What to eat in Johor Bahru - Bah Ku Teh

I thought it will be interesting to do a series of postings on Johor Bahru eateries.

We are only separated by a few kilometers, but the food is distinctly different from Singapore’s. Some of them are really nice.

First post of the series – Shun Fa Bah Ku Teh

I had eaten at this Bah Ku Teh place before. However, the time when I took this photo, I had merely passed by.

 

It was one of my favourite eateries in Malaysia. They served traditional Malaysia Bah Ku Teh i.e. herbal style soup and in claypot.

 

The difference between Malaysia’s Bah Ku Teh and Singapore’s lies with the broth. Singapore’s famous Bah Ku Teh has a simpler taste and lighter coloured broth. They are usually Teochew’s style i.e. flavoured with garlic , pepper and meat only. Malaysia’s tend to have a richer broth and heavier in colour i.e. rich brown.

 

Between them, I prefer the Malaysia’s style better.

 

The eatery is situated at Taman Sentosa, Jalan Sutera Satu, about 10 minutes drive from City Square.

 

Do try it when you are in JB.

Batam Trip – iHotel and Nagoya Hill

Alright, second part of my Batam “adventure”. I will also let the picture do the talking…

 

Yup. This is the hotel which we stayed in – iHotel. It is quite clean and the amenities are quite good, I must say. However, as with all things with Batam, it is also surrounded by undeveloped plots of land.

The back of hotel is this plot of land with nothing on it which looked rather miserable. It looked like it was caved out from a hill or something. 

However, then a short walk down the paved path, it will lead us to our only entertainment source…

 

*drum roll, please…*

Out of nowhere, a modern building named “Nagoya Hill” sprang out yet again among another plot of undeveloped land.

 

I must say the mall design still looked modern. Don’t you think it looked like Bugis Junction? Toilets are usable. There are also lot of stores and eateries…

 

I guess their clothing collections are not what Singaporeans would have like, but people go batam for a reason. That is to buy daily necessity such as soap, sanitary pads, toothpaste and toothbrushes at incredible prices.

I can’t help but to feel slightly gloomy at the look of the Christmas Tree decoration.

 

 

 

Despite the magnificent size, sponge lining supposedly to be snow are tear anyhow and placed randomly on the tree. It just looked like it could be improved further…

 

 

While the back of the hotel look bare, the front is surprising good. Paved roads with neat trees and shrubs are decoration.

 

At least some parts of Batam looked very developed. Yup, there is the prominent sign of A&W. 

Ok, iHotel had a very nice pool I must say. I can’t swim sadly, but my friends did. I did walk around in the baby pool though, splashing around.

Ok. Here is me, doing a bit of “sun tanning” while reading a book. This is how obsessed I am with study… I brought a course reading book to holiday to get a headstart. To think, I still missed the A by two marks… Mr Arty One…

Yes, laugh your head off. I have not only covered my legs with towel, but also my arms and head. There is a saying in Chinese - 一白遮三丑, which meant pale-coloured skin will hide one’s flaws.  Already flawed, I must preserved whatever I have to look presentable at the very least. Keeping myself as pale as possible is the minimum I can do to myself. (I must say I am getting darker though…)

Hmmm….

Part One - How Cheap are Things in Batam ?

In Singapore, having 10% discounts are common. 20% off are considered good deal. 30% are hard to find but existed. 50% off is worth half-day leave and anything beyond that might just attracted a stampede.

However over at Batam., I saw something amazing. Something almost unheard of. Ok, it was post-Chirstmas, but then again do they have to sell Christmas ornaments at such a low price?

In the first instance, shop offering 75% discount is almost unheard of.

Then they went over the top by adding another 20% discount on top of the 75% off...

*Drop Jaw*

How much is it eventually? I lost count... I can only say the price is almost negligible when converted to Sing dollars...

My First Batam Trip (Via The Sea Route)

 

I will let the picture do the talking this time round.

 

 

On a Ferry Boat “Sea Flyte” to Batam.

 

 

Slightly shaky, did not get sea sick but beautiful view made up for it… The different shades of blues from the sky and the sea.

 

 

We passed by a beautiful island with luscious greens and even a cliff. What island is that you asked? Does it belong to Singapore?

 

 

Just as I was pondering over the name, we saw the commercial part of the island – Rasa Sentosa Resort.

 

*Slightly disappointed* Oh…

 

So it was actually Sentosa! How come we never saw the beautiful natural part of the island? It could rival those beautiful island which we saw in movies.

 

Then we reached Batam. Luckily there was hotel transfer, else I would not know what to do. I felt insecure. Batam was so different from Singapore. It was very rural.

 

It is very common to see a few lone building sprouting along stretches of undeveloped land. I get chills just by looking at it. I cannot imagine myself walking along the streets.

I was curious about the Jaguar sign board and for a moment thought Jaguar had instill a plant in Batam., Turned out to be a “spoof” factory. It was a body painting company name Jaguar, not really the luxurious car brand Jaguar.

Frankly, just hours into the trip, I began to miss home. There is no place I rather be than Singapore. I am glad I am a Singaporean!

Monopoly - The Indonesia Version Board Game

Remember I went Batam last December for Holiday? Well, I will gradually post the photos up. First, see this interesting thing.

 

 

Monopoly The Board Game – Indonesia Version

 

 

What so special you ask? Their most expensive plot was 400 million dollars! Wow…

 

Well, one of the problems which I encountered in Indonesia was the currency. There were all in very big denominators. I mean they were minimum hundreds (coins), thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands. Who usually count such big numbers? I always have problem counting the currency and trying to made out to how much they are in Sing dollars.

 

I reckoned Indonesians were good mathematician since they count everyday like that. See, they trained their kids to count big denominators from young.   

Can A&W make a comeback in Singapore?

I read weeks ago that Wendy – the Fast Food Restaurant is making waves at Lau Pa Sat. Brought in by the Kopitiam group, it has managed to attract huge crowds every day since opening last December. According to the CNA’s news report, Wendy first came to Singapore in the 80s, locating at Far East Plaza and Parkway Parade. I supposed they retreated due to poor business then?

 

Demographics and Psychographic have since changes. Singaporeans are much more affluent than they are in the 80s. More people are eating out everyday. Youths have more pocket money and Fast Food has become a daily norm rather than a rare treat. Therefore despite existing fast food restaurants kept expanding at astonishing rate, I still think fast food market in Singapore has not yet reach saturation point, but in fact still expanding.

 

(Hmmm… why do I feel like I am doing some homework when writing the above para…)

Anyway, Wendy’s successful comeback reminds me of another fast food restaurant that has a special place among Singaporeans and perhaps should make a come-back too. I am referring to old-time favourite A&W!

 

I mean when Singaporeans visit Malaysia or Batam, immediately the first thing they need to do is to drop by to the nearest A&W restaurant to get their fixes of Coney Dog, Curly Fries and Root Beer float. 

 

Since it is a must-do for many, why didn’t anyone thought of bringing A&W into Singapore? I actually thought A&W might be able to make it this time around. 

 

Mascot for A&W – The Great Root Bear!

 

Similar to Wendy, A&W outlets began to dwindle during the 90s. I had thought they retreated from Singapore in the 90’s but according the the Facebook page “Bring A&W back to SG, the last A&W outlet at Hougang Mall closed in 2003. Hmm… At point of writing this entry, there are about 16 319 members.
 

 

Why do I think it will make it? I was at Batam few months ago. Of course, my friends insisted that they had to try A&W before coming back. At the queue, you can almost tell that 90% are Singaporeans from their accent.

 

An example of A&W set-meal.

 

Not sure why, but they no longer sell Coney Dogs in Batam outlet. How can that be? Coney Dogs, Root Beer Float are supposed to be the holy trinity of A&W. Why would they take it out of their menu? Is business also not good in Batam too? Would they close their operation down eventually in Batam?

 

 

If my memory serves me right, A&W rootbeer float used to be ice-cream instead of soft-serve ice-cream? I could have remembered it wrongly since I seldom eat A&W when they were in Singapore. When I was younger, we seldom fast food. Our family are not that affluent, you see. In any case, I am don’t need extra calories from it. 

 

Among all the A&W food, I love their curly fries best. I am a sucker for potatoes food stuff especially when they are fried. Of course, I know they are not too good for health. I am trying to avoid them as best as I can. Ironically, like they always say too much of a good thing is actually bad for you.

This is new. I never know A&W sell waffles. They sell waffles (non-sweet kind) with soft-serve ice-cream. I don’t really like it. I prefer waffles that are slightly crispy and temptingly aromatic.

So what are your views? Can A&W make a come-back in Singapore? Do you all miss A&W? Leave me a message under comments.

For those who like to be more vocal, then join the Facebook group - “Bring A&W back to Singapore”. Who knows when there are substantial support or members, some rich business man might just buy the franchise and get them back to Singapore. 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6234496730

*To clarify, Photosophize has no relations with the A&W Facebook group nor A&W. :)

Random Photos from KL

Well, I have almost posted most of the KL's trip photos. Below are the last batch of photos. Like all good things, it will come to an end eventually. This KL trip marks a proper closure of a chapter in my life. Happy, Sad, Bitter Sweet, I guess we screwed up and had created a mess, but we are too old to continue to do that. I hope all of us will be happier and concentrade on what is more important in life. I know I have... To a tearless 2009!

I have seen Chou Dai Fock advertisment on cable TV before (I am not cursing, that is the cantonese pronunciation of 周大福). The famed Hong Kong jewellery boutique actually opened a branch at The Gardens , Mid-Valley! Wow... They were quite alert. While I was taking photos, they immediately came out to see what I was doing. Haha! I am not a robber, just a hopeless blogger~

Delights of Gurney Drive! Again at the The Gardens, there is this Marche-concept Penang themed restaurant named Gurney Drive. Look at the beautiful decor~

I am guessing the trishaw is a unique sight of Penang. I have never been there, but I have heard that there are a lot of delicious street food. Gurney drive to Penang is akin to Jalan Alor to KL, these are streets where famed hawkers resides! I do hope I could be go there for holiday soon~ (Friends who are interested to go, sms me k?)

Look at the grand entrance! I wonder if there are a lot of Peranakans in Penang. The decor looked very much Straits Chinese-influenced.

We love to shop in other countries' supermarkets as they differs very much from Singapore's. The photo was above were taken at Great Eastern Mall's Cold Storage. They had a live seafood section! Really atas (malay word for high class)!

What is live seafood without lobster? While taking photo, I cannot help but think lobster has feelings too. It was a rather shy/scare lobster and it retreated as I was flashing away. At that moment, I felt really bad that I was thinking it as food... Maybe I should strike lobster off my diet forever... For info, I have already strike crabs and frogs off my list of edible food. Hai~ May it reincarnate into a better being soon.

I think these are see hums aka cockles. Not the normal one, but the supersized cockles... How did they get so big, almost the size of a small apple. I wondered how they tasted like and how people actually cooked them. Imagine using hum this big for Cha Kueh Tiao... We probably have to slice them. Haha.

Hey, I have never seen swiming crabs before. These, I supposed, are sea-crab. Are they any good, does anyone know?

It was Halloween period when we were there. Therefore, at Pavilion’s basement supermarket, we saw these enormous pumpkins for sale! They are not cheap and very heavy. Behind them were different variety of pumpkins. I wondered if they can be used to make kueh… Hmm...

KL's Super Noodle House - 新香港粥面家

I am not a great fan of hotel's breakfast no matter how good they can be. Especially straight after a few days' stay at the hotel, the smell of the cafeteria is enough to make my face green without having to step inside it. So, on the last day of my KL trip, I ventured out for some local food for breakfast.

Located outside Sungei Wang Plaza, there is this restaurant named "Super Noodles House".

Exterior of the restaurant had a very strong Chinese influenced decor, with Chinese pavilion-themed trimmings painted in ancient courts' colours of red and green. It was a rather prominent restaurant along Bukit Bintang Road.


新香港粥面家 or Super Noodle House specialised in Cantonese hawker food such as Roasted Meats, Noodles, Poridge and Dim Sum.


Just take a look at the wide varieties of roasted meats - Shiny Goose and ducks, Sticky Cha Siew, Cripsy meat and mini-suckling pigs. All of them looked very good. However, because it was early morning, I ordered something lighter.

I ordered Wonton Noodles in soup. Wonton is the cantonese pronouciation for a type of dumplings which is known as 馄饨 or 云吞 (hun tun or yun tun) in Chinese. They usually had minced pork and shrimp fillings, but the one which I have ordered above only had whole shrimps as fillings.

It was served steamy hot. The soup was clear and flavourful. It had a pleasantly light sweetness to it. I like how it warms up my stomach immediately. The noodles was cooked to perfectly al dente like how Wonton noodles should be - chewy and emits a light eggy fragnance. The shrimp wonton tasted good too. The shrimp meat was fresh and Q - it had some resistance when bite into it. Each of them explodes with rich seafood flavours!

I noticed the rest of the customers ordered Dim Sim from them. They were cooked upon order and served steamy hot. I ordered Har Kao (shrimp dumpling). Like the wonton, the shrimp meat had good texture and was very fresh. They should be eaten while hot, otherwise the skin was harden.

I also ordered their deep-fried dumpling. They had minced meat as fillings, with finely diced carrots and onions. Not bad, but I think it could be improve further.

If you were there for lunch and dinner, remember to order their dessert too. The desserts are typical Hong Kong dessert - Mango Pudding, Chilled Almond Jelly, Fruit Sago, Cream of Water Chestnuts, Egg Stewed with rock-sugar etc. I like how they printed part of the menu of mirror wall which looked very much like a traditional Hong Kong cafe.

While slurping on my noodles, I looked up dreamily at the restaurant. Hours later, I will be leaving KL and back to Singapore...

The bill came I was jolted awake! The breakfast was quite cheap by Singapore's standard! Rm$7.50 for the wonton noodles which converts to roughly $3 sing dollars. RM$6 for dim sim costed $2.5o sing dollars! I thought their wonton noodles tasted better and of course more worthwhile than Crystal Jade's. For $3 sing dollars, I can only probably buy wonton noodles from coffee shop and the filling is of course pork only...

Looking out of the window, I wondered when I will be back again to taste the rest of their food items...

Verdict:

Very Worthwhile, Must Try!

KL's Pavillion - T.G.I Friday's Restaurant

Warning: The following entry contained photos which might cause instant hunger and uncontrolled production of excess saliva. Dieters, please avoid, others proceed with caution.

You have been warned… Well, I am post-blogging the remaining photos from my KL trip last November. Yes, I know it was so long ago… but they are worth sharing. So, people here go the first of the series - T.G.I Friday's!

Nope, I am not cheering that it is Friday, but rather the U.S. restaurant chain T.G.I Friday's! We went to the Pavilion outlet during the last night in Kuala Lumpur – one of my favourite cities. Actually, we had wanted to go Tony Roma, but later decided to go TGIF instead as it is not available in Singapore. I heard that S’pore’s branch closed down years ago… What a pity. I would rate it as a must-try if you are travelling to KL !

The décor of the restaurant was rather open concept, much like New York New York in Singapore. The wall plastered with pictorials of American icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Las Vegas, baseball etc, informal but lively which gave people that “always a lot of things to see” kind of feeling. The lighting was subtle which gave people a sense of privacy – good for couple I must say.

So what is special about the restaurant ? It’s the food. Do you know the difference between American food and French food? Le PORTION! America’s food portion is HUGE! T.G.I Friday's food stays true to its American roots! Because we are in Malaysia, the conversion rate is in our favour, it makes the food very much worthwhile! That is worth every reason to visit it already!

Basically, they have set meals and ala carte dishes. Set meals cost RM$39.90 which converts to about $17 sing dollars, consisted of an appetiser, main course and dessert. Well, you would have thought that is only ah? What so special? Scroll and continue to read…

For appetiser, one get to chose either Shrimp Martini or Fried Macaroni Cheese. When they were served, we were dumb-stuck… I would have mistaken them for main courses and really if anyone finished them, there is hardly any room for main course, let alone dessert…

Just take a look at this - Shrimp Martini. It is one of our favourite dishes.

Quite special, it was served cold in a HUGE Martini glass.

It is a bit like Seliche (don't know how to spell) in which raw bits of seafood is marinated in lime juice and rum. This shrimp martini consisted of shrimps, chopped up olive, onions, tomato and tomato juice. Additional lemon juice is optional which is what we did. This resulted in a slightly acidic tangy appetiser which whetted our appetite immediately. The restaurant was generous with the ingredients as well with plenty of shrimps to share among three of us.

Those on diet turned your head now. This is their Fried Macaroni Cheese appetizer for one and there are six pieces! I mean one is sinful enough, but to serve six pieces to one person is just evil. Anyway, I am not complaining because they are really good.

Served piping hot, the fried Macaroni cheese had a very crispy crust, the cheese melted and "stringed" when we divided it into half. Took a bite, the first taste which hit you was the rich cheesy flavour, but it was not salty. In fact, it was slightly blend. I would think that it needed more cheese or liquid as it was a tad dry. We actually dunked these "comforting package" into the shrimp martini sauce. It should be eaten immediately while it was hot.

Besides the food, we also ordered cocktail drinks. They were cheaper compared to Singapore's, but I never expected that it was also slightly larger than Singapore's...

My friend ordered this chocolate bailey drink which I have forgotten the name. We were laughing our heads off when it was served. This alone can filled her up already. How can they serve drink in a mini-goldfish bowl?

Tasted a bit like alcoholic milkshake with a ball of ice cream. Sweet, creamy and sinfully decadent...

Another friend and I ordered the healthier Mojito! It was the tastiest Mojito I ever drank. Don't think that it is cheaper, they would hold the alcohol back. They did not and were quite generous in fact, that I start to worry how to get back to hotel after the first sip!

Then comes the main course. Strangely, they were not as huge as I thought they would be. Perhaps, I had enough shock with the appetisers and drinks that when it comes to the main course, I was not really surprise. Perhaps, the alcohol had taken some effects as well - Sedatively.


The taste was so-so too. Normal chicken breast meat over rice with tangy sweet mandarin orange sauce. As usual with Amercian restaurant, Chicken breast meat was dry. The sauce managed to hydrate it slightly. The only thing worth mentioning was that I think they served me a head of broccoli. That serving alone was probably 0ne full day worth of vegetable intake for an adult. LOL.


My friend's order - Grilled Chicken Breast Meat with Pasta. Chicken meat tasted dry, pasta not al dente and yes, the broccoli. They gave her a smaller head. LOL.


This had to be the best main course. Fish and Chips! Crust crispy and fish fillets tender and moist inside. Not really greasy, so it was quite good.

By now, we are actually quite done with eating. However, there is still dessert to come and the portion was backed to normal size - HUGE!!! Seriously, no wonder America has the highest obesity rate. How can one stay silm there?


This was supposed to be some rich and dense chocolate cake, but it was dry too. We were not very impressed with it.

This was better one! It is vanila ice cream sandwiched between some huge chocolate chips cookie. As if it was not sweet enough, they drenched the plate with chocolate and cameral sauce. Definately not good for body, but it tasted rather good.


Verdict:


I like their appetiser and mojito and the supersized chocolate chip ice-cream dessert. Luckily, we were shopping away the whole day. Otherwise, this meal really busted our daily calories intake. I recommended should try because the price was quite worthwhile. The main course which we had are not their speciality which is grilled steak and chicken with whiskey sauce! Perhaps, they will taste better.


Staff is cheerful and friendly. While we were there, someone celebrated their birthday. All the staff actually gathered around to entertain that table with songs and cheers. The celebration lasted quite a while. They seem genuinely entertaining the birthday girl and gang. It was really fun and exciting. I would want to celebrate my birthday there - this year maybe. Hee Hee.

For more information, visit their website - http://www.fridays.com.my/