Where We Be
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| We gave ourselves a bonus week on the island of Penang to enjoy views like this one at Ferringhi Beach |
| Ferringhi Beach -- Penang, Malaysia |
| The grounds at Rasa Sayang are green and lovely, with awesome shade trees |
| Choice table at Rasa Sayang under a shade tree and offering a perfect view of the beach |
| View of Ferringhi Beach from the outdoor cafe at Rasa Sayang Resort. What an idyllic spot! |
| This monitor lizard prowled the grounds near our lunch table |
| Beautiful blue stretch of pool at Rasa Sayang |
| We spent most of the week relaxing at Rainbow Paradise Resort. This was the view from our balcony -- not bad for $40 per night! |
| We booked this week-long rental through Airbnb. The resort included a nice pool, spa and massage center, and small beach. |
| The resort's beach was pleasant but not as nice as Ferringhi Beach, which was about ten minutes away by bus. Bus #101 stopped frequently just outside our resort and cost only RM 4 (about $1) round-trip to Ferringhi Beach. |
| We loved the pan-fried sea bass at Breezes -- Rainbow Paradise's own in-house restaurant |
| We took Uber rides to and from Gleneagles Penang Medical Centre in George Town for extensive health screenings. We highly recommend this! The screenings were top-notch and hugely affordable compared to anything in the U.S.. Malaysia's "wellness exams" represent medical tourism at its best. |
| There were also several restaurants across the street -- our favorite being Sri Ananda for its fantastic Indian food. Lebanon Restaurant's Mediterranean sampler platter was also great. |
| This little respite felt great before our trip pace picked up and we started sightseeing in earnest |
| We left with a packet of information that included extensive blood work results, chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound imagery, stress test results, and more, all for about $180 each. |
We stayed a second week on the island of
Penang -- in part to give ourselves a relaxing
beach week and in part to take advantage of
the terrific health screenings available at the
hospitals here. We visited Gleneagles Penang
Medical Centre for some remarkably affordable
"wellness exams" offering extensive blood
work, chest x-rays, abdominal scans, treadmill
stress tests, and more, all for just ~$180 each.
During the rest of the week we relaxed at
Rainbow Paradise Resort in Tanjung Bungah,
about 20 minutes from George Town. The
resort has its own pool, beach, and restaurants
but we also made visits to nearby Ferringhi
Beach -- the most popular beach on the island.
It's a pristine stretch of golden sand with palm
trees and low mountains in the distance. We
adopted Shangri La’s Rasa Sayang Resort as
our base during these visits. It's perhaps the
premier resort on the island, with manicured
grounds and a lovely outdoor cafe with views
over the water. Here we enjoyed lunches while
taking in the soul-replenishing views.
Penang -- in part to give ourselves a relaxing
beach week and in part to take advantage of
the terrific health screenings available at the
hospitals here. We visited Gleneagles Penang
Medical Centre for some remarkably affordable
"wellness exams" offering extensive blood
work, chest x-rays, abdominal scans, treadmill
stress tests, and more, all for just ~$180 each.
During the rest of the week we relaxed at
Rainbow Paradise Resort in Tanjung Bungah,
about 20 minutes from George Town. The
resort has its own pool, beach, and restaurants
but we also made visits to nearby Ferringhi
Beach -- the most popular beach on the island.
It's a pristine stretch of golden sand with palm
trees and low mountains in the distance. We
adopted Shangri La’s Rasa Sayang Resort as
our base during these visits. It's perhaps the
premier resort on the island, with manicured
grounds and a lovely outdoor cafe with views
over the water. Here we enjoyed lunches while
taking in the soul-replenishing views.
| From Rasa Sayang we could walk about half a mile along the beach before reaching an estuary stream |
| Robin stands in front of the Health Screening Center. Everyone speaks English here and the staff is great. |