Saturday, May 26, 2012

eenie meenie mynie mo

Every time we go away we think, oh this is fantastic, this is where we will bring the kids. Alex, Heidi, and Elizabeth are coming to visit in January. Am I excited?
We hope to take them on an interesting side trip. Krabi was wonderful. But then so was Koh Phi Phi. Now added to the pot is Penang Island, and George Town and the Lone Pine Hotel..
It was fabulous. The hotel was small, 90 rooms, particularly small on a beach that had huge hotels. It reminded us of the beaches of Florida. Grainier sand, very built up, and touristy.
But our hotel reminded us of the Sherwood Inn in  Muskoka. Small, white, and it had an elegance. It was the first  hotel there dating to 1948, and then went through minor expansion and a beautiful redesign recently . The room was gorgeous, particularly the bathroom. And a tub on the balcony.  The lobby all open to the sea breeze.
I have never seen so many genuine smiles on service people. The food was fabulous, we were on first name basis with our servers. It was altogether great.
The spa was lovely. Even if the massage was a little light handed. I am becoming so fussy, eh?
We inquired about January and they have a 2 bedroom apartment that we could rent. More for the kids to do there at night, and lots of beach stuff, jet skis, paragliding, banana boat.
The night we went in to George Town was interesting. The English had been there and there is a colonial feel to the old architecture. Some of the same you see here in Singapore. White stucco houses with red tile roofs, and grand state buildings with columns and statues of men on horses.
We took a long cab ride to Little India, have to say much like Sg Little India. Same smells of spices, same raucous Bollywood music playing at full volume, same stuff in the stalls. We then went to a hawker place. It was good, very good food, but much like Sg. We are spoiled here.
George Town has been designated  a heritage site by UNESCO. That means the whole city is to preserve it's architectural heritage. Great idea but I am not sure where the financing would come from. We had a good meal and a cab ride home. All of it was quite a distance away along a twisting coastal road along the Andaman Sea. A beautiful drive.
Right outside our hotel was a night market. We were warned about thievery. Motorbikes ride along and grab your bag off your shoulder. We are spoiled in Sg with the comforting level of safety.
It is so easy to get to George Town, a 9:30 departure from Sg and lunch at the hotel. Can't beat that.  And our weekend was $1000, hotel, food, flight, 3 days-two nights!
The hotel has been bought by The Eastern and Oriental Hotel, which is a grand old railroad hotel in downtown George Town. It has to do with the Orient Express. Apparently you can take a train from George Town to Bangkok, I think, on the Orient Express. An overnight trip. Now that I want to check out!

Photos
our balcony, the beach, our (Neilson Milk Chocolate) beach boy (toothless), two happy campers, the elegant hotel, and a sign in the Penang Airport!








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