Day 1 Penang 2014: We are in Penang!

The flight from Singapore to Penang took about 1.5 hours and was very smooth. As I added the Plus bundles to our Jetstar flight, we could order some light refreshment on board the flight which the girls were very happy with. :)

Us travelling light...NOT :P Checked in a 15kg luggage :)

$15 F&B vouchers for our use (milk tea and hot chocolate not in photo)

We arrived safely in Penang at 12:10pm. Clearing customs and collecting our luggage were a breeze and very fast. By 12:40pm we were on our way to our Penang accommodation, Noordin Mews where it would be our "home away from home" for the next 5/6 days.

We see land (Penang)!

My girls and I were mesmerised by Noordin Mews when we first saw it. It is one thing to see shop houses, even when in Singapore. But when one takes the effort to restore shop houses to their former glory, it is something really special and unique especially for us who have never lived in a classic 1920s Peranankan shop house before. Checking in was a breeze at Noordin Mews.The staff, Belinda was really helpful and attentive. She took time to locate all the attractions and eateries on the map for us and even brought us to our Mews Room (upstairs) to explain how to operate the air-con, tv and safe in our room.

The front entrance of Noordin Mews

Just behind the reception area: notebooks provided for guests' use

We love our Mews Room, I. :) The security system is really unique! Lol. (Will show it in another post) The room is really spacious and there is more than enough room for the 3 of us. :)

Come and take a peek into our retro Mews Room, I :)

Decor: Beauty products of an era almost gone

The girls at our room's window

Our Welcome drinks and refreshment

Here are pictures of the hotel.

The swimming pool and the hotel cafe

The swimming pool as seen from outside our room

The courtyard and Shophouse room as seen from outside our room

The stairs and the Vespa decoration :)

The corridor leading to the stairs to the rooms upstairs

The reception is through the glass doors; stairs leading to Shophouse Rooms (4/5 pax)

The reading area

The Library (books and magazines are in the chests)

The girls slept for a while before we set off for our souvenir shopping at the local produce shops and Batu Ferringhi night market at 4:30pm. 
Our driver/ guide arrived on time at 4:30pm and not long after, it started raining. :( Our guide brought us at two other local product shops for a look around, besides the one I wanted to go (Lim Wah Thai) because we couldn't do much outdoors anyway in the rain. Both the girls and I bought some local products, e.g. nutmeg juice, coconut candy, peanut candy, etc.

The girls in front of the Noordin Mews trishaw mural before we left for our shopping

Local products from Lim Wah Thai and Coffee Tree

As it was still raining, our guide suggested that we have dinner first before going to Batu Ferringhi night market. Hopefully it would have stopped raining when we finish our dinner. He took us to Teksen Restaurant at Carnavon Street, one of the must-try Chinese restaurants in Penang. At 6pm, Teksen was already crowded and we managed to get the second last table! Teksen, with its old-world charm, serves home-cooked style dishes and they are delicious!

Waiting patiently for our dinner

Delicious home-cooked dishes!

When we were done with our dinner just after 7pm, it was still raining. :( However, we decided to go as planned to the night market. Despite the rain, I estimated that 60-70% of the stalls were opened and there were a few tourists like us. The rain in fact was to our benefit as the usual crowd of tourists stayed away. Some of the shop owners were giving us discounts without us even asking for it in a bid for us to buy their wares haha. :P The girls bought a few blouses lol. It was quite an experience walking in the rain (sheltered by umbrellas) at the night market. (I didn't take photos at the night market as I didn't want to ruin my camera.)

We returned to Noordin Mews close to 10:15pm. Our trip was supposed to end at 9:30pm but our guide brought us to a famous BBQ chicken wing stall and we bought some chicken wings back as supper lol. When we got to our room, there was a turn down snack on our beds. It was really refreshing and endearing to see the snack with its little good night note. I took a few more photos of the room and the hotel in the night time. :)

Our 8 Nov 14 turn down snack (Pepper Biscuit) with its good night note

When I returned to the room, the girls were already eating the chicken wings! Hence no photos lol. :P I don't blame them because the chicken wings were very good! :)
Let's hope tomorrow we have good weather. We are intending to visit the Beach Street Project street market as well as explore the area around Georgetown, including finding some of the famous Penang Street Art. :)