We had opted to spend 3 nights in Penang, at Parkroyal, and then rent a car and take a nostalgic drive to Ipoh to spend a night there, since my dad had worked in Ipoh for many years and we had spend many a holiday there.
We touched down in Penang on a blazing hot day, the 16th, July. I had hired Ocean Jupiters to pick us up from the airport to the hotel, and Danny was there with smiles to greet us.
He whisked us away and drove us to Parkroyal. We got checked into the hotel and the first order of the day from the girls? Swimming. Shannon and Lauren, yes Lauren, pestered us non-stop until they got changed into the swim costumes.
The hotel grounds were beautiful, nicely manicured lawns with flowering bushes, and palm trees, with the pool nicely set out. There were three pools, a baby pool which Lauren turned up her nose at, a 1 - 1.5m pool and a deeper plunge pool for adults with a super kids slide at the end that looked like lots of fun. Shannon was not adverturous enough to try the slide, so the kids were content to waddle around in the adult pool.
After a swim, and a much needed nap, we headed out of the hotel to have dinner at Long Beach Hawkers, right smack into the night market. It was really convenient, and the food was yummy. We tried the Hainanese fried spring roll which tastes a little like Ngoh Hiang, but was yummy, chock full of veggies. We had 'Zi Char' and honey BBQ wings, as well as 'Or Luah' all pretty yummy, and I got my thai coconut at only 4RM.
After that it was a slow leisurely walk back to the hotel, passing through and looking at the night market stuff.
The next morning, Danny picked us up and we headed to the Botanic Gardens. We bought peanuts to feed the monkeys. These monkeys are wild, and I have clear memories of feeding them bananas when I was nine years old and last there. I still remember the gentle monkey taking the banana from my hand, and my Dad snapping a photo of the encounter. So it was great when after watching me feed the peanuts, Shannon finally plucked up her courage and tried it as well. She giggled and told me, 'the hand is furry, Mommy, not scary...' We then sat on the tram for a ride around the garden.
Feeding the monkeys, see how close they areAfter the Botanics gardens, we headed to Kek Lok Si, the temple perched on top of the hill. Danny told us that now, vehicles are allowed all the way to the top, so for the first time, we managed to see the Statue of 'Guang Yin' up close. My Dad was especially pleased, as all his trips up here, he never made it to the top so this was also a first for him. The the ground were quite beautiful, with carved stone statues of the zodiac, all 12 animals lined up. Shannon took a photos infront of her zodiac sign, the rooster. There was also a pavilion in a small lake with a waterfall behind it. There were also cute stone craved cartoon characters in the parking lot that made the kids laugh.
The Year of the Rooster, 2005, the year Shannon was born
Nice Fountain in the background makes a pretty picture
Cute Stone Statues in the parking lotNext stop was down to the 2nd level where the shops and tortise pond was. We went down the Small furnicular lift to the mid section, and bought kangkong from the vendor, and Shannon and Lauren had tons of fun feeding the hundreds of tortises there. I think this was the hightlight of the trip for them, feeding all the animals!
Kids feeding the tortises, see them in the background? There's hundreds!
Lunch was at Song River, with my Dad raving about the Giant grouper with Bee Hoon. It was good, and we ate till we were stuffed. Besides the fish, there was Tofu with Brinjai, yummy, Tang Hoon prawns, Bak Kut Teh, and oysters with bean sauce (I'm sure they were good, but personally, I can't stand oysters..).
We headed back to the hotel for a nap and after that, what else but swimming again!
That night we chose to eat at the hotel. The hotel was having a One for one promotion and the kids ate for free. We were seranaded by a singing quartet with guitars, and a cello. They gamely sang Twinkle twinkle little stars for the girls and belted out 'It's Now or Never' by Evis the King when I requested for something by him.
The last full day at Penang was spent solely at the hotel. We went to the beach early in the morning, and I went horse riding. My poor horse pooed after I got on, prompting Mal to laugh and ask whether I was too heavy!
The kids played in the sand for awhile but big raindrops chased us back to the pool. I then indulged in a facial treatment, and Pedicure while Lauren had her morning nap.
We then decided to head right of the hotel in search of some lunch as I had seen a few stalls there when I was on my horse in the morning. We stumbled on a beach cafe selling Mee goreng, Calamari and Char Kway Tiao, all very delicious. On teh short walk back, we sampled delicious goreng pisang and fried banana balls, Ohhhh, sooo very good! I vowed to go back to buy fried Chempadek as the vendor was still frying them, but by the time I hurried back, it was all sold out! Malvin then went for a two hour massage while the gals played and took their afternoon naps.
Dinner was at Long Beach again, and we tapo'ed Char Kway Tiao back for supper, yum yum!
The next morning, 19th, we had breakfast and packed up. The girls had a final swim and we got into a metered taxi to Hertz while we picked up our rental car, a Toyota Innova 2.0. It was very spacious and gave us plenty of room to fit in the girls' rented car seats and our luggage.
We then left Penang at 2pm and drove over Penang bridge and down into Perak. My Dad guided us to Sungei Bakap in search of the famous 'Ku Char Bao', (Chive dumplings), but by the time we got there close to 3pm, the stall was closed! We then headed onwards into Ipoh, and reached Hotel Impiana at about 5pm.
After we checked in, and settled a scuffle with the staff regarding our beds, (or lack of them!) we headed out to Mun Cheong Restuarant. My dad was directing Mal on the route there, but years aways from Ipoh had confused him, and we kept going around in circles. Luckily, Mal turned on our trusty (but sometimes a little wonky) GPS, and we soon reached our destination.
Hmmmmm, Mun Cheong. I remember their limpets (small clam like abalone) with golden mushrooms, and their yummy crabmeat tofu. We ordered the tofu but seems there was a change in the menu and the limpets were not available. We had a big Patin fish steamed with soya sauce, and fried Big headed prawns. We also had ginger steamed chicken with chinese wine, fried vegs and fresh mango and jackfruit pudding for dessert. I was seeing stars by the time we finished dinner!
We wound our way back, with a quick stop at the market to try to buy some dried goods from, but the usual vendor was closed. So it was back to the hotel for the kids to play aorund the room, and finally to bed at 1030pm.
The next morning, we quickly packed up our luggage and left the hotel early in the morning at 8am. Our plan was to try to head to Pantai Remis to eat their delectable seafood before making the long drive back to Penang in time to catch our 510pm flight to Singapore.
We had a quick breakfast at a coffee shop. There was good Char Kway Tiao, yummy Niang Duo Fu, and really good roasted coffee. Somehow you can't find such good food in Singapore.
We then made our way to Pantai Remis, with the help of our GPS, as well as directions from the helpful boss of the restuarant. We reached safely and in good time. And the food..... what can I say? It just bought back memories of us eating there when I was a teenager.
We had three praying mantis prawns, steamed in chinese wine and soya sauce, their meat is soooo sweet, very much like lobster, but only much sweeter and so much more tender. We had to order TWO more cos it was so good. Likewise with good coffee, you just can't find this in Singapore.
We also ordered huge Calamari rings fried in batter. The rings were really huge, so much so that when they are served each ring is cut into 3 portions. Apparantly these calamari rings come from the bigger species of Squid, hence their very chewy and springy texture. It was also full of flavour unlike their smaller cousins. Shannon relished the calamari and gulped quite a few!
We also ordered their signature steamed big pomfret with garlic and soya sauce, the thickness of the fish was about 1 inch, but the flesh was silky smooth and tasty, perfect with the soya sauce over some piping hot rice. We also ordered claypot tofu and veg, and for dessert? Their famous fried yam bread.
This dessert is handmade by this restuarant only, and you won't find it anywhere else. They take a slice of bread, fill it up with sweet yam paste (Or nee), and roll it up. Then its fried till golden brown and served. Sound simple? Oh no! The taste is heavenly... The bread is fried till it is crisp and fluffy and almost melts in your mouth, and when you bite into it, the smooth sweet yam paste flows into your mouth, mmmmm.... my brother specifically asked for us to cart some frozen ones home to him, so in the end we packed 40 to bring back on the plane!
With our bellies full of good food, we made the return drive back to Penang. It was uneventful and and girls napped in their car seats. We reached Penang Airport at 3pm with plenty of time to spare and waited for our plane to arrive.
One thing I have to say about flying on budget airlines, you meet all kinds of people. People were shoving and cutting queues to get onto the plane, infront of us, who were entitled to board the plane first because we had small kids.
Now that we are back, I have been dreaming about the food and thinking when we will get back for another round,,, anyone game? :)))
