Hi loves, I'm thrilled to share the magical moments I had from our annual beach staycation with the kids and this year we've choosen to visit Langkawi at one of its most beautiful beach - Tanjung Rhu.

Tanjung Rhu is tucked away in Langkawi's most beautiful corners, it'll take you just 30 minutes from the airport, I highly recommend to rent a car so you could travel around freely and probably eat out on some of the day you're here. I got mine from Shopee and we manage to book a Toyota Yaris for RM120 a day.

When it came to dining, we there's 2 restaurants on-site. However, our hearts were captured by Saffron, a culinary gem open only during dinner with the stunning views of sunset when you dine outdoors. 

Last but not least, Tanjung Rhu Resort came with a private beach, with crystal-clear waters and powdery white sands and most importantly no disturbance at all, we literally had the beach all by ourselves with nothing but the sound of gentle waves lapping against the shore. Tanjung Rhu Resort is my imagination of paradise. 

The overall experience was just unforgettable, I would say 80% of the time we were by the beach or the pool, I would say this staycation kinda of grew onto me and made me leave as a happier person before I arrive which is a much needed reminder for everyone that we need to loosen up once in a while, work is not everything and the kids will grow up with memories of us so lets make it present. Until next time, Tanjung Rhu – thank you for making our staycation in Langkawi an absolute dream come true. 

Yes, I've finally made time to travel with the kids again, and this time I brought them to one of my favorite cities in Malaysia - Penang. Packed our stuff and got ourselves ready for this road trip, it takes  4hours from Kuala Lumpur to Penang by driving, but the ride is really enjoyable although it involves a lot of twisting, and turning through the winding roads, and don’t forget to admire as you’ll be over 8.4 miles above sea level when you cross over Penang Bridge. 

Being a die-hard fan of Penang, I just love everything here, the culture, food, people, beach, like literally everything except the drivers, anyway that aside let me show you our amazing weekend spent here. 

Where to stay

Hotel Mercure Penang Beach was an excellent choice for me and my family, it's located in Tanjung Bungah, which is in between Batu Ferringhi & Gurney, as the Island gets packed up with visitors on the weekends this area has lesser crowds. 

We booked the Superior Suite with Ocean View, the rooms were larger and we had a small lil kitchen to work with the best part was the awesome view we get to see every day. It’s easy to fall in love with this hotel and its wonderful surroundings, most time we spent outdoors either at the beach or the pool, and dining was easily taken care of at the poolside cafe, portions were generously huge and yummy.

Where to eat

During our stay we frequent the Ombak cafe the most I mentioned earlier we were located in between Batu Ferringhi & Gurney, and we made trips to Straits Quay to get my favorite fish & chips from Blue Reef Restaurant, they've been around since the mall is open and I swear it's the best Fish & Chips in Penang! 

We also checked out another cafe, Flora Cafe @ Spedahub which sits in Tropical Spice Garden in Batu Ferringhi. Food served was cafe food but it was decent for the price paid, again we had the chance to sit in the lush tropical garden and have a nice view of the beach opposite our 

Thing to do 

One of the fun things we get to do when we stayed at Hotel Mercure Penang Beach was we got to walk over the small island for a picnic. This is by far the coolest picnic we had, chilling on an island overlooking the beautiful Tanjung Bungah beach 

Hi Loves! As you might have seen from my IG stories earlier I have brought the girls to Malacca for a weekend trip holiday and it turned out to be really fun, except for the part that the girls drove me crazy but let's put that aside and focus on the trip. As a foodie, the best things were for me to EAT! So the entire trip contains lots of cafe hoppings, cafes suitable for kids. 

We booked a hotel at Avva Hotel which cost us around RM180 a night and breakfast included, the hotel was really clean and comfy, rooms were spacious, highly recommend it for families but what matters most is it was within walking distance to all the places I wanted to go and it was right beside the river so strolling around at night was pretty fun too. 

There is a car park beside the hotel that charges RM15 a day with unlimited entries but I was lucky and got myself a spot just in front of the hotel, if you're in Melaka just download the Smart Vehicle Parking Melaka App to pay for public parking otherwise you'll probably end up with a ticket. 

Since we're coming here with the kids and trying to avoid crowded areas, here's our itinerary

DAY 1 - Mamee Jonker House Melaka, Eat@18 & Ayako's Place

We started the day by visiting a cafe for lunch, unfortunately, it was really bad so I won't be talking about it here. Once lunch was done I took the girls to Mamee Jonker House Melaka and made our own cup noodles cost us RM15 per cup but it was loads of fun, from designing our own cup, sending it to the factory, and lastly packed into this cup lil Mamee Monster Box for us to take away 👍

While we were walking back to our hot under the scorching sun we decided to stop by Eat@18, I was attracted to the vibes of the space. Ordered Panna Cotta and Strawberry Cooler both were good but space was limited and small here so I wouldn't really recommend this spot for kids. 

Lastly, we had dinner at Ayako's Place which is a home dining, bookings need to be made beforehand but it was really worth it, I'll be writing a post entirely on this so stay tuned! 

Got ourselves on a Frozen Trishaw that gave us a ride from Jalan Tukang Emas back to Avva Hotel @ Jalan Kampung Hulu for RM25, a lil pricy but the girls were thrilled so I guess money well spent.

DAY 2 - LUNG ANN REFRESHMENT, THE BENDAHARI MARKETS, THE CURIOUS BAKERS, KNEADING PEACE & WILD CORRIANDER

Since we were with the kids and it was a chill trip, we decided to take everything easy, took a stroll in the morning along the riverside, and ended up at Lung Ann refreshment for some classic old roti kaya butter paired with soft-boiled egg and good old Kopitiam style coffee after that more walking on the street of Malacca. 

For lunch, we went to The Bendahari Markets because Donald & Lily's Pop Up took place there, as you all may know already parking ain't easy in Malacca so we just booked a Grab. The Bendahari Markets is an exquisite Pop Up Community Space that showcases the culture & heritage of Malacca, you'll find all sorts of things that are related to Malacca from the beautiful Kebaya, Nyonya food, artworks, jewelry and I love how they've got a community books shelf so feel free to drop by and read some of their books and there's a spot that has nostalgic games for the children to enjoy.

After lunch we did more cafe hopping, went to The Curious Bakers for some coffee and pastries, their Canele was made of perfection and when it was paired with coffee, even better! Unfortunately, the shop was really small like so small there was literally no place to sit so we had it takeaway. 

Next stop was a cafe named Kneading Peace a refugee-supporting training café, shop & creative space managed by Same Skies, it was really near our hotel and tbh I was attracted since day 1 so I decided to explore the place since it is our last day here and I was in love with the cafe. First and foremost, there's a kids corner for the girls to play so hands-free for mama. 

I ordered the pâtisserie of 3 and a Raspberry lemonade, and Popsicles. The pastries took me by surprise because they were really good, I also love the concept of mini sizes pastries, all 3 of em taste well what's more amazing is there's also a rooftop space which was really cool! Definitely, a hidden gem around the area that should not be missed. 

We ended our trip with an amazing traditional Nyonya meal at Wild Corriander, we ordered the Pai Tee, Rojak, Mee Siam, Lamb Shank, Mix Vegetables, and Telur Dadar as for desserts it was Sago Gula Melaka & Avocado Gula Melaka. I know the combination was weird but it was the girls that we need to accommodate. 

I wish I could choose one that I really like but they were all really good, the Lamb Shank was highly recommended and a must-order. The lamb was slow cook till the meat was soft and tender and the sauce that went with it just elevates the entire dish. Even the simplest Mee Siam tasted so good that my picky eater Mina finished her portion. 

We had a fantastic time in Melacca and we wish we could spend a few more days here. Trips with kids are really tiring especially when my girls love bickering at each other but I know that someday I'll look back at the life and think, I'm glad I manage to spend time with my girls and enjoy every moment big or small because that's what matters. 

Hope you guys like my post let me know in the comments if you've got more food suggestions for me to visit, will be planning for a 2nd trip.