Trip Report by Stumpy June 2002
We arrived
home this morning from our first trip to Penang and just loved it. We
stayed at the Bayview Beach Resort and had an ocean facing suite on
the 6th floor which was absolutely amazing. We have had 19 trips to
Bali and our preference is usually the budget type of accommodation
but this time we decided to spend a bit more and go upmarket and I am
sure glad we did. We had a bedroom with the biggest bed I have ever
seen, lounge and ensuite bathroom, two balconies and two remote TVs.
With accommodation like this I guess it's no wonder we only made it
out for breakfast (brunch) about 3 or 4 times during our 2 weeks holiday.
The Happy Garden serves a really good Breakfast and we had most of our
evening meals at the Long Beach. We were fortunate enough to meet another
couple from Perth on our first day and they showed us around and took
us into Komtar in Georgetown on the bus. Being rookies in Penang, we
had no idea of where to go or how to get there but the help we received
from our new friends Noelene and Greg and the info received from postings
on this forum made a real difference to our holiday. I can't thank everybody
enough for that. In Batu Ferringhi we changed most of our money at Ocean
Jupiter which is opposite Happy Garden and also booked a tour through
them. Our guide, Stephen was very helpful, informative and had a great
sense of humour. We went to the butterfly farm, snake temple, fruit
orchard, had a look at the bridge and went on the Penang Hill Railway
- what an incredible experience that was. While we still love Bali and
will go back there, somehow Bali will never be quite the same after
Penang. We have had a wonderful holiday in a wonderful hotel, we will
be back next year- we're hooked. |