It is hard to believe that we have been in Penang less than 2 months.  We are definitely starting to settle in, and I realized that we have yet to leave the island since we arrived.  The kids want to go to the main land so they can ride the ferry and then ride across the bridge on the way back.  I am sure we will be doing that soon, but we have stayed quite busy. 

Here are some pictures of a few things Penang Island has to offer:



Botanical Gardens



The Botanical Gardens are beautiful.  The kids enjoyed watching the monkeys run around.  You do have to be careful not to have food because the monkeys will come try to take it away. 





Tropical Spice Garden



The Tropical Spice Garden added a new children's area called Slides and Ladders.  It is a 3d version of the game Chutes and Ladders.  It was fun to watch the kids play it and they really enjoyed playing it and it was a great way to get them to tour the garden.  





Butterfly Farm



The Penang Butterfly Farm was fun to go through, too.  There were lots of butterflies, and the kids school has a butterfly farm at the campus to help in repopulating one of the local butterflies.  



Lion Dance



We arrived in Penang just in time for Chinese New Year which until we got here, I didn't realize lasted for two weeks.  We were able to see a lion dance one night.  We are all trying to catch up on our sleep still because the fireworks were nightly and lasted all night. 







Youth Park



The Youth Park is wonderful.  There are many different playscapes around the park and some pools.  The kids got to use their scooters they got for Christmas there.  I am sure we will be going there quite often. 





 







The food is great.   We are all getting use to the different spices and slowly learning what different dishes are.  I have a feeling one thing we will really miss when we return to Texas is the food over here.  I had a request for a picture of a fish we ate with the head on so here it is.  We are definitely enjoying all the seafood!  One of the other things we are enjoying is going to restaurants on the beach and the kids going to play in the sand while we finish eating and visiting with friends - it definitely beats McDonald playscapes!

So this is just a glimpse of some of the things we have been doing here in Penang while we are on our "extended vacation".  Penang is a beautiful island, and I can't wait to see what else it has to offer.