Me + You, Imma tell you one time~

Managed to squeeze some time again for our second getaway trip during this school semester! (Is it Year 4 always YOLO?) Once again, it was a 4D3N trip and here’s our itinerary:

1. KSL

We stayed at KSL hotel. One cool thing about the hotel is that they don’t ask for a deposit when you check in. Moreover, their swimming pool has this dinosaur-themed water park, free entry for hotel guests. It seemed that they had upgraded the water park to include a slide. I remembered that the previous time I went in to the water park it was really really fun with dinosaurs pouring water over you and stuff, so I would expect the water park to be even more fun with the upgrades.

Key thing to note is that each room can only have wifi access for 3 devices :(, and the connection is quite slow.

Since this location is dominantly a Chinese population, there’s not a wide variety of halal food even in the mall itself. I would say it’s about half-half distribution.

What I think is worth buying/doing @ KSL: 

• Basic tank tops from S$1.75-S$4!
• Sports-related stuff like soccer shoes for as low as S$35
• Watch movies @ S$4 on weekends yess
• The Thai food at basement level!
• Pokemon plushies
• Seaweed (Yes, really)
• Eat all the halal food there that you can’t eat in SG of course (like Subway & Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks!). On another note, their Pizza Hut fries are amazing.

I saw a lot of Pokemon plushies in KSL, and even a shop selling Pokemon-themed drinks and cookies poured over with liquid nitrogen so smoke comes out. The trend is real guys.

The seaweed experience : There was this stall that sold freshly baked seaweed! It was a Korean couple and there’s this huge machine that looks like the  bread toaster you see at hotels. So they just slot in the dried seaweed, and baked it with sesame oil and salt. But if you know me really well, I’m easily persuaded with marketing gimmicks. There was this pull up banner of Korean words (that I obviously can’t read) and below it was… A gorgeous photo of Song Joong Ki holding seaweed. I AM SOLD.

Ended up buying 16 packets of it for 50rm.

Address:  33, Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:  10am-10pm daily

Website: http://www.kslcity.com.my/ 

Getting There: From Malaysia’s customs, head towards the bus terminal (which is opposite the exit towards JB City Square/Komtar JBCC). There are 2 bus companies at the end of the berths – Maju and Causeway Link (CWL). Both are 1.50RM per person. Make sure you get the bus ticket after paying, cause if you don’t it means that the driver would have most likely ‘makan duit’ (ie took your payment for their own spending/or gas maybe? for their benefit of doubt).

CWL usually will leave according to their timing, while Maju will usually leave the interchange only when the bus is full. And their bus stops sometimes have no specific areas, so be careful not to miss your stop (but KSL’s stop is obvious no worries).

2. Holiday Plaza

Holiday Plaza existed even before KSL was built, so it looks like an old shopping complex (imagine Chinatown’s people’s complex). I love the fact that their MacDonald’s still have the old-school rotating chairs that we used to have back in the early 2000s.

Visit this place if you want to go for hair cuts and buy wholesale-priced hair products, do your nails and a massage, or buy mobile phone accessories!

Address: Holiday Plaza, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:  10am-10pm daily

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holiday-Plaza/503953293006966

Getting there: Same bus above, only one stop before KSL.

3.Legoland

Legoland was really fun if you’re a kid like me. Don’t expect extremely scary roller coaster rides, but their rides are still thrilling in a fun and subtle way. If you’re all about cutesy and Lego and cartoon characters, definitely visit this place! There’s a Star Wars exhibition which was all made up of Lego blocks with lighting effects! And if u ever wanted to try a not-so-high version of Namsan Tower, you can try one at Legoland. Of course, not forgetting the wet rides and roller coasters!

 

We also went to watch a puppet show of Ninja Go, which can be boring for some, but it’s a legit cool production with each Ninja-lego character being controlled by 3 puppeteers. Looks like a lot of hard work in coordinating, to make it look like they are moving on its own.

And I managed to win a cute plushie at one of their game stalls! (You have to pay at these game stalls though.)

A view from the Legoland Tower:

https://youtu.be/22fiIMaJZNI

We also happened to visit Legoland when there was this cultural event happening, and they sold a lot of vintage stuff (the real definition of old school), and saw people making traditional art including batik, angklung and prints! They also wanted to bring back the culture of food trucks!

https://youtu.be/ZadVvg5PATY

Address:  7, Jalan Legoland, Medini, 79100 Nusajaya, Johor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:  10am-6pm daily

Website: http://www.legoland.com.my/

Price: Apparently, their pricing is inconsistent and will be expensive during school holidays. It was 185rm at that point of time. Recommend to buy from your hotel instead as their pricing is fixed. KSL: 165rm/pax. 

Getting There: From JB Central’s bus terminal again, same berth at the end. Only CWL goes to Legoland at 4.50rm per person. The trip takes about 40 minutes.

4. Angsana Johor Bahru Mall

Angsana is well-known among the Singaporean Muslim community, and is also one of the earlier malls built in JB. This place will always be crowded during the Hari Raya period as they sell loads of stuff related to the festivities. On normal days, you can still go shop for all these plus more! We bought a few pairs of jeans, pins and clips, eyeliner, and more. Quite a few restaurants here too. 

They also have a bowling alley, which looked super grand like some kind of Istana in Aladdin! Super pretty!

Address: No. 52, Jalan Tampoi, Johor, 81200 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Opening Hours:  10am -10.30pm daily

Website: http://www.udamall.my/properties/angsana-johor-bahru-mall

Getting There: We took a taxi from KSL to Angsana, which cost about 15rm, and it’s located a bit further than the city centre, so about a 20 minutes ride.

5. Johor Bahru City Square/ Komtar JBCC

I love going into Guardian whenever I’m in JB! Generally most of their stuff are a lot cheaper than purchasing it in SG. Spent over 100rm at Guardian alone on my mascara, matte lipstick(!!), face masks, contacts solution (you can get the small ones at around s$2 cheaper??) and more.

Since these two places are right at the causeway, it’s super convenient! This place isn’t my cup of tea for clothes, but still visit for the food, cinema (so many nice Malay shows @ S$4!), bags, makeup, shoes & accessories and the like! They also sold Pokemon sweets at Sticky!  Best buy honestly.

One restaurant that we always go to is Tony Ramos @ Komtar!! Their service is pleasant and their portions are huuge!! And delicious, especially if you like ribs like my mum. This place has quite a lot of reviews by others,  so to find out more go read theirs heh.

Address: Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Darul Ta’zim, 80000 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Opening Hours:  10am-10pm daily

Website: http://www.citysqjb.com/ + http://www.komtarjbcc.com.my/

Getting There: We took the train, which was hassle free cause both SG and MY’s custom is at the same place before your ride the train, although the train is extremely dirty and gross. Mini roaches roam freely everywhere, no idea how dirty the seats are with yellow curtains. Like, for real. Those reviews advertising the goodness of the train has conveniently left the dirty part out. But just handle it for 5 minutes across the causeway, then be grateful that you now have more time to shop. 

And if you bought the tickets online, they have this new rule that you have to exchange your printed coupon for the ticket at the counter. But the email had no indication of this and no one knew about it until we handed them the coupon itself, and got reprimanded by the officer,  along with everyone else who didn’t get the memo. Basically, the only news of this change was the moment you hand them the coupon itself. 

So, there you have it! Some of the places you can visit in JB for your reference 🙂