Penang Day 4

Yesterday I forgot to mention about this big hawker style food court in Taiping. It's quite near to the Lake Garden and a Flemington hotel there. It's the only food court there so you can't miss it. I forgot the name and forgot to take pictures but the 'ikan bakar' and fried 'lala' was nice. 

Still in Taiping on Day 4, we went to Taiping Equine Park (GPS N 4 51.399 E 100 45.181) in the morning after our breakfast. You can ride a horse there for RM 10 and they'll bring you around for 2 laps in the arena. All the children went on a ride except Joseph and they enjoyed it! Elizabeth kept talking about how the horse moved and made her body go up and down. LOL.

Elizabeth all set to ride the horse .

And she's off!

She looked so tiny on the horse.

Another white horse horsing around. LOL.

2 laps for RM10. She was so happy to get a ride on the horse.

After the ride, then it's off to Penang. We took about 1 hour plus to reach Penang. Since it's not lunch time yet, we went to Kek Lok Si Temple our first stop (GPS N 5 23.993 E 100 16.406). Although this is not my first visit there, I discovered there are many changes at the temple since my last visit. Kek Lok Si Temple is a like a prominent landmark in Penang and your visit is not complete if you don't leave your footprint there. Anyway, I didn't take a lot of pictures because it was raining when we arrived there and my hands were occupied with an umbrella and a toddler. We did the direct opposite thing most tourist do because my hubby drove all the way up to the towering statue of Kuan Yin. Then we went downhill using the inclined lift to other parts of the temple, passed the Liberation Pond filled with turtles and finally descending the stairway along those well known shops selling souvenirs who have been there for years!

We went out of the temple looking for food nearby as it was already lunch time and our stomachs were growling. We settled for a hawker centre nearby and tried their asam laksa and fried kuay teow. Not really worth mentioning because it's not the best in town.

Entering Penang via the Penang bridge.

View of Kek Lok Si Temple as we were driving up to the towering statue of Kuan Yin.

A koi pond around the vicinity of the towering statue of Kuan Yin.

The kids as usual were drawn to the koi pond.

Took this pic while waiting for the inclined lift to take us down.

The lunch did not do justice and was not enough to fill our tummies so we went for cendol at the Penang Road Famous Teochew Cendol (GPS N 5 25.031 E 100 19.835). It's on Penang Road just beside a coffee shop called Joo Hooi. I was so looking forward to it that I forgot to take a picture of the cendol itself. My apologies. I gobbled it up as soon as the bowl touched my hand! LOL. It was truly satisfying and thirst quenching. Slurp!

I only took this picture after I gobbled up the cendol. Sorry ya, glutton me.

We checked in Golden View Serviced Apartments (GPS N 5 26.702 E 100 18.341) after the cendol. This serviced apartments in quite near to Gurney and we selected the Deluxe three-bedroom apartments with living room, kitchenette, dining area and attached bathrooms all for RM 365 nett per night. I totally forgotten to take pictures of the modern apartment. However if you are interested you can view them over at www.goldenview.com.my Personally, I feel it's quite worth it. It's also spacious enough and has modern looking furnishings like a hotel. You can choose the view overlooking the sea too.

The next visit was at Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill. We deliberately chose to visit the hill in the late evening so that we will have the panaromic view of Penang at night. We took the new Penang Hill furnicular train service up the hill. It is even more new and modern than the train I took to Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong. LOL. Not bad lar. Malaysia boleh! The journey up didn't take long although there were a few stops to allow the train coming down to pass through. The train is also air-conditioned. Ticket prices are RM 8 for adults, RM 4 for children (7-12 years old) and RM 4 for senior citizens. They have family packages too.



Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill. The entrance and you can see the railway tracks behind.

Going in the furnicular train. Sorry for the blurry pic. I was pacing quickly into the train.

Elizabeth getting excited but her brother was asleep on his dad's shoulder. He didn't get his daily nap that's why he's so tired.

Took this pic at once after hopping off the train.

That man is not a model for my shoot. :P

The sky was still blue but getting darker.

Then it got darker but still a hint of blue. That cloud doesn't seem to move huh?

Now it's really dark. It would be perfect if there's a moon in sight. But still nice with the cool climate.

For dinner, we went to this hawker centre called Old Green House in Burma Road (GPS N 5 25.430 E 100 19.258). We wanted to have the famous food there but most stalls were not open that day. So we had their 'bak kut teh' and fried rice. Nice on the tummy though. The hubby said we shall be back tomorrow to Old Green House! LOL. Again apologize for taking the pics. Just trust my word of mouth ok? :P I tend to forget to take pictures of food before I eat them. It could be I'm a glutton, I forgot, I got lazy or I'm afraid of being labelled a FREAK by my in-laws. :P

Stay tuned for another day in Penang. Meanwhile here are two pics to end the post. Have a great weekend everyone!

Their pyjamas were nearly alike so I couldn't resist this photo taking opportunity. The cousins look so cute together. (Zi Yu and Joseph)

Then Elizabeth doesn't want to be left out too. So she took a pic with her cousin Han Yang. These two are inseparable.

Taiping Day 3

I have done quite a number of road trips before but this is the first time I went to 3 different states all in one road trip! This is a record and I wonder what made us so gung-ho? Oh I guess it must be the hubby being a fillial son as he has never brought his parents on a holiday before. He was indeed very satisfied after the trip as if he has already fulfil his duty as a son. :P

Our next destination was Taiping. So after we checked out and had breakfast, we started our journey to Ipoh first for our lunch. We used the Simpang Pulai way to go down Cameron Highlands and made a few pit stop to do some last minute shopping and I got these...

Strawberry tea in tea bags form. As you can see it's RM 7.90.

'Teh Tarik Strawberi'. It's the 3 in 1 sachet form. This I gotta try because it was recommended by a friend and it was really good! RM 9.50 a box.  

We arrived in Ipoh at lunch time and ate at this famous restaurant called Foh San (GPS N 4 35.818 E 101 05.153). My mother in-law recommended this place because she has been there before and assured that the dim sum was nice. I'm a dim sum fan, so anything goes but indeed it was truly nice! Again, I didn't get to take every single thing that we ate. Heck my father in-law even had to pause for a while for me to take a picture before he could grab a 'char siew pau'. So I guess I better stop because I think he already thinks I'm a freak. :P

Egg tarts..yummy!

'Char Siew Pau' or steamed barbecue pork bun

Cheong Fun

Prawn dumpling.

I love siew mai the most and what's more this is the best I've ever tasted! I was pleasantly surprised, it was like heaven in my mouth and I wanted to get more but shy lar with my in-laws around.

Foh San Restaurant.

The entrance to the restaurant.

As usual the children are always very interested in any water feature anywhere even at this restaurant.

As if the lunch was not satisfying enough, we went to 'tapau' the famous salted chicken from Aun Kheng Lim (GPS N 4 35.685 E 101 05.009) for us to savour later after we reach our place of stay in Taiping.

I couldn't find an apartment in Taiping but stumbled upon Tan Homestay from the internet! So homestay it is and we were pleasantly surprised too. It's a fully furnished single storey bungalow with ample space and compound. The car porch can even fit two cars and there are 4 bedrooms. It's also 10 minutes away from Lake Garden. For only RM280 per night, we get more than what we bargain for.

The living room. Big isn't it? The children kept running around.

This is the room we chose. Complete with even a dressing table and towels.

The kitchen..feels like home. Haha.

Another room.

Another one of the back rooms. Forgot to take picture of the master bedroom.

After having our salted chicken and rested for a bit, it was time for us to go to Taiping's Lake Garden (GPS N 4 51.079 E 100 44.817). Elizabeth and I sat the swan boat but decided not to let Joseph on the swan boat yet because we felt that he's still too young. He's active and stubborn, might not listen to us while we are busy peddling the swan boat. Luckily he did not mind being left out. Elizabeth had so much fun.

The Swan Boat at Lake Garden.

Snap a picture first before I start peddling. Phew!

The view from the Swan Boat taken with my handphone camera. Not bad eh?

Another view with other swan boats!

Lake Garden with Maxwell Hill as the backdrop.

She's so happy to be at 'Taman Tasik Taiping'.

This cutie had many rides while I was busy peddling in the lake.

After the swan boat ride, she got her ride on those machines also. Look how happy she is.

We went to Taiping Zoo (GPS N 4 51.282 E 100 45.067) after that for the Night Safari. The Night Safari opens daily at 8PM. We wanted to have the night experience in a zoo. Once in the zoo, everyone hopped on the Mini Train for a tour around the zoo with a guide informing us over the speaker on every animal we encounter. I'm impressed with the size of the zoo and the animals they have. However, if I had the chance to go again I wouldn't choose the Night Safari again because I felt that the lightings were not many or bright enough and I can't really get to see the animals properly. I think I rather just stick to daytime zoo. Hehe. Nevertheless it was a bit exciting for the kids because of the anticipation in encountering animal after animal in the dark. LOL. Here are some pictures I took. You might be disappointed because most of my pictures didn't turn out well because of the darkness and distance. So I only have a few to share. Up next is Penang..till then!

On the Mini Train.

Happy kids (me included..:P)

 

I hope you can see the flamingoes scurrying away.

I find it quite unusual to find zebras, a cow and an ostrich all in one enclosure.

Can you see the elephant yonder there?