One day trip to JB (Johor Bahru) by train - Part 2

Return ticket timing and ticket counter at JB Sentral Train Station, Malaysia

The train may not depart at an exact timing as by the time all the passengers boarded into the train, it may be slightly later than the schedule time. However, you will still reach five minutes later to your destination. The great thing about taking train is that both immigration checks are done before boarding. Therefore, once you step into JB Sentral train station, you are free to go!

If you have not purchased any return ticket yet, worry not! You still can purchase it at the counter, not far from the place where you come out. Just walk straight about 20 meter, you will see a counter with people queuing. There are 2 separate queue if you notice. One is for ticket sold within the same day. Many timings are available. Choose according to your need. Another queue is for ticket sold at another day (advanced ticket purchase).

If you ask me what time will be suitable for both go and back for the day trip? Well, for me personally, I feel that from Singapore to Johor Bahru (JB), 9.45 am is the best timing as many shops are opened after 10 am. You can choose earlier timing as well, like 8.30 am ride if you stay not too far from Woodlands area and want to have a relaxing breakfast at JB. As for return time, I usually choose 9.30 pm as I hardly visit JB this way so I want to maximize my stay without having to stay too late (again, many shops are closed at 10 pm, unless you want to catch the night movie and have some supper before going back to Singapore). Or you may want to choose earlier timing if you do not want to feel too tired or if you need to go back to work the day after. In any case, buy the return ticket right after you reach JB to avoid the tickets being sold out.

And if you want to purchase a SIM card (in case you need), you can get it at the store near where you buy the return ticket. You need to show your passport to register. For a week SIM card, it costs RM 20 - 2 GB data - and enough for a day (you can even share your connection through hotspot with your friends as well). I bought and used it mainly to order the Grab as it will be much cheaper and safer). Again, it is personal choice.

Next, what to do?

Aha! It is still early and it it too early to shop. Haha... So, breakfast (cum lunch) will be the best option. Where? Well, you have plenty of choices where to go and what to eat. You can choose to eat inside the shopping mall (Komtar JBCC, Johor Bahru City Square) or you can also experience to eat local food at local eating house nearby the area.

Queue at Kam Long Curry Fish Head (had avocado juice from nearby stall while waiting) - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Breakfast Hainanese Chicken Chop at Hua Mui - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

There are many choices available. Choose according to what you feel like eating. Check your Google map for these places: Kam Long Curry Fish Head (open 8 am to 4 pm - closed on Friday), Restaurant Ya Wang (open 8 am to 6 pm - closed on Wednesday), Restoran Hua Mui (open everyday from 8.30 am to 6 pm), Toast and Coffee - previously Tasty Bay Food Court (open every day from 7 am to 5 pm), etc.

Banana cake and assorted bread from Hiap Joo Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Or if you just want to have a snack or very light food for breakfast, you can just grab assorted bread (coconut, peanut, ikan bilis, otak, etc.) from Hiap Joo Bakery while takeaway their banana cake back to Singapore (it is fresh made using traditional oven using woods to fire, fragrant and cheap - small box of 5 slices at RM 4.80 and big box of 10 slices at RM 9.60 - perfect oleh oleh (gifts) for your families and friends/colleagues back home. Check their opening time before going (mostly start from 7.30 am to 5 pm except for Sunday - start from 8.30 am and Monday - start from 12 pm). They bake their cake then sell. Once finish, you have to wait for another batch. You may need to queue for a while, but I tell you, it's worth it!

Assorted puffs and bread from Salahuddin Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

There is another old school bakery nearby the area as well, called Salahuddin Bakery. It opens daily from 9.30 am to 6 pm except on Friday (closed at 5 pm). They sell various puffs (potato, mutton, chicken, and sardine), bread loaf, bread rolls, cream puff, etc. And if you are thirsty, you can go down to Chaiwalla and Co. Container Cafe to have Thai Milk Tea, Iced Coffee, and so on (open daily from 12 pm to 12 am except Sat and Sun open until 1 am).

Long queue at Hiap Joo Bakery - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

All the places I mentioned above is within walking distance from the JB City Square Mall (about ten minutes walk). I was not aware of this place until my friend brought me there. And it surprised me that we had to queue to eat at some of these restaurants and bakery. I mean, weekday morning, queue??? I thought it only happened in Singapore :P Anyway, it can be a good experience to taste local food from these eateries. Oh, bring umbrella as the heat can be unbearable and it may rain as well!

Miniso at KSL City Mall - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

From there you can take Taxi or Grab to other shopping malls or walk back to JB City Square or Komtar JBCC. KSL City Mall can be a good choice to shop as it contains varieties of shops (Mr D.I.Y., Daiso, Popular, Miniso, Tesco supermarket, enormous shops for mobile phone accessories, lingerie (Sorella, Triumph, Young Hearts, etc.), clothing stores, many good food to eat and drink inside and nearby (for lunch), many salon, massage/manicure/pedicure places, and one of Singaporean favorite places to make glasses too!

Mala xiangguo at Tasty Hotpot opposite KSL City- Johor Bahru, Malaysia

You can find plenty of blogs regarding where to eat in Johor Bahru to have details of each restaurant. I asked my friend who stays in JB on what were nice to eat nearby the KSL and he recommended me Tasty Hotpot (mala xiangguo dish where the family recipe came directly from Chengdu, China). I tried it with my friends and not bad lah! They also sell few appetizers and dessert to complete our meal. Oh, not forgetting Tsing Tao Beer to accompany the dishes, especially in hot afternoon!!! :D

A Ming Di Hwang Ya at KSL City

There are nice noodle shops and roasted meat/duck nearby the area as well but I am not sure which stalls. Heard some people like to eat the bakuteh (Malaysian style pork rib soup) there too. But so far, I haven't tried them. I ate the roasted meat from inside the KSL called A Ming Di Hwang Ya (you can see a display of giant roasted duck from the front part of the restaurant).

With Jeffrey Ang - Co-owner of Burger Bandit - at KSL City - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

I also tasted two burgers (Prawn Katsu Burger and Mac and Cheese Burger) from the Burger Bandit as it is owned by my ex-colleague. According to him, these two burgers are their best seller items. Make it a Combo (additional fries and lemonade) only at RM 4.50 more. It tasted really good!!! Try it next time if you feel like having burger as they fixed the most of their patty home made!

After filling your stomach with heavy lunch, you may want to continue shopping and walk around. You can go back to City Square to shop or go another mall before going back there. If you love to shop clothes, my local friend recommended me to go to Paradigm Mall. There is Parkson and cinema inside.

Visited the newly opened mall - Mid Valley Southkey in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

But if you want to check a new shopping mall in the area, you can go down to The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey. It was opened somewhere in April 2019. Not all shops were opened yet when I went down last week but most have been operating well. Many branded shops can be found. Restaurants are available too. Good time to spend in evening.

After a very long day, I chose to have an hour full body traditional Thai massage at Thai Odyssey - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

You can go back to City Square mall again before or after dinner and finish your shopping list. You may want to peek items at Watsons or Guardian (some things are much cheaper to get than in Singapore), fancy breads at bakery like Seasons and Lavender for next day breakfast are nice and cheap (you can get an average of S$1 per bread), stationery stock up from Popular and/ or Times bookstore (do not forget to bring your Popular membership card because you can use it in Malaysia and Hong Kong too), browse clothes from Uniqlo, H and M, etc. buy sport shoes from Nike, New Balance, Sketches, etc., shop some local snacks from Yong Sheng, share various flavors of popcorn from Eureka (RM 11.90-12.90 for vacuumed pack, up to RM 27.90 for glass bottle type), and perhaps last minute foot massage or whole body massage (after whole day of eating and walking) at Thai Odyssey. It is not very cheap but still cheap compared with Singapore standard.

Char Kway Teow from PappaRich Malaysia

You can have dinner first too before going back. Many restaurants are available. I recommend the Char Kway Teow from PappaRich if you like Chinese Indonesian style of Char Kway Teow. 1 portion is RM 17.50 (incl. Tax and svc charge) or around S$5.80 only (In Singapore it cost S$9.90 excl 10% svc charge and 7% GST). Hehehe.. it's personal choice anyway! :D

Things I bought from Johor Bahru, Malaysia (Eureka Popcorns and Gardenia Sambal Ikan Bilis)

Check your train ticket timing once again! Be there half an hour before departing time as you need to clear the immigration before boarding into the train. If you still have spare time, you can shop around the place. There is one mama shop selling the Gardenia bread roll - sambal ikan bilis (spicy anchovies bread). In Malaysia, one packet it costs RM 1.05. In Singapore, the same flavor bread is sold at S$1.30, which means, with the price of 1 bread in Singapore, you can get 4 packs of it in Malaysia). It tastes very nice too and have quite long expiry date. You can stock it up back home and have it anytime when you are hungry. It is really a very good buy!!! I know a friend who can buy 20 packs of it at one time! :D Can be a good gift to friends and colleagues as well! :)

So, board your train well and on time. When you reach back to Woodlands, you will have to go through the Singapore checkpoint. This time you can choose any place to queue (not necessary choose the automated machines) to fasten up the queue process.

Wish you a wonderful journey!!! :)

I hope you will have a wonderful one-day Johor Bahru trip after reading this blog. You can share your experience by leaving your comments below and add in some good tips or good makan (eating) place so others can benefit from it. So, explore well and enjoy the journey!!

One day trip to JB (Johor Bahru) by train - Part 1

Let's go jalan jalan, makan and belanja!!! Day trip to JB from Singapore!!!

Johor Bahru is the nearest place of Malaysia that connected with Singapore. It is the border that dividing the 2 countries. People cross over it every day to work, study, holiday, and so on; by car, motorcycle, public bus, taxi, truck, company bus, train and even on foot. They just have to pass through the immigration office of both countries with their passports and/or identity card to be checked (including stuffs that they bring in).

There are two checkpoints available - Woodlands and Tuas. The most common used one (and older one) is Woodlands checkpoint. Because once coming out from Malaysia immigration, you can just walk to the shopping center (no additional public transport required).

Every kind of vehicle crossing from Singapore to Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Many Singaporean go there for a day trip using few available public transport. Bus is the most common one. But usually the long immigration queue and hop-on-hop-off bus in between two immigration offices (long traffic jam on the road) have deterred people from visiting (although it is a cheaper way to reach).

Therefore, if you never go there before (or very seldom going there) and want to experience it in a much more convenient way, then this blog post is for you! With the good exchange currency (1 Singapore Dollar (SGD) to about 3 Ringgit Malaysia (RM)), you can consider to spare your free time for a JB one-day-trip for jalan jalan (walk walk), makan (eat), and belanja (shopping).

Few things to take note before going for a day trip to JB though! First, avoid peak season (e.g. school holiday, public holidays, weekends, etc.) Second, avoid peak hours (e.g. early morning there will be many Malaysian coming Singapore to work, also for those who works on midnight shift to go back to Malaysia and vice versa for evening time). If you choose both timings I mentioned just now, then I wish you good luck! Happy waiting and queuing lah! :P

Use easybook.com to book your train ticket (Pic source: Easybook.com)

Third, try taking train! Why train? First, it is easy to buy the ticket as you can get your ticket online. But try to book few days or even month earlier so that you can get the available timing that you want. Because especially on peak season, more people will be traveling and book the ticket in advance.

This is the link where you can book your train ticket. Under the train ticket, key in your information (see the sample above). Please take note: you have to select "one way" and book separately even if you want to book for the return trip ticket. After click Search for Train, the page will show you the timing available for you to choose. If it is not shown, it means, the train has been fully booked for that time.

It takes only 5 minutes from Singapore to JB by train. The timing available are: 8.30 am, 9.45 am, 11 am, 12.30 am, 1.45 pm, 3 pm, 4.15 pm, 5.30 pm, 6.45 pm, 8 pm, 9.15 pm, 10.30 pm, 11.45 pm. From the website, you will find out how many seats are still available and how much the fare is (MYR 16 for ticket fee and admin fee of MYR 1.12 which total up to almost SGD $6 per pax). After selecting your timing, the website will ask you to select the seat (however in reality, you can anyhow sit inside the train (not following the seat number).

Key in the train passenger details then choose if you want to opt for insurance at SGD $1 per pax plus admin fee for insurance at SGD $0.5. Once done, proceed to payment (through Easybook Wallet, VISA, Mastercard, and Unionpay). They will send you the train order booking summary with your train ticket status through your email. But that is not the final ticket confirmation yet. Easybook will send another email regarding your train ticket confirmation.

Email to print the KTM eTicket

There will be a heading like the above where they give you a link to print your e-ticket for boarding the train. Do not print the email itself. If the ticket is not confirmed (can be due to many reason), they will inform you in the email as well (with the money that will be refunded from credit card company).

So, once everything is done, get ready for the day!!! You will have to go to Woodlands Train Checkpoint to board your train. They advise you to come half an hour earlier than the departure time. I advise you to come at least 45 minutes earlier though as you still need to exchange your printed e-ticket to the smaller train ticket after verification at the office located near the entrance (level 1). Do not go up straightly after reaching there!

Woodlands Train Checkpoint - Singapore

Once you get your ticket then you can go up and join the queue. The immigration officer will open the door around half an hour before departure time. You need to go through 2 immigration offices (Singapore first, then Malaysia), both before departing the train (and is only separated with very less distance). For Singaporean/ PR, use the automated self-service machine to enter faster. There will be security check for your belonging as well.

Take note that you are not allowed to take photo or video recording once you go up to second floor. There will be many warnings about it and even not to take photo of the train. So just quietly follow the procedure and board your train safely! So get ready for an exciting day in JB!!! Will continue the post soon!!! Before that, do not forget to book the return train ticket online as well so that you can feel secure about your way back home!!! Same thing, print out and bring the e-ticket with you. So stay tune for more!!! :)

Travelling with parents tale - Welcome back!!!

Welcome back!!! (Pic source: Google.com)

We were back in Malaysia!!! But only starting from today, three of us shared a room, just like before. It's been a year since the last time we came to this same hotel. Even the Manager had well recognized me and knew my name upon my arrival! What a good memory he had! :) Too good until I couldn't run away from him - will tell you the story soon, lol! :P

We were given a room at the most back and at the toppest floor (total of 4 storey high) since I requested a room with window and with no noise. We stayed at the room after lunch and after such an early flight (I had to wake up very early this morning), I wanted to take a nap. But my dad, like usual, was watching TV with such a loud noise. Ugghhhhh...... I regretted not bringing the ear plugs to stop the noise. Since I was very tired, eventually I fell asleep but soon I was awaken by nightmare :(

Irritated by the TV sound!!! (Pic source: Google.com)

So I got up and went inside toilet. Hmm... I found my peace there. The air suction sound could cover the noise from TV sound outside. So I sat on toilet bowl for a while. But soon, someone knocked my door and grrrrrr..... I had to go out and lose my peace.

When I went out from toilet, TV had been turned off. And soon, it's my dad's turn to sleep. I decided to put on earpiece and listened to music from my phone, browsing and chatting. But this time, my mom had been awoken from her nap - quite energetic, or perhaps her revenge time - she was watching those videos sent around virally, complete with the music all blasted with full volume from her mobile phone, disturbing my dad's nap. Lol!!! 

"They were really meant for each other after almost 50 years of marriage together," I told myself inside my heart. Because even with such noise, my dad was still able to sleep peacefully right next to her, and he was even snoring so loud... ^^"

Durian season - Penang, Malaysia

When he got up, they said they wanted to buy fruits. I said, we had durian in the fridge. The day before, we packed fresh durian to a vacuum-packed plastic container from Penang, as I had ordered and drunk a glass of beer mindlessly while waiting for the rest to come for dinner. (We couldn't mix durian and alcohol on the same day as it would give a very bad reaction to the body). And we brought it all the way here and stored in the minibar chiller. And by right, durian was not allowed in many areas starting from airport, taxi, mrt or train station, mall, even hotel as the smell was pungent and strong, not everyone could accept it.

Wrapped durian with plastic, put in plastic container, then vacuum-packed it to avoid the smell to spread out

We opened the window wide and ignored all that restriction. We opened the packages and started enjoying it happily. Once finished, I packed the seeds together, wrapped inside the plastic bag, went out from the hotel downstairs through the staircases (not lift), and threw the rubbish outdoor, in front of the supermarket nearby. I came back, took lift, came inside the room, then went out again near lift to take some water. While waiting for the lift and while filling up the water bottle, the receptionist staff and housekeeping staff were there watching me. I just acted blur and smiled to them, went back to room and soon I felt sleepy and took a nap again. Lol!

While taking a nap, suddenly the room phone was ringing. Half sleep, I could sense the question marks from my parents' heads, like who's on earth would call us. No one else knew we stayed here. My mom picked it up and after that, she passed the phone to me. It turned out that the hotel Manager who remembered my name was calling, looking for me, and asking if we ate durian inside the room. Lol!!!  Still acting blur I asked why? Hahahahaha.... 

Not everyone loves it!!! Either you love it or hate it! (Pic source: Google.com)

He said the smell was so strong that they could even smell it from downstairs. Hahaha... Even when our room was at the most back and toppest floor, the durian smell could still travel to the first floor. And you know what? When he called, an hour had already passed since the time we ate. I really couldn't lie or say no. He made a call to inform us that there was a hotel policy that durian was not allowed inside the room and thank God there was no fine for such act. Some hotel might give nasty treatment for having durian inside the room as they would have hard times to chase the smell out from the building.

Oh my!! I felt very ashamed after that. I immediately opened the room's window so wide to let the smell going out for some time. I felt blushed on my both cheeks. How to face him later?? He even knew my name!!! Lol!!! I felt as if I made such huge mistake in the world!! Oh man!!!

Blushing all over ^^" (Pic source: Google.com)

When going downstairs for dinner, he was there with his colleague. I looked at him and with my right hand next to my ear, I showed a hand-sign meaning 'I'm sorry, please forgive me. Won't do it again next time.' Luckily he was really kind. He was just laughing, did not know what and how to react. Just laugh. Perhaps smile and laughter were the best medicines for every situation, especially the awkward ones. Hahahahaha... Yeah, I was forgiven. And luckily no fine and was not asked to leave. Lol.

Traveling with parents tale - Time zone difference

Time zone difference

Previously we stayed at the room with no window. Therefore, we wouldn't know if the weather was hot, raining, or whether it's morning or night. In addition, my parents came from Jakarta, where the time there was one hour earlier than here, in Malaysia. E.g. If here was 7 am, Jakarta would be 6 am.

Despite they both were wearing watch on their wrists, they did not adjust the timing on it. They thought it was only one hour difference, therefore, not necessary to adjust. But they forgot that they too, could be forgetful about the time difference.

Well readied Mom (Pic source: Google.com)

In one occasion, I was awoken by a strong perfume smell. I found Mom doing her make-up and had already changed her clothes, ready to go out. I turned on my mobile phone and looked at the time. I immediately asked her, "Mom, where do you want to go so early like this?"

"Early? It's already 7 plus no??" she replied without stopping her activity.

"Ma, are you dreaming??? It's only 6 plus now. Please go back to sleep," I said.

"Haa??? Only 6 plus?? Not 7 plus ya?? I thought I woke up at 7 am just now," she replied me in shock.

After finishing her make-up, she sat down on the bed and started checking her mobile phone. I couldn't sleep anymore after that, because very soon, I was disturbed by a very loud Chinese old songs (with a maximum volume), or the sound and/ or with song that came from Chinese-made videos (those mostly showing unfilial son/ daughter together with their son/ daughter-in-law) sent by only God knew who they were.

And soon after, my mobile would vibrate and when I checked, it was the video that she just watched earlier and sent to our family What's App group ^^"

Another occasion was our first night after reaching Malaysia. Since we had nothing to do, we slept early (I remembered turning off the light at 10 pm at night since I couldn't stand the TV volume, and Dad immediately turned his TV off).

While sleeping, suddenly I heard familiar voice from a couple. I thought I heard it in my dream though.

(Pic source: Google.com)

Man: "Damn!!! It's only 4.30 am!!!"
Woman: "What time?" - with disbelief tone.
Man: "4.30 only. No choice la. We slept too early last night."
Woman: "Haa??? Only 4.30??? Feel like already long."

Ugghhh... I wanted to pee. I had no choice but to get up. I turned my phone charger off and headed to toilet with the phone. I turned it on and checked the time. It's 5.30 am.

When finished, I returned to my bed. I giggled and continued sleeping. I made it so quiet so I could sleep longer. And soon, I heard him snoring. Zzz..... Zzz..... 

Travelling with parents tale - Ghost in the room

The missing glasses case

As minimalist during travel, I only brought what I needed. So when I got up and found my glasses case missing from the side table I shared with Mom, I questioned my Mom who got up earlier than me and was applying make-up in front of the mirror at the corner of the room. "Ma, did you see my glasses case?" 

She turned her back and looked at me. "I saw it on the side table this morning. Don't have meh?"

"It's not there. If it's there, I wouldn't have asked you," replied me.

She stopped her make-up and walked to the side table direction, just next to me. "I saw it this morning right here," while pointing into the table. "How come it's not there now? Got ghost in this room meh? Which ghost took the glasses case???" Her voice became louder as she was curious who would take that worthless item from me and even angry on my behalf.

Suddenly my eyes saw something, just on top of the side table, a black underwear - which apparently belonged to Mom - beneath my glasses case.

Where the mysterious glasses case had gone ^^"

"Yes, I found the ghost. The ghost is spraying perfume right in front of me now," and I bursted of laughing out loud. Yes, very loud laughter in such early morning.

She turned her back again and she too laughed out loud when seeing what I pointed to her. We both laughed like crazy and let our dad wondered from inside the toilet, what's going on with this mother and daughter... ^^"

Travelling with parents tale - Eat and food

Malaysia food (Pic source: Google.com)

Just like Singapore, Malaysia a multicultural country. Majority ethnic group here was Malay (59%), followed by Chinese (32%), and Indian (9%). Their national language was Malay language, but English was widely spoken. So when coming to Malaysia, you'd expect many different food available across every corner of the street.

My parents though, especially Mom, had a choosy tongue when it came to food. Despite having traveled to various countries around the world, Chinese food was still their number one preference followed by Indonesian and lastly Western food. Indian food was no no for Mom. She felt that certain taste of the curry was too strong.The most she could take was Roti Prata as she tasted it before in Singapore.   Therefore, I found it such a waste to have famous Indian restaurant located just next to our hotel, but they both didn't fancy the food.

On our previous visit, we stayed for a week at the same hotel. We had eaten at the same coffee shops nearby, over and over again; mainly choosing the local Chinese food. So after some time we were pretty bored with it. We could imagine the taste of it even inside our dream.

One evening, dad was attracted by the mutton soup smell from the next door Indian restaurant. He loved mutton soup very much, but in Indonesians style. Apparently Indian style used different types of spices. But he was still willing to try. But we ordered at the wrong place. We should have ordered it directly from the waiter who keyed in our order in a small palm device. Instead, we went to the display counter where they sold white and Briyani rice with various cooked chicken, beef, and mutton dishes with vegetables.

As I had endured days without tasting Indian food, I was very happy that finally I could order my favourite Briyani rice with fried chicken, plus cucumber onion pickles mixed with yoghurt. For dad, he ordered white rice with chicken curry and the same pickles. And mom? She was having no mood to eat Indian food. At first she refused to order. But after trying my fried chicken, she walked to the counter herself and ordered a plate of white rice with fried chicken. That's it.

Gained weight (Photo source: Google.com)

She was the reason why I gained so much weight from my last visit too. Everytime she did not like the food or could not finish her portion, Dad and I had to finish it as we both tried our best not to waste food. For her, she didn't care much.

Many times Dad and I had to exchange look over the food she could not finish. Especially those she ordered unnecessarily. E.g. Dad suggested her to share a portion with him. She would say she did not want to eat this but something else. At the end her food portion was big and she did not like it. She would just eat few bites and leave the rest untouched. Or morning time she ordered something. She would say she could not eat much early in the morning. But she did not make any effort to ask the seller to give less portion either. Haizzz...... 

This time we visited Malaysia again and stayed at the very same hotel. We reached the hotel quite late from the airport. We were all famished. As we walked towards the hotel's entrance door, many people had already seated outdoor. On their tables, many plates of satay (meat skewers) were seen. The fragrant smell of the satay being fanned on top of the charcoal had attracted Mom to immediately visit the restaurant once we checked in our room and put our luggage.

Delicious Indian food :D

Dad ordered 1 bowl of mutton bone soup (Sup Tulang) and 1 bowl of normal mutton soup. Mom ordered 10 pieces of Beef Satay. And me, I ordered my favourite Briyani rice with chicken curry, cucumber onion pickles with yoghurt, and fried bitter gourd.

My favourite dish ;)

I started eating first as my food was readily available. Their food came later as the satay needed to be grilled. Maybe Mom was too hungry. She said she wanted to try my chicken curry. Not only that. She also tasted both veg that I chose on my plate. Quite surprising for me. She said, "It's nice. This curry, I can eat. Sometimes other curry, I can't take it. Too strong." She smirked, as usual, her pattern in giving excuses, and continued, "Tomorrow morning we can eat here again. We can eat Prata." 

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Laugh because finally she could accept how delicious Indian food could be and cry because she should find out about it earlier so that we could have eaten it more often before. I still remembered vividly her desperation when she rejected to eat anything that night.

The quote (Pic source: Google.com)

So I replied her, "When people is hungry, I think everything will taste good." She was just smiling wide. Even this evening when I asked what should we have for dinner, she suggested the next door Indian restaurant almost immediately ^^"

Travelling with parents tales - Sleeping together

Me traveling with parents :D (Photo source: Google.com)

In our families I was the fifth and the youngest among my siblings. All of us were staying separately in many different countries, except my brother and I. My eldest sister stayed in Indonesia, same city with where my parents lived. However, I was the one who travelled the most - all over the world - together with my parents. If we joined the tour, we would usually stay at the same room (1 king or double bed for both of them with 1 single or extra bed for me). In certain countries I couldn't help but to endure the uncomfortable folded extra bed :"D

So sometimes I felt that I was very lucky to have good karma and fate to spend so much time with them although we stayed at different country and even at this age where I myself already had one teenager boy. Or maybe that's also the reason why I often felt as if I was still that single and young little girl who stayed under the wings of my parents (a.k.a no freedom), lol.... :D No matter what, I felt very grateful for all the chances and opportunities given by my parents to see the world around us :) Since 10 years ago we had travelled at least once a year together. Weren't I the fortunate one?

As I wrote this, I could also share with my siblings what they could not experience with my parents in their lives :) For this post, I just felt I wanted to share about our recent trips in Malaysia, where we spent at least a week under the same room and number of days at the country. 

Wake up!!! (Photo source: Google.com)

My alarm clock

First of all, as we had to stay together in harmony, we had to recognise and accept the different life styles that we all had. So, they both were early risers. At home they usually got up at 5 to 6 am everyday, while me, I slept quite late and got up late too. So I definitely did not need to turn my alarm on. They were my alarm clock. Especially my dad. He had a hobby and habit of watching TV with a loud sound and turned it on once he got up ^^" Anytime too. As long he's inside the room. 

Watching TV habit (Photo source: Google.com)

Watching TV

I had to give in for this. Personally I loved to be alone and stay inside quiet environment. A little music was fine. But I knew this was something he couldn't live without. Moreover while watching it, he often forced us to watch it together with him by commenting what he saw on TV. Even though I ignored him, he would still keep commenting as if we were interested. When it's too unbearable, sometimes I really had to put on my ear piece and looked at my phone so that it's clear that I wasn't interested on the TV show that he watched.

This reminded me of my childhood time when I was in primary 1. He forced me to sit down next to him watching the news while my four siblings were having chit chat time about their lives together with Mom inside the room. Oh I envied them so much listening to their laughter from living room. To end the misery, I had to feign sleepy so that he'd ask me to go to my room to sleep immediately. Lol!!! :P

Toilet (Photo source: Google.com)

Toilet usage

For toilet sharing, we were quite agreeable on this. Usually after breakfast, dad would do his big business. So he would have breakfast once the restaurant opened, finished fast, and hurriedly went back to room to use the toilet. 

And in evening once we reached hotel, dad and mom would take bath first (they were pretty fast in this) and I'd always be the last one because I used toilet for some time as I had to wash my underwear and clothes almost everyday :) (Mom usually brought more clothes so she didn't have to wash it often while I preferred bringing less items while travelling).

Sleeping time (Photo source: Google.com)

Sleeping time

At night they slept early and dad often not happy if I slept too late or used phone in the dark. So, like now, I had to wait until I heard him snoring, then I'd use my phone secretly and covered myself with blanket :P There was one time when dad woke up for toilet and he came near to my bed to check if I'd fallen asleep or not as he might see the phone's light reflection from under my blanket. Lol!! It scared me to death and I had to act as if I was sleeping to avoid unnecessary comments. Hahaha... :D

Curfew? (Photo source: Google.com)

Curfew

As we all grew up in a not-so-safe city, my parents had set up curfew at home. We could not return home so late. 10 pm would be the ideal although once in a while, 12 am midnight was still acceptable. But more than that or sleeping at other people's house was not acceptable at all. 

This fear had always remained whenever we went back home and parents were around, even when I was on holiday staying at the same room with them. Yes we knew, it's for our own good and safety. But as we grew up, we felt we were getting better in taking care of ourselves and when we saw our aunt had relaxed her curfew towards our much younger cousins, we felt the world was unfair. 

When my friend was only free after almost 10 pm to have supper with me, I had to inform them faster just minutes before I left the hotel so that there wouldn't be any room for rejection. At least they knew I was in a good hand (they met up with my friend before). But for returning back time, I still felt like Cinderella, whose shoes and carts would change after midnight. And the next morning when my dad asked me what time I came back, I told him the time slightly early than the real time I came. Hahaha... Naughty me :P

Well, there were more stories to tell but clock kept ticking away. So let me stop here and continue at the next post OK? And as I end this post, I'm still hiding in toilet as if it was just the usual short toilet break in between sleep. Lol... Hope you enjoy reading this and you may be reminded of your time spent sleeping with parents when you're young :) Adios! Good night!!! ^^

Fever

It's a common sickness that everyone could get at anytime. But I couldn't remember when was the last time I had one. Considered me lucky?

Fever boy (Pic source: Google.com)

Baobei, my dear son, got it the day before we flew back to Jakarta. At first I thought it wasn't serious. But his fever was showing a high temperature. And usually Panadol would be the first that came in mind to reduce the temperature down.

He spent most of his time sleeping so that he could get more rest and recover faster. I prepared porridge and fried egg by the time he woke up so that he could gain energy. However, the fever continued for the next few days until we had to give him antibiotics (without consulting a doctor in Jakarta), and cough syrup so that his cough could recover soon. And poor him, he had to stay in bed for the next 3 days in Jakarta and only be able to eat limited kind of food.

Dry cough came to me on my last day in Kuala Lumpur. I admitted that I didn't have enough rest during the last few days of my stay there. Additionally, the electricity in our hotel room was gone at 2am in the morning. It forced all of us (my parents and I) to get up and find out what's going on.

Trapped in a dark!!! (Pic source: Google.com)

It happened that there was no window access inside our room and it was very stuffy if we didn't open our room's door. I tried to get down by the lift but it wasn't working either. And I wasn't familiar with the emergency exit door. Some exit door was made not to be opened from the inside. To avoid being trapped situation, I decided to check the hotel's phone number from its website (luckily hotel's WiFi connection was working) and I called them using my mom's local prepaid number.

They said they tried to solve it within half an hour. So we waited. I stood up at the door and held it open using my body's weigh. My father was restless. Still with an eye patch on one of his eyes (after doing his cataract operation), he walked around the room's corridor slowly and quietly until it scared the hell one of the hotel's staffs who walked around trying to find out how to solve the problem. The staff even scolded him (as he was scared to death by his appearance) and advised him to stay inside the room until the problem was resolved.

He looked as cute as this ^^ (Pic source: Google.com)

Dad walked back to room and told mom that the staff thought he was a walking ghost. Mom started to laugh and I too, giggled quietly still at the door front.

We couldn't sleep with our door opened. It was not safe, especially Kuala Lumpur was famous for its high criminal rate. But we couldn't let the door closed either as it was stuffy and dark. My dad kept swearing with the condition and asked me to check with the reception if we could get a temporary room that had access to windows.

Luckily our room was located on the third floor. Still in my butterfly batik sleeping gown, I walked down through the staircases. Before that I saw people accessing that exit door. I asked them when this problem could be resolved. They said maybe 2 to 3 hours time as they could not resolve to repair the main circuit themselves. Oh my... I explained to them our situation and the stuff checked the possible available room for us. Luckily there was one not far from where we stayed and it had access to window facing the road outside.

We took our valuable stuffs with us and moved to that room. There was still no electricity inside but at least, the opened window allowed the light and fresh air. By that time it was already 4am in the morning. We had to wake up at 6am (so we only had barely 2 hours of sleep minus the toilet visit in between) to catch our morning flight.

So it was when my cough had started and it got worst as I reached Singapore. The weather was very hot. I took a bath once I reached home, took my lunch (a specially prepared fried rice by dear Baobei), and immediately went to sleep. I thought sleep could make me feeling better. I slept for 5 hours, then woke up for dinner. I slept again until the next morning. And I could feel it got worse instead.

What I felt (Pic source: Google.com)

After having breakfast (simple porridge with siumai dim sum), I felt unusual with my body. I felt cold (despite hiding inside the blanket with no fan being turned on). Dry cough attacked me too. Then I knew something wasn't right. Soon I felt my whole body was in pain. So, this was how fever felt like, I told myself.

I slept again. I was awoken by Baobei's knock and he could sense that I wasn't feeling well. I asked him to buy his lunch outside as I didn't have energy to prepare lunch for him, and at the same time, asking him to buy lemon, bread, and milk.

My sensible growing up boy :) (Pic source: Google.com)

Before going out, he told me that he'd cooked egg omelette with sausage since he thought I hadn't had my meal yet. Wow... I was impressed by his initiative!!! Because that was what I gave him when he caught fever. He was indeed my grown up teenager boy who knew how to give care and concern towards other people's feeling!!! Well done Baobei!!! Keep your mentality up in serving and helping others who needed it!!!

After a while, I took it and had medicine. I checked the temperature of my body, it was 37.8 degree Celsius. I took one tablet of paracetamol and when I woke up, I was drenched with sweat. The medicine managed to force the heat out of my body. But it didn't last long. It came again and this time I had to take two tablets.

My situation now (Pic source: Google.com)

And now I was awoken by the complete silent and darkness. I didn't turn on the air con and the fan. Hubby had to sleep with Baobei in his room. Suddenly I just wanted to write my fever experience here, as it didn't always come to me (thank Buddha for that!!!), and still shivering with cold below the blanket, I would end this writing soon and go back to my sleep again... Just hope that I could get well soon.....

Jealous!!!

Jealous??? (Pic source: Google.com)

Who said jealousy can only happen for young people? My dad too could still feel jealous, even when he's in his 70s.

We reached Penang just about the dinner time. The famous New Lane hawker centre was just in vicinity from where we stayed. We had various delicious local dishes and completed our meal with a glass of fresh ampula juice.

On our way back we passed by row of taxis that usually waiting outside the Sunway Hotel. Suddenly mom recognised a guy in his 60s who stood beside his taxi.

"This guy is... hmm... what's his name...," she was thinking hard, "Richard right?" talking to me and pointed at the guy. Upon hearing his own name, the guy nodded his head and smiling.

"We often used his taxi last time," she told me. "Do you still remember me?" mom asked him.

"Yeah, fifty four," he said.

My mom then arranged taxi with him for the next morning.

"Hey, tomorrow what time? 7.30 ya?" shouted Mom to my dad who kept walking in front. He stopped for a while, looking back and roughly answered, "As you like," and continued walking.

When we caught his steps, he told Mom sourly, "Fifty four. He knew where we stayed." It referred to the number of house where we stayed. I didn't even hear the guy saying it but he noticed. Then he whispered to me, "Like meeting old flame."

"What??" Mom asked. "Nothing. What tree is that?" He pointed at the tree near us and immediately changed the topic of the conversation to avoid trouble. Haha....

Jealous cos she is beautiful (Pic source: Google.com)

The next morning the guy already waited outside the house even when we went down five minutes earlier. Dad sat in front. The guy tried introducing many places we passed by but he acted cool and not replied much.

That evening when we passed by the Sunway Hotel again, he passed remarks, "See, there are so many taxis here. Why must we make appointment with him?" Hahaha... 

When I told Mom about it, she was laughing happily instead of getting angry. So it applied to any women that they would feel happy when their men got jealous with other guys, even when the men was old enough :D