rendezvous point: JEM
time: 11am
rest of the group had breakfast at toast box while dear and myself met up with them around 1130. changed currency at the B1 money changer (rate - 2.48) and rushed to jurong east interchange wanting to catch bus 160 which was due to arrive in 8 minutes. the bus did not arrive till 15 minutes later, guess iris next bus app is only for reference. *bleah*
journey to the customs is approximately 35 minutes, but it took us slightly longer as the bus stopped more frequently than expected for passengers to board and alight. clearing singapore customs was a breeze but waiting time at malaysia customs was about 5 minutes.
reached JB sentral a quarter past 1 and the boys complained of hunger. decided to have a light lunch at city square (website: http://www.citysqjb.com/) k-eight portuguese chicken before heading for our massage. the restaurant offers an unique blending of rich macau traditions and distinctive cuisine. bet you would agree with me that some of our lunch was not that light after all if i had taken pictures of the food.
split ourselves into 2 cabs and made our way to sabai sabai thai spa (cab fare - RM4.80). the front desk staff are friendly and helpful (speaks english and mandarin) and the masseurs from thailand are good, not the best but definitely decent and trained. we bought their vip package at RM500 with foc RM100, each of us paid RM72 instead of usual RM78. enjoyed our 90 minutes of relaxation and laughter, contributed by marcus' usual loud groans and complaints of pain.
Sabai Sabai Thai Spa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabaisabaithaispa
Location: 72 & 73 & 74 Jalan Harimau Tarom, Taman Abad, 80250 Johore Bahru, Malaysia
Contact: +60 7-3319090
the spa staff helped us to book cabs to our dinner destination, teck sing (cab fare - RM5.00 including RM2.00 booking charge). decided on early dinner at 5pm to avoid the crowd at the popular restaurant. we ordered their signature specials, teck sing paper baked chicken x2 and curry fish head, drunken prawns in claypot, mixed beancurd, sweet potato leaf, white rice x4 and chinese tea x1 pot. total bill was RM124 if i remembered correctly, per pax was RM18. we were all surprised at our economic yet delicious and pretty sumptuous meal.
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| teck sing paper baked chicken |
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| curry fish head |
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Facebook: http://www.tecksing.com/
Location: 3 & 5, Jalan Sutera Satu, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Contact: +60 7-3347025
much as all our tummies were satisfied after dinner, we could not resist durians! the stall is right in front of the restaurant and marcus had been patronizing so often that uncle gave us a discount. we ate 1 猫山王 at the stall which was 2.3kg - RM69, packed 3 猫山王 and 1 xo back (i did not bring any home as it is one of dad's many restricted food). the meat was smooth, creamy and slightly bitter. one word to describe - heavenly.
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| image does not do justice to the taste |
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| my dear's secret ambition to be a durian seller |
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| despicable me front and back protector at RM18 |
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| dessert at blackball |
it was already 10pm when we stepped out of the mall. a small incident with this BBLL (bus bang lorry lang ga) girl that kept us entertained for the journey back. walked out to the main street as there was a jam at the small road leading to the mall. managed to flag down 2 cabs within 5 minutes to get back to jb sentral in 10 minutes despite the slow traffic (cab fare - RM8.00).
malaysia customs queue was longer than when we came but waiting time was bearable, 10-15 minutes and it was a good thing that singapore customs was pretty much empty.
as ben, gerard and marcus could only take bus 160 back to jurong east, all of us decided to wait for the same bus and were the 1st in queue. sort of regretted not taking bus 170, especially PQ, as we waited 45 minutes for bus 160 to arrive. nevertheless, it was not that bad a wait as we had company to talk to and gossip with.
we parted our ways at kranji mrt. royston dad came to pick him and PQ up and offered us a ride to yishun. train service was still available to ang mo kio station and i decided to go public with dear and cab home from there to save money.
missed NDP fireworks this evening but it was an eventful and fun day. till next time. =)
countdown to wedding day : 105