A day to JB
SO and I decided to check out JB on a weekday and off we went. We took bus 168 which brought us to Woodlands interchange. From there, we took another bus to the customs.
It has been so long since we explore places together without taking JD along. My friend was amazed that I have never been to City Square which was popular with Singaporeans. Anyway, I surfed online for more information.
Off we we went to Hwa Mei coffeeshop for chicken chops. Being a rice person, SO ordered fried rice. The chicken chops was big but not as tasty as expected. Nevertheless, it wasn’t quite jelak and I am fine with it. The fried rice was ok, the seafood helps to make it better. We also ordered dried prawns which was ok but not tasty.
We moved on to Hiap Joo Bakery, a gem in the area. Till now, I still remember the freshly baked coconut buns and banana cake. When I bought them back to SG, I could still smell the aroma of freshly baked buns. The banana cake was light and fluffy. This bakery uses firewood to bake the buns and we were ecstatic that there wasn’t a queue as mentioned in other blogs. My photo didn’t do justice to the buns and cake, hence don’t be deceived by their looks, they really taste good!
I hope to try the curry fishhead (Jinlong) and fishball noodles (near Hiap Joo) the next time I go there.
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| At Hua Mui coffeeshop |
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| Fried shrimps |
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| Seafood fried rice and chicken chops |
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| Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory |
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(Top - coconut buns, bottom - banana cake)
Don't be fooled by the appearance, they are awesome!
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3 days in JB
This time, SO couldn't take long leave and we had to make do with a short trip to JB. We booked KSL Resort as it was linked to KSL mall. The 3 of us cabbed to Woodlands customs and from there we took the bus. There were queues in front of us but the queue moved quickly. This queue was nothing compared to the queue when we came back from JB.
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| JD entertained himself while in the bus queue |
After arrival at KSL Resort, we placed our luggage and went to have lunch at Season Cafe (LG29 to 31). I ordered Laksa pasta which was like pasta drenched in curry. I was hoping for dried laksa but nevertheless, it was still tasty. The sauce was not diluted nor overly thick, just right. SO's chicken chop was accompanied by salad and the chicken meat was tender and awesome. We also ordered Caesar's salad, black pepper chicken chop and kids meal. If you like ice cream, you can find Swensen ice cream in the cafe at RM5.
Season Cafe
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| Season Cafe |
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| JD enjoying his kids meal |
We tried Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh (opposite KFC). I wasn't used to the sweet BKT unlike the peppery ones in SG. The soup was too sweet for my liking. However, the eatery was generous with the dough fritters. The pigs trotters was also so so and SO commented that we ordered too much meat and we should have ordered sesame oil chicken. I had decided against sesame oil chicken as it was heaty. As we went on Fri, there wasn't any queue but there were crowds waiting outside the eatery on Sun due to the hype over this BKT eatery.
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| Soon Soon Heng BKT |
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| A view from hotel cafe |
After dinner, we went for a foot reflexology and neck and shoulder massage at Dr Soho outlet (L2-98) in KSL Mall. The reflexology was painful but the masseuses did a great job. SO & I couldn't stand the pain but at the end of it, the masseuse managed to get rid of the knots on my shoulders. The neck and shoulder massage turned out to be a half body massage. Nevertheless, we paid for the massage which was cheaper than that done in SG. I googled on the outlet and found an outlet in Singapore. Anyway, it is still kinder to the pockets to release the tension and stress in JB. I forgot to take pictures but I noticed lots of couples and families came to do massage.
Legoland
The next day, we cabbed to Legoland. It cost us RM53 and we went straight to the water park. After 2 hours there, we decided to go for the outdoor Legoland. The last time we went to Legoland was when JD was 3 years old. At that time, he was still young and dared not drive the car. Fast forward 2 years, he was eager to try everything.
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| JD was excited over Legoland |
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| Ninjago show |
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| Train ride |
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| Finally he wanted to drive the car |
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| Boat ride (I was behind the 2 of them) |
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| Top taken in 2013, bottom taken in 2015 |
We have never tried Geylang Lor 9 frog leg in Singapore and decided to give it a try in JB. The 姜葱田鸡 was too sweet but SO and I liked the dried chilli version of frog legs. The 菜脯蛋was so so (IMO, it was like what I cooked) and 油麦was still all right. We were curious about seaweed lookalike dried version in other tables and decided to save this for next time.
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| Food at Geylang Lor 9 frog leg eatery in JB |
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| Spring onion frog legs and dried chilli frog legs |
After dinner, we explored the places further up but were too full to try.
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| Didn't get to try any food here but we shall KIV next time. Not easy to trudge up further with children |
In the morning, we had breakfast at Alishan coffeeshiop which was next to 亚华粿条 (left of Alisan in the pic). I tried to order meepok but was told that they didn't serve meepok so we ended up ordering dry version of 粿条面without chilli. The noodles were drenched in black sauce which wasn't overly salty. I could not taste any sesame oil and even felt like asking the uncle the secret of the sauce but I stopped short of it as the auntie didn't seem friendly. On every coffee table, there were packets of 3 nasi lemak and eggs which I supposed is meant for the patrons who wanted to have a nasi lemak fix. We tried one and the fish was in a bad shape (broken head and seemed messy or was it just one out of the many nasi lemak?). Anyway, we couldn't taste the coconut in the nasi lemak but at the price, you can't expect much. There was only a fish and generous chilli in the packet.
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| 粿条面at Alisan |
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| Dry version of 粿条面 |
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| KIV this coffeeshiop (opposite KSL mall) for next visit |
Loot of the day
I have decided to always get my mum chilli sauce whenever I go on a trip. I got some of the local stuff from Ming An and Kapitan shops along the stretch of Soon Soon Heng Bak Kut Teh. The 香饼Heong Peah from Ming An was fresh from the oven and was good. Not sure about the vacuum packed ones. I also buy chilli as it is my practice to get chilli sauce for my mum whenever I travel out of SG (typical Singaporean). She is not into the preserved fruits and sweet stuff so chilli sauce works. We went to Kapitan and bought some other stuff.
KSL hotel room
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| KSL hotel room toilet |
Tea Garden cafe
During lunch on our last day, we decided not to venture out and went to Tea Garden cafe in KSL mall. I had seen some negative reviews about Tea Garden for bad customer service but we were blessed to be served in a short while. SO ordered curry noodles which came in chunks of chicken and vegetables. Tea Garden has specials set meals during dinner time but not lunch. I ordered Yang Zhou fried rice and the rice wasn't overly oily. The portion was big and and so far so good. There is a buzzer on the table and I guess they installed that due to the bad customer service. My son had egg tarts which he enjoyed.
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| Chunky curry chicken noodles |
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| Yang zhou fried rice |
We finally topped it off with Double combo squid strings, apple tea and cheese dip (all in the amazing container). Lovely, isn't it? You can reuse the container for some other uses, perhaps can refill water, ice cream container etc. I wish they could replace the drinks with water as I have never been a fan of sweet drinks. If only they could sell oyster meesua with sides like baked sweet potato strips. I hope to see avocado dip/ chilli jam or cold-pressed fruit juice in the menu, that would justify any order of the fried items. I didn't come across Double Combo in SG, have you? If you know one, I would like to visit it to try. Perhaps they could synergise their resources with Shilin and cross-sell.......
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| Double Combo menu |
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apple tea at the bottom, squid sticks and cheese dip
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| We finished this in no time! |
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