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.
