Girls day out at Georgetown

Double bike rental was RM25 for 3 hours.

Last month, I took Reena and Sarah for some girl bonding at the UNESCO heritage site of Georgetown, Penang.   We rented a double bike and went on to hunt whatever art murals or steel arts we can see without relying on a map.

Yummy lunch at Via Pre - pesto pasta in creamy sauce and pizza margherita

Dessert lovers on the attack!

Panna cotta and creme brulee.  Via Pre desserts do not disappoint.

Our first steel art.

A mascot of a Chinese bakery the girls wanted a picture of.

Near Little India.

Sarah was still in the mood here.

Enjoying the pose at Lebuh Victoria.

We found our first cat!

A pink tank with cats!

Near the bike rental, a cat and mouse mural.

Acheen Street art.  Uh oh, someone's not liking the heat anymore.

Reena's the only one game for more pictures.

Art murals and steel pipes as benches.

These steel arts depict typical Penang life in the olden days.

Cats everywhere!

The iconic Little Children on  a Bicycle mural at Armenian Street.

Loud colors on some of the murals.

Mr. Banana and a totem pole shot for this girl.

A refreshing visit at Tropical Spice Garden

Last May, we paid a visit to Tropical Spice Garden.   It's been a while since we've been here, we've forgotten just how refreshing it is to be in a very big garden, full of spices, plants and flowers.  We arrived an hour and a half before closing, it was a bit of a rush to explore the place.  Next time, we'll come in much earlier.  Avail of their in-house insect repellent, made of lemongrass oil, to ward away mosquitoes and other small insects.

A nice pond welcomes visitors.

The girls run from one part of the garden to another, we had to give up listening on our audio devices.

A floating bamboo plant.

Sisters crossing the mini bridge.

Goofing around.  Sarah wanted them to make Avengers pose.

Spices galore!

Fresh ginger and galangal

From top left:  Black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon sticks.

From top left: black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and cardamom.

Both girls tried grinding some spices using the mortar and pestle.

A small waterfall within the garden.

A lovely spot for the big swing, overlooking the sea.

Directions.

We loved this self-service tea place.  Hot lemongrass and ginger tea were available for all.

Another small waterfall.

Reena's sandal broke and she started walking without it. Sarah commiserated by walking barefoot as well.

Cocktail and milkshake break at the Tree Monkey restaurant of the garden.

Sand Art Corner at Gurney Plaza

We recently found this small crafts store at Gurney Plaza Level 4.  After Sarah's Gymboree class finishes, this has been a default stopover before having lunch.  They have sand art and colored gel paintings for kids.  Prices vary depending on size of the art.  We normally pay RM15 for medium size art pieces.

Sand Art Corner at Gurney Plaza

Plenty of colored sands

Sarah's mermaid sand art

The second visit, she tried the colored gels.

Coloring her castle

There were more kids on our next visit.  I found it funny to see all kids looking into each other's artworks.

Sarah did a colorful bouquet of flowers.

It was a big flower on our most recent visit.

She was very meticulous in her coloring.

To set the colors, the painting is heated in an oven toaster for a few minutes.  A quick water rinse afterwards cools down the painting.

Sarah watching over the temperature treatment of her colorful flower.

Petting farm at Avillion Port Dickson

Avillion Port Dickson has an in house petting farm which we love, love, love!

Feeding one of the resident white dove pigeon

It's open daily from 10-11am.  There are rabbits, chicks, hens and roosters, turtles, pigeons and a peacock.  Even before it opened, kids were swarming excitedly waiting for the place to open.   It's very interactive family activity, kids and grown ups can feed and hold the pets.  Small cuts of carrots, long beans, cabbages and bird seeds are provided.

We were here for two consecutive mornings and Sarah cannot have enough!  She really is into animals, much like her stepbrother Vishnu.

Clean and very well kept.  This is the calm before the storm, a few minutes before it opened ;)

Pet farm activities signage

The pet dorm :)

And the frenzy began!

A chick and a bunny

Feeding the chick and the bunny

This was our second morning.  Rooster fun!

Another cute baby chick

Bunny love

Mr. Turtle and Ms. Henny

She can't get enough of them

Sarah became a peacock stalker :)

All over the resort, we found small animals like snails, baby crabs on the beach, butterflies, dragonflies and a baby monitor lizard.

This flower in a pot along the pathway ends this Avillion post.