Flamingo By The Beach (Penang)

Hotel Review by z_l3nG

                 

State: Penang, Malaysia

From KL - Penang: Around 3.5-4 hours' drive

Weather: Sunny and rainy

The Hotel

    L-R: Paradise Sandy Beach Resort - Flamingo Hotel

Accommodation: Flamingo Hotel, Tanjung Bungah    

Hotel Rating: 4 star   

Rate: RM312.80nett / night (inclusive of breakfast, thru' Booking.com)

Type of room: Seaview

                                        

                                                 ------------------------------------------------------------

The Lobby

Flamingo hotel in Penang incorporates an open concept to its lobby, which allows natural breeze to circulate the lobby area.

It is not equipped with air-conditioner, only ceiling fans and coolers. So, on a really hot day, you might break a sweat.

Based on my observation, the receptionists (and bellboy) are not very efficient, but rather friendly and helpful. 

I guess realising the inefficiency of their staff, Flamingo Hotel decided to furnish the lobby with some nice, comfy sofas for customers to chill out.

The lobby is modest and spacious, but not that impressive.

                                                    -----------------------------------------------------

The  Room

Welcome to room 1128. 11 means the room's on the 11th floor  and is facing the sea.

This room has a good-sized space, but not enough for an extra bed.

The bed is merely OK; the sheets are spotless and very clean. But the pillows are not comfortable.

The bed is a big king-sized fit for 3 people. Nothing impressive about the decor, but the room's clean and odourless.

The housekeeping service is pretty good. We made a few requests and they responded almost immediately, without any unfriendly tone.

The bathroom has all the basic necessities, including a hair blower, but it's not very nice and doesn't have a bathtub.

The balcony, where you can stand and watch all the activities at the beach, isn't clean and there's no rubber sandals to wear.

                                          -------------------------------------------------------

The Beach

Although this hotel is beachfront, the beach is not owned by Flamingo Hotel, Penang.

I'm quite surprised to discover that this part of the beach is cleaner compared to other beaches in Penang though.

The beach is very accessible from the hotel. Just get down the staircase and your feet will be touching the sand.

Banana boat ride, paragliding and horse riding are among the activities you can do here.

If you're not the adventurous type, you can build sand castles, collect common-looking seashells or read a book on one of the many chairs sitting on the beach.

You can also take a dip in the pool at Flamingo hotel.

Overall experience: Satisfactory, but wouldn't rate it 4-star though.

Among the hotels in Tanjung Bungah district, this is a pretty good hotel to stay! The activities found here will keep you busy you don't need to travel anywhere else. The beach is totally accessible and quite clean.

Setback: Hard to get around Penang if you're not driving and nothing much to do.


---------------------------------------------------------------


Visit http://www.flamingo.com.my/ for more info.

Contact no. +604-8927 111


----------------------------------------------------------------


More reviews can be found at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g660694-d1630632-Reviews-Flamingo_by_the_Beach-Pulau_Penang_Penang.html




(All texts and pics are copyright reserved - z)

Authentic Thai Food @ Tan Jetty, Penang

Set in a fishing village, overlooking the iconic Penang bridge and the glittering sea, is Lang Sae Lee Thai Food restaurant.

I don't know if 'restaurant' is the right word to use to describe this home-cum-restaurant place, with no more than 10 tables.

This authentic Thai food house nestles at Tan Jetty, Weld Quay.

This is not a fancy restaurant with air-cond and everything nice. This restaurant only has a stand fan to cool you down on a hot day.

But, this is a place where you can indulge home-cooked Thai food in a cosy house compound area, which happens to be above the sea too.

There's no TV to watch, but a panaromic seaview that will certainly be a delight to your eyes.

The path to the restaurant is made of sturdy wooden planks

Allow me to introduce:

Laksa

I believe this is called Laksa. I don't remember the exact name of this aromatic soury and spicy noodle soup.

Don't be deceived by the colour of the curry or soup. It may not look spicy at all, but it's actually very spicy.

The bowl is filled with really smooth rice noodles, cubed cucumbers, sliced pineapples, chillies, chopped onions and  shredded fish.

I started off with this bowl of noodles which was full of flavours!

 Fried Rice

This plate of fried rice is, unfortunately, just so-so and quite dry.

It has very mild taste, but the ingredients are very fresh.

Not recommended.

Thai Fish Cakes

Thai fish cakes are absolutely yummy!

They're best eaten fresh right out of the wok.

These fish cakes are crunchy and succulent and usually accompanied with sweet chilli sauce and chopped cucumber.

You can taste the difference between the fish cakes served here and at other places - the amount of fish used and the aroma.

Sotong Kerabu

Personally, I prefer chicken skin kerabu (salad) over sotong kerabu because of its crunchiness.

However, this sotong kerabu is almost as good. This dish is really appetising and pungent!

There are more dishes on the menu and I'm trying its Tomyum soup on my next visit! Yum-yum!

The prices are fairly reasonable.

Lang Sae Lee Thai Food

97A, Tan Jetty Weld Quay, 10300 Penang

Contact: 014-907 1808 (Mdm. Lee)

Opening Hours: 10am-9pm (Closed on Tuesday)

Fresh Seafood @ Teluk Kumbar, Penang

What better place to enjoy fresh, delicious seafood while watching the sun sets than at a beachside restaurant in Teluk Kumbar, Penang Island?

Even before the clock struck 7pm, seafood lovers were already in the mid of having their scrumptiously fresh food served on their platters.

It was almost full house!

On the Menu:

Here's what we ordered

sweet & sour pork ribs for the kids

steamed prawns to retain freshness and sweetness

Teochew steamed fish with pickled vege (tender meat and tasty soury soup)

sweet & sour crab (fleshy and fresh, nice if served with mantou (steamed buns))

mussels soup (very rich in herbal flavours and healthy)

Side Order

Chicken Satay without sauce, just as yummy!

Here's a place to get great food at good prices!

Most importantly, you don't have to wait for an hour for your food. The cooks and staff are really efficient.

You'll be smiling all the way....Enjoy!

After dinner, take a relaxing walk at the beach. That's what I call a Great Meal.

Add: 84 Mk 9, Teluk Kumbar 11920 Penang

Contact: 04 - 6491 403

Open everyday, except Tuesday

Penang's Best Apom Balik

What's Apom Balik? It's Malaysia's very own traditional Pancake.

Wonder how good it tastes?

The one stall next to SJK (C) Union, Penang on Jalan Burma....

Well, picture this: Customers are willing to wait for an hour for 10 pieces of Apom Balik, only 10 small pieces.

There was once a customer who put an order of 200 pieces of Apom Balik and other customers were willing to wait for their turns. *Jaws drop*

This old man, the Apom Balik maker, can produce 9 pieces in 4 minutes. So let's say I order 20 pieces, it'd take only 9 minutes right?

As far as my memory can recall, only one in 6 times we were able to walk away with a bunch of Apom Balik in less than 5 mins. Longest? More than an hour.

But it's just too frustrating to walk away empty-handed 'cos this uncle's Apom Baliks are simply irresistible!

I manage to capture the apom balik-making process.

Here's some of the pics:

The Apom Balik is so soft, it melts in your mouth and you can totally taste the freshness of the banana slices.

Because he doesn't fill it with too many ingredients, you'll find it very pleasant to munch.

And, and it's not very sweet!

It's so good you can have 20 pieces in a Go!

Price: RM0.30/ piece


Setback: Its location. It's difficult to get a proper parking spot there, but you can always place your car in front of SJK (C) Union...with someone waiting in the car, of course.

Bangkok '07

Wah-Wee. It's been so long since I visited Bangkok-Chiangmai and I'd really love going back there.

Here are some of the photos taken while on the trip in 2007.

Bangkok is just absolutely lovely! It's a lively, vibrant city that will keep you moving; grooving.

Tuk-tuk, oh, you're gonna love travelling on one of these charmingly noisy babies.

They're the kings of the roads.

Beautiful temples with intricate carvings can be easily found in Bangkok.

I can't recollect much from my memory bank of my Bangkok trip, but it was certainly one of the most memorable ones.

I backpacked with my lovely travel partner, my cousie; and we were quite a team.

I particularly like the train ride experience from Bangkok to ChiangMai (throughout the night). 

It was simply AMAZING.

No wonder its tagline is 'Amazing Thailand.'

Canon Ixus 130

It's always fun to play with Digicams, especially this one - Canon Ixus 130.

Capturing beautiful photos with digicams is effortless, but with DSLR, it's real headache (for me).

I've tried Lumix and Sony, but none of those can compete with this Canon digicam model.

Mind you, I haven't got the chance to familiarise with the rest of the functions of Canon Ixus 130 and I'm already lovin' it.


Guide:

Press Func. Set --> P (below ISO auto) --> Select --> Press down --> Select preferred function

Colour Accent

Keep only selected colour and change others to Black and White

Taken with Canon Ixus 130

 

Miniature Effect

Blurs top and bottom

Taken with Canon Ixus 130

Fish-eye Effect

Through the eyes of a fish

Taken with Canon Ixus 130

Colour Swap

Change the original colour to the colour you prefer

Taken with Canon Ixus 130

(All photos and texts are copyright reserved -z)