Hanging Out: The Beach in Penang

So, two days at the beach, a blissful escape from the noise of the city the stress of too much travel (okay I admit there can be too much travel if it is all for work) and some serious downtime by the pool. It has been crazy few months around the Vagabond family household and Mom needed some serious beach time with her little munchkins. We hadn’t been back as a family to Penang since 2005 and while I have been there for work, I had not made it out to the beach.

Penang is sort of a weird little island; one part down by the airport is rapidly developing into a major economic power child for Malaysia, lots of industry, and lots of manufacturing. The Northern part of the island is where the UNESCO World Heritage recognized city of Georgetown is located. Dilapidated buildings meet old world elegance and some of the most amazing food at street vendor prices. And then there are the beaches. Frankly we were not too impressed in 2005. You drove by the beaches and they looked pretty, but the flotsam and jetsam and generally pollution made many of the beaches less inviting close up.

Five years can do a lot for a location. On the positive side the beaches, at least those by our hotel and that we saw were much cleaner. The water was cleaner and the overall feel of the beaches seems to be that the local Penangites are taking care of the natural resources that they are entrusted with. But, of course there is bad news too. Over the last 5 years hundreds of new construction projects have cropped up-all with “Ocean Views”. Buildings crowding the beaches, buildings place precariously on the edge of cliffs, real estate speculators from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore have been snapping up property in order to make a quick buck (this is also the case in downtown Georgetown where the locals are rapidly being priced out of the market). But, I was talking about the beaches and in particular our hotel.



Batu Ferringghi is where a number of the beach hotels of Penang are located. In particular, the Shangri-la, Holiday Inn and Park Royal are all within a short stretch of beach, the Hard Rock is just down the road and in front of the Holiday Inn is an active night market with all the trinkety schlock any kid could want, let’s just say the bubble blowers were popular…and plenty of less expensive food could be found just a short walk from the hotel, in particular the Long Beach Seafood Hawker Centre. We think the Satays we had there rival some of the best we have had in 6 years traveling around Singapore and Malaysia. We stayed at the Park Royal and really enjoyed our stay and I will post a “review” of the hotel in a later post.

The beaches of Batu Ferringghi are filled with all sorts of “beach” activities; jet skis, parasailing and horseback riding can all be yours for a small price. Frankly I am not as much of an “adventure” junkie as I used to be but the parasailing looked much safer here than on the beaches of Thailand, if you are so inclined. Remember that the beaches here are often less monitored than other places in the world and sneaker waves, strong undertows and jellyfish are all very real dangers in deeper water. We tend to let the kids build sandcastles and play in the shallow water but with them being younger we leave the real swimming to the hotel pool.


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Kids in Penang: Two Days in Downtown Georgetown

So, we really spent 4 days in Penang, but the two days were spent just lounging at the beach, so the itinerary I am suggesting could be adjusted for more or less time pool side as you see fit! And sometimes you just got to have some pool time!

Our first two days were spent in downtown Georgetown. While it is only a 20 minute ride from the beach to the town, without traffic, if you want to explore the UNESCO listed streets staying downtown is your better bet. We stayed at the Northam as it was next door to my office. While not really kid friendly it was not bad. The advantage was the rooms were huge and we were able to get two adjoining suites.

The first day, while I worked, was really all about the food. We ate lunch at one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of local food stalls. Lead by our stomachs and the local guides we found ourselves eating noodles, all handmade and finishing our lunch with a bit of famous "Penang Road Famous Cendol".



Kiera was not too fond of the Chendol shaved ice topped with Gula Malaca(palm sugar) with pandan leaf jelly bits in coconut milk so she ended up with an "ice ball" instead.




After lunch the kids went back to the hotel and walked up and down Gurney Drive and Northam Drive to view the huge condos being built and see some of the remaining mansions that used to line the streets.


Dinner, was back into the UNESCO district to the Red Garden Food Centre, next door to the famous Blue Mansion (The Cheong Fatt Tze Home)which has been turned into a hotel. The Red Garden food centre is great, with cheap food and it is off the street and enclosed for the kids to run around while eating Satay, Chicken Rice and Sausages. The Cheong Fatt Tze home is open only to guests of the hotel or for private tours at 11am or 3pm, so book those tours in advance and then you can wander through the streets for a while before an early dinner at the Red Garden.





The second day we took off early for the Esplanade. The key, from the kids point of view is Fort Cornwallis with its original cannons and plenty of places to explore. As you walk out the kids were able to play on a playground and then after a short walk (about 5 minutes) we found ourselves at the Penang Peranakan Mansion Museum. Another home that underwent extensive renovations (about US$1 Million, plus another Million plus or minus to fill with period antiques.)



The house is open to the public for a small fee and also holds free guided tours with the price of admission. The home is a fascinating look into the life of a wealth Peranakan family. Peranakans are the cultural mix of Chinese and Malay and you can learn more here.

Round of the day with lunch, again at another local food stall and it was time to head back to the pool.

Downtown Georgetown is a fascinating spot for kids and adults alike. While it does tend to lend itself better to kids a bit older there are enough things to see to keep younger kids entertained as well. Frankly, two days in Georgetown doesn't begin to scratch the surface, but again traveling with kids means that adjustments need to be made and beaches and pools are great diversions. While the Vagabond Parents could have spent another day or two exploring Georgetown, it was time to move to the beach. More on the beach coming tomorrow!


For More info:

Northam Hotel- 55, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Penang Road Famous Chendol (Cendol) Lebuh Keng Kwee off Penang Road

Red Garden 20 Leith Street

Cheong Fatt Mansion 14 Leith Street Guided tours at 11am and 3pm daily.

Penang Peranakan Mansion: 29, Church Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia. Hours Monday to Sunday including Public Holidays from 9:30 am to 5 pm

Monday Dreaming: Photo's From Penang

While I sit here dreaming a life even more traveled than the one I have now. One that involves good things and family, and while enjoying the thought of dreams that were started by new friends, I am very grateful to have had 3 days in Penang with my kids and my husband. A bit of time to recharge at the beach, drink a few glasses of wine at a beach hut, get a much needed massage and hang at the pool and slip and slide down some wicked pool slides. While I dig back into work today, and unfortunatly out of my dreams here are some more shots from Penang to keep you all entertained!



The slide at Park Royal Hotel


Kiera's tearing it up!


Splashdown



And my view from the coffee shop



For more Monday Dreams, visit Mother of All Trips Monday's are for Dreaming

Kids in Penang: Kopitiam Lunch

It's Photo Friday over at Delicious Baby, and today's shots are all about Penang Malaysia and eating a simple lunch with the kids. Penang is famous for its food and it is hard to find a more food obsessed group of people in Asia. Sure Singapore has its foodies, Malacca has its niche, Hong Kong citizens love the Dim Sum. But Penang, it is just part of life and each and every street corner has food waiting to be discovered and eaten. No matter what the kids want, if this shop doesn't have it, just cross the street.

Waiting for the food is the hardest part!

Strawberry Juice Blended!

A huge shout out to the amazing photography and mouth watering writing over at Eating Asia that turned me onto the love of Penang Food. Also some props to our new friends at Our Travel Lifestyle for dinner with them and their two fun kids!

Kids in Penang: Photos from the Past

I am trying to scan in some old negatives from our trip to Penang in with the kids who were just really babies back in 2005. The scanning is slow going but the results are a real treat. Here are a few of some of my favorites.

Sunset on Batu Ferrenghi

Downtown Georgetown

Batu Ferringhi

Penang Peranakan Museum

Photo Friday: The Vagabondboy

A trip to Phuket Thailand, Spring 2002

In the first nine years of my life, I think I traveled to exactly 2 foreign countries. Canada and Mexico. I think I did not go beyond those 2 countries, and my own home country of the USA for an additional 10 years. At the age of 19 I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to Germany with stops in France and Austria. Not a huge step into the un-known, but quite enough for me.


Taipei Taiwan 2002

Now, contrast that with my Son’s first 9 years. He was born in Taiwan. Traveled to China, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the continental US and Guam, as well as Singapore and Japan all before he was 2 years old. A few more years he has made trips to Thailand an annual event, with side trips to Malaysia, Indonesia and the island of Borneo as well as semi-annual trips back to the US and a trip to Mexico. Not bad for a kid who does go to school from August to June and whose parents work full time.


In honor of my third culture son, who is celebrating his 9th birthday with an Indiana Jones Adventure birthday party this weekend, here are some highlights of some of the explorer's trips around the world.



Shanghai China, Summer 2002







Macau Fall 2002


Japan Fall 2002





Guam 2003






Penang 2004

Singapore Zoo


Phuket 2006


Mulege Baja Mexico 2007



Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 2008


Disneyland 2010




Sharing these as part of Photo Friday on Delicious Baby visit her page for more great Photo Friday posts

Planning for a Weekend Trip-Penang?

We love living in Singapore. One of the clear winners on our front is the rise in budget airlines flying in and out of Singapore. Coupled with my frequent travel around the region for work, Jeff's flexibility using a work from home model and the wealth of travel options around Singapore (don't believe me, check out Wild Junket's post on 10 New Ideas for a Weekend Getaway).

The last trip we took, to Yogjakarta using hotel points and budget airlines was a super bargin at around $800 US for 4 nights five days at a 5 Star Hotel. We want to travel but we want to do it on the cheap. Our plans for our next trip usually start within days of our return from the last trip. We end up spending time dreaming and surfing the net looking for fun spots to visit, we look at my work schedule and where I need to travel over the next few months and then finally we look at the kid's school schedule to see when they have time off. The next logical determination is can we combine the two?

I am needing to do a trip to Penang in order to train some of the employees we have in our North Malaysia office. This training needs to be done sometime in the next few months so I confirmed that the first week of May works for the staff in Penang and the last day of April is a holiday in Singapore so the kids get the day off. So putting two and two together. Looks like we have a weekend we can get away. Our last trip to Penang with the family was in 2005. Lots has changed since then, we know much more about Penang and were to go and what to do. I was back in Penang last year for work and had a blast visiting tons of great foodie spots. As our little creatures are beyond just the beach at this age- we can't wait.


Now, we are looking into flights (Air Asia is looking to be a winner again) our current booking looks like it can be done for around $350 Singapore Dollars (about $250 US). Next step is to find some hotels. We often look at hoteltravel.com to check prices and then we compare them against either rates I get from my corporate accounts or from membership deals. If all goes as planned and the deals can be done we should be hanging on the beach at Batu Ferrenghi and having some most awesome Chicken Rice soon!

Pictures of the kids from 2005.