On our Chinese New Year trip last year,
we flew with Qatar Airways from Oslo to Penang.
The Doha–Penang segment made a 1.5-hour stopover in Phuket....
most passengers disembarked there, and the rest of us continued on to Penang.
and for us who had Silver membership with Qatar,
**Yes, we traveled only economy class**
we could enjoy their lounge!
On our way back,
we decided to pamper ourselves and fly business class.
**We also had plenty of luggage to take back home to Oslo.
Therefore,
we were once again,
enjoying + being irritated with the lounge in Penang airport.
First of all,
the choice of food was already limited,
**As you can see from the pictures here,
comparing between lounges in Phuket and Penang....
and one can tell as well,
the food was just so-so,
BUT it was sufficient + very "local"
so that was a PLUS!
**The lounge was not very big either,
and it wasn't easy to find a place to sit!
Anyway.....
the worst part is other than beer,
one needed to pay for any other kind of alcohol!!
When it comes to the food in business class on flights from Penang to Doha,
Qatar Airways always delivers!
And of course,
we gotta enjoy the business class lounge at Doha....
We were really full,
so we did not even order anything in the lounge.
And for me,
I need to try out the gym.
A very simple one, but at least the shower was great!
**Spa was not free though....
then our very last leg from Doha
back to Oslo....
All in all,
we were satisfied!
From traditional arabic breakfast with pita bread,
hand-rolled omelette with trio of mushrooms....
to main course- braised beef short ribs with
mustard seed jus
and dessert
warm praline cookie with hazelnut ice cream....
**Not to forgot their finest wine
2016 Chateau Lynch-Moussas, Pauillac, France
As always,
Qatar's airway never let us down....
And for this 2025 CNY trip,
as always as well,
lots of family time
and family work :)
some sightseeing as well,
where we tried out many new things like new bus routes,
new shopping center...
**Arne has always wanted to revisit Kek Lok Si temple
during Chinese New year time,
and this year we finally made it!
We were lucky enough
to simply bump into Michelin award food
*Air Itam duck rice*
without doing any homework/ planning....
We went there early,
just to make sure that we managed to be there before sunset,
and of course,
to avoid the crowd too....
No wonder Arne loves dog so much,
his chinese zodiac is dog!
The sunset was around 7.30pm,
and sunset in Penang was only like in 5-10 minutes.
Everything became much darker....
and from these pictures,
I am sure you could tell...
Besides this Penang trip,
we also had another short trip to Taiping,
which I will blog in the next post.
To be continued....
XOXO
-Bong-
