Our Week: Penang in pictures

We welcomed 2015 in Penang. This time though, we met up with two other homeschooling families and we went exploring together for a few days (they flew up, while we drove up). Moving around in such a large group (8 adults, 7 children) took a little getting used to, and sometimes we couldn't find tables large enough to fit all of us during meals. However, the kids really had lots of fun playing together: trying local fruit and food (ok, this was mainly the adults), folding paper aeroplanes, running around. 

Since we had to take into account naps and mealtimes and cranky tired kids, we opted for a relatively relaxed schedule, with morning outings and late afternoons spent playing at the beach or pool. The first day was spent exploring the Penang Butterfly Farm (our favourite place to visit with kids), and the kids ran about chasing butterflies in the garden, and peered at orchid mantises, stick insects and all sorts of beetles in the indoor exhibit area.  

Magellan Birdwing. 

The pitcher plants here feast on butterflies, going by those we inspected!

Day Two saw us heading up Penang Hill for some respite from the heat. The tram was really crowded, but it was really nice and cool at the top. We went to David Brown's Restaurant, which used to serve really good burgers, however, they seem to have changed their menu. But food aside, we all agreed it was worth paying more for lunch because of the huge lawn in front of the restaurant, where the kids could run (or crawl) freely! 

They were playing "What's the time, Mr Wolf" and had a great time running and screaming.

Baby J was delighted to be let loose on the grass!

We ended off the visit at the hawker center for some really good dessert. Lil J really enjoyed slurping up the cendol! Junior J wasn't too fond of it though, and preferred ice kachang. 

The hubs brought all of us mummies out on the last day to town to shop, while the rest stayed behind to play at the beach. We took a four-seater trishaw around the town to hunt for murals (this is probably the best way to go around town, especially in the blistering heat!), and had lunch at the little eatery on Armenian Street (opposite the kids on bicycle mural, which serves pretty decent laksa). 

I think the kids had the most fun running free at the beach. They buried each other, dug moats, and built sand mounds. Baby J really surprised us as he is normally very timid in nature (he cries if Papa throws him up in the air!), but over here he was constantly making a beeline for the water!

It was a lovely trip, and I loved it that we took it easy and didn't attempt to do too much. I think everyone enjoyed themselves, because now there's talk of doing another trip in the future!