Penang with buddies - Part 1

With the June School Holidays happening right now, it was once again time for our mandatory vacation with Daddy's best pals - whose kids also happen to be di-di's & my best buddies too!

And this time, we jetted off to Penang together with Benjamin, Clara and Sarah. Compared to our previous trip to Hong Kong together, I think mei-mei has grown to be much more playful during this particular trip. In fact, she kept wanting to have a part of the action whenever we older kids are playing. How irritating cute.

During our last jaunt to Penang with Kong-kong & Por-por, we stayed at Hard Rock Hotel. It was a great stay, with the main draw for us being undoubtedly the kiddie slides at the pool area. But Daddy & Mummy wanted to try something different for this Penang trip, and so we made Golden Sands Resort our home for the next 4 nights.

Di-di & I are not unfamiliar with Golden Sands Resort though. We know it is the home to one of the BEST Indoor Playgrounds that both of us have ever been too - the Adventure Zone! And we couldn't wait to create mayhem in the playground with our pals.

But first, we had to check into the hotel after a brief flight from Singapore. The flight was uneventful to say the least - ALL 3 of us fell asleep during the flight so yes, we were pretty much recharged and raring to go after we got the keys to our room!

Daddy had booked the Hillview rooms for all of us, but we got a pleasant surprise when we arrived. Golden Sands Resort had upgraded all of our rooms to Seaview ones, and even gave us all an extra bed in each room as well.

That was our view from the balcony. But to di-di & me, that wasn't the best part of the balcony. Being able to chit chat with all our buddies from the comfort of our balconies was!

We absolutely loved our rooms, and they were in fact more comfy and erm, roomier than the one we stayed in at Hard Rock Hotel. But enough of the rooms... it was time to hit the streets of Penang. And since we have such a large group travelling together, the adults figured it would be extremely nice to bundle everyone together into a van for our transport in Penang!

The adults had initially feared that the hire van would be some rickety old machine, but luckily we got a relatively new 10-seater one which meant there was room for everyone to be comfortably seated.

We kids called Daddy the 'school bus uncle' as he drove us to the first destination of our trip for dinner. Hee hee.

We headed down to Fishing Village Seafood because the adults had cravings for seafood. It's in Telok Bahang, off Batu Ferringhi which is where our hotel is located. And the adults wouldn't have done the name of the eatery justice if they didn't fill their order list with crabs, tiger prawns, fish, clams... among the many other dishes they ordered.

See how all of them were too busy whacking the food instead of pausing to smile for the camera?

At least mei-mei obliged! Heh.

And so, that marked the end of our Day 1 in Penang. We, the gang of 6, had an early night because we overheard from the adults that it was going to be long day of fun for everyone on Day 2. Yippee!

And our first stop after breakfast was the Penang Butterfly Farm.

Di-di & I had actually been to the Butterfly Farm with Kong-kong & Por-por during our last Penang Trip so you can read our review about it HERE.

And although we had previously been here before, di-di & I were not bored a single bit. Not when we had our buddies (and parents) to act squeamish all together in the presence of these creepy crawlies.

Erm... like this stick insect that Daddy was holding up.

The outdoor section of the farm had all the different species of butterflies fluttering around us, complete with exhibits of giant millipedes, iguanas, mandarin ducks and alligator turtles. So I guess we kids pretty much enjoyed ourselves.

But I suspect the outdoor area was a tad too humid and hot for the adults' liking because they were looking to enter the indoor area at the nearest opportunity. All because it was air-conditioned!

Well, we can't complain either way as there were ample activities to keep us occupied as well.

There were more creepy crawlies on display at the indoor area as well, so it shouldn't come as a total surprise that we spent more time at the indoor area compared to the outdoor one. Heh.

Useful information about the Penang Butterfly Farm

The Penang Butterfly Farm is located in the north west corner of Penang at Teluk Bahang. Opening hours are from 9 am - 6 pm each day, 365 days of the year. Entrance fees are RM27 for adults and RM15 for children between 4-12 years old.

If you are driving, follow the coastal road past Batu Ferringhi until you reach the roundabout in Teluk Bahang. Turn left and the Butterfly Farm is less than 1km down the road. If you are coming by bus, the Rapid Penang 101 goes directly to the Butterfly Farm.

And with the kids being satisfied by the sights and sounds in the Penang Butterfly Farm, it was time to satisfy the taste buds of the adults next. Oh yes, it was DURIANS time as our arrival coincided with the start of the Durian Season in Penang.

And what better way to satisfy those taste buds than to visit a Durian Plantation! More on that, and much more fun we kids had coming up in Part 2! :)