Penang | Tropical Spice Garden

Do you know ginger plant?

What we know is ginger lah kan, ie halia.

But do you also know that bunga kantan (torch ginger) is a ginger plant? Tumeric is also a ginger, do you know this?

This gets even more interesting :

But did you know that gingers can be loosely used to refer to any one of a whopping 3,000 species of plants? Falling under the ginger order (Zingiberales), this group includes eight plant families as diverse as the heliconias (Heliconiaceae), orchidanthas (Lowiaceae) and even bananas (Musaceae)!

YUP! Banana is also under the ginger family. We found this out at the Tropical Spice Garden.

Interesting huh.

Fun facts

• Medium to steep gradients (Wear propershoes)
• Total walking trails 2km

• Total area size 6 acres
• Audio guides are available in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese, German and French
• Guided tour is also available sharing on plants medicinal benefits, folklore and the historical spice trade of these magical plants alive. Tours takes approximately 1.30 hours.

• Cooking class available covering Penang dishes - Nyonya, Malay, Indian-Malay, Thai, Penang Street - food and Asian Vegetarian cuisines.
• Nature education available for kids under the ages of 12 such as Spice & Herb guided tour, scavenger hunts, and arts & craft.

• There is also night walk to see nocturnal plants and animals in their natural habitat. Torches, mosquito repellent and refreshments are provided. Walks start from 8:00pm – 10:00pm. Call in advance.

• Tropical Spice Garden offers team building packages (half day and full day)

Entrance Fee

Tropical Spice Garden

Lot 595 Mukim, 2

Jalan Teluk Bahang

Teluk Bahang, 11050

George Town

Pulau Pinang

URL : https://tropicalspicegarden.com/

Operating hours

Open 9 am to 6 pm daily

Last admission at 5.15 pm

The VM2020 Heritage and Family Fun 2019 Media Fam Trip is organized by Tourism Malaysia in partnership with all its sponsors.

World’s longest water slide | Escape Penang Water Park

Well, people who know me, KNOW ME.

I don’t like my trip to involve water as I have to pack extra – beach bag, swimsuit, towel, toiletries so on and so forth. The luggage will be heavier and I have to ensure I bring extra plastic bags to store them wet cloths. You get the drift right. Basically very very the leceh.

So, when I saw the itinerary… I do the usual ie googling each destination to understand what I will be covering and how to angle my writing etc.

‘Escape! Hemmmm…. OK’ I remember telling myself. I have to pack extra lah maknanya kan. Consoling myself ‘kena pack slipper and towel gak ni’ murmuring under my breath.

Credit : Escape

Reluctantly I pack. Whole trip was great… Enjoyed myself thoroughly – very informative, action pack activities, great travel buddies. Then the last day came, Escape! Told meself to at least play 1 ride #demisebuahcontent. I asked Miera is it scary? I googled, I watched video, I read reviews…. Everyone said it is slow, not scary at all. Just that the ride is 1.1km long… few mins till you reach the end.

Great! I shall do this. One content done!

We took our float and head to the chairlift (I ain’t gonna take he staircase, tinggi giler kot)…

Credit : Attractions Management

Every was ok… then it was our turn; Nisa and I. Both penakut and scared of height, salah pairing nih. I sit and as Nike’s motto ‘Just Do It’. And we splashed down… screaming and enjoying the ride. Half way I stop screaming ‘bila nak sampai bawah ni? Bosan giler’…. ‘Are we there yet?!?’.

https://www.instagram.com/lilyriani_travelholic/

Yeah, we arrived and has a photo as a proof. The ride was around 4 mins kot but the queue was like 20mins or so. Sejenis kegigihan kalau nak buat second round, memang tak lah kan. By then the adrenaline rush kicks-in for all of us, I was persuaded to try the face-down steep scary splash (tak lah scary tapi I kan penakut [eyes rolling]). And strangely I said ‘OK, jom!’. Mabuk kot masa tuh… Hahhahaha….

Credit : STAR

We did the ride, all 6 of us… we were competing. Yup! We came out with this idea (masalah bila queue lama, semua orang jadi came out with weird ideas), we shall compete WHO will reach the FURTHER POINT of the splash. Remembered someone said that the heaviest will win. I lah tuh lah… me admitting.

Click HERE to watch how EJ did the Banana Flip ride. Must watch!!!

I was wrong, I couldn’t garner enough inertia and I was placed second (macamlah ada hadiah). Tetiba rasa best pulak… apa lagi nak main yek. I think my adrenaline when into turbo boost gear. Baru dok piker-pikir nak main apa, we were asked to pack, get ready as we need to head for lunch and then pecut balik KL.

BUUUUUUUUUUT I tak puas main lagi lah! Mana aci.

Jarang I enjoy water park ni tau.

Fine! Nanti kena dating lagi sekali.

Credit : Escape

#TravelTips

✔ MUST ride the longest slide in the world - 1.1km long!
✔ Spend 1 full day at each park (dry and wet)
✔ MUST also experience Banana Flip (water) and Splash
✔ Wear slippers, preferably the one with strap
✔ Bring own water as you easily get dehydrated
✔ Bring own TOWEL and toiletries
✔ Purchase tix online to avoid long queue
✔ Come early so you'll have more time to play and repeat.

Operating hours

Tuesday - Sunday (closes on Mondays)
10am - 6pm

ESCAPE
828 Jalan Teluk Bahang
11050 Penang, Malaysia

URL : https://www.escape.my/

The VM2020 Heritage and Family Fun 2019 Media Fam Trip is organized by Tourism Malaysia in partnership with all its sponsors.

Penang KOMTAR | Rainbow Skywalk and The Gravityz - World's Highest Rope Course Challenge

Cold feet. Chicken feet? Chicken out!!!!

Yup! That’s me alright.

Scared of height. Gayat.

Chickened.

I bet you will too if you take a look at Penang Komtar’s The Gravityz.

Basically there is NO safety net. And you will be hanging at 65^th floor rope dependent.

KOMTAR stands for Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, Malaysia’s 2nd Prime Minister. KOMTAR Tower's is also Penang's tallest building was erected in 1974 and completed in 1986. 2015 marked the year revamping of KOMTAR took place, 3 additional storeys were added. This additional floor is where the Rainbow Skywalk and The Gravityz are located; world's highest rope course at the 65th floor.

KOMTAR houses multipurpose complex, comprising retail outlets, a transportation hub and administrative offices aside from Geodesic Dome, 7D Discovery Motion Theater, Magic Mirror Maze, Danceoki, 5D Ocean Explorer, Jurassic Research Center and many more. There is also a Gym in the Sky on the 66^th floor.

2 unique attractions that I experience are the Rainbow Skywalk (Level 68), a semicircle glass floor bridge walkway. As for The Gravityz (Level 65) of which I ‘partially” tried, a rope obstacle course along the exterior of the 65th floor, including a zip-line challenge (scary as there is no safety net). Partially tried basically mean I tried but chicken out. OK OK OK! I did gear up and all but as I step out and look out. It is scary shit man! That was when I chicken out and retract myself. Ahaks

Rainbow Bridge

There’s 2 glass floor, one is on 68^th floor (out door) and the other one is indoor on 65^th floor. I did both (well, kinda). They persuaded me to did the full semicircle of the Rainbow Bridge, for a person that is scared if height this is really terrifying. But demi sebuah content, I took 1 big step on the bridge and got them to quickly crawl back to the building. Literally crawled back. Kid you not.

As for the indoor version of the glass floor. It wasn’t as scary (tetiba overconfident), having said that, I still dare not dance and walk everywhere like the rest of them. But no screaming and crying lah.

Rainbow Skywalk

Level 65 @ The Top

Menara Komtar

Georgetown

Penang Island

Operation Hours

Sunday to Thursday

11:00am to 10:00pm

Friday to Saturday

11:00am to 11:00pm

(Selected Public Holiday and School Holiday from 10.00am to 10.00pm)

Do book online to avoid queues : https://thetop.com.my/buy-tickets/

Website : https://thetop.com.my/rainbow-skywalk/

The Gravityz

No. It’s a no for me. Despite the fact that I negotiated for a photo opp just outside the exit. Here’s the thing, I came out with this brilliant idea of having a photo just outside the exit (my bravest moment) but guess what?!?! I forgot to inform them to take a photo of me and they are nowhere in sight. So I have no prove of execution. Cis. 

The rest of them takde fear langsung, especially Miera. I rasa dia ni Avengers kot. By the way, The Gravityz's ropes course consist Confidence Path, High Bench, A Great Bridge, X-Point, Z-wire and G-Rocky.

The Gravityz

Level 65 @ The Top

Menara Komtar

Georgetown

Penang Island

Operation Hours

Monday to Sunday

11:00am - 2:00pm

4:00pm - 7:00pm

(break at 3pm)

Public holiday & school holiday

11:00am - 7:00pm

Do book online to avoid queues : https://www.thegravityz.com/booking

Website : https://www.thegravityz.com/home?#about-us

The VM2020 Heritage and Family Fun 2019 Media Fam Trip is organized by Tourism Malaysia in partnership with all its sponsors.