Christmas in Penang
The bus ride to Penang was painless and in total it took about 3 hours. For the Ipoh-Penang journey, we tried the Uniti Bus Line, it was better than the Plusliner (KL to Ipoh), but still not as good as Transliner (KT to KL). Richie had arranged for the G hotel to pick us up from the bus station, so we alighted the bus to jump into our limo....... as one does.
We have another fabulous room at the G Hotel, room #806, where we will be spending Christmas. We have a Club Room, so once again have been makingpigs of ourselves the most of it.
However, a big however this time - as it's Christmas the hotel is full of KIDS. Ewwww, kids in the Club Room, kids in the lobby, kids in the pool, the only place there are no kids is in the Ajayi’s hotel room (apart from a couple of overaged, childish ones). We do try to be tolerant, we really do but after a while.........I probably could eat a whole one!
Anyways, kids aside it’s a lovely hotel, situated between two very flash malls. Another bonus of G Hotel is that we have access to the facilities in both hotels. We made the most of the roof top bar at the G Kelawai.
We spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day around the hotel, shopping, swimming, having massages and frequenting the Club Floor. The traffic around the hotel was crazy busy and we spent quite a bit of time eyeballing the people stuck in traffic, from the comfort of the Club Floor, drink in hand andgloating feeling sorry for them.
It was great being able to walk to the Malls and cafes, over the busy Christmas period, so we could avoid the traffic.
Needless to say, the food on offer in the malls, was amazing. I found a Magnum Bar, that basically pimps up a Magnum icecream, OMG - how could I resist? Although I showed remarkable restraint and only went there once!
During our shopping extravaganzas, we also managed to increase our shoe haul (now totally 13 pairs!!!) it's Mr. Imelda Marcos who own most of them. However, it's very hard to resist buying them, as they’re such good value.
Once the Christmas madness slowed down a bit, we ventured into George Town for dinner and had, arguably our best Indian meal yet. We also (bravely) went to Penang Hill. Did I already mention kids - bloody buggers followed us from the hotel and multiplied at Penang Hill.
We Grabbed it to the Cable Car, it was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel. It didn't appear that many people were waiting for the cable car, when we arrived. However, we soon learnt this was a "Disney Land" trick, once you went through one door, there was a huge queue on the other side!! Still we only waited in the line for about 20 minutes, which was bearable.
The cable car ride up the hill was about 5 minutes long. When we alighted at the top (this was about 7pm) we saw a HUGE queue, waiting for the descent. Anyways, the views were spectacular and the meal we had, was also surprisingly good. I couldn't face the massive queue to descend, so we paid the extra 20 MR each to fast track the massive queue on the way down and then did the Grab dance. This is a new phenomenon for us. Everyone was on their phones trying to book a Grab car. We waited about 20 minutes - which is the longest wait so far, but really not too bad for a busy Friday night. Grab have been brilliant, really we have been spoilt, usually we book a car and it arrives in about 1 to 2 minutes. The other bonus of Grab, is that Riche lurrvves chatting to the drivers and telling them all about our travels and which cities we've been to.
Even with Grab, we still have the nest of robbers (taxis) outside the hotel, but surprisingly they don't seem to be doing much business.
We spent a couple of days lazing by the very lovely pool. As usual, the majority of people (especially with kids) don't come to the pool until the late afternoon when the weather cools a bit (makes total sense). We usually go directly after breakfast, so luckily we have the pool to ourselves and we bugger off, when the kids come out to play.
We thought a bit of culture was in order, to break up the eating, drinking and shopping, so we ventured into George Town again and went to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. It was a wonderful museum that had once been someones home. Peranakans, are the original Chinese Straits, who settled in Penang. 'Mansion' was the correct term, as the place was enormous, it encorporated a couple of houses and included a big area for the staff. Very interesting peak into days and life gone by.
It was very hot when we finished at the Mansion, so we walked through Little India and found another cafe for juices. It's not really easy to walk around the old part of Penang, the pavements are all up and down with big open drains and lots of cars. It's very interesting but better at night, although then all the shops are closed.
On previous visits to Penang, The Happy Chinese restaurant in McCallister Rd had been one of our favourites, and when we visited for an early dinner, it didn't disappoint on this visit either. They had changed the decor a bit and now had the most enormous crabs in the fish tanks - I tried not too look too hard at them, as it makes me feel a bit guilty.... even if they are yummy with a little soy sauce.
Richie caught up with his table tennis mate, Sky Chin, and they went to the banana leaf restaurant for another Indian meal. I had a lovely bath and slobbed around the room. We we're supposed to catch up with Sky in the evening, but he bailed on us, as he had a client. We're pretty used to this now and just make our own plans...
Our last day in Penang and we are staying in the room again. Bit of a pattern here. We do enjoy a day or two just relaxing and not having to think. Travelling does get tiring, (I know, extreme first world problems). We have learnt that to travel successfully for more than two weeks, you need down time, and of course we are so very good at down time. Next stop back to KL for New Year.
The bus ride to Penang was painless and in total it took about 3 hours. For the Ipoh-Penang journey, we tried the Uniti Bus Line, it was better than the Plusliner (KL to Ipoh), but still not as good as Transliner (KT to KL). Richie had arranged for the G hotel to pick us up from the bus station, so we alighted the bus to jump into our limo....... as one does.
We have another fabulous room at the G Hotel, room #806, where we will be spending Christmas. We have a Club Room, so once again have been making
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spending hours in the shower... |
 |
view from G Gurney Hotel |
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same view one year later, from our hotel room |
However, a big however this time - as it's Christmas the hotel is full of KIDS. Ewwww, kids in the Club Room, kids in the lobby, kids in the pool, the only place there are no kids is in the Ajayi’s hotel room (apart from a couple of overaged, childish ones). We do try to be tolerant, we really do but after a while.........I probably could eat a whole one!
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one of many breakfasts at the G club floor |
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partying at the rooftop, G Kelawai Hotel |
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still partying at the G Kelawai Roof top |
Anyways, kids aside it’s a lovely hotel, situated between two very flash malls. Another bonus of G Hotel is that we have access to the facilities in both hotels. We made the most of the roof top bar at the G Kelawai.
 |
Christmas at the G Hotel, Penang |
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mall between the two G Hotels |
We spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day around the hotel, shopping, swimming, having massages and frequenting the Club Floor. The traffic around the hotel was crazy busy and we spent quite a bit of time eyeballing the people stuck in traffic, from the comfort of the Club Floor, drink in hand and
 |
Pimp my Magnum |
 |
nom nom nom |
It was great being able to walk to the Malls and cafes, over the busy Christmas period, so we could avoid the traffic.
Needless to say, the food on offer in the malls, was amazing. I found a Magnum Bar, that basically pimps up a Magnum icecream, OMG - how could I resist? Although I showed remarkable restraint and only went there once!
During our shopping extravaganzas, we also managed to increase our shoe haul (now totally 13 pairs!!!) it's Mr. Imelda Marcos who own most of them. However, it's very hard to resist buying them, as they’re such good value.
Once the Christmas madness slowed down a bit, we ventured into George Town for dinner and had, arguably our best Indian meal yet. We also (bravely) went to Penang Hill. Did I already mention kids - bloody buggers followed us from the hotel and multiplied at Penang Hill.
 |
view from Penang Hill |
 |
better view from Penang Hill |
We Grabbed it to the Cable Car, it was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel. It didn't appear that many people were waiting for the cable car, when we arrived. However, we soon learnt this was a "Disney Land" trick, once you went through one door, there was a huge queue on the other side!! Still we only waited in the line for about 20 minutes, which was bearable.
The cable car ride up the hill was about 5 minutes long. When we alighted at the top (this was about 7pm) we saw a HUGE queue, waiting for the descent. Anyways, the views were spectacular and the meal we had, was also surprisingly good. I couldn't face the massive queue to descend, so we paid the extra 20 MR each to fast track the massive queue on the way down and then did the Grab dance. This is a new phenomenon for us. Everyone was on their phones trying to book a Grab car. We waited about 20 minutes - which is the longest wait so far, but really not too bad for a busy Friday night. Grab have been brilliant, really we have been spoilt, usually we book a car and it arrives in about 1 to 2 minutes. The other bonus of Grab, is that Riche lurrvves chatting to the drivers and telling them all about our travels and which cities we've been to.
Even with Grab, we still have the nest of robbers (taxis) outside the hotel, but surprisingly they don't seem to be doing much business.
 |
Penang nest of robbers, still around |
We spent a couple of days lazing by the very lovely pool. As usual, the majority of people (especially with kids) don't come to the pool until the late afternoon when the weather cools a bit (makes total sense). We usually go directly after breakfast, so luckily we have the pool to ourselves and we bugger off, when the kids come out to play.
 |
Richie enjoying the child free pool |
 |
this is the life |
We thought a bit of culture was in order, to break up the eating, drinking and shopping, so we ventured into George Town again and went to the Pinang Peranakan Mansion. It was a wonderful museum that had once been someones home. Peranakans, are the original Chinese Straits, who settled in Penang. 'Mansion' was the correct term, as the place was enormous, it encorporated a couple of houses and included a big area for the staff. Very interesting peak into days and life gone by.
 |
Richie in Peranakan Mansion |
It was very hot when we finished at the Mansion, so we walked through Little India and found another cafe for juices. It's not really easy to walk around the old part of Penang, the pavements are all up and down with big open drains and lots of cars. It's very interesting but better at night, although then all the shops are closed.
 |
still the best Indian in Penang |
 |
tastes as good as it looks, and so does the food |
On previous visits to Penang, The Happy Chinese restaurant in McCallister Rd had been one of our favourites, and when we visited for an early dinner, it didn't disappoint on this visit either. They had changed the decor a bit and now had the most enormous crabs in the fish tanks - I tried not too look too hard at them, as it makes me feel a bit guilty.... even if they are yummy with a little soy sauce.
 |
another delicious meal and we even got some greens in |
Richie caught up with his table tennis mate, Sky Chin, and they went to the banana leaf restaurant for another Indian meal. I had a lovely bath and slobbed around the room. We we're supposed to catch up with Sky in the evening, but he bailed on us, as he had a client. We're pretty used to this now and just make our own plans...
 |
Richie and Sky Chin at the other Banana Leaf restaurant |
 |
Malaysia top ten.... |
Our last day in Penang and we are staying in the room again. Bit of a pattern here. We do enjoy a day or two just relaxing and not having to think. Travelling does get tiring, (I know, extreme first world problems). We have learnt that to travel successfully for more than two weeks, you need down time, and of course we are so very good at down time. Next stop back to KL for New Year.
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don't look at me, I'm having a day off, from the holiday |
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