Category: Going Places

My travelogue.

Entopia by Butterfly Farm Penang

Posted on By sweet surrender 3 Comments on Entopia by Butterfly Farm Penang

It used to be known as butterfly farm, now known as Entopia.

Been to Penang few times before its renovation but never been there. Renovation was completed in 2015. Had an opportunity to visit Penang last month, we decided to go to Entopia for a visit.

First impression was WOW! Modern, well-maintained, and it does not feel like you’re in a tourism attraction in Malaysia.

A fun and educational place for family and even as a lone traveler. Get in touch with nature, seeing them close-up without going through the rugged paths. It’s awesome!

Opens Daily
9:00am – 7:00pm
(including weekends & public holidays)
*Last ticket sale and entry is at 5:30pm.

Entrance fee is reasonable. RM49/adult with MyKad, children and senior citizens with Mykad is RM20/pax; foreigner will be RM65/adult, children and senior citizens is RM45/pax.
Psst… Get discount here, only RM40 for Malaysian and RM53 for Foreigner.

There is so many sections and so much to see and learn.

I’ll just let the photos do the talking.

What you see here are not all, there’s more.

You’ll have to be there yourself to see it for yourself.




It is quite humid and hot there but after walking around, you’ll be led into air-conditioned exhibition area.



Many activities that children can participate when they visit the place.

Not just butterflies, there’s a lot of creatures such as frogs, spiders, scorpions, earth worms, cockroaches, beetles, snakes, insects, and more.

Learnt a lot from here. It’s fun to taking photos of the creatures in this place. A must-go if you like nature but hate the rugged part of it and great for family too.

You can get more details from their official site entopia.com

Going Places, Penang

Museum Hotel, Penang

Posted on By sweet surrender 3 Comments on Museum Hotel, Penang

Early this year, we went for short getaway with Air Asia direct flight from Kuching to Penang. Museum Hotel was our home for 3 nights. I booked this hotel(without breakfast) via AirAsiaGo combined with flight ticket(without meal and luggage) that cost us about RM1850.00 for 4D3N, 3 pax.

From the official website museumhotel.com.my:

Step back in time and savour the opulence of a bygone era at the Museum Hotel. Located in a restored historic building in the heart of George Town, this gem of a boutique hotel offers a unique glimpse into the golden past of this world heritage listed city. Each spacious, luxuriously appointed themed suite is one-of-a-kind. Immerse yourself in the rich history and culture of Penang while you indulge your senses in luxury at the Museum Hotel.


If you drive, you don’t have to worry about parking, it is limited but they do have their own parking for their guests. The staffs were very friendly and helpful. We were served with refreshing cold lemongrass ginger drink while checking in.



Navigate through the hotel to our room, it’s like going back to the olden days.


I booked a room for 3 pax that can cater for maximum 4 pax. The room is known as QI LIN (麒麟) Quadruple Duplex Room.

Details from museumhotel.com.my:

The wondrous Qi Lin (麒麟) is an auspicious creature of Chinese mythology. It is said to herald the arrival of a wise or honoured personage, and thus are considered very good omens in Chinese culture. Our Quadruple duplex room is named for the lucky Qi Lin, and this room is suitable for a company of up to 4 adults. A wooden-floored living room on the lower level has a comfortable sitting area, and a flight of stairs leads to the upper floor bedroom, with a queen sized four-poster bed, and two single beds. The bathroom features two showers and double basins. The room includes all modern conveniences and amenities:
– Air conditioning
– 32” LCD television with satellite channels
– Free in-room wifi
– Laptop safe
– Coffee and tea making facilities
– Ensuite bathroom with double showers and toiletries
– Laundry service
– Colonial dressing table
– Straits Chinese wall mirror
– Brass standing lamp
– Telephone (In-house calls)
– Old English brass & porcelain switches

They led us to the room and explained how to use the room. We realized something too, the staff took of his shoes when he led us in. It was quite a surprise that it has two floors! Living area on the first; bedroom and bathrooms on the second floor. Very cozy place. Just one thing, 3 settees only… someone has to sit on the floor hahaha!


Few things to remember:
1. The fan speed cannot be adjusted.
2. Switch on bathroom heater for 5 minutes before shower and only switch off after everyone took their shower.
3. No need to remove the card in the wall slot.
4. Return the key to reception on the way out and collect it from reception on the way in.


The bathroom amenities were enough for us to use, except for the soap. Only two small bars, too bad… Love to shower with the oatmeal soap. I know… Can always ask for extra but hehe… lazy.


You do not need to worry about how 4 pax can share bathroom and toilet, there’s 2 toilets, 2 shower cubicles, and two sinks. So… No need to wait too long for your turn.


The beds were creaky hahaha!! It sure made lots of noise.


The staff were awesome already during check-in. When we got back to the hotel after a day out, there was another surprise. They placed traditional sweets in the room with a short note greeting you by your name and descriptions of the sweets given. First night was haw flakes, second night was peanut brittle, and third night was coconut sweets.

Overall, the hotel was way beyond my expectations. Great for friends and family(no children allowed if not mistaken) to stay if you’re in Penang. It’s not very far from the free shuttle stop too.

Address: No.76, Jalan A.S Mansor (Off Transfer Road), 10050 Penang.

Going Places, Penang, Review It!

Luoyang Old Street, Luoyang, China

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Luoyang Old Street, Luoyang, China

While at Luoyang, after dinner one night, we decided to go to their old street which is one of Luoyang’s tourist attractions. I went there twice, two nights in a row! LOL!! Well… It’s not that I like to go but I promised to bring another group of people to visit the place as they didn’t go on the first night. First night, I just tagged along. Second time, I lost my way when I wanted to go to the South street, oppsss… The blind leading the blinds. I have no sense of direction. HAHAHAH!!


Lijing Gate, the entrance to the old street. Such architecture, impressive and the structure/building dated centuries back. The crowd is massive just like any other attractions in China.

Source: https://www.topchinatravel.com/china-food-restaurant/where-to-eat-in-luoyang.htm
Before liberation, north, south, east, and west four streets constitute the old basic pattern in Luoyang. Old market also called Luoyang old street, old street starts at Lijing Gate in the west up to Drum Tower in the east, and the central part is called the cross street. The center of the old city is basically the cross street. Old street culture formed in the AD 1214, Old Street was built in the east old site of Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty, it has a history of more than 3050 years. Old Street is the epitome of the history and culture of Luoyang city, Lijing Gate, Octagon House, Writing Brush Peak, Drum Tower, such buildings stand tall, recording the glory days of the ancient city of Luoyang. The cross street is a center for Luoyang snacks.


There are so many shops greeting you once you are in there from selling souvenirs to food. New style, old style, all blend in very comfortably. You can find people busking too. Business looks pretty good. The visitors there made up of domestic tourists the most.


Left: Honeycomb and ginger sweets are everywhere along the street. A packet cost RMB100(if I recall it correctly).
Right: Local artists setting up stalls drawing and making handicrafts for sale.



You’ll never miss exotic food here. Insects and worms, BBQ or deep fried, are available for you to savour. Don’t worry, there are also proper/normal food for those of you who are not adventurous enough.


The buildings along the street are very fascinating. At the same time, it looks eerie too. Walking through it, it’s like whatever you’ve seen in the olden Chinese movie except you’re surrounded by modern people and with a mix of old and new things around you.

We continue walking until the end of the street, I couldn’t remember which turning we took. I was lost the second night hahaha! Ended up had to ask people for direction on the second night but still couldn’t find South street where the whole street is screaming food, food, food, and food. We simply walked around and saw all the red lanterns, there it was!!


Had our dinner here on the second night. So many food and it was a hard decision to make. We just ordered whatever we felt safe to eat *LOL*

By the way, it’s not easy to hail a taxi back to the hotel or your nest destination. I practically had to fight for a taxi as most taxis were already booked via hailing app. Those not booked were hard to come by. You have to try your luck stopping one after another to find one that is available to give you a ride. Best is to use the hailing app like how the Chinese is doing.

Finally completed my Luoyang trip post. Half year later hahaha… Sure took me a long time to get it done.

Next will be somewhere local.

City of Peonies - Luoyang, Food Porn, Going Places

Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Longmen Grottoes, Luoyang, China

Had the opportunity to visit Longmen Grottoes back in April.

Wikipedia: The Longmen Grottoes or Longmen Caves are some of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometres south of present-day Luòyáng in Hénán province, China.


The site is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.


We paid RMB100 for entrance. The area is rather huge and The weather was so fine that day. I got sunburn on my forehead 😛 Be sure to wear a hat if you don’t want to get burnt hahaha…


Here’s some general information found at the entrance. Well… Great effort for having dual language albeit funny ones hahah…


The scenery is not bad. However, could see many steel rods coming up in the middle of the trees which are all solar panels and transmission towers to cater for mobile devices needs. QR Code signboards are also everywhere too. This is how advance the Chinese are now.


Wikipedia: There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 2,345 caves, ranging from an 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 m) in height. The area also contains nearly 2,500 stelae and inscriptions, whence the name “Forest of Ancient Stelae”, as well as over sixty Buddhist pagodas. Situated in a scenic natural environment, the caves were dug from a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) stretch of cliff running along both banks of the river. 30% date from the Northern Wei Dynasty and 60% from the Tang, caves from other periods accounting for less than 10% of the total.Starting with the Northern Wei Dynasty in 493 AD, patrons and donors included emperors, Wu Zetian of the Second Zhou Dynasty, members of the royal family, other rich families, generals, and religious groups.



So many tourists, most of them are domestic tourists. The place is always filled with people! Even the walking paths, stairs, and handrails turned so slippery and shinny from the frictions endured daily. No doubt the facilities are well maintained.


The site management also set up places where tourists can interact or get up close with some of the items there. The flowery rock is known as Chrysanthemum stone.


The relics are all surrounded by fence because people like to touch it! We could see the previous fence was built nearer to the relics. Now they built it further away to avoid people from touching it. The damages done by visitors are very obvious where the relics were “polished” because of all the touchings until it become smooth and shiny.The text that couldn’t be read before can now be read *LOL*


How grand and huge the place is… These are just part of the attractions.


You can also go on the boat if you are lazy to walk to the exit because there is a lot of walking needed. We lost our direction and got off the boat at the wrong jetty 😛 Ended up had to walk for quite a distance to get ourselves out of the place.

Anyway, looking at how the Chinese develop and maintain their tourist attractions, it gave me goosebumps. When will we be able to reach that standard? Are we able to cope with such influx of them coming to our state? We are still very far lagging behind. Imagine our national parks become like this? I hope it won’t happen…

City of Peonies - Luoyang, Going Places

Spring in Luoyang, China

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Spring in Luoyang, China

Went to Luoyang in Spring but only posted it now and it’s already summer going into autumn soon! Hahaha!!

Luoyang is known as the City of Peonies. We took flight from Kuching to KL using Malaysia Airlines, then to Guangzhou using China Southern Airlines. Stayed a night in Gunagzhou and took the early morning flight to Luoyang with China Southern Airlines. Just the journey itself is tiring enough. We came back by using the route Luoyang to Guangzhou with China Southern Airlines and rushed to the other terminal to catch flight to KK also using China Southern Airlines but we couldn’t check through our luggage. Baiyun Airport is huge! We practically had to run all the way until check-in counter to check in our luggage again. Then from KK to Kuching with Air Asia. The journey took us the whole day just to get home.


We stayed in the new business district, it gave me a feeling of Putrajaya *LOL*. Bustling in the day and practically empty at night! There’s stark difference between the old and new district. You won’t find any cable or wiring throughout the new CBD.



About 5-10 minutes walk from Holiday Inn Express Luoyang City Center, there is a food street(政和路美食街 Zhen He Lu Mei Shi Jie) and a shopping complex. The food street selling all sort of Chinese food. No English menu though… Saw a lot of pork dishes and chicken feet hahaha… Was tempted to buy them but I didn’t. However, I did buy some from the hypermarket instead. Very spicy chicken feet but it was oh so good!!


One of the nights, we decided to go to a fish noodle shop to try out their fish noodle. The name is literally translated as Five Grains Fish Vermicelli(五谷鱼粉). So I ordered their signature dish. There were 5 different types of noodles with fish meat, fish ball, and vegetables. It’s a bit spicy though even though it didn’t look spicy. I can’t remember the taste but it’s not so bad or I was just too hungry that time. Hahaha… Portion was rather huge. Couldn’t finish it.


My colleague ordered their Rou Jia Mo(肉夹馍) aka Chinese hamburger aka pork belly bun. I seriously do not remember the taste of food I had back then, it’s been a long time. Well… Anything with pork is yummy. My colleague was happy with it so means it’s good enough.

Since it’s spring, let me share some photos of flowers I took while we walked around the CBD.


Sakai enough.. First time see real sakura 😛

Peonies were everywhere in the city! So pretty.


My first time seeing real peony too.


Aside from that, there are other flowers around. This looks like mini version of sakura. I’m no flower expert. I only know flowers are pretty hehehe…

Will be posting the tourist attractions I went while I was there soon. Enjoy your weekend!

City of Peonies - Luoyang, Food Porn, Going Places