Ipoh-Penang Day 3-4: Golden Sands Resort & Penang Hill
DAY 3
Our stay at Lost World Hotel included breakfast at the Garden Terracerestaurant. The restaurant was not located within the hotel building but at the Lost World park itself so we had to walk.
Lost World folks taking pictures with all the guests
DIY noodles at Garden Terrace
There was nothing much to rave about the breakfast other than the DIY noodles. You get to choose your own ingredients and noodles and cook it yourself. It was fun and rather delicious. Definitely must try! =)
After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and started our 2.5 hours drive from Ipoh to Penang.
The famous Penang bridge told us that we have arrived!
Once we arrived at Penang, we noticed immediately that the traffic was significantly heavier than the sleepy town of Ipoh. It took a longer time than expected to get from Penang Bridge to Golden Sands Resort, our accommodation in Penang.
Golden Sands Resort, Penang
This is our second stay at Golden Sands Resort so we were very familiar with the resort premises. Although we previously stayed at the Executive Suite, we stayed at the Seaview Executive Room this time as we had less people. It's a lot smaller but still had the same amazing view of the sea =)
The main reason why we were back at Golden Sands Resort was to check out the newly revamped Splash Zone! The kids could barely even wait for me to take the usual pictures of the room for the blog before screaming excitedly that they want to go swimming.
The housekeeping team did a great job with the welcome swans, petals and balloons! So pretty! Thank you very much!
Left: Besides the King bed, the room also came with a pull out Murphey bed for additional guests or kids. Right: The housekeeping team also ensured that my two kids were also welcomed with rabbits! So sweet!
The TV area with a DVD player! DVD players are such an uncommon sight in hotel rooms. We made full use of it to play my kids' favourite movies.
Clockwise from left: Bathrobes and ironing board;
Complimentary water, ice bucket and kettle (there's an ice dispenser available near the lifts);
Cups, coffee and tea.
Left: The usual Shangri-la toiletries; Right: Toilet and dual sinks.
Shower area with everything except a bathtub
Love the attached balcony with the awesome views of Batu Ferringhi
Birds eye view of the resort
The wifi signal here is really good too so watching tons of Youtube videos is not a problem.
"Let's go Mummy, let's gooooo!!!!" they shouted impatiently. They really couldn't wait for me to finish changing. Can't blame them for being excited when you see blue skies and sparkling pools! *laughs*
We headed straight for the Splash Zone, which has transformed since the last time we were here. When we visited previously, there was only one slide and adults were not allowed on the slides. Now, there are TWO slides embedded in beautifully decorated "rocks" and adults are finally allowed on the slides! Perfect for this forever-young, slide-fanatic like me *grin*
The twin slides surrounded by super cute animals such as tortoises, frogs and snakes
The green slide is shorter but faster than the white one
Clockwise from left: Climbing up the stairs at the end of the slide;
The snakes at the top spew water;
I preferred the white slide as compared to the green because it was longer!
The newly decorated Splash Zone water fountains that reflect the jungle theme
No splash zone is complete without the good ole splash bucket! Whooosh!!
The nice thing about Golden Sands Resort and all other Shangri-La hotels and resorts is that they always provide complimentary water and life jackets for guests
Golden Sands Resort also revamped their Whirlpool, which had been given a brand new look. We love it!
Left: The gate of the Whirlpool has a catch that only adults are able to open, making it safer for kids as this area is not watched as closely by life guards; Right: A little oasis right in the heart of the resort.
Love how the decorated the Whirlpool with the same rocks and animals as the Splash Zone
With the constant bubbling of water jets, we spent a significant amount of time chilling in the Whirlpool
I cannot believe how much my boy has grown since the last time we were here! We bought him a Golden Sands Resort wet top the last time and he can fit into it perfectly now!
My 9-10 month old boy during our last visit to Golden Sands Resort
My 3.5 year old boy now in the exact same top!
Please indulge me as I wipe away my tears at the thought of not having any more babies in the house (two is enough for me, thankyouverymuch) *sob*
We spent most of our time at the swimming pool when we are not exploring Penang because the kids love it so much! If you've got more time, you can also check out Adventure Zone like we did last trip. It's an awesome indoor playground with huge slides to entertain your kids. They will not be bored for sure!
We returned to our room to find that the resort staff left a Chelsea FC cake in our fridge!
The very observant Marketing team probably realised one of us is a fan. We were really pleasantly surprised!
Later that day, we decided to explore the malls in Penang (because we're shopaholics!). As our car was parked quite a distance away, we hitched the resort's buggy for a free ride to our car =)
The resort's buggy at the front entrance
We all squeezed at the back of the buggy. The kids thought they were going on some adventure!
We'd wanted to go to Plaza Gurney but as it was a Sunday, we ended up turning in circles in the carpark for almost 45 minutes without finding a parking lot! We gave up in the end and headed to the nearest Tesco instead.
Was starving after spending 45 minutes turning in circles at the carpark so we had our lunch at Mizi
The food was value for money and delicious too!
Each set meal comes with free flow ice-cream! So worth it!
We ended the day with shopping at Tesco, more swimming and dinner at our favourite Kafe Long Beach just down the road from the resort (read our previous post for more details).
DAY 4
We awoke after a night of restful sleep to have our breakfast at the Garden Cafe at Level 1.
Garden Cafe (Photo credit: Golden Sands Resort)
After a full breakfast with a wide variety, we headed to Plaza Gurney again in hopes that the parking situation would be better on a Monday morning. Thankfully, it was!
Plaza Gurney
Beautiful decorations
Camels like we're in the Middle East
Shopping here was pretty awesome if you love to shop!
Had lunch at The Six;
Food was so good that I forgot to take photos!
After lunch, we headed to Penang Hill.
Penang Hill
We decided to take the fastest way up, via the Penang Hill train. For non-Malaysians, it cost MYR 30 per adult and MYR 5 per child.
The Penang Hill train reminds me of the railway train we rode at Blue Mountains Australia
Super steep railway tracks up! Pretty thrilling ride!
Clockwise from top left: Super crowded even on a Monday;
The lookout point with the best views;
Beware of monkeys, though we didn't see any;
There was also an Owl Museum.
Penang Hill is not very big as you can see
The best part about the hill is the view and cool air.
Birds eye view of Penang
With the kids looking down
With so many people, it wasn't easy getting these shots
Mum-in-law asked them to pose and they really did! Must be in a good mood =D
And that concludes our 2 days 2 nights in Penang! The best part for us had to be, no not Penang Hill, but the food! And the swimming! =D
Onward to Kuala Lumpur for our final pit stop for this road trip!
Disclosure: Complimentary accommodation for 2 nights at the Seaview Executive Room at the Golden Sands Resort was received from Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd. for the purposes of this review. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.
Ipoh-Penang Day 3-4: Golden Sands Resort & Penang Hill
2017-06-12T23:30:00+08:00
Madeline Heng
Sponsored Editorial|Travel PhD|Travelling with Kids|
.jpg)
