BATU FERRINGHI, PENANG

BATU FERRINGHI, PENANG is a world renowned vacation spot with a beautiful beach with budget inns and five-star hotels. 

The beaches are described as golden with exciting beach activities and ocean sports like jet-skiing, parasailing, horseback riding and of course, swimming.

There is a long line of restaurant, some with beach views and others with very interesting facades. The choices show a wide range from Southeast Asian (Thai) to Indian to Middle Eastern...

Golden Thai

Middle Eastern cuisine in Tarbush...see the camel!

accordingly, the "best steak in town"...

And some street food, too...

A night bazar is the other main attraction in the streets of Batu Ferringhi, although, it wasn’t a good time when we were there because of the rain every time.  These bazars do open at night and if there is no rain...

very friendly store owners...

silver jewelry...

art...

these are interesting lanterns which we can make ourselves... 

the guy is demonstrating how to make it!

lights...

you can see the mix of tourists visiting Penang!

In the Philippines, we also have lots of "tiangge" but now also commonly seen in the malls....

I guess, I had more pictures than shopping stuff! But I enjoyed the walk...the line of shops extends more than a kilometer and I think, there is another set further ahead, also near the other hotels further on...

Batu Ferringhi, which I think means Foreigner's Rock has a charm all its own...

CROWN REGENCY HOTEL: IN MY EYES... AND "TUMMY"

Aside from enjoying the Sky Experience Adventure viewing, I also really enjoyed my CROWN REGENCY BREAKFAST!

I was sort of in a hurry and so I thought I'd miss my breakfast... but was quite curious about it!
Fortunately, I was able to slip it in my schedule...

 GLO Cafe and Lounge is at the second floor...

By the way, I am not a food connoissuer...and I have no credentials to the field of FOOD Judgment, BUT, I just enjoyed looking at the place and amazed at a new set of meals they had to offer.

 There was mainly this set, and thus, limited, but it was enough to impress me. Here are some of the food they served...

Fish kebab! This was interesting for me...and it tastes very good...and healthy to boot! 

White pasta with shrimp!

Instead of the boiled eggs, they had Russian poached eggs!

This was a Vegetable "something" with Mango Chutney sauce -
I actually forgot the word, but it looked like a variant of empanada!

Another empanada type -- their mini calzone...

They also had Sweet Ham with a twist since this had pineapple sauce and of course, Native chorizo.
They also had a mixed vegetable dish and a few more, aside from the choices of breads...


I was impressed because the food choices weren't the usual simple ham, bacon, boiled egg, scrambled egg, pork and beans, etc.
And the food were heated in automated or digital heaters, which I felt was a very new innovation...first time I saw this! I was impressed!


There was also an omelette station...

Here we are with Chef Jessica in brown...the main Chef was Chef Erlito...Congrats, the food were yummy and healthy!


Another thing that caught my attention were  the FRUIT CARVINGS!

Beautiful, aren't they?


I wish I had more time to savor each of the dishes they served, but I was happy with what I ate.. and my eyes were also very pleased! Really yummy to my tummy...and to my photographer "eyes"!

CROWN REGENCY HOTEL: IN MY EYES

It was a very interesting stay at the Crown Regency Hotel in Cebu City. 

This is the Crown Regency Tower I and Tower 2 buildings as taken from the Fuente Osmeña side, and which I got while I was on the run (in the car!)...

Crown Regency is the tallest hotel in Cebu City reaching 45 floors.

The hotel is at the center of Cebu City and located at the Fuente Osmeña area, and thus, very accessible to many places in Cebu City. It is walking distance to Robinson's in Fuente Osmeña and by taxi costs less than a hundred pesos to Shoemart and Ayala Center.

The hotel has a small lobby located in Tower I but is cozy...

Across at the Tower II is a convenience store, which is very convenient for the hotel guests. The usual chips and drinks are available as well as noodles and biscuits. Of course, also available are toiletries from toothbrushes, toothpastes, soaps and shampoos. Accordingly, some of the products available are imported.  You pass by this store to go to the 19th floor for non-hotel guests... 

We were booked at the 16th floor and need the card key to be able to go to the rooms - very important for security purposes. There is a separate elevator for the hotel guests and those who just want to see the Sky Adventures. Although, the walls of the elevator were too busy, it was enough to keep the guests interested in what Crown Regency has to offer! I was one of them who really wanted to go and visit the thrills up there.

The rooms were attractive and clean! The TV was not yet the LCD type, but that's okay. The ref is available with two complimentary bottled water available per day. 

What I liked best was the FREE INTERNET! But I was expecting it to be wi-fi...so I had to call the front desk who informed me to use the LAN wire! They were very accommodating to change the password when the first one I used didn't work well after a few hours. 

Look at our beds with more than a foot thick mattress, thus, the beds really look imposing!

The bathroom and toilet was big and clean, but the bathtub-shower in one set-up is not friendly for the elderly especially, that I was with my 81 year old Mom.

The views from the room were very beautiful and on our side of the building, we could see Jones Avenue (Osmeña Boulevard) and as far as SRP (South Road Properties), which was the South Reclamation Project, the easier highway to go to the south of Cebu.

The pictures from wide to zoom of the SRP is quite interesting, right?!? I used the Nikon P500 36X wide camera for these shots.

As I said, the Crown Regency Hotel Cebu prides itself for its Sky Experience Adventures and I, too couldn't resist checking it out... and here are some of them!

We have to go the the 19th Floor to get the tickets. I just intended to view the area so I had to pay P250.00 for this. No rides with the P250.00. I forgot if I could get a drink with the entrance fee.

Even hotel guests have to pay the entrance fee but it is worth it!

Then, we move up to the 38th floor for all the adventures...

Can you see the zip line from Tower 1 to Tower 2? I think they also pride themselves as the only motorized zipline...

They say that the zipline would connect with this building in Ramos Street in the future!

We visited the Sky Experience Adventure at night since there was a short thunderstorm early in the afternoon for about 3 hours! But the night visit was so exciting and me, who loves to take the night shots was so exhilirated! Didn't bring the tripod, though. 

We were lucky, it wasn't too busy and one of the staff was so gracious to take our pictures using the DSLR! I thought I wouldn't have any pictures up here!

Here is the Zipline at night! It is called the Tower Zip, the world's first urban sky zipline! Their battlecry is "HANG HIGHER"...

 From the ground, a friend told me that is so nice to see several adventure seekers just zip up there.

For the more tame visitors, the telescope is available...

While we pose, the edge coaster passes by...and somehow, I am tempted to try it. I think I could do it!

But, not in this visit.

I was already overwhelmed by the view...considered aerial already! 

The city lights were beautiful.... this is Osmeña Boulevard going to the SRP side...

And another treat I had was the fireworks display at the SRP side and a shorter display on another side.

I was really amazed and so happy!

It is time to move on to the 37th floor, one flight down...to see the Sky walkers...

This time, I couldn't get a direct shot unless I skywalk myself! But, I feel their excitement as they walk outside the 37th floor...with a safety harness, of course!

I survived the Skywalk...by the way, the Philippines' first Skywalk!...I mean, I survived watching the Skywalkers!

I was just happy being there!

There are many more things to do...like the 4D movies and the upcoming (or is it there already?) Vertigo, for the rock climbing at the side of the building! 

I couldn't imagine what else they could think of!

Indeed, we seemed under the stars indoors and really under the stars outdoors!

It is time to go, but I really recommend this place to the young and young at heart.

I grabbed these advertisements somewhere...from their brochures and posters...as of June 2011..

Also, I forgot to pass by a friend, Grandmaster Rey Abad at the Basement for the ULTIMA Indoor Shooting Range! This is also another experience worth trying...

Lots to do inside this hotel... why don't you give it a try!

As we rode the elevator, I took a shot of Osmeña Boulevard going to the Cebu Capitol...

Here is the facade at night...

Well, that's CROWN REGENCY HOTEL Cebu City, in my eyes!

P.S. This is not a paid advertisement...I just enjoyed taking pictures of the place and now I am sharing it with you!

        Too many exclamation points, I guess...but that shows how excited I was...hope you will be, too!