Penang - The North Side of the Island

We spent a couple of days exploring the north side of the Island. A lot of tourists stay in Batu Ferringhi, which is the beach resort area of Penang. We heard that the waters were full of jellyfish, so we didn’t bother. 

However, there were lots of places nearby that we wanted to visit. 

Entopia:

First up was the Entopia Butterfly Farm. It was a beautiful place and had a lot of butterflies. We even got to release some.

But, Entopia had more than just butterflies. We found horned frogs, Goliath bird-eating tarantulas, bearded dragons, alligator snapping turtles, some crazy looking stick bugs and a pit of scorpions.

An employee told us we could hold the friendly scorpion... we said "no thanks."

These scorpions also changed color under UV light.

Tropical Spice Garden:

Another stop in the area was from a local recommendation. It was the Tropical Spice Garden. This also had more surprises for us than just a garden.

The kids learning to grind spices

They had little stream filled with those fish that eat the dead skin off your feet.

It was a really pretty place to visit.

Cat Beach:

We had a quick stop at the “Cat Beach” to pet some mangy cats at the rescue before we called it a day.

Escape Penang:

On another trip to the area, we spent the day at Escape Penang. This is an outdoor theme park that focuses on ropes courses and water rides. 

There was a really crazy “banana flip” slide that people could try to do somersaults off. 

Tom gave it a try … once. 

Escape seems to really enjoy breaking Guinness Records with their rides. At the time of our visit, they had four of them.

The longest zip coaster, which runs for 1,135 meters. It features two metal basket-chairs that you are harnessed into and then together. This contraption is also dangling from a metal rail. You zip through the jungle, swinging wildly the whole time. It was not as fun as it sounds.

The longest tubby racer, which is a waterless tube slide. Lynchburg residents will know this kind of tube slide from Snowflex. This one was 453 meters long and was pretty fun.

There is also the longest water slide, which is 1,111 meters long and was actually quite relaxing. Lucy and I rode it twice. 

Those first three started so high up that you take a chairlift to get to the beginning.

But my favorite Guinness Record breaker was definitely the largest tipping bucket, which holds 28,757 liters of water and tips every 16 minutes.

You can find Tom and my pale bodies to the lower right of this video. 

This is a moment that you can see a group of strangers instantly bond.