Penang And Ipoh With Kids

We started our trip in Penang, Malaysia.  Penang was a lot of fun! It was a great place to start our adventure, and we could have stayed there for a lot longer and not run out of things to do.

Before arriving to Penang we had a very positive experience:  On our flight from Singapore to Penang, we tried to buy food on the plane but AirAsia only accepts cash for purchases and we had not pulled out Singapore dollars or Malaysian ringgits. So after ordering the food, we had to send it back. The crew was very apologetic (as though it were their fault we didn’t have cash), and, a few minutes later, came back and gave meals to our kids for free. They were so sweet and wanted to make sure our kids didn’t go unfed on a one-hour long flight (as opposed to the cranky United Airlines crew on our 16-hour flight who basically sat in the back of the plane the entire time). Their generosity was the first of many incredibly kid friendly experiences in Malaysia.

Penang was great and full of things to do. We spent five days there and could easily have spent more time. While we were in Penang, here are some of the things we did:

• We really enjoyed the Botanic Gardens, where we saw many monkeys.
• We also visited Entopia, a museum with a huge indoor butterfly garden and many neat exhibits and habitats with insects. The kids especially loved the giant millipedes!
• We also followed a tip and visited the Jurassic Research Centre, an exhibit on the roof of a mall filled with animatronic life-sized dinosaurs that moved and roared.
• Another hit was taking a funicular up to the top of Penang Hill, where there were some temples, a small playground, some huge spiders, and a lucky encounter with a pack of dusky leaf monkeys (which look like they are wearing glasses).
• We were wowed by Kek Lok Si, an incredible Chinese Buddhist temple complex. The kids were fascinated by the huge golden guardian statues (about 20 feet tall) holding weapons and crushing demons under their feet.
• Speaking of temples, Penang was full of them, and the kids really enjoyed seeing them (Valentina now knows the words “Buddha” and “dragon”).
• We also had a great time exploring the historic old town (also known as George Town), including finding some of the famous street art by Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic and exploring the historic Chew Jetty, a floating Chinese fishing village.
• We visited a fire station outside our apartment. They immediately brought us in and showed Hugo and Valentina everything inside the fire trucks and their fire boats. The kids got to try on gas masks, hold a chainsaw, sit at the wheel of a big truck, sit in a fire boat, and many other things. We can’t say enough how kid-friendly the people in Malaysia are!
• We popped into the somewhat random Purrfect Cat Café, where you pay a few dollars to go upstairs and pet a bunch of cats hanging around. A little odd, but Valentina loves cats and Hugo was really interested in the concept, so in we went!

One highlight of our stay in Penang was our amazing Airbnb host, Steve. He picked us up from the airport, took our family out to a delicious Indian dinner with his family on our second day, and he dropped us off at the train station when it was time to leave. He was always eager to help and answer any questions. His apartment was super well equipped (including a bag of fun toys to play with during our stay!). He has been, by far, the best host we’ve ever had! If you are ever in Penang and looking for a great place to stay with your family, check out Steven’s place: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7930316

Penang is also famous for its food. Our guide book says it is considered one of the best—if not the best—food city in SE Asia. We were also told that many Singaporeans fly up to Penang to spend the weekend just eating there. We certainly were never let down by any meals! A lot of the eating happens at “hawker stalls” where you sit in an open air area with plastic chairs and tables, order a drink from the proprietor (like an iced coffee or fresh fruit juice) and then go to one of many different foodstands that surround the area and order some food. Then you sit back down and they bring you the food and you pay for it and dig in. There were all kinds of noodles dishes (both soups and fried) and lots of fresh seafood. The kids did great (they loved the noodle soups). It took us a little while to figure out how everything worked, but the people around us were always willing to step in and happily help us figure things out.

We have had to somewhat modify our traveling by having the kids with us. We used to walk everywhere while traveling, which is more challenging given two kids and a really hot and humid climate. (Fortunately, for Malaysia, we got a pro tip from our Airbnb host Steven, who told us that the best way to get around in Malaysia is by using the app Grab. It’s like Uber, but a lot cheaper and it works great!)  We still try to keep the same style of travel in other areas such as where we stay and where we go to eat. We have never been into luxury accommodations or fancy hotel rooms so Airbnb has been the perfect way to travel with kids (we have been using it for 7 years!). For food, we are adventurous eaters and we want our kids to be exposed to different types of foods, different settings for foods, and the culture that comes with food in different places. For example, one morning we ate in a back alley (delicious iced coffees and noodle soups for breakfast!) where other families were also enjoying their breakfast. A nice lady approached us and gave us a couple of pastries as a welcome to Malaysia gift. While there, dogs were walking around and a cat stopped to say hello. The kids totally loved it! We also try to do more kid-centric activities and plan our days around their schedules, which makes traveling much more enjoyable for everyone!

As we’ve already mentioned, people in Malaysia have been extremely welcoming. They love kids and they go out of the way to say hello to ours, especially to Valentina, who constantly gets hellos and hi-fives and cheek pinches and oohs and ahs. Even though traveling with kids has its own challenges, we feel that a lot of times people give us an extra hand or are more willing to help us out because we have two little ones with us. As a family we have mostly encountered smiling and friendly faces while traveling!

We also spent three days in Ipoh, which is rather off the beaten track. We did some exploring and really loved the incredible Perak Tong cave temple. We also had delicious food (Ipoh is known for its white coffee and for its beansprouts, which actually were very juicy and tasty). Ipoh also has a lot of street art, a little India, and some picturesque historical alleyways.

That’s all for now. To follow our travel in real time, you can always keep up to date with Paola’s Instagram page!