Short break in Penang

Is a holiday really possible with 5 children? Perhaps not by most people's standards :) We thought that we should try in any case, on our way to Vietnam for 6 months, and we picked Penang both for its beauty and so that I could do a spot of business at the local University!

We rented an apartment in a new development in Batu Ferringhi for just over a week, with a pool, playground and great access to many of Penang's activities. We must have been one of the first occupants, and many of the other units were still being fitted out. This was great, for the most part, since it meant no trouble parking, safe roads and usually an empty pool. There was one evening, though, when someone decided to continue their work upstairs at a ridiculous hour. I think that my deployment to the next floor to confront the culprit must have been imminent, when it finally ceased!

After renting a car and stocking up the fridge and freezer at the local Tesco (so surprised to find Tesco in Penang!), we tried to explore in the morning and otherwise just took it easy most of our days in Malaysia.

Enjoying ice-cream on another hot day!

Swimming!
One of our main objectives for the stay was to swim every day in the pool in our complex. We nearly managed it but missed one through darkness and one because of pool closure. The pool closure was far more disappointing, since it was our last day and we left out all the swimmers and towels while packing up and then headed over, pumped for a final swim...but no, boooooo :(

          

Finding Veggie Food!
We ate out at least once a day, with a few highlights. Searching for vegetarian restaurants in Penang does not yield many options, but we managed to pick up an address for Idealite, a vegan place in Georgetown. We arrived as they were having a huge staff meeting with lots of cheering and speeches (apparently visiting owners and new staff for Singapore expansion). Anyway, the food was awesome but fairly pricey. Staff were extremely chatty and telling us about the vision of the place...really great spot. Judah said it was the best vegetarian food ever (a few places have earned that honour already during this trip!).

On our first day in Penang, we noticed a Thai eatery along our drive and the next day, we dropped in for dinner at Amphan Restaraunt. As was the case often in Malaysia, veggie options were thin on the ground but the staff were lovely and fresh fruit juice was awesome and served in big mugs! We spent a long time here and made some new friends, returning for lunch a few days later!

On the weekend we spent the day with Ali and Tayebeh, eating at a Chinese vegan place for lunch and a famous Indian restaurant in the evening. There was lots of really interesting food shared and a great day was had with lovely friends.

Botanic Gardens
One morning we decided to check out the Botanic Gardens that seemed to get good reviews, so we drove down into Georgetown and back up into the mountains to the west of the city. We later realised that there was a great 'youth park' really nearby, with lots of playgrounds and pools, that we never made it back to :(

In any case, the gardens were really beautiful, the downside being that it was a scorching hot day and we didn't last very long in the late morning heat (in true VM fashion we DID NOT leave the house as early as we had hoped!). There were monkeys and monitor lizards around to watch out for, we took a tram ride around the circuit and ate very rapidly melting ice-creams. Afterwards we realised that we were passing our fave Vegan restaurant (Idealite) and grabbed some take away dumplings and battered mushrooms!

                                                                      

Penang National Park and Monkey Beach
We took a drive out to Penang National Park, intending to go walking and traverse the famous walk-bridges. Maybe next time...without small children! Realising that we were not going to be climbing any mountains, in the heat or any other time, and being advised of a 1 hour walk to our destination, we quickly hired a boat ride out to Monkey Beach. Most of the kids hadn't been on this kind of a boat before...Judah's little face lit up :) Monkey Beach was a bit of paradise and the kids loved swinging on numerous ropes. We tried to trek into the jungle a bit but were rapidly repelled by mozzies! We didn't last more than 90 minutes, but it was definitely worth while.  

        

         

                             

Entopia visit
Entopia (previously Penang Butterfly Park) was a very cool place to spend a morning. The kids loved the butterflies all around and landing on them (except Caleb, who navigated the enclosure with great care not to be touched by anything!). As well as the butterflies, there were all sorts of lizards, bugs, spiders, caterpillars and insects, and a variety of great educational exhibitions.

                       

           

           

     

All in all, we had a great stay in Penang and even managed some decent relaxation time (I commented to Deb that my fingernails were getting long...a sign of reduced stress for this biter!). It may sound like hard work to take 5 kids on holiday...ok, so it is a bit...BUT we really like these little people and we wouldn't have it any other way!

At the end of our time in Penang it was onwards, von Medings, to Hanoi!