Hi guys, welcome back to my blog! Today's post will be all about my Penang trip last weekend + my stay in DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Penang featuring pictures & videos taken solely by my Samsung Galaxy S9!
Yes you read that right! All the content in this post was taken by my phone, the all-powerful S9. I love taking pics with DSLRs, but sometimes they're just so heavy! Plus, since my brother wasn't coming along for the trip, I had to depend a lot on other people to take my pics, so it was crucial that the whole process was easy for them (so that they don't mind taking a million shots for me ahaha)
Anyways! The Butterfly Project held a BB Beauty Art Deco workshop in Penang last week and it was held in DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Penang. They were kind enough to host us as well, so a huge shout out to them! This post will mainly be about what I did in Penang (excluding the event, that'll be another post) and how my overall experience in hotel was.
First thing's first: tickets! I bought bus tickets for my group and it ended up being RM74 for a two way ride from TBS (KL) to Sungai Nibong (Penang). I booked it on easybook.com (where I usually book my bus tickets) and I really recommend that website because they offer super cheap tickets + the whole checkout process is easy and hassle-free.
Our bus left KL at 11.30pm (Friday) and we reached Penang at around 5.30am (Saturday). We took a Grab to DoubleTree and got there around 6am.
Since check-in was only at 3pm, our plan was to leave our bags with the hotel's receptionist and explore Penang till 3pm.
The reception/lobby of the resort was pretty chill and looked super vacation-y! It didn't seem too clean/impersonal and was really nice and tropical. We each received a welcome cookie and was told that it was a Hilton tradition:
The front desk was pretty flustered that we came so early because they said they weren't expecting us till 3pm, and we told them not to worry and that we were planning to go to town anyways. Still, they were super friendly and they offered us each free entry to their breakfast buffet as an apology. Tbh they didn't have to (because we were planning to have breakfast in town anyways) but since they offered, of course we couldn't say no! XD
The breakfast buffet was pretty good! They had quite a selection (from local/Penang food to western stuff like bread/cereal/salad etc.) and we were definitely sated (esp after our overnight bus trip)
I wish I took more pics, but here's a flatlay of our spread that day:
The breakfast area was near the pool and here are some snaps I took while we were having breakfast:
By around 9am we were ready to set out for town, but the receptionist stopped us and told us that our rooms were now ready and that we could check in earlier if we wanted to. Like what??? First they gave us free breakfast, next they let us check in early! Super super efficient and friendly la they all! Sorry for the slang coming out, but I was really supper impressed by their efforts in placing our conveniece above everything else.
The 4 of us split into 2 Twin Guest Rooms, and here's what my room with Bo (my roomie) looked like:
Since they rushed the room's preparation I thought that the room would be...not in tip top shape, but literally it was spotless, sparkling and just...spectacular! In between both beds is a phone and in front is a tv.
The bathroom was small but still nice, and the toiletries were all from Crabtree & Evelyn, fancy right?
Other amenities included are 2 bathrobes, slippers, a safe, a clothing iron, an ironing board, a hairdryer, a torch + a fridge (it was beside the door/tv):
We all agreed to freshen up and meet around 10am, but being the extra people that we were...we totally got carried away lol. Bo and I immediately went to photoshoot mode, and after a few attempts to recreate some shots:
I managed to help her take this shot! Damn nice right?!
After goofing around it was time to freshen up & do our makeup:
and omg think the Penang air was super good or my feng shui was super good or something, but I looked so good T.T like please LOOK AT ME:
Come on S9! I seriously love all the selfies I took with my phone on this trip!
Anyways, here's what DoubleTree's main entrance looks like (it was too dark when we first arrived)
And here's our group of four! From left to right, here's Syahira, Sydney, Bo & I:
DoubleTree actually has a free shuttle to Georgetown but the last trip was at 10am (and it was around 11.30 when we left). We took a Grab instead and first headed to Armenian Street to take some pics:
Again, we only used my phone and no other camera at all, and I'm so impressed! I've been asking my brother to help me take OOTD pics with his heady DSLR but all this time I had this powerful mini camera in my hands...of course it can't compete with DSLR in studio settings, but for normal usage like selfies and OOTD/travel pics, it still looks super good!
One of the poses Syahira did was a jump:
And I remembered my phone actually has a slow motion feature omg, I literally bought this phone but never use it to its full capacity ahaha
Here's Syd with her flaming hot hair:
And here are some more shots of us around town:
I did literally NO retouching in the picture below (only collaging them) and it was taken with my phone's camera (not any selfie app). The beauty filter was on and set to low, but still! Look at us, we flawlesssssss:
Here's Bo with the iconic street art:
And here's a shot using my S9's selective focus feature. I noticed that the other Samsung phones' selective feature looks a bit fake, but mine looks pretty nice I think! It doesn't look awkward at all:
Anyhoo, here's a few more shots:
And around 1pm, we set out for lunch! We met up with Tammy (who came down from KL late) as well Gaylen, Carmen & Iris. Gaylen brought us to Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay & Canteen, which was apparently a local hotspot.
EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD. I really recommend the nasi lemak + the laksa & the popiah! Maybe it's just been a while since I had that combo, but the laksa & popiah was really so delicious that I kinda wanted to cry ahaha.
After a long and hearty lunch, we headed over to Gurney Plaza to cool down & hide from the summer sun. We also met up for a bit with our friend Karven!
After that we were kinda sleepy, so we headed back to the hotel. Bo immediately fell asleep (lol) and I just spent the hour taking pictures of myself. Again, pls look at the zamazing picture below uhuhu T.T
While I was taking pics og myself, someone came and gave us a platter of local sweets/kueh as an afternoon snack! Omg at this point I was just so impressed with DoubleTree's hospitality.
There was another shuttle at 6pm to Batu Ferringhi, so we all met up again at 6 and headed up to the beach.
The beach was just as I remembered it: nice, warm and clean! For a Saturday the crowd was pretty small, and it was a pretty chill afternoon for us.
Here's some pics from when we were chilling/absorbing some vitamin sea:
(Again, another amazing selfie)
The sunset at around 7.30 that day and it was this gorgeous egg yolk of colours:
The last time I was in Penang was last year, but even then I didn't get to explore Penang much. I was only in the city, and tbh I really missed it at that point. It was so refreshing to not see buildings everywhere and to have the sea breeze on my face.
Anyhoo, here's some shots of Syahira and BO:
After that we had dinner in Ferringhi and headed over to Love Lane for some drinks. I didn't really take any pics because...I kinda forgot to ahaha.
The next morning, we had the buffet breakfast again and decided to take pictures around DoubleTree before we checked out.
DoubleTree actually has a link bridge connecting them to their own beach (it's called Miami Beach), and the bridge is only accessible to hotel guests with access cards.
Here's what the stairway down to the beach looks like omg so damn nice right?!)
The beach was pretty nice and secluded, so if you're looking for a place to read, relax or just calmly take pictures, I recommend walking over!
We checked out at 12pm and since the event wasn't until at 3pm, we decided to roam around and take even more shots:
I bought this shirt from Batu Ferringhi for only RM30+ and it was such a good buy! The pattern is pretty and the fabric was just perfect (it was so cooling).
The pool area was pretty crowded by that time, so if you're looking to get some solo pool pics I recommend coming very early. The cabannas are pretty limited too.
The event started around 3pm and you can read all about it by clicking here.
After the event, the staff at DoubleTree gave us complimentary tickets to the TeddyBear museum as a farewell gift! We had already checked out by that point, and the fact that they were still trying to entertain us really just shows how hospitable and welcoming they really were!
The museum is attached inside DoubleTree and is jam-packed with lots of displays featuring bears. The attention to detail was impressive (especially for the miniature sets!)
And unfortunately, at around 6.30pm, we had to leave. We grabbed a quick bite in Queensbay and reached Sungai Nibong shortly for our 9pm bus (We reached KL at 1.50am, super fast!)
Overall I feel like my stay in Penang (although was too short for my liking) was super comfy, fun and just overall amazing. The hospitality of DoubleTree's staff was just so good, and you can literally see everyone of them smiling all around the hotel. If you have a bit of cash and don't mind spending to get quality service + a great instagrammable hotel + nice rooms, I really recommend you to try DoubleTree!
A huge shoutout to The Butterfly Project's team Mamashan, Sydney, Syahira and Bo for making the trip fun, Gaylen, Carmen & Iris for taking us around and of course the wonderful people at Hilton for making our stay and the event possible.
And that's all for this post! Thank you guys so much for dropping by, and I hope to see you again in my next one đź’–
Looks so much fun. I am jelly~!
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