Short Getaway with ex travel agent buddies - 2D 1N Skudai Explorer

19 April 2014 (Sun):

It all started with friends expressing their wish to go for a short getaway and they suggested places like JB & Batam. Why would I mentioned its a getaway with ex travel agent buddies? All of us worked within the same travel agency before & had since left but we do keep in touch with one another via FB & WA. Such a nice feeling. Okay, the buddies in this exploration consisted of Jaren, Elaine, Miao Heng (MH), Jacqueline (Jac) & myself, Yvonne.

18 April 2014 (Fri): Good Friday ~ a PH to begin with.  We begun our journey from Jurong East Interchange where we took the Causeway Link into CIQ 2nd Link - Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar

 . I was late as the Nth-Sth Line towards Jurong East via Woodlands was slow moving & I actually calculated the travelling time wrongly.

 

Our destination was Sutera Mall @ Skudai so we need to plan & confirm on the bus timing as each bus frequency was different. CW3 was the 1st bus we took from Jurong East to Tuas 2nd link.

 

Well, we got stuck in a major jam along the way. The bus lane was not moving. There were many buses & we suspected most of it to be tour buses being a PH = long weekend.. We left SG at 0740hrs & arrived into Sutera Mall almost 3 hrs later. Hard to believe? But its true.

 

Upon arrival, we dashed straight to a nearby kopitiam for a much needed breakfast. All of us were very hungry & we would settled for anything that was available. We had this ~ Fried Kway Teow & Fried Bee Tai Mak. Jac ordered Bee Tai Mak & the uncle could not understand. He thought she wanted more noodles. Okay, we learnt they do not called it Bee Tai Mak there but understood it as Lao Shu Fen instead, oh ...no... not even Fen. Its Mian - Lao Shu Mian.

 

We decided to dump our bags in the hotel first before heading for our highlight of the day - KTV. We walked & walked along many different lanes, searching for our hotel. We knew it was within walking distance from Sutera Mall but as there many rows of shops surrounding the mall, it took us awhile to find it. Of course, it was then we also found many interesting shops that caught our attention - massage, mani & pedi, dessert stores, spa, etc.

 

The breakfast we had just minutes earlier was not enough & the sun was scorching hot. U Desserts caught our attention & "invited" us in for a treat. Come, come, how about a Mango Sago or Durian Sago? Not forgetting Durian with Chang Fen or Tang Yuan in Sesame or Peanut Paste, etc... Ahhhh...heavenly! Cooling enviroment & equipped with wifi as well. We got busy! Haha.

 

 

We asked around & found the hotel finally. Here Hotel is where we put up for the night. Since there were 5 of us, Jac booked us the Deluxe Suite. Its a 2 level room but only 1 bathroom. There was a single bed & a sofa bed below & another 2 queen size bed above. The stairs made little squeaky sounds though. LOL.

 

While waiting to be checked in, we did some cammies. Sorry, Jac is not in the pic.

Clockwise: Yvonne, Miao Heng (MH), Jaren & Elaine.

 

The following photos will not be in sequence since I took a little here & there. So I lumped it altogether. Read my story further.

 

We went into Sutera Mall & found another KTV & decided upon it after considering all the different rates, including 大嘴吧 n 星光大道 . We took the 3 hrs promo which included a jug of beverage & only for RM50. We were allowed to bring in food & drinks too. 3 hours were not enough & we extended for another 3 hours, making a total of 6 hours at only RM100. Each of us only paid RM20. Cool deal.

 

No photos taken inside the KTV but trust me, there were much fun & laughter throughout. We laughed non stop due to the crazy nonsense both MH & Jaren produced.  Oh yeah, we had a little Korean Grilled Lok Lok session before our KTV & then bought Gong Cha (Bubble Tea).

 

See from 11am till 4pm, hw much have we eaten?

 

 

The varieties you see above comes from B Bowl Three Restaurant BBQ & Lok Lok. Jaren kept asking around if they hv lok lok ard Sutera Mall. Some said yes, some said not sure & even some said no. We chose to believe the ones who said yes & asked for directions. Again, we received different answers. Some even said we have to take a bus or taxi.

 

If you are familiar with the Sutera Mall area, there is a 7-11 nearby & you should see this Lok Lok store. They priced by colouring on the sticks, starting at RM1.50. Sedap!!!!

 

Again, many nonsense among us. I think we were the craziest & loudest among the customers. Not many people were around since its already about 12am plus. But so fun. Our sides hurt from laughing too much.

 

 

 

Wait, wait, I forgotten to mention. BEFORE we even had that lok lok, we had the above first. Right after our KTV, (we did not had anything to eat during the session though we wanted to buy in KFC), we went straight for this BBQ stingray, sotong & satays. This was from the same kopitiam we had our fried kway teow this morning.

 

Both Elaine & I needed the toilet but when I saw the number of fat & huge lizards on the toilet walls, we retraced our steps back to Sutera Mall instead. Along the way, Elaine gave a scream & grabbed my hands, pointing towards the main entrance of the mall. " Blackball, Blackball..."

 

How was it we missed seeing this when we arrived in the morning. Yes, we alighted right infront of the main entrance of the mall & yet, we did not see it. We bought 2 sets of their signature dessert - 大黑丸.

 

To summarized the food we had for 18 April - fried kway teow/bee tai mak, mango/durian sago dessert, Korean Grilled Lok Lok, Gong Cha, BBQ stingray/sotong, satays, another round of lok lok (local style) & Blackball dessert.

 

 

Next morning, we all woke up fairly early at 7am. We slept at 2am the night before or should I say 5 hours ago. The alarm was set for 9am but the moment Elaine started sneezing away, both Jac & I woke up. Elaine needed to visit the toilet & the squeaky steps on the stairs Elaine made woke Jaren up. MH was the last & the 1st word she mention was breakfast & fell back asleep again. LOL.

 

 

1) Elaine, Yvonne & Jaren. 2) Elaine & Yvonne. 3) MH, Jac, Elaine, Yvonne & Jaren.

 

The program for the 2nd day ~ 19 Aril 2014. After breakfast at the same B Bowl Three Restaurant (we had noodles but different kinds), Jaren Jac & MH went for massage whereas Elaine n myself went for a mani & pedi session. I did only the pedi & paid RM110 for it, including 2 nail art. Still cheaper compared to Singapore.

 

We check out of the hotel late & the staff wanted to charge us RM69 but a couple who were also charged for a late check out did not want to pay. After some arguments, it was waived off.

 

We took a bus down to Bukit Indah where we had our lunch of claypot frog legs. Delicious! We had wanted to catch a movie but time did not allowed us to do so. You see, we did not want to be back in Singapore late & we were terrified of the jam (if any) at the customs.

 

Elaine found her "must have" 马蹄酥 at 明安特产专卖店 -  Ming An Confectionary SDN. BHD

MH & Jaren got a few items but Elaine & Jac bought the most. I only bought a packet of Durian Heong Piah - a pack of 10 for RM9.80.

 

Add: No 7, Jalan Indah 15/3, Taman Bukit Indah, 81200 Johor Bahru.

 

We saw Blackball & we had that again. Board the bus bound for CIQ 2nd link around 5pm & arrived into SG at abt 6pm. Luckily, there was no jam. Everyone went on their separate ways but kept each other informed once we reached home.

 

To: Elaine, Jac, MH & Jaren. Thanks for the fun & laughter we shared on this trip. And yes, we are planning on our next one but not too soon as it is difficult to get everyone as we all had our own busy schedules.

Long weekend - 07 ~ 11 Aug 2013

11 August 2013 (Sun):

you have been warned: no photos...only words :P

07 Aug (Wed):

The school celebrated National Day & Hari Raya. All students were encouraged to come in their red & white attire or the traditional Malay costume. School hours were from 8am - 1030am, so the kids had most of the day free. :)

08 Aug (Thurs):

Being a PH ~ Hari Raya, i gave a day off from doing assessments books. The kids were elated; they can play all day. However, instead of being a couch potato, we headed off to Henderson Waves. But instead of crossing over to Hortpark (which was what we usually did), we walked along the main road after the end of the tree top walk, towards Labrador MRT station. There ia a boardwalk behind the station which leads out into the open sea & all the way across, ending at Marina @ Keppel Bay. Boy! That was a long walk, and with the rain coming down on us, we were wet, tired & hungry.

In the evening, the kids went for a buffer dinner with ah ma & us 2 went for our dinner at Balestier.

09 Aug (Fri):

Daddy planned to go into JB for a little shopping. He needed to get some stuff for his client. After looking at the traffic condition, we opt for entry via Tuas Checkpoint.Our destination was Pasir Gudang. By right, entry ito JB via Woodlands Checkpoint wld be nearer but we did not want to waste our time, gettin stuck in the jam( for goodness know how long.

So we followed directions for Pasir Gudang after exiting from customs. But as u know lah, the roadsigns disappeared halfway & we did not know if we were driving in the right direction. Daddy made a u-turn & followed directions for Johor Bahru instead. We were down on our luck. The shop was closed & would only be open on the 12 Aug. We did not expect them to close. Arrgghhh...

So Daddy said to go where we were the week before as there were many interesting shops, cafes & restaurants. I told him that's Bukit Indah. We wanted to visit AEON shopping centre. But what Daddy had in mind was Bandar Uda Utama, that's along Jalan Skudai. We had a little miscommunication here. Daddy thought that Bukit Indah was in fact, the same as Bandar Uda Utama. Well....

We drove back via Senai Airport, followed directions for Skudai but somehow, we ended up along some ulu village road. Not wanting to continue for fear of losing our way more, we followed signs for Kota Iskandar instead as I remembered Bukit Indah was in the Iskandar town area. Or was it? I am confused myself.

Somehow, we ended up at Gelang Patah ( God help us). Quickly we made a u-turn again. I told Daddy to stop going round in circles. Go to Skudai & just drive on. We stopped to ask for directions & was told Bukit Indah was just: turn right at the traffic light, go all the way & turn right. Before turning right, I saw the indication for Jalan Skudai was to turn left. I was not thinking straight already. Which was which??

We stopped for dinner at what Daddy thought to be Bandar Uda Utama ( I had clearly mentioned this was Bukit Indah). We walked around the whole area, looking at all the interesting cafes & restaurants. Daddy said we should proceed to Jalan Skudai. So i said okay, that's the other direction. But after a few mins of driving, we realised the place was not what we saw the last time. I told Daddy to stopped the car & I had to explain everything to him again...

.You want to go Bandar Uda Utama. That's the place we passed up the last time the Kueh family went with us to Legoland. We stayed at the uncle's house, remember?

.The place we went last week was Bukit Indah. You kept on saying its Bandar Uda Utama just becos u remembered seeing Lu Bang & Courts. I told u that was not as I wrote down the street name & its not the same place.

.Now u insisted i gave u the wrong info. I did not. This is Bukit Indah & NOT Bandar Uda Utama.

Time: 2150hrs. Both is us were a little heated up & Daddy decided to drive back to Singapore. The radio station 933 had already mentioned there were major jam at the Woodlands custom & Daddy still wanna take a chance. I was pissed off but i kept quiet. True to it, there was a long queue & Daddy filtered out & proceeded towards Tuas direction again. We passed by Danga Bay & I wanted to get out. I needed fresh air; I was so angry. But the man drove on.

Finally, we arrived at Tuas Checkpoint, cleared immigration with ease & reached home at 1030pm.

10 Aug (Sat):

No worries. Our tempers were short fused & we were alright upon reaching home. Daddy & I even joked about the TV show we watched in the night, lauging with the kids.

Being a Sat, its back to our daily routine of assessment exercises. I had set them revision tests (English, Chinese & Maths) for today & they settled down to complete it.

In the evening, we caught Smurfs 2 at the cinema. Will it be Turbo next?

11 Aug (Sun):

Its the last day of the long weekend. Back to school & back to work tomorrow. :)

CNY 2013 - 7th day

16 February 2013 (Sat):

No worries. I did not get the date wrong. There was practically no activity yesterday on the 15 Feb. After arriving into Malacca on the 14 Feb night, we stayed 1 night & was off to the temple yesterday. Its a sure visit whenever we are in Malacca during the CNY.

Daddy then suggested to our friends to bring the kids to LEGOLAND. They rejected initially but their kids begged them to. Its not always they get to venture out of Malacca (their hometown), other than Genting. But with us, they get to go Sunway Lagoon, to LEGOLAND & Daddy even asked them to join us to China this Sep school hols.( that is, if time permits).

Then we stayed at our friends' relative place in JB for the night since LEGOLAND is on our agenda this morning. I did not take much photos of the place as we have been there last yr. Oh, yup, we got our annual pass already & hope to be able to visit it again when the waterpark opens this yr. Hopefully soon...

Not as crowded as last year when we were here during Xmas. Perhaps the unpredictable weather stops the people from coming in, eventhough its a Sat. This is the year of the water snake, so lots of rain is definite.

There is a LEGO snake where visitors are encourage to contribute to the body using LEGO bricks.

All below photos are snapshots of our 2 monkeys & our long term friends.

And these, are our Annual Pass.

We left LEGOLAND at 5pm, heading back to Singapore in the rain again. Traffic was smooth at Tuas Checkpoint. We unpacked, took a bath & was off to the airport, no, not to another vacation but to pick up my ils who returned from  their vacation to Taiwan.

So folks, this marks the end of our CNY vacation. Back to school & back to work. Adios!

LEGOLAND rides.

JPO & Punggol Swimming Complex ~ Day 3

25 December 2012 (Tues):

Merry Christmas!

It was a wet morning. We didnt know that it rained the night before. We woke up, lazed around in bed & did not get out of our room till about 9am. We had a simple tim sum breakfast at the nearby kopi-tiam. LOL! With no agenda for the day, we head straight to JPO - Johor Premium Outlets.

You can see some of the outlets such as Guess, Coach, Burberrys, Ferragamo, etc..

With nothing else planned & no idea where to go, we decided to head back to Kulai for lunch & a haircut. And this where i had another little accident. I am damn unlucky.

After my haircut, i did not notice the curb and, well... next u know what had happened. I fell on my knees & I thought i had landed on sticky mud. But after I wiped away the mud, i realised  that i had scraped my knee quite badly & blood was flowing freely. Kind residents having lunch nearby offered me plaster. Daddy took a bottle of water & helped me wash my wound and applied medicated herbal oil

We returned back to Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint & Lionel reminded Daddy of the water play. So Daddy bought us to Punggol Swimming Complex where there are slides for the kids to play.

A trip for 3 days & 2 nights well spent except for poor unlucky me.

LEGOLAND.... Kukup ~ Day 2

24 December 2012 (Mon):

Its Christmas Eve!!! Good morning people. We woke up at 830am this morning & after breakfast, we head over to LEGOLAND.

Waiting for Daddy while he went to park our car.

Time: slightly after 10am. Crowded, isnt it?

The 1st game we played this morning. Dino Island.

A video of the pair enjoying themselves.

Lost Kingdom. Its like Buzz Lightyear Shootout in HKG Disneyland. I wanted to take photos but my camera got stuck somehow so i ended up playing as well.

Queue-ing up..

Rescue Academy. Pump your vehicles to move forward, pump the water pump for water, aim it at the fire & pump your vehicle back to the starting point ( I hv a video of it below). Its not as easy as u think. You gt to pump fast for the vehicle to move fast. Anyway, most of the work done by the adts. :)

Next on the agenda is the Driving School. Both Lionel & Rachel drove a car separately &    

" obeyed " the rules of the game. :P

The Beatle Bounce game (2nd item) u see in the above video where u hear a little gal yelling in fright. That is the little one sitting beside Rachel. Third from your right.

Other than those pictures shown above, we also watched a performance at the City Stage, went up the LEGOLAND tower & caught a 4D Adventure as well. We opt out some of the rides such as the Aquazone Wave Racers, Technic Twister, Boating School, LEGOLAND Express, etc.

Check out: 3pm plus on the 24 December 2012. We're off to Kukup for the rest of the day.

Heading towards Kukup was a dare-daring decision for we do not know the way at all. Following directions for Pontian Kechil & Kukup, towards Tanjong Piai, we arrived Kukup some 1 hour later.

The waves & the smell of kelong greeted us. Water tide was low as we look around. The children were excited to see small creatures such as the mudskipper, crabs & some ..er... creepy stuff.

We took a boat ride out to the mangrove swamp & fishing kelong out at sea. $5MYR/adt & $3MYR/chd.

This is the mangrove swamp. The island was supposed to be close to visitors already as it was after 430pm but the staff onland allowed us in. Last entry @ 430pm. Somehow, we were given FOC onboard the island. Usually, an admission fee is required.

We saw many monkeys as we walked in but they were equally afraid of us humans as we were of them.

Next is the kelong. See how bold the 2 kids are; holding a horseshoe crab with their bare hands. Hey, is that a horseshoe crab anyway??

 Daddy buying some local products such as dried ikan bilis, salted fish, silverbaits, fish maw & dried shrimps ( 虾米).

Coming to Kukup was easy but we lost our way on the return leg. And not forgetting, Mummy here met with a little accident again. I missed a step coming out of a local produce shop & fell backwards, knocking my bottom on the curb. And yes, bingo! I hurt my tailbone. :(

Okay, somehow we ended up in Skudai on the way back & street light was very dim along the small roads. Finally, we saw directional signs for Kulai & followed closely. Phew! We made it back.

LEGOLAND, Malaysia ~ Day 1

23 December 2012 (Sun):

The night before, both kids dragged me into packing our luggages. They chose what they were gonna wear for each day & reminded me to bring along their swimsuits. Is there a water theme park in LEGOLAND? I doubt so but Lionel said we can always go elsewhere for a swim cum water play...

Anyway, we set off at 745am the next morning as Daddy has something to handover to his contractors. Work craze!!! We settled for our breakfast at Jalan Sultan without Daddy & lingered around till about 930am. We went via Tuas checkpoint & traffic was smooth. We followed road signs for exit 312 to Nusajaya after the checkpoint & found our way easily into The Little Big Club & Sanrio Hello Kitty Town.

Hmmm.... nothing fanciful here. The ticket queue was long so we decided to wander around the mechandise shop first. And Daddy said might as well head over to LEGOLAND since the weather was good. ( it has been raining practically everyday here in Singapore during the month of December - likewise, I am pretty sure JB is also with covered in showers almost everyday).

Before we head over to LEGOLAND, we stopped by Puteri Harbour just outside of Hello Kitty Town.  We wasted no time for a short drive to LEGOLAND. Luckily, we managed to find a parking lot.

We approached the Medini Mall first which is still under construction & will be completed in stages, including the LEGOLAND hotel which will be completed in 2014. But the ground floor of the mall are all covered with various restaurants & cafes, souvenir shops, etc..

You can find BK & KFC, Manhattan Fish Market, Tutti Frutti (yoghurt) & yes, even Each A Cup (bubble tea).

We had our lunch before going in.

Yippee... LEGOLAND. This is the area at the admission front. Time: close to 12 noon. Boy! Look at the crowd.

We joined the queue, scanned our voucher & head over to the counter to exchange for our annual pass. The weather was hot but good. A good thing that the counter inside was air-conditoned. :)

This is the new annual pass price.

Filling in our particulars...

Picture taken...

Uh-oh, the machine was having some technical problems & our annual ID pass cannot be processed. Hence, we were given these temporarily pass & to be redeemed into the ID pass within 3 months.

Map of LEGOLAND.

First stop was Miniland. Here u find all buildings created by using millions of mini LEGO pieces. Very interesting. You can see the Petronas Twin Towers of KL, the Sultan Abu Bakar Mosque, Tanah Lot in Bali & even our very own Fullerton Hotel in Singapore.

Singapore Flyer & Riverside Point...

Can u see Spidey?

All these are built to their look-alike. I wonder how many millions or even billions of LEGO pieces were used?

This above video I took showed how the vehicles comes alive using remote controlled wired underground.

Some of the games the kids played. Note: I did not take photos of every single games or activities the kids played or did.

Project X. Rachel was gung-ho to join her Daddy & brother on this ride. Min. height: 110cm.

Not for the faint hearted like Mummy here.

Look at the sky. Threatening to rain. Dark clouds looming.

And yes, "raindrops keep falling on my head.. " just right after the 3 muskeeteers got off from the ride. The kids put on their raincoats & we made a dash for cover @ LEGO Mindstorms.

Both kids indulge in LEGO building for quite a while as we wait for the rain to stop.

Th rain stopped and the weather was cooling. Cool winds blew all around. Next stop, The Forestmen's Hideout. Its js a play area for the kids to run around & do some swinging & sliding.

However, it was here that I saw a little girl with some injuries. Her face was scratched with blood oozing out. Kind passer-bys provided tissues, water & antiseptic lotion.

Okay folks, the reason why there were no more photos after this was becos Mummy here wasnt feeling well. Right across from this playground was the Dragon's Apprentice. Its like a mini roller coaster but without the loops & plunge.

So Mummy here decided to go for it. Hey, there's nothing to it really, or so Mummy thought! How wrong I was.

After 2 laps, my head was spinning, legs weakened & my stomach was churning... I staggered to the nearby bench for a rest, hoping to ease off the grogginess. The 3 muskeeteers went for horse joustling. I was perspiring like crazy though the weather was cooling. I could not stand up. My head continued to spin. I made my way to the nearest grass to puke but nothing came out.

They came back & Daddy asked me to try & walk along with them. It was starting to drizzle again. We went for cover & all of a sudden, I made a mad dash to the nearby toilet. I stayed inside the toilet for quite some time, knowing that i need to get it all out.

The 3rd time i was not able to get to the toilet on time & I just made it in time to the grasspatch. Sorry LEGOLAND. The time was around 6pm plus & Daddy suggested we get out & head over to the nearest town to look for a hotel for the night. We took a slow walk to the exit & I was feeling much better. I think the cool wind gave me a refreshing feel :)

We drove into Kulai & asked the rates for 2 hotels. 1st hotel was Hotel U & Me & the 2nd one was Country Inn. We chose the latter. Rates were $75MYR/night with 1 double & 1 single bed, hot & cold shower facilities, air conditioned, clean & spacious. Note: These are all boutique hotels, mind.

Kulai is a small little town but huge in amenities, You can find clinics, cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, hair salon, spa, etc... JPO is just over the other end & that's where we willne heading towards on Day 3.

We showered, cross over the road for dinner & had desserts after that. Daddy mentioned we shall go back to LEGOLAND the next day as there wasnt time to finish all.