or more accurately, sausages). Had to Dabao everything cos it was simply too packed too hot; also got CKT (was meh) and curry Mee style laksa; highlight was when dad mistakenly ordered fried oyster thinking it's the CKT stall, so we ended up buying two packets of fried oyster - but they turned out to be the best dish from here! What a pleasant surprise... Once again, dad made the right "recommendation" haha
Back to accomm and its pool time with the boys to beat the heat! Short nap, then it's time to go!
Adventure Zone! The slide on the left is almost vertical down, scary! And tried the right side one with Lemon haha
And here you see her getting picked up by boys haha; also, she's in pyjamas simply because she can (nah I kid, cos needa be in long sleeve shirt and long pants)
And then everyone was shagged out before the end of the session
Still manage to somehow find some energy to pop by the Batu Ferringhi beach just beside impromptu. But, sleepy~
And then it's dinner time at Tsunami Village cafe for some seafood before headed back to our accomm to (gym and) end a tiring and eventful day~
Day 4
Final day!
Came back to this same street as day 2 but it was beyond recognition from the crowdedness
Finally had the chance to visit Kek Lok Si (极乐寺)
Heh, so cute this two
Lunch was at this famous place! Can still see one of the sisters sitting there chilling~
Legit good (since 1946!) but it was a hot day, and this goes better with aircon or a rainy day. Also, was a few streets away from our Day 2 CKT place at Air Itam so papa and I walked back there to Dabao his favourite CKT haha
And then our last location. Was too damn hot so everyone decided to stay in the car parked by the kerb side parking while sis and I brought this little imp along
Yay! Passed by a few mural art but these aren't the famous ones. Doesn't matter, still considered a check! Haha
And then it's finally time to head to the airport... Returned our cars, got some macs to chill with, checked in, and way back home!
Obviously doesn't wanna leave haha. Cried so loud even passerby asked "whose kid is this?" Haha
Till next time!
Conclusion: bringing parents around was tiring (evident from previous HK trip) but adding a sis plus additional three more kids somehow made the whole trip much more relaxing. Hmmm. Again, nothing trades for precious family trips!
