Teluk Kemang Afternoon

Right after lunch at Thistle, I asked for the driver to drop Anita and I at Teluk Kemang while the rest of the troupe going straight back to the apartment. I wanted some time by the sea, enjoying the breeze, and maybe some ABC to boot.

And it was a pleasant afternoon indeed, spending about an hour by the small shade at the beach, enjoying the sea breeze. Not to mention the ABC - unfortunately of the diabetic-friendly variety. Watered down despite the bright colouring. Typical!

We had to pay rental for the shades, and it was charged by the day. So, despite just there for under an hour, we had to pay the full RM15 day rental! Easy prey these lot! But the shade and the sea breeze proved too inviting, and the RM15 was well worth it.

To the beach next!

Saturday Morning Blues

Saturday morning. Clinic. Heading down South from Monday. Really was a drag to get to the hospital this morning especially when I spent the evening in Gombak rather than the apartment. Although the traffic was light, it was that 30 minutes drive that pulled me down.

Not many patients in the ward but the clinic was still a full list. So far, I've only seen 4 patients. I suspect most of them would come after 11, meaning I could only leave after 1pm. That went my lunch again ...

The plan for the afternoon would be to head around Bukit Bintang, run some errands, visit the money changer for some currency before spending the later part of the afternoon at the apartment since I have to do some packing from there.

Will be at Mum's place tonight if she's around. Otherwise a quiet night in front of the TV. United playing at 11 pm tonight. So, there you go ...

Lembah Bujang Archeological Museum

Idlan had always been keen on museum. So, I thought on our way to visit my Aunt in Sungai Petani, we should take a detour to Merbok and visit Lembah Bujang. Idlan learned about the place in his History lessons in school. He was naturally curious.

Getting to the place was quite straight forward with the help of Waze. Signage was otherwise poor as expected, but the road was pretty straight forward coming off the PLUS highway in Sungai Petani and driving towards Merbok. Initially we didn't know what to expect as there were not much written about the museum in blogs and the interwebs.

Just a small sign at the frontThese are ancient ....How the whole area looked like in 3DWhen we reached there, we were very pleasantly surprised. The place was clean and the facilities were good. The whole compound comprised of a museum building - one of two as the other one was closed. They had a waterfall with picnic area, which unfortunately during this dry season did not have much in the way of streaming water. There was also a few archeology sites just up the hill from the museum with decently built walkways and steps.

Parking space was ample and well organised. They had toilets and surau next to the car park, shades and chairs to sit on and chill. If you're adventurous, there was a trail leading up to the top of Gunung Jerai from here. I might one day just do that ...

The museum was actually more spacious than it looked on the outsideEach items tell a story and the whole exhibit was well-curatedIs that a cat?The actual museum was air conditioned, and much better than I expected. And the entrance was free. It was opened every day except for Hari Raya. Not many people was there though and Sunday being a working day in Kedah, that was not a surprise. The care taker was really friendly and talked about the museum to me and Idlan.

The artifacts were well laid out and lit. Everything had a label both in Malay and English. Very professionally done. After half an hour in the museum, we then ventured up the hill to some of the temples. Nice green fields, helped by the overcast weather made for a pleasant walk.

Time to venture outsideReaching the topHave to compliment their visitor's facilitiesI must say that I was more than impressed and would recommend a visit to everyone who was interested. Getting there might be tricky due to poor signage, so, it was best to use Waze, or if you were lost, look for Pekan Merbok. If was just up the path from there, around 2 km in. This place would be a site for a quick family picnic, or even the base for a walk up Gunung Jerai. That would be a different kind of adventure and I would be doing a bit more reading before venturing so.

More entries on this trip can be seen here.

Gurney Paragon Mall

On the way to Batu Feringghi, we drove past a new mall sat right next to Gurney Plaza. A bigger one, and on the wall, the Debenhams caught Anita's eyes.

After a quick snack at the hotel after the drive from Batu Feringghi, Anita decided to have a look at the mall - against Irfan's protest! Since both myself and Idlan also wanted to go, the majority won ....

Now, one of the common theme among the malls in Penang was the confusing car park lay out. And oh boy, this mall topped them all! The spacing were awkward and some of the slot were slanted on an angle, and to get in and out of the spot, you have to back into the main traffic flow! I guessed they didn't think about the car park area when they designed the malls.

Once we settled in - parked on the fifth floor none the less - Anita went straight to Debenhams. I went to another floor with the boys to check out the Tumi outlet. There was also Victoria's Secret, and Idlan's favourite, Godiva! Sugar rush!!

It was clear that the place still needed to be filled tenant-wise. Some of the spaces on the top floors - I counted eight floors - were either still empty or quiet. I could finished the shops in under an hour. They might struggle to hold onto those shops in the coming years I think. There were appreciably more people at Gurney Plaza compared to here, although it was obviously more upmarket.

More entries from this trip can be seen here.

Overnight at Equatorial

Located right at the top of Bukit Jambul, I heard of the hotel before, but never actually stayed there. Looked like one of those classic 80s hotels, it was much classier than I thought. And a lot bigger.

The hotel had a unique design. It was four wings spreading from a central roofed hollow area creating an atrium feel, nine story high. My room was at the end of one of the winged corridor, a nice little suite which I shared with my Mum. My Dad was planned to come along but decided against traveling at the last minute since he had a cold. I ordered an extra bed, sleeping at the living area.

The inner layout of the hotel was pretty unit, with a central hollow design.Looking down onto the main lobbyI could see the second bridge from the room's balconyAll we did there was sleep and had shower, plus the breakfast the next morning. I did not have the chance to sample any of the facilities, or room services.

The room was nice and comfortable. It felt new, which I was sure due to a recent upgrade. It had a balcony, which was not cleaned. It had no seating - which I thought could have been made into a feature. It came with free broadband - which I did not bother to sample as the LTE signal was pretty good in the room.

The room with my extra bed at the living area

It had all the sports and movie channels, plus 24 hour room service should you need some food. The gym and pool was located on the ground floor, and the hotel had a total of seven restaurant, including the famous Kampachi Japanese restaurant.

The breakfast the next morning was not included for standard room, which was part of the reason that I went for the suite. It was a pretty standard fare. Could have been better.

Would definitely call in again should I need a room near the airport area. Otherwise, Eastern and Oriental would still be our favourite ....