We went on 2D1N expedition to Sepang one weekend just cos we haven’t been on a trip together for awhile. The trip to Sepang would take us 3.5 hours-drive non stop but due to the many pitstops we made, we only arrived at 4pm, when we met at 8am in the morning. =| It is important to meet early if you are traveling to other parts of Malaysia, cos the bus from Kranji to the immigration and clearing both immigration will take 1.5 hours to 2 hours and after which it’s a long ride ahead. We rented a car in Johor cos we didn’t want to attract attention with a Singapore car plate. The car was a pretty new, comfortable car with no power unfortunately. The friend wanted to try this kopitiam from old Johor town, which is otherwise known as Jalan Tan Hiok Hee, a very popular street filled with lots of food and so this is where we got our breakfast from.

One of the draw here is this – Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory, famous for their freshly baked banana cake and coconut buns

Ta-da!

The banana cake was very smooth and had the right amount of sweetness. The fragrance of the cake overwhelms you when you open the box and even when it’s cold, it’s still very delicious. The coconut buns were still baking and we don’t have the luxury to wait, so we have to give it a miss. We also tried the coffee and toast from the famous Kin Wah kopitiam and I must say the kopi here is really gao and good that kept us awake for most of the car ride. We had to packet the toast and eggs which came in form of plastic bag so imagine drinking eggs using a straw. It’s a one of a kind experience

Hiap Joo Bakery

13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Lunch was at Aeon Seremban 2, cos it was on the way and we wanted to get alcohol from the supermarket

Tacopachi

The takopachi was surprisingly pretty decent or at the very least, they were all freshly made

Maggi Goreng with Fried Chicken

Nasi Goreng w Ikan Billis

Mee Goreng Pattaya

To conclude, the food wasn’t fantastic but the mee goreng pattaya was really spicy. And we were so amazed at the level of efficiency here I lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes and M wanted to scold the person. #awholenewlevel

So we finally reached Avani Sepang Gold Coast resort. The place is also known as the palm beach resort cos well, it takes the shape of a palm but I’m sure it probably models after some other resorts =X

View from our room 

Explored the resort and the friends were off to kayaking! The kayaking is free, as long as you put your name down and it’s probably one of the free activities being offered

So it’s selfie time!

And they were happily having a war out there, while posing for me

We had wanted to go go-karting but since it’s not free, we went dinner instead. Suggested this place at Tanjung Sepat cos we wanted to have a seafood feast and it’s a 20 minutes drive away. We initially thought the place would be packed at 6.30pm so we were so kanchiong to reach the place only to see it’s still relatively empty

The view that welcome us, and we were in time for the sunset!

When they said they wanted a seafood feast, they were not kidding. So we just ordered anything that looks good. There was no price on the menu, and we didn’t ask how much, neither did we requested for the size of the dishes #likeaboss We were joking that we probably have to wash the dishes if we didn’t have enough money

Assam Steamed Snapper Fish RM45

The assam sauce was deliciously satisfying with a deep punge in sourness and the mix of spices. The fish meat was fresh and thick and to eat it together with the sauce was divine

Kam Hiong Crab (1.5KG) RM93

We had no idea what Kam Hiong was. We ordered cos there’s a picture of it. So typical right? 😀 The sauce was stir fried with crab roe and dried shrimp to bring out the fragrance of both the crabs and the prawns. The crab meat was really sweet and it felt good indulging with the overload of seafood

Ginger & Onion Scallop RM36

I think we ordered ginger & onion but somehow this looks more like scallops in XO sauce. This was a little salty but the scallops were huge and fresh

Salted Egg Mantis Prawn RM18

The aroma of the salted egg fills us all once the dish hit the table. We couldn’t wait to dig in. I’m glad it didn’t disappoint

Hotplate Oyster RM18

A very decent plate of oyster that has no residual taste of the oyster that some may fear

Champagne Chicken RM18

I felt cheated. I asked the waitress if this was good and they said yes. =/ I would think the chicken has taste of champagne but honestly.. I can’t taste it. And the chicken was dry and tasteless if you take away the sauce

Hotplate Tofu RM15

On top of this, we had 7 coconut, 2 coke and 2 7-up. By the way the coconut is really awesome. The flesh is so easy to eat that the coconut feels so artificial and all of this comes down to RM282.60, which was only SGD15/pax =O #gowherefind

The dinner was really awesome. I will totally recommend anyone to come here if you are in the area. Even if you are not, please still come. It’s cheap and good and you can eat like no tomorrow. The only downside was there were lots of flies, specially when the dishes first arrived. So it can be quite a handful to handle

Restaurant Asam Batu Laut

Banting Sungai Mosok, Batu Laut, Kampung Nelayan, Tanjung Sepat, Malaysia

Driving back was challenging cos there was no street lights and we depended broadly on the sometimes visible and sometimes invisible reflectors. It was even more challenging cos there were only two lanes and when we overtake, we had no idea if cars are on the opposite side and on top of that, our car has no power =/ but we made it back safe and sound, somehow 🙂

Just to show you how the room looks like. We had the family villa which has 2 rooms (1 king, 1 double), a common area and 2 bathrooms which was actually quite big 

We requested the hotel for something complimentary to celebrate our friend’s engagement and they gave us a 500g chocolate cake which was so gao it tasted more like brownie. Still, I have to say the cake was actually quite good. Moist and chocolatey, confirm sore throat the next day

Alcohol we got from the supermarket which I think we finish them in less than 2 hours

And card games to kill time. This game can only be played when you are still sober. It’s too cheem and you need to form alliances along the way. Ha

xx

Rise & Shine! It was a cloudy and gloomy day which progressed into a wet day. Breakfast was at the club house, which was included in our room package

Breakfast was very normal, but probably better than my European breakfast 😉

Dark clouds looming

It was raining quite badly when we left Avani which made driving difficult. At some point, visibility was very bad and we can only depend on the white lines on the road. So we dropped by Malacca for lunch. Well it isn’t exactly on the way but it probably is a good pit stop to rest and find food

Weather here is a total different story. It was so hot we needed to find cold drinks to cool down after finishing our chendol. Lunch was at Jonker 88 which was famous for their laksa and chendol and the queue was still as long as I remembered

Many would not notice this stall located inside, but this ngoh hiang stall is worth a try

RM35 worth 😀

Baba Chendol RM3

Baba Durian Chendol RM4

And we were so hungry the laksa was gone even before I could take a photo. I prefer the chendol and Assam laksa here to Penang’s version, though this place somehow might be too overhyped

Jonker 88

No. 88, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200, Melaka, Melaka, 75200, Malaysia

Dropped by The Daily Fix cafe for desserts which was pretty relieving under such hot weather and you can read about it here. On the way back to the car, the friends couldn’t resist getting a box of durian puff even though our consumption has hit the limit

It’s called the One Bite Durian Puff where you stuff in all in, in a bite

1 for RM2, 3 for RM5

A very big puff which you have to finish it in one bite. I didn’t really like this. The filling was too watery and it just tasted weird like that. I prefer my Goodwood Park anytime, and I realised they have an outlet at Vivocity

And it was a long drive back

Ended up having dinner at City Square JB and they wanted something hot and spicy, so Korean it shall be. Bornga has one outlet at Suntec but none of us has tried it before since well, I’m not a fan of Korean BBQ

Side dishes, not very awesome

Woo Samgyup RM42

Thinly sliced Beef Brisket w Born-Ga’s special Sauce

 Cooking in progress

I had one small slice of this and I must say it was pretty good. The flavour of the beef was sweet and salty, combined with some degree of oiliness. But I can’t take food if it’s too oily, so I spent half the time being a rabbit eating lettuce with the soybean paste which was actually quite good

Jap Chae RM30

The jap chae was a little bland to start with but the glass noodles were cooked firm and chewy

Chadol Duenjang Jjigae RM24

Traditional Korean Soybean Paste Stew w Beef

I was surprised they separated the broth and rice and we were shocked when the rice was first presented to us. Like huh? Since when we ordered rice? Haha that being said, this was an interesting dish. The rice has the flavour of the soybean stew. The texture was somewhere in between rice and porridge

Suntofu Jjigae – Spicy RM26

This seafood and tofu stew was very delicious. I think the you can add the spiciness level but the degree where the restaurant offered was good enough. It’s really what you need in a cold day

Makgeolli

We finished 2 bottles of this by the way

Cheers to a wonderful non-stop eating trip!

Ended with complimentary desserts. I think this was some plum dessert which doesn’t quite taste like plum. So we left it pretty much untouched

I wouldn’t know if the one in Singapore is as good but judging from the standard here, I think it’s actually pretty decent and for the price you pay, it’s very cheap since we only paid SGD18/pax #gowherefind So maybe if you are at City Square and craving for Korean, perhaps you can drop by here

Born-Ga Original Korean Taste

Johor Bahru Town MF-23, Level 3, Johor Bahru City Square Shopping Mall

106-108, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Johor, Malaysia