trip

LEGOLAND Malaysia, Johor Premium Outlets and more!

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us

Johor! It has always seemed like a state to stop by to eat and refuel before heading down to Singapore. It never seemed to hold much interest for me, despite having a nice waterfront. I went on a trip to ISKANDAR MALAYSIA last week and was surprised to see that there’s a lot of interesting developments going on.

legoland malaysia

…like the first LEGOLAND in South East Asia!

legoland site

Well, it’s not finished yet, ETA would be next year but here’s the spot where it’ll be at.

imic

However, there’s an interactive showcase called Iskandar Malaysia Information Center (IMIC) at Danga Bay Convention Center where you can see what LEGOLAND and other ISKANDAR MALAYSIA developments would look like.

danga bay convention center

The place is deceptively fun!

lego

You can discover your inner child (everyone has one) by playing with the LEGO bricks available there and build something interesting.

golf simulator

Play virtual golf.

motion sim

Sit in a motion simulator.

wii

Get some Wii Boxing!

kiosk

See your mug on a variety of virtual backdrops. You can save it to a USB port attached to the kiosk or post it to your Facebook account. Nifty.

virtual

Kids won’t be left out too, with interactive learning touch screen programs.

ramsar boat

There’s even a large rocking boat that will bring you to Tanjung Piai, Ramsar, one of the largest wetlands in the world…virtually, that is.

lontong kering

We were famished by the time we landed and the people at ISKANDAR MALAYSIA brought us to all the authentic Johor food places. We were whisked away as soon as we landed to one of the authentic stalls in JB for some lontong kering. This is at Warong Saga – it’s one of those places that you need a local to bring you to. You’ll be hard pressed to find it yourself. 🙂

mee rebus tulang gearbox

We also had some really awesome mee rebus tulang gearbox for lunch. You just have to try this if you’re ever in Johor. They have the best tulang gearbox I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. You’re given a short straw to suck out all the bone marrow too!

highway

ISKANDAR MALAYSIA is also changing the landscape of Johor in more practical ways. They’re building a lot of highways and roads to ease traffic congestion and ensure a more optimal route throughout the city. I’m quite impressed at the number of highways they are building in a such a short amount of time.

marina

The marina is also another captivating place. We went there for a nice, cold glass of iced lemon tea to cool down and walked around the area.

yatch prices

The marina is meant to dock leisure yachts and ships and there’s also a place to get your very own sailing craft…if you have the cash that is.

iskandar malaysia

The marina is set to be a hotbed of activity – there are plans to turn it into a vibrant community with lots of condominiums.

imperia puteri harbour

This is the showroom of IMPERIA Puteri Harbor by the marina, the highest condominium in Johor – it’s already sold out and the waiting list is 200+ people strong so there’s a looooong wait for an opening.

chillax

It’s a nice place though – every unit will have a balcony with a sea view and it seems like the perfect place for a holiday home.

showhouse

There is also vast tracts of lands being turned into gated communities and high end houses in East Ledang. I’ve been to some of the show houses at Melody Park and it’s AMAZING.

east ledang

Just look at this and tell me you don’t wish you live here.

bedroom

There’s lot of different variations and themes too – modern, English, classic, whichever way you want you interior décor to be like, you’ll find it no trouble to get there.

educity

EduCity @ ISKANDAR MALAYSIA is home to several renowned Ivy League universities which has set up their campuses there.

newcastle university

The beauty about this place is that the universities only have ONE faculty there – the best of the best e.g. Newcastle University has a medical faculty for all those interested in going into that field.

kate middleton

There’s also Marlborough College which Kate Middleton graduated from. Yes, that’s the Duchess of Cambridge’s alma mater. I’m so going if they manage to get her to come and officially open this college for them. smirk

johor premium outlet

ISKANDAR MALAYSIA aims to turn Johor into a destination in its own right instead of just a transit point for people going to Singapore and I think they’ve done a really good job. There’s just something for everyone and one of the much anticipated openings is the Johor Premium Outlets (JPO) which is a HUGE retail space for designer labels.

The interesting bit about JPO is that they’re making plans to have sales at certain times e.g. Coach having 50% off at 3 pm on Thursday. I can imagine the amount of people queuing up or even camping way ahead of time for this!

prisma

ISKANDAR MALAYSIA is also doing a lot of CSR initiatives like their PRISMA housing areas – it’s for married couples earning below RM 3,000 and it doesn’t look like any of the low cost housing areas I’ve been too. These are comfortable apartments with great facilities. There are also 1,500 units for OKUs with specially designed living areas to cater to them. Yes, the photo above is an ACTUAL SHOT of the place.

iskandar malaysia public housing

It looks way better than my apartment…ISKANDAR MALAYSIA sure knows how to do things right. I mean, look at the picture above! Does that look like a low cost public housing unit to you? I’ll love to live in that place but I’m not eligible. 😡

stairs

They also have a pilot project going for green buildings which aims to provide self sustaining units with solar power, water recycling and other technology.

living area

Looking at what ISKANDAR MALAYSIA has done to Johor in just a few years, I have very high hopes for the state. Invest. Work. Live. Play. is their mantra. Education, health, entertainment, infrastructure, they’ve got it all covered.

fun

Personally, I’m waiting for LEGOLAND to open so I can go for the awesome rides that’s going to be there. I’m a huge fan of amusement parks. 🙂

Lontong kering @ Warong Saga

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hb hanis

How does breaking your fast with royalty sound? Warong Saga has been operating for decades near the old cemetery in JB. The proprietors running it are the second generation and contrary to popular belief, it’s named after pokok saga instead of Proton Saga. 😉

lontong kering

Anyway, Warong Saga’s main claim to fame is their lontong kering. JB makes the best lontong kering in the country, or so they’ll have you believe. Lotong kering is a breakfast meal of nasi impit (compressed rice), a potpourri of vegetables (long beans, leeks, potatoes) and a piece of chicken rendang.

pokok saga

The entire dish is then doused with a generous amount of peanut sauce. It’s a pleasure to use the nasi impit to wipe the gravy from the plate before devouring it. The multitude of textures and flavors in lontong kering makes it an ideal breakfast.

nasi impit

The walls of Warong Saga is adorned with sultans, prime ministers (both ours and Singapore’s) and other people of historical importance and it attracts a healthy local crowd for breakfast.

warong saga

This place is a bit hard to find for non-locals but if you follow the old royal cemetery and watch out for a small shop by the road you’ll see it. The lontong kering and the chill, relaxed atmosphere in Warong Saga makes it well worth the trip! 🙂

Mee rebus tulang gearbox

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mee rebus tulang gearbox

I just had the best mee rebus tulang gearbox at Restoran ZZ Sup Tulang in JB. This is one of those local foodie treasures that you need a local to bring you to.

zz sup tulang jb

The place is a rather chaotic assembly of huts and trees. The huts with the thatched roofs is meant to keep the sun and rain off your head and I found that dining in nature whets the appetite like nothing else.

mee tulang gearbox

What is mee rebus tulang gearbox? Well, it’s basically Malay style noodles with an interesting component – the tulang gearbox part. Tulang gearbox is basically the large bones from a cow, usually from the shank. There is still quite a lot of meat, cartilage and tendon on the bones but when you request for it “gearbox style” it comes with a straw.

bone marrow straw

The straw is for you to suck the marrow out of the huge bones.

hb tulang gearbox

The portion of the noodles in mee rebus tulang gearbox is a bit small for me but the gravy is sinfully rich and delicious. It leaves you hankering for more. It’s about RM 8.50 and comes with 4 good sized bones.

tulang

You’ll find at least one HUGE bone in there and you’re supposed to insert the straw deep inside it and suck in all the marrow and juices. It’s a visceral experience like no other. The bone marrow is sweet, warm and hearty. It’s simply the best mee rebus tulang gearbox I’ve had!

On being photogenic

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hb jayne

You know, I’m not a particularly photogenic person. The concept of angles and poses is like an arcane art which I never quite mastered. People tell me I look better in real life than in photos.

I was browsing through my photos from JB (the most recent one that I just came back from) and saw this photo of me and Jayne drinking in the hotel room at night. We were both in our PJs and Jayne had this priceless expression on her face which I found hilarious.

She’s one of those people who’s really photogenic – the camera just adores her. It’s a great skill to have, but I guess it’ll forever elude me…it’s like how I can never style my hair properly unless it’s done by a hairstylist. 😡

The famous curry fish head in JB at Kam Long Restaurant

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jb famous curry fish head

There is a Chinese style curry fish head place in JB that seems to be VERY popular among the locals. Kam Long Restaurant serves curry fish head and curry fish head only. It’s their flagship, signature dish and…the only item on the menu. 😉 I have heard about the prodigious queues forming just to get a taste of this very dish and I was very keen to check it out.

kam leong restaurant

The funniest thing I heard (which I didn’t get the first time) was from Lainey bff who told me – DON’T WRITE ABOUT IT. Geddit? I didn’t the first (or second time) either. smirk

curry fish head

Anyway, it just so happens that I was reading The Dead Cockroach’s review of the place the day before we were heading down. We drove along Jalan Wong Ah Fook twice and still couldn’t find the place so we stopped and asked for directions several times.

fish head

Okay, the problem with this place is that you can’t exactly see the Kam Leong Restaurant signboard while you’re driving. It’s obscured by some pull down canvas shutters to keep the sun out. It’s actually not hard to find – you just have to drive down from the BEGINNING of Jalan Wong Ah Fook and stop at the first traffic light.

queue

You’ll be able to see the queue of people outside the humble restaurant – just cross the road to join in.

curry fish head prep

It should be noted that the queue is not strictly first-come-first-serve. The small size of the restaurant and the limited seating arrangements allowed us (a group of two) to share a table with other people while if you’re in a larger posse, you might have to wait longer until a table clears.

steaming curry fish head

Well, since there’s only one thing to order, we went for the famous curry fish head for two people. It’s RM 18 inclusive of rice and you best be able to read Chinese coz there are no other languages on the menu. In fact, there is no menu, save for a small signboard beside the industrious kitchen.

kam leong curry fish head

I have to admit, the Chinese style curry fish head is very good. Lainey finished her rice, which is quite uncommon and I loved the curry sauce. They put in a lot of vegetables too – okra, long beans, tofu and so on but the fish head is the centerpiece and it does not disappoint.

hb lainey

The flesh of the fish is tender and juicy and the curry sauce complements the fresh fish head very well. My only complaint is that there isn’t enough fish meat to go around so if you’re feeling particularly hungry, order +1 people more than your group. 🙂

Anyway, I’m heading to JB again in a couple of hours despite just coming back early this week. Heh! We were in JB for Freedom. There’s another one this Saturday right in KL so don’t miss it! I’ll be going to the Freedom in Penang at the end of the month too!

Signature 8 flavor Dynasty Xiao Long Bao with foie gras and black truffle!

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flavored xiao long pao

Okay, this is one of the most interesting and unique things I’ve heard in a long time. There’s an 8 flavor xiao long bao course at Paradise Dynasty which includes premium fillings like black truffle and foie gras.

paradise dynasty

I couldn’t wait to try it when I first heard about the concept. I headed down to ION Orchard in Singapore yesterday with Lainey to meet up with Michelle and Ben just for this.

8 flavor xiao long pao

Paradise Dynasty claims to have the world’s first 8 flavored xiao long bao and you have to eat it in order. The restaurant is famous for it – the open kitchen is filled with cooks preparing it and a lot of patrons order this specialty.

signature dynasty xiao long bao

The 8 different fillings are:
1. Original
2. Garlic
3. Ginseng
4. Foie Gras
5. Black Truffle
6. Cheesy
7. Crab Roe
8. Szechuan

dynasty xiao long pao singapore

…and you have to eat it in order to have the optimal experience. 😀

tea

The set costs SGD 13.90 and it’s well worth the price. I found the Garlic and Ginseng xiao long pao very flavorful, with the juices bursting from the skin as you bite into it. The Foie Gras and Black Truffle ones are suitably decadent and I loved the Crab Roe filling too.

black truffle

However, I felt that the Cheesy xiao long pao should have been #7 as the overpowering taste of cheese can be a bit…well, overwhelming. The Szechuan deserves its final spot as the filling is extremely spicy (even for my desensitized taste buds).

lainey hb michelle ben

It certainly is an epicurean adventure that you MUST try if you’re ever in Singapore. Thanks for brunch Ben and Michelle! 🙂

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Feeling hungry but don’t want to go all the way to Singapore for some awesome food? Check out this MilkADeal offer:

charcoal king

RM15 instead of RM31 for Charcoal King Set Meal at Charcoal King Clay Pot Chicken Rice Restaurant, Kuchai Lama. Non Halal [52% OFF]

It’s a great deal at RM 15 – there’s even soup, drinks and side dishes in addition to the authentic claypot chicken rice and it feeds 2! It’s an unlimited purchase and redemption offer that just debuted today and heaps of people have already gotten their hands on it. Where else can you get prices like this for good food in the Klang Valley? 🙂

The most WTF sign I’ve seen

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pencuri

HOLD ON TO YOUR PANTS LADIES!!!

(and gentlemen)

Spotted at a JB toilet. It basically says “Beware – Thief. Don’t hang your pants here. Thanks.”.

Surreal. In other news we’re staying at Zon Regency Hotel by the sea and Gods be good it’s a duty free haven.

jb food

I can’t say much about the quality of food (it’s alright but nothing to write home about – wait till my next post for an awesome JB specialty). However, it IS exactly like the photo in the menu so no one can say that it’s false advertising.

jb view

The best thing however is the ambience – it’s al fresco dining beside the sea…and yes, you can see Singapore yonder.

duty free

…and the alcohol? Duty free prices baby. 😀

Chilling with Christy at Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi

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swan pose

I just came back from a road trip to Bukit Tinggi (also called Berjaya Hills) with Christy, Hollie, Nic and Patricia. We headed up Monday morning and spent the night at the French medieval themed resort.

colmar tropicale

It seems that Colmar Tropicale has been around for quite a while and the last time I came here was during my birthday.

group

This time around it was supposed to be a very chill and relaxing trip and I think we spent the most time fishing for ducks (and eating). Heh.

room

Christy booked one of the regular rooms and I was bunking with her while the other 3 squeezed into another room.

hb christy

Some of them went to sleep as soon as we got there but me and Christy started watching TV and talking instead.

ryo zantei

Lunch at Ryo Zantei @ Japanese Gardens. Most of us had the Ten Zaru Soba (RM 29) coz the weather was rather hot. It’s cold soba with tempura and soy dressing topped with…

raw quail egg

…a raw quail egg.

ten zaru soba

Lovely.

japanese garden

Walking around the Japanese Gardens. A lot of people come up here to rent kimonos and have the Japanese tea ceremony that it’s become a bit of a cliché.

la boulangerie

Tea time pastries at La Boulangerie.

fishing

There was this duck pond full of yellow ducks with hooks which you “fish” with a pole. We spent the better part of an hour and about RM 50 trying to get a duck with a winning number on it.

stuffed toy

The fruits of our labor. One tiny stuffed toy.

breakfast

It was a lot of fun though and it’s surprisingly hypnotizing to watch the fake ducks swirl around the plastic inflatable pond.

la flamme

Dinner at La Flamme.

le vin

Drinks at Le Vin. Notice all the French names? We ordered a bottle of wine to share before finally retiring to the room.

christy colmar

I think me and Christy was the last ones to sleep – we spent the night in bed talking about all sorts of stuff…like long distance relationships back in your grandparent’s days where they had no technology. Heh.

Tai Wah pork noodles @ Singapore Food Trail

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tai wah pork noodles

Singapore Food Trail is located below the Singapore Flyer and aims to bring all the best hawker food in Singapore to one place. It’s kinda like the Lot 10 food court in KL – the crème de la crème of hawker food all represented in a single place.

singapore food trail

The setup in Singapore Food Trail has a lot of paraphernalia from the good ol’ days to better set the ambiance. There’s also an al fresco area for those who prefers to eat their food in a more authentic setting.

bird nest

I was pretty parched when I got there so I ordered a Bird’s Nest Drink for SGD 2.50. You can have it hot or cold and the large one comes in that huge tin mug your grandma drinks tea out of (or at least my grandma did) so it’s a pretty generous serving.

pork noodle

There’s a lot of tempting food around but I settled on High Street Tai Wah Pork Noodle. It has the longest queue of all the stalls and I reckon that if it’s so popular, I might as well try it. The people in front of me all ordered the pork noodle with broth (SGD 5) which is their flagship dish.

pork noodle stall

I’m not a big fan of soup dishes though so I went with the dry option. I also upsized it to medium for SGD 7. The dry pork noodle is exactly the same as the one with broth, except they seperate the soup into another bowl so it doesn’t saturate the noodles.

pork noodle soup

The Tai Wah pork noodle broth is really something to behold. You can see the quality of the soup with your naked eye – it takes a lot of boiling to get the marrow and nice bits out of pork bones and it makes the soup really good. I wished I had ordered the regular version, I wanted more of the soup.

pork noodle dry

The pork noodles is awesome too – it has most parts of the pig inside it and the noodles are nicely flavored with a slightly spicy sauce. There’s pork wantons, pork belly, pork meat balls, pork liver and even a sprinkling of dried cuttlefish. The dried cuttlefish is ingenious – it adds texture and flavor as well as a break from all the porcine goodness in the noodles.

pork noodle tiger

It’s goes very well with a cold Tiger on a hot Singaporean afternoon. Gotta drink the local suds when you’re there. 🙂

Skydiving and sea kayaking at Byron Bay & Beyond

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skydive byron bay

Well, there’s something to be said about starting your day by leaping off a plane 14,000 feet in the air.

Skydiving first thing in the morning followed by some sea kayaking action. I have to admit, I was probably the first one up and went knocking to wake some others that day. We were certainly the first boots on ground at the meeting point at the hotel lobby. Heh!

I was still half asleep when I signed the indemnity form.

byron bay skydive

The Tourism NSW and AirAsia X people were kind enough to see if they can get me into a custom solo AFF since I’ve been through the course before but unfortunately, it was too late. They only have tandem packages on the regular menu, so we all got into the tandem skydive at 14,000 feet (highest you can go in Australia) courtesy of Skydive Byron Bay.

harness

I didn’t film myself coz I had gone through all these before but Alycia did so look at her video to see what it’s like! She also wrote about her experience here.

It was a lot of fun for me since I haven’t skydived in Byron Bay before (and certainly not in autumn) but it gave me this idea about jumping out of a plane without a parachute.

Have you seen the video?

There’s actually two people who has done it before and contrary to popular belief, you don’t just need to have balls of (forged) steel to do it. You’ll need some training as well, so you can maneuver and not slam into the other person in midair.

That would probably involve a lot of dying since most people pass out when they crash into each other in midair at terminal velocity and thus would be unable to deploy their chute, much less do a tandem harness in the sky.

This is the second person to do it, I thought it was technically more difficult than Travis’ first attempt.

Terminal velocity is around 195 km/hour (it changes depending on how you shape your body and other variables – you can go faster, that’s how a person who exits the plane after you can catch up) and we got to experience that for about 60 seconds but I was talking to our driver and she happens to be getting her license so I told her I wouldn’t mind jumping out of a plane without a chute when she’s gotten her license.

skydiving student

I was being totally serious btw.

Won’t it be the ultimate rush? You’re just depending on someone else’s chute and there’s so many things that can go wrong before you hook up and do the harness. It’s mind-blowing.

The mere fact that it’s mind-blowing means I have to try it. 🙂

buttermilk pancakes salmon

Anyway, we headed out for lunch after that in a bright and sunny cafe (with one opt out from being sick from skydiving) – there’s nothing like having buttermilk pancakes with fresh strawberries and bananas doused with honey with a side of smoked salmon that’s equivalent to an entire family packet to get some energy for sea kayaking…

sea kayaking

…which is exactly what we did that same afternoon, to spot dolphins and whales in the sea. I was supposed to pair up with Ringo but she can’t swim and I’m not a good kayaker so I teamed up with Alycia (who could swim) instead. I reckon it’s a great thing coz me and Alycia never overturned our sea kayak (everyone else did).

sea kayaking alycia

#winning

sea kayak

Sea kayaking requires you to power over the surf (this is the most difficult part) as you head out to sea – aligning your sea kayak in a directional wedge against the incoming tide so you can go over the waves and into the calmer seas after the break.

sea kayaking group

It was a lot of fun, just rowing in tandem with Alycia and getting past the rather large incoming waves and then paddling out to sea. I never did quite figure out how to make an emergency turn in the strong tides and I nearly had a hernia pulling the sea kayak back to shore after all that but it was more fun than a barrel of monkeys and Alycia turned out to be an excellent partner. 🙂

I didn’t remember to bring my waterproof digicam so all the photos are from the Cape Byron Kayaks Facebook page.

…so if you’re wondering just how fun a barrel of monkeys is, AirAsia X is having their Byron Bay & Beyond promotion for just RM 599 all in to Gold Coast now.

lycra

Just remind me never to wear Lycra.

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