National Park & Escape Penang Holiday Trip

We had a 4 night 5 days vacation at Penang from 28/9 to 2/10/2023. I thought I would be a boring vacation because before this our trip was a bit boring.

Surprisingly, this holiday was really fun especially activities at Escape Penang & National Park.

Our Activities in Penang

Thursday 28/9/2023

Arrived in Penang around 5pM.
Check in at our Airbnb at Sunrise Gurney condominium.
We had our dinner at Fried Chicken Master. The chicken was not well cooked so I wouldn’t go here again.

fried garden master
fried garden master

 

Then we had a simple dessert at a Starbucks nearby.

Friday 29/9

We had our breakfast at Gemas Road Brothers. The queue was really long. I think the roti canai is overrated. I don’t really like it. The kuah taste sour and really spicy.

gemas road brothers - roti canai
gemas road brothers – roti canai
gemas road brothers roti canai
gemas road brothers roti canai
gemas road brothers - roti canai banjir
gemas road brothers – roti canai banjir

After breakfast, we went to Design Outlet – similar concept like premium outlet in Genting & Johor Bahru. We bought track suit for our next day activities at National Park.

design outlet mall - premium outlet penang
design outlet mall – premium outlet penang

We had our lunch at Coffee Bean in Design Outlet Mall.

We took our dinner at Lotus food court in Seri Tanjung.

delicious kebab and nasi goreng tomyan at Lotus Seri Tanjung food court
delicious kebab and nasi goreng tomyan at Lotus Seri Tanjung food court

After then we went to Medan Renong to eat pasembur at Ghani Pasembur.

medan renong penang
medan renong penang

Saturday 30/9

For breakfast, we ate bread history breads that we bought at Lotus. Then we went for Penang National Park and arrived around 1030am.

penang national park map
penang national park map
taman negara penang
taman negara penang
taman negara penang - jetty to monkey beach
taman negara penang – jetty to monkey beach
posing at the jetty going to monkey beach
posing at the jetty going to monkey beach

We went to Monkey beach by boat. We had our lunch at the stall in Monkey beach. The maggi goreng was delicious.

boarding boat to monkey beach penang
boarding boat to monkey beach penang
riding the boat to monkey beach penang
riding the boat to monkey beach penang
stall at monkey beach
stall at monkey beach
monkey at monkey beach penang
monkey at monkey beach penang
maggi goreng at monkey beach stall
maggi goreng at monkey beach stall

After lunch we went up to Muka Light house. It took us 1 hour to go up and 40 mn to go down. It was really tiring, we stopped few times to reach at the top. For a fit person that can climb up in 20 minutes.

muka light house at penang national park
muka light house at penang national park
path to light house taman negara penang
path to light house taman negara penang
light house at taman negara penang
light house at taman negara penang

Then the kids swam at the beach and played sands.

swiming and playing at the monkey beach
swiming and playing at the monkey beach

We had our dinner around 5pm at McDonalds because we were so hungry after the activities.

Then at night, we went for supper at Pasembur Gurney road.

Sunday 1/10

We had our breakfast at Ascott Hotel. Then we went to Escape Penang and arrive around 1000am.

breakfast at ascott hotel
breakfast at ascott hotel
breakfast at ascott hotel penang soup
breakfast at ascott hotel penang soup

We rode the longest waterslide, zip coaster, flying lemur and many more. It was really fun and tiring at same time.

escape penang map
escape penang map
slingshot at escape penang
slingshot at escape penang
riding boat at escape penang
riding boat at escape penang
cable car at escape penang
cable car at escape penang
cable car at escape penang
cable car at escape penang
water park at escape penang
water park at escape penang
gladiator challenge at escape penang
gladiator challenge at escape penang

 

For lunch we at A&W inside the park and dinner we just eat at the shopping mall near Gurney some of us ate Subway and some Coffee bean.

We fall asleep early with muscle pains around the body.

Monday 2/10

We had our breakfast at a nasi lemak restaurant nearby the Sunrise Gurney condominium. The nasi lemak was delicious.

breakfast nasi lemak near sunrise gurney condo
breakfast nasi lemak near sunrise gurney condo

Then we went back to Shah Alam and reached Shah Alam around 430pm.

Entopia – Butterfly & Insects Farm Penang Review

We visited Entopia on 13th December 2022 around 230PM.

The place was quite big, I didn’t know it was that big.

Itinerary of Entopia

  1. You will find butterflies flying around and seeing Koi fishes.
  2. The you will discover frogs, spider and scorpion at first
  3. Along the way more butterflies and can try to touch and put them on your hand
  4. At same time you can see few iguanas and tortoise.
  5. At the end, you will discover more on insects like ants, worms, and bugs
  6. Finally you will reach to souvenirs shops and Entopia’s founding history.

For this visit, I didn’t go to level 2.

entopia - frog like a leaf
entopia – frog like a leaf
entopia spider
entopia spider
entopia - tarantula
entopia – tarantula
entopia - iguana
entopia – iguana
entopia - touching the butterfly
entopia – touching the butterfly
entopia - butterfly with liesha for more than 20 mn
entopia – butterfly with liesha for more than 20 mn
entopia - insects
entopia – insects
entopia - worms
entopia – worms

Visiting Hours

9:00AM to 6:00PMĀ  daily with last entry by 5:00PM.

Ticket Price

For Malaysian

Adults (13 to 59 years old): RM49
Kids (4 to 12 years old): RM29
Senior citizen (60 years old and above): RM29

entopia - ticket price
entopia – ticket price

Overall Experience

I would rate 5/5 stars.

Butterfly & Insects Varieties: 5/5
Environment: 5/5
Price: 4/5

 

Holiday December 2022

We have a long holiday to multiple places this December 2022.

Places we visited:

  1. Genting Highlands
  2. Legoland Johor
  3. Taiping, Perak
  4. Penang
holiday december 2022 - itinerary
holiday december 2022 – itinerary

2nd & 3rd December 2022 – Going to Genting

We picked up my nieces at KLIA2 around 10PM++ . Then we went straight to Genting Highlands. We arrived around 1AM++.

The next day, we went up to Genting Highlands by cable car and let the kids played at Zombie Outbreak.

Before going to the cable car, I installed towels hanger at my Airbnb unit in Genting Permai.

By 4PM, we went back to Shah Alam.

my nieces arrived at KLIA2
my nieces arrived at KLIA2
installed towel hanger
installed towel hanger
foggy at genting
foggy at genting
posing near the genting cable car
posing near the genting cable car
genting mall at genting highlands
genting mall at genting highlands
zombie outbreak game at genting
zombie outbreak game at genting
genting mall lamp show
genting mall lamp show
arrive at Genting airbnb
arrive at Genting airbnb

3rd December 2022 – back to Shah Alam

We arrived at Shah Alam by 7PM then we ate at Dominoes Pizza Bukit Jelutong. It was tiring traveling day.

dinner at dominoes pizza bukit jelutong
dinner at dominoes pizza bukit jelutong

4th December 2022 – Go to Legoland – Theme Park

We had our breakfast at Restoran Mak Uda and we reached Legoland Theme Park around 12PM.

Then we checked in into our Airbnb around 352PM. By 5PM we went back to the theme park. We played till 8PM when the theme park was closed.

breakfast at restoran mak uda before going to johor
breakfast at restoran mak uda before going to johor
arrive at legoland johor
arrive at legoland johor
truck play at medini
truck play at medini
legoland seaworld
legoland seaworld
our homestay at johor legoland
our homestay at johor legoland
posing in front of lego elephant
posing in front of lego elephant
lego boat tower
lego boat tower

For dinner, we ate at McD near EduCity and it was full house.

5th December – 2nd day at Legoland Theme Park

It was heavy raining we could ride only few rides. Then we stop by 1PM. We had our lunch at 7 spices.

Then went back to our Airbnb unit and took a good rest.

For dinner we ate at Mana Cafe and had ice cream as dessert. After dinner we went to JPO

7 spice for lunch
7 spice for lunch
mana cafe at iskandar puteri for our dinner
mana cafe at iskandar puteri for our dinner
ice cream at mana cafe
ice cream at mana cafe
JPO posing while waiting for our ride to come
JPO posing while waiting for our ride to come

6th December – 3rd day at Legoland Theme Park

We did till 2PM the theme park because the kids were fully enjoyed all the rides by this day.

For lunch we had Subway.

We had our dinner at TKR a mamak restaurant at Iskandar Puteri. Then went to JPO but this time Deef and me stayed at our homestay because Deef was not feeling well.

legoland theme park
legoland theme park
subway for lunch at medini
subway for lunch at medini
dinner at TKR restaurant at iskandar puteri
dinner at TKR restaurant at iskandar puteri
JPO at Johor
JPO at Johor

7th December – 4th day at Legoland Water Park

For breakfast we ate at Mana Cafe and lunch at Chicken Rice Shop at Medini. For dinner we had Dominoes pizzas and did our laundry.

ride at legoland water park
ride at legoland water park
dominoes pizza for dinner
dominoes pizza for dinner
doing our laundry next to dominoes pizza restaurant
doing our laundry next to dominoes pizza restaurant

8th December – Going back to Shah Alam

We had our brunch at McD.

For dinner, we just ordered food from Restoran Mak Uda Denai Alam. Then we visited an auctioned double terrace house at Denai Alam.

breakfast at mcd before going back to shah alam from johor
breakfast at mcd before going back to shah alam from johor
visit auctioned house at denai alam
visit auctioned house at denai alam

9th December -Rest and Play Badminton

We rest most of the time in the morning but around 3PM we played badminton for 2 hours and we ate Nasi cincang for lunch and dinner.

playing badminton
playing badminton

10th December – Arrived at Taiping after 1o hours of traveling

We had our breakfast at house where we ate bread, scrambled eggs and hotdogs.

We went to Taiping at 1030AM and arrived only at 7PM. 10 hours of traveling! It was really jam due to school holiday.

For lunch we had Dunkin Donuts sandwiches because all the other restaurants at the RNR were full. Only Dunkin Donuts less crowded.

We ordered for Mcd Delivery for our dinner. We stayed at Hermitage Boutique House for our 2 nights stay at Taiping.

11th December – Off Road ATV & Night Safari

We had our breakfast at Mcd Taiping. Then we did cycling and riding boat at Lake Garden.

After that we did off road ATV for 2 hours. After the ATV activity, we had our lunch at Nasi Kandar Beratur. After lunch, we had CU sundae and I had my favorite Gula Melaka Coconut at ZUS Coffee.

The kids went for swimming at the Hermitage Boutique house swimming.

By 8PM, we went for Night Safari at Zoo Taiping. Around 930PM we had our dinner at KFC.

We separated with my nieces as they stayed at Taiping while we were going to Penang by tomorrow.

riding bicycle at lake garden taiping
riding bicycle at lake garden taiping
riding boat at lake garden taiping
riding boat at lake garden taiping
ATV adventure at taiping
ATV adventure at taiping
playing at river after atv ride
playing at river after atv ride
nasi kandar beratur at taiping
nasi kandar beratur at taiping
swimming at hermitage boutique house
swimming at hermitage boutique house
night safari waiting for tram
night safari waiting for tram
posing after night safari
posing after night safari

12th December – Eat Passembur & Penang Batik Factory

We had our breakfast at McD Taiping. It took 1 hour to reach Penang.

For lunch we ate Taco Bell and bought Chateraise bread at the City Junction.

Then we check in to our room at Mercure Hotel. After then went to visit Penang Batik Factory. After Penang Batik Factory had our dinner at Jalan Gurney eating Passembur and laksa Penang.

our room at hotel mercure
our room at hotel mercure
penang batik factory shop
penang batik factory shop
penang passembur
penang passembur

13th December – Visit Bukit Bendera & Entopia

We had our breakfast at Naina’s Roti Bakar but before that we ate bread that we bought from Chateraise. Then we went to Penang 3D Trick Museum but at the end decided not to go because hard to get parking.

We went to Bukit Bendera, but we had to wait for 3 hours before could go up then decided no to buy the ticket. Immediately we went to Entopia, Butterfly Farm.

We had our lunch at Fried Chicken Master. After Entopia, we had drinks at Starbucks. When reached hotel the kids played at the beach.

Our dinner we had at Lotus food court nearby Mercure hotel.

eclair from chateraise
eclair from chateraise
naina roti kosong
naina roti kosong
bukit bendera counter
bukit bendera counter
fried chicken master - indome
fried chicken master – indome
entopia butterfly farm penang
entopia butterfly farm penang
log cake at starbucks
log cake at starbucks
playing sand at beach in front of mercure hotel
playing sand at beach in front of mercure hotel

14th December – Going back to Shah Alam – end of vacation

Checked out at Hotel around 1030AM then we had our lunch at IKEA Batu Kawan. Moving back to Shah Alam around 1230PM then arrived in Shah Alam around 6PM.

We had our dinner at Marry Brown Denai Alam.

It was a great holiday going to different places. A first in our holiday.

Mercure Hotel Tanjung Bungah, Penang Review

We had our holiday in Penang from 12th December till 14th December 2022. We booked 2 connecting rooms with one king bed size room and two queen bed size room.

Hotel Mercure is a 4 stars hotel.

The Rooms

Rooms were really comfortable with good air conditioning and really clean.

What I don’t like only the shower water pressure not that strong.

room with king bed size hotel mercure penang
room with king bed size hotel mercure penang
big screen tv at mercure hotel
big screen tv at mercure hotel
double queen bed at mercure hotel
double queen bed at mercure hotel
bathroom at mercure hotel
bathroom at mercure hotel

The Mercure Hotel

hotel mercure penang tanjung bungah
hotel mercure penang tanjung bungah
lobby area hotel mercure
lobby area hotel mercure
hotel mercure penang swimming pool
hotel mercure penang swimming pool
hotel mercure penang beach view
hotel mercure penang beach view
beach view hotel mercure penang
beach view hotel mercure penang
waiting area for lift hotel mercure penang
waiting area for lift hotel mercure penang
hotel mercure penang corridor to the room
hotel mercure penang corridor to the room

Amenities

Mercure Hotel provided toothbrush, toothpaste, shaver, tea etc.

Besides you could easily find F&B within 20-30 minutes drive from the hotel.

In term of parking a bit hard to get parking nearby the hotel. You had to go to basement park next to the hotel.

Mercure Hotel also provides drinking water using 3M filter.

drinking water tap at mercure hotel penang
drinking water tap at mercure hotel penang
drinking water using 3M filter
drinking water using 3M filter

Price

We booked our hotel rooms at booking.com. We got it at RM350 per night per room.

Location

Hotel Mercure Tanjung Bungah, Penang

Overall Experience

Overall rating: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Rooms: 5/5
Amenities: 5/5
Location: 5/5
Price: 5/5
Friendliness at Reception: 4/5

Penang Batik Factory

We went to Penang Batik Factory so my kids could learn how to do batik. Unfortunately we went late around 4PM and they said it was already closed.

Even for next day they were fully booked and it requires 2 days to do the batik. One day to do the coloring by your own and another day for them to die the batik cloth and dry it.

Fortunately the person in charge was really friendly and showed us the factory and brief us on the making of batik without any fee.

The Factory

The factory is situated just behind the batik shop.

penang batik factory in the making
penang batik factory in the making
penang batik factory
penang batik factory
penang batik factory floral pattern
penang batik factory floral pattern

The Shop & Souvenir

They sell their made batik at the shop and you can buy souvenir to the adjacent shop.

penang batik factory shop
penang batik factory shop
penang batik factory souvenir shop
penang batik factory souvenir shop
penang batik factory souvernir shop
penang batik factory souvernir shop

Price

Penang Batik Factory charges RM35 to make your own handkerchief batik.

Location

Penang Batik Factory Location

There is ample parking on the premise.

Naina’s Roti Bakar George Town Penang Review

We went to eat at the famous Naina’s Roti Bakar George Town in Penang.

It was a stall at Jalan Transfer.

The Stall

It is just a stall, but when we arrived it smelled sewerage near the stall.

naina roti bakar georgetown penang
naina roti bakar georgetown penang

Roti Bakar & Roti Canai

Roti goyang bakar is really delicious but the roti kosong banjir, I found other restaurant roti kosong is much better.

But of course taste is subjective to individual.

The service was fast and waiter was friendly.

roti goyang naina roti bakar penang
roti goyang naina roti bakar penang
roti canai banjir
roti canai banjir
tun M eating with us
tun M eating with us

Location

Naina’s Roti Bakar Location

There are ample of parking nearby but you have to walk for 10 minutes.

Overall Rating

Roti Goyang: 5/5
Roti Kosong Banjir: 3/5
Service: 5/5
Surrounding: 3/5

Chateraise – Patisserie from Japan in Penang

We bumped into a Japan Patisserie called Chateraise in Penang. It made us remember of our trip to Japan. Japan breads are delicious and nicely decorated or packed.

The Patisserie Shop

Most of the delicious breads on display is actually a fake but it looks really real. After you order, the waiter will take out the bread from a fridge.

chateraise - display bread
chateraise – display bread
chateraise - bread
chateraise – bread
chateraise - roti jepun
chateraise – roti jepun
chateraise - frozen patisserie
chateraise – frozen patisserie

The Bread

The mochi is really delicious. I like the cream puff but I think I can find better cream puff elsewhere.

chateraise - japanese bread
chateraise – japanese bread
chateraise - mochi
chateraise – mochi
cream puff chateraise
cream puff chateraise
cream puff with custard chateraise
cream puff with custard chateraise

Price

On average the price is around RM5 per bread. For me it is a bit expensive.

Location

Chateraise at City Junction, Penang

My Overall Review

The mochi is really delicious and the puff cream is niceĀ  but it is a bit expensive.

Taste: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Price: 4/5