On Sunday 14 September, we had a leisurely start before enjoying our final breakfast in the Blue Mansion in Georgetown, checked out and informed hotel security about the car that was coming to pick us up (it was a very security conscious place and wouldn’t let cars into the courtyard without prior approval). All done we took seats in reception and waited….thankfully the driver arrived early. We had a very busy drive (in terms of traffic) from Georgetown to Batu Ferringhi – which is the touristy beach area of Penang – and where we had decided to spend our final week having some R&R. We arrived at the Shangri La at 12.50 and, although we had requested a 1pm check in, this had not been promised so we left our cases in reception at the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa. Again this hotel was split into two wings – Rasa Wing (adult-only area) and the Garden Wing. We then waited while enjoying complimentary drinks and the room was ready at 13.10. So we were very happy campers.
We headed to our very spacious room – unpacked – and then went to the small adult-only Rasa Wing pool and enjoyed resting up all afternoon under a cloudy sky. Later on we returned to our room, got cleaned up, and headed down to the Rasa Lounge which served complimentary drinks and canapes between 5 and 7 pm. Drinks were flowing freely including one of our favourite wines….so very happy!
After finishing in the Lounge we walked down the beach to the Hotel’s Penang Bar for the sunset. We took a table and ordered some dinner. Loved the lights on the tables…reminded us of the coloured orbs from the Cocoon film. After an annoying 45 minute wait for our food to be served (which was a very hot curry – phew!) we walked around the Garden Wing to check out other restaurants before returning to bed.
Overnight there was a thunderstorm and at 9am in the morning it was still raining… So we had a leisurely start and lounged about before and after the breakfast service. We had no balcony this time – instead an outside courtyard / garden which was open to the elements – so mainly inside our room and the Rasa Lounge. Around lunchtime the rain stopped – thankfully – and we headed to the pool for some R&R time. It was cloudy but we still picked up some colour… Later on we returned to our room to get ready to go to the Lounge again for canapes and drinks. Richard decided to wear a smart pair of shorts with a collared polo shirt despite the ‘smart casual’ dress code….and why? Because other people wore shorts the night before…..
After the complimentary drinks and canapes we headed upstairs to the posh Ferringhi Grill restaurant (which is also the venue for the Rasa wing guests a la carte breakfast) – at which point Richard got told off for wearing shorts. Funnily enough they offered him a pair they had to hand to wear but Richard said he was not going to wear the “trousers of shame” so went off to get his own long pants. I just stayed and enjoyed a glass of wine LOL. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and then retired to bed.
Tuesday was a nicer weather day and we spent the day at the pool before returning to the lounge for the afternoon session…. During the day we did spend a little time wandering the beach and the promenade path that led to the other Shangri La hotel, Golden Sands. The sea here is dangerous in that it hosts a lot of box jelly fish so had no desire to go in, especially as the beach had been eroded by bad storms and high winds, so clambering over rocks / sea defences was never on my list of fun things to do. Lots of repairs going on to address this issue……..
On the way back we came across a family of spectacle monkeys who were having fun….they were not frightened at all, very friendly, and I was concerned that Richard might get his phone nabbed whilst filming them so closely LOL.
After our time in the Lounge we walked down the main strip and ended up in the Bora Bora bar…having checked out the night markets along the way. After a nice evening – and a glimpse of a fire show on the beach – we were walking back to our hotel when we popped into the adjacent (sister) Shangri-La Hotel – the Golden Sands – and had a final drink there listening to a live singer (who was pretty good although a bit cheesy LOL). Having had our fill we now decided to return to our hotel and, as we walked out the front entrance of the hotel, we were asked did we want a buggy ride home – well, we didn’t know, but they were complimentary to the Shangri-La guests so we said yes, thankfully, to avoid another 15 minutes walk in the heat and humidity. Earlier we had picked up some original small paintings, thinking they would look good in our upstairs hallway at home.
Wednesday was another pool day and this time we had company – large monitor lizards – who enjoyed walking around, nosing in the bin, and swimming across the pool when they got too hot. Was fun to look up from reading a book to see one of these lizards looking back from within the foliage behind your sunbed. Luckily they don’t bother us but there was a woman in the pool who got completely freaked out LOL. As we had been here a few days now, the pool barman had realised that we enjoyed a particular type of wine and made sure there was always one in his fridge so that he didn’t have to go and collect it from elsewhere when we ordered it to our table by the pool. Such a sweet guy – he had one day off when we there and it definitely didn’t run anywhere as smoothly without him….. Might have been influenced by Richard giving him a small tip every day…..
Later on to the lounge for complimentary refreshments before heading across the road to an Indian restaurant which had got great online reviews. We thought the food was fine but was somewhat marred by a small Asian girl who had a total full-blown meltdown in the middle of it – so bad that her mum just picked her up under her arm and walked out…. She was completely inconsolable and it was clear that this was not an unusual event as the parents dealt with it all so calmly. Maybe if the kids spent less time on their phones – the little girl had already thrown hers to the floor two or three times at this juncture – it wouldn’t have happened. Wow, never knew such a little thing could be so damn noisy!
After we had finished our meal – with soft drinks only as we had managed to find another pure Halal venue – we took a very long walk to Batu Ferringhi Bay… Along the way Richard managed to buy some new t-shirts and did a great job bartering. At the Bay we found a table on the beach just below a balcony where a live band was playing – they were pretty good – and the audience were certainly enjoying it. Then the main event – which we had actually come for – the fire show started. The participants often broke off with their flaming torches to frighten the audience…one swept a torch directly over my head very close (well close enough to feel the heat of the flames) and, luckily I didn’t move as I didn’t see it coming LOL. Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular show the wine was average and it was pretty buggy on the beach…… What I didn’t enjoy was having to queue for the pretty grim public loos on the beach and then being charged to use them…but at least I found a Western one!
We then started on the hot and long walk back – I overheated again – so back into the Golden Sands for some respite and to grab another buggy ride – which we did successfully. This driver was a bit mad and thought it was funny to tear around corners at high speed which felt like it was going to tip over…my involuntary squeals were of fright not excitement! Richard was sat in the front – only me on the back seat being thrown around from side to side – so he didn’t really appreciate how awful it was for me perched on the back hanging on for dear life.
Thursday morning we decided to go to the main Garden Wing buffet for breakfast rather than the more sedate Rasa wing restaurant – OMG it was absolute carnage….kids everywhere bumping into people, there was little concept of the notion of queuing and I’m not sure I enjoyed having to weave through heaving tables to deliver tea / coffee to our table. ..having got used to table service. Oh well, lesson learnt, not sure we’d go there again. The only reason we had tried it was because we had met Shane and Debbie a few nights in the Rasa Lounge now and had bonded over complimentary wine. They are Australian – just moved to Brisbane – and it was lovely to chat to them. They had been using this breakfast place unaware that there was an alternative…and had said how huge the selection was. Well it was huge…but the noise and busyness was just too much for me… Why, oh why, do kids come to breakfast wearing their pyjamas!?
After that experience we headed to the pool for another cloudy but hot day, relieved not to have to use the ‘main’ pool as it was completely overrun with excitable noisy kids. Shane and Debbie were there this time and poor Shane had got pretty badly sunburnt, despite the cloudy conditions. So we donated some of our Aloe Vera after sun gel to the better cause…. not wanting to carry it home with us again. After our ‘normal’ complimentary lounge experience – by which time the waiters had lined up the wine glasses before we arrived next to Shane and Debbie to bag our seats – we took off down the strip and had a lovely Chinese at Andrew Kampung, a small local restaurant upstairs in a nearby shopping block. I had crispy duck and it was fantastic – great value too – especially when you consider we drank more wine…..
Back across the road to the other resort and we got another buggy trip back to our wing. This time the guy went a bit slower and we sat together so didn’t feel quite so precarious – it was a larger vehicle too.
Wednesday morning and it was more of the same….had breakfast – back in the serenity of the a la carte restaurant – and then to another nice relaxing day by the pool with the critters. Lizards were pretty frequent visitors under our beds…
That evening after our lounge experience we headed down the strip to the food hall where Richard had chicken and beef satay while I tried another curry – Indian version this time, not Malaysian. After that we checked out the night markets again and this time we purchased some novelty LED lights in bamboo baskets which are now adorning our windowsill in the garden room / conservatory at home.
Thursday and Friday was more of the same…more pool, more wine, more sunbathing, more lizards, more bobbing in the pool and then in the evening we returned to Andrew Kampung for another Chinese meal which was absolutely delicious. Not sure how they do it for the money but it was fantastic…and even the wine was good LOL.
Saturday morning we got ready to depart. So we had breakfast, said our sad farewells to Debbie and Shane (whose company we had really enjoyed), did our final packing and checked out in preparation for our departure and waited in reception for our driver.
We were flying from Penang to Kuala Lumpur at 2pm that day…. He turned up on time and we were grateful for that as the roads on Penang can get pretty congested…. We arrived at the airport and quickly checked in and headed through security. All very simple and before you know it we were boarding our first flight of the day.
We arrived into Kuala Lumpur and, thankfully, our bags were actually on the carousel they were supposed to be this time before attempting to find the British Airways check in desks for our later flight home to London. We had about seven hours to kill so was hoping to get rid of the bags and then pay to go into one of the lounges where it would be more comfortable to wait. But of course you can’t do this until you have checked the bags as all lounges are airside and beyond security. And, of course, BA machines were not working until three hours before the flight…so we ended up in Jamie Oliver’s Pizza and Pasta Restaurant having a pizza and sitting around for a while.
Suddenly we realised that it was time to rejoin the queue so we headed back to the check in machines, printed our boarding passes, and dropped our bags off. Free of them we then headed through security – which we cleared very quickly with little fuss – and found the Plaza premium pay-as-you-go lounge. We paid up – Richard was decidedly not happy – but at least we’d have decent chairs rather than the rather basic steel benches everywhere else – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! So we made ourselves comfortable and, as it was offered as part of our lounge entry, I took myself off for a 15 minute complimentary neck and back massage which was fantastic. Settling into nice comfortable leather seats we put our phones on charge and sampled some of the complimentary food on offer – I wasn’t that hungry after our pizza but knew we had a long night ahead of us, so made do with some cheese and biscuits (purely to help the wine go down LOL).
Forty five minutes before our flight was due to depart the gate information was on the boards so we picked up our hand luggage and moved to the gate – which required taking a train. We arrived in good time and boarded pretty much straight away. On the plane we had the same reserved seats as we had on the way out – so I knew I was in for a very uncomfortable 12 hour ride…confident that BA have removed all padding from their seats… Anyway, we took off on time and then we had our meal service. Surprisingly we got offered more than the usual chicken and pasta option and I had stir fried beef…. It was actually pretty good!
Eventually we settled down for the night and tried to get some sleep…Richard dozed pretty well…I was just way too uncomfortable. So I watched a couple of movies in desperation and had a glass of wine with Richard when he came too again later…. Usually we stop at this juncture but we needed to get through the next 12 hours somehow LOL.
Anyway, that brings our amazing Malaysian adventures to an end. Hope you have enjoyed travelling along with us. What next?? Well, nothing booked in the next few months although we are hankering after some winter sun already as winter kicks in here…the cold / damp weather playing havoc with my old arthritic bones.
The next booked trip is August 2026 when we are doing an expedition cruise from Darwin to Fremantle in Australia. It will be winter in Australia but it is just too hot to go to this area during their summer. So very excited about this….we had been wanting to see the Kimberleys and Ningaloo reef (Western Australia) for a long long time….so finally we are going to achieve it. I really want to snorkel with whale sharks and manta rays once again if possible!
Anyway, so that’s it for now folk, see you soon. Take care and hope all of you have a Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. Here are a couple of my favourite Christmas photos from onboard Morphie. Happy days and lovely memories.
Bye for now
Jan