Christmas Decoration at City Square Johor Bahru

Went to City Square Johor Bahru yesterday and I saw that the mall had set up a beautiful Christmas decoration at the atrium. Surprisingly it was quite crowded with shoppers during this Monday afternoon. Perhaps it was school vacation period for Singapore and Malaysia students.

City Square has undergone an extensive renovation and it is still not completed yet. Work is still ongoing in the upper level and certain section of this mall. The Christmas decoration was relatively simple and no frills type; but looked nice.. Anyway, I was more interested in exploring the new shops and food outlets that are setting up business in this mall. I saw that Ayam Penyet Ria and KFC are already operating. So it is good news for those who loved eating fried chicken.

I will explore this mall further on my next trip.

Chinese Peanut Porridge

There are times in the morning that I don't really know what to eat for breakfast; or I simply want a simple and light breakfast to start the day. If I want a simple and light breakfast, I would normally go for peanut porridge. You can find this food mostly in Chinese run coffee shop that sells Chee Cheong Fun ( steam rice rolls) or fried noodles in the morning. Just ask the stall vendor whether they sell peanut porridge; some do and some don't.

The ingredients that goes into the making of Chinese peanut porridge are rice, peanuts ( boiled ), ikan bilis or sometimes white small fish ( my preference), spring onions, slices of ginger and shallots ( optional). The entire cooking process is mainly through boiling; except for the white small fish which you have to deep fried it so that it would be crispy.

The cost of this meal is normally from RM2.00 depending on where you eat it and the size of the serving. Chinese peanut porridge is a good meal for both young and old. It is easy to eat and very tasty as well.


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Mooncakes Shopping in Johor Bahru

A few days ago, I went to City Square Mall in Johor Bahru specifically to buy mooncakes. The mall is currently having a Mooncake Festival Sale at the atrium on the ground floor. There were lots of mooncake vendors displaying their specialty mooncakes in their booths.

I had bought mooncakes from Johor Bahru for many years. I must say that the quality and variety of mooncakes have improved significantly over the years. The prices of these mooncakes are reasonable too as compared to those selling in Singapore.

There is one particular mooncake vendor which I had patronize for many years. The quality and variety of their mooncakes are good. If you are keen to find out which vendor mooncakes I always patronize from, just follow the link below to my blog -

Mooncakes shopping in Johor Bahru

City Square Mall Johor Bahru

Went down to City Square Mall in Johor Bahru last Saturday; which was also the first day of fasting month for the Muslims in Malaysia. The mall was decorating its atrium area for the Hari Raya festive sale. The few camels that were on display were an attraction; many people took the opportunity to take photos with these camel figurines.

City Square Mall is currently undergoing major renovation. Certain areas are opened for business; and hopefully more stores will be opening soon for this Hari Raya festive sale. I will visit this mall again in early August to see whether I can buy some Malay cookies and food at their Hari Raya promotion sale.

Nasi Lemak in Johor Bahru

Nasi Lemak is a popular food and is commonly available in many restaurants and food outlets in Malaysia and Singapore. Each time when I stayed in a hotel in Malaysia, I can definitely find Nasi Lemak being served as one of the dish available on the breakfast table.

I am not a big fan of nasi lemak as this food is very high in cholesterol; but it is definitely a delicious meal to have especially when I am hungry. In the hotel, nasi lemak is normally served with anchovies, peanuts, egg, and the red hot chilli sauce. When you eat this food that are sold in food stalls, there are more variety of side dish you can add such as fried chicken, fried fish cake, long beans, cabbage, fried fish, achar ( pickled vegetables ), etc. 

Anyway, here is one of the packet of nasi lemak which I have ordered for a quick lunch recently. My preference is that the rice should have a light coconut and pandan flavor; and the chilli should not be too overwhelming hot and spicy.

4 in 1 Instant Coffee

In most supermarkets, you can easily find different brands of instant coffee and most of them are either 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 instant coffee. Recently I saw a 4 in 1 instant coffee bag for sale in Johor Bahru. This coffee originated from Melaka and I have not heard of this brand called Meet U Malaysia Coffee brand. Anyway, this Meet U brand had 2 types of 4 in 1 instant coffee bags which I had bought.

First is the Melaka Gold White Extreme Coffee. It is a 4 in 1 instant coffee that is made of malt chocolate, Robusta white coffee, sugar and creamer. It is similar to cafe mocha and the good thing is that it is not too sweet in taste. Overall the taste is nice and it is creamer than the normal 3 in 1 instant coffee - perhaps due to the added malt chocolate.

The second 4 in 1 instant coffee is called the Black and White Platinum Coffee. It is made of White and Black coffee - traditional black coffee and Robusta White coffee, sugar and creamer. The taste is a stronger cup of coffee as compared to the above Melaka Gold White Coffee - which is my preference. And the coffee is not too sweet as well, which is good for me.

Just when I thought I have seen it all; I saw a 5 in 1 instant coffee on the shelf. This must be the mother of all instant coffee. The 5 in 1 coffee is made up of Tongkat Ali, Ginseng, White Coffee, Sugar and Creamer.

If you want to read more about this 5 in 1 instant coffee, just follow the link below: -

5 in 1 Instant Coffee

Rotiboy Coffee Bun in Johor Bahru

I was delighted to see a Rotiboy outlet at the Customs and Immigration center in Johor Bahru. The shop is opposite Starbuck Cafe and the KFC outlet. It is a small outlet - buy and go. Even before you arrived at the Rotiboy outlet, you can smell the coffee bun from quite a distance away.

There was a small crowd of people queuing to order their bun and pastries. I noticed that most people were buying the signature coffee bun. The cheapest coffee bun was RM2. I ordered the RM2.50 coffee bun which had coffee cream filled inside the bun. Another version is the coffee bun filled with butter cream also at the same price of RM2.50.


The coffee bun taste good while it was hot and crispy. I find it rather too sweet and the smell of coffee is not too overwhelming. Overall it was a nice quick snack but I don't think I would liked to eat 2 coffee buns - even though the paperbag says ' one is never enough '.

Penang Laksa from Johor Bahru

My friend and I was at a food fair held in KSL City mall in Johor Bahru. She saw a food kiosk selling Penang Laksa. She went to the food kiosk to order one bowl while I was seated nearby. When she came back and placed the food on the table, I saw that the the Penang Laksa was served in a plastic cup and it cost RM5. Quite frankly I was quite disappointed at the way Penang Laksa was served to customers from this food kiosk. The least this food stall could do was to served it in a Styrofoam or paper bowl.

I tasted the Penang Laksa, the gravy was bland and watery and lack the authentic taste of a good Penang Laksa. There was very little other ingredients added to it except the noodles. I felt that this Penang Laksa was a disappointment in quality and taste. Definitely not worth the money. Anyway my friend said that this would be the first and last time that she would be ordering any food from this food stall.

For myself, I ordered a durian ice cream which cost RM10. The durian ice cream was really nice though I felt that RM10 for a plastic cup of durian ice cream was quite expensive. To read about the the durian ice cream and a new 4 in 1 coffee bag which I had bought; just follow the link below: -

Food Fair in KSL City Mall in Johor Bahru

Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Temple

While I was walking to the new Galleria Mall in Johor Bahru, I passed by the Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Temple. The temple was closed at that time. I saw a Indian guy outside the temple and he told me that the temple will be opened at 5 pm.

The Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam Temple is one of the oldest Hindu temple in Johor Bahru; and had recently undergone renovation. It is a beautiful temple and I hope to drop by again some day in the evening to see temple and take some photos to share it here.

There are also lots of Indian shops nearby selling all kinds of local and Indian products. I bought a herbal henna hair color dye at an Indian shop nearby and it cost only RM5.70 - really cheap. There are also Indian restaurant and food outlets too; for those who enjoy eating spicy Indian food.

Indian Nasi Briyani

On a Saturday evening, my friend told me to try out Nasi Briyani for dinner. So we went to Tekka Food Center in Little India in Singapore and ordered Nasi Briyani from a Indian food stall. I am not a fan of Nasi Briyani; I prefer Hainanese Chicken Rice. Anyway, the hawker center was crowded and you have to  queue to buy the food.

The Nasi Briyani that we ordered cost S$5 and the loose grain basmati rice was soft and fluffy. What I liked was the Indian curry gravy; which was not to hot and with a stronger spicy scent. I had ordered the chicken version instead of the mutton; and the chicken meat taste good.

There are also many Nasi Briyani stalls in Johor Bahru as well. Eating there is also cheaper too; as the same Nasi Briyani would only cost about S$2.50 if you ordered it from a mamak food stall. I would always request for extra rice, curry gravy and vegetables - and not forgetting the hot ginger tea.

Photos of Naruto Car

I went to KSL City Shopping Mall last month and saw a very colorful car on display in the atrium. It is a car with a beautiful artwork of Naruto on it. This car attracted lots of attention from the shoppers during that day. I guess the owner of this car must be proud of his work; and I wondered how much did it cost him? The interior of this Naruto car was very well done up too. If you are keen to see more photos of this Naruto's car, just click the link to this blog: -

Photos of Naruto Car

Going to Johor Premium Outlets by Bus

Even since the Johor Premium Outlets ( JPO ) opened late last year, many of my friends had already visited this JPO. Some of them commented that it was quite far away from the main Johor Bahru town; while others told me that the prices of merchandise were not that cheap.

I visited the JPO recently and I went there by public bus. I was surprised that it was relatively easy to get there and the journey was pleasant too. Yes, the JPO was indeed situated far away from the JB main city but I think it is acceptable. Most of the people going there are looking for a value buy for branded products - and there are lots of well known designer brands to choose. The international designer brands that have outlets there include - Levis, Armani, Burberry, Lacoste, Canali, Pedro, Coach, Ermenegildo Zegna, Guess, Vincci, Michael Kors, Braun Buffel, Ralph Lauren and Salvatore Ferragamo.

To find out more about how I took a bus trip to JPO, just click the link below which will direct you my main blog: -

Bus Trip to Johor Premium Outlets