After exploring all the different holiday options, instead of going somewhere else, we decided to make our annual trip to Penang during the June holidays to keep our tradition of visiting St Anne’s church yearly alive.

♥June 2nd♥

We slowly crawled our way up North due to the heavy traffic, reaching St Anne’s, which is located in Bukit Mertajam, in the evening.

The church closes at 7pm, so we were asked to leave not long after we arrived. We decided to have dinner at Northern Coastal Seafood Restaurant in Butterworth (1, Pantai Bersih, Bagan Ajam , 12000 Butterworth, Penang).

Recommended by a colleague, promising great view of Penang Island, and fresh seafood, we were not disappointed.

(no photos of food, but the stingray in Nonya sauce is our favourite)

Girls loved the coastal wind and the view.

♥June 3rd♥
Girls were looking forward to the buffet spread at the hotel. It was one of the things they love about staying in Traders Hotel. 3 years in a row, we’d been staying here. The place is still well maintained and the service is tip top.

What I like best about Traders Hotel is its location. Soon after breakfast, we walked out to the Chowrasta market along Jalan Kuala Kangsar.

I would have tried a plate of Java Mee, if I wasn’t full. The noodle is fried with the sauce, instead of the KL type of just blanching the noodle then pour sauce over.

The Java Mee stall owner prepared a plate of Java Mee for his daughter, to share with her sister.

We saw a big crowd at the famous Penang Road Cendol stall. We’d never tried it before, so I queued for a bowl too.

And I don’t know what the fuss is all about. I shared a bowl with Daddy and we didn’t even finish it.

For lunch, girls insisted we go to Nonya Breeze (50, Lorong Abu Siti, 10400 George Town, Penang). We’d been eating at this restaurant on every of our visit, but never took photos of the food. This time, I we did.

I don’t think we can find this vege in KL, but it’s call kuaci cai on the menu. Fibrous and sweet leaves.

Asam Pedas Fish; I almost drank all the soup!

Zara likes this fried oyster mushroom.

Girls favourite, Inchi Kabin. Even on the journey, they already mentioned they wanted to eat this fried chicken in Nonya Breeze.

As usual, Nonya Breeze never disappoints. It was a good lunch.

We then took the long drive to Batu Ferringgi. As guests staying in Traders Hotel, we can make use of the Golden Sand Resort facilities, so we spent the rest of the day at the pool and beach there.

I wanted one of the girls to go with me on a parasail, but they both didn’t want. So, maybe next time.

Zaria is more of a beach person. Zara just wanted to go back to the pool.

We did our once a year trip to Penang during the Raya Holidays. Some may ask why go during peak season? Since Zara started schooling this year, we can only go away when she has holidays, so we are really not left with much choice.

♥Aug 27th♥
First time in our family history, we left the house before 11am to go on a road trip holiday! Yay to Daddy, who kept his promise of leaving the house by 7am to beat the jam.

We managed to have breakfast in Ipoh, and then have late lunch in Bukit Mertajam. Before lunch, we stopped by St Anne’s church to say our thanks for another wonderful year.

Girls were facinated by the candles.

Zara giving thanks.

Girls collecting holy water playing water

St Anne’s.

Since we’d never tried the Ferry before, we thought we would try out this time. Girls loved it.

It was so windy, the girls’ hair was in a mess.

We got to the Traders Hotel (our current favourite hotel in Penang), by 5pm. It was nice to be greeted by a nice cool room with comfy beds. To the girls, this was when the holidays begun (getting into the hotel room).

That night dinner, we have it at Nonya Breeze (50, Abu Siti Lane, 10400 Georgetown, Penang), Zara’s request. The team there has changed (as the original team had moved to Strait Quay to run the other newly opened Nonya Breeze), but the food was still equally good.

♥Aug 28th♥
After a sumptious breakfast at the hotel, we visited the market along Jalan Kuala Kangsar. Our ‘must-do’ in Penang.

Fresh oyster seller.

Jalan Kuala Kangsar.

Offerings to the Hungry Ghosts (孟兰节).

Popiah skin maker (last year, an elderly man was making them, this year, he’s seen relaxing in the shop while this lady took over).

Poridge seller preparing the last few bowls of poridge for customers.

My favourite dry grocer Fook Weng, a yearly must stop.

Ointment seller giving extra service to get the sale.

Big Sale going on for Angry Bird stuff.

Girls choosing Agry Bird items.

By the time we were done, it was lunch time.

We went to Soul Kitchen (102, Muntri Street, 10200 Penang, Malaysia), a restaurant highly recommended by Tripadviser. Their pizza was one of the best I’d tasted!

We had to shelter ourselves after lunch from a down pour in a temple on Muntri Street. For Zaria, it meant play time!

After that it was back to the hotel for a rest.

One of the advantages of staying in Traders is everything is so near and within walking distant. For dinner, we walked out to De Happy Seafood Restaurant (62 Macalister Road 10400 Penang). Food wise, it was so-so, so I don’t think we’ll be going back there next year.

♥Aug 29th♥
Daddy woke up early, and went exploring George Town by foot before daybreak. He took these photos.

After breakfast, we decided to go to Penang Hill, since we didn’t get to explore the place due to a downpour the last time we went there.

The old funicular train has been replaced with something more modern. It was going at faster speed as well.

View from the train.

It was a wet day, but we could still see George Town from the hill.

Because it’s cooler environment, flowers bloom beautifully.

Besides the cool air, the train ride, Penang Hill has not much to offer. We had tea at the Bellevue Hotel, and then took the train down.

We headed back to the hotel to rest. Daddy took a nap with the girls, while I went to have a massage in the hotel.

For dinner, we decided to go to the Siam Road Char Kuey Teow.

More than 1hr wait later, we were rewarded with a plate of super delicious Char Kuey Teow.