Salim Seafood Restaurant at Johor Bahru, Malaysia

A lot of Singaporeans go to JB to eat 'cheap seafood', I guess we're no different. But we're lucky enough to have locals to show us somewhere different to eat rather than Taman Sentosa (which is where most ppl go to eat seafood as it's closer to the border).

Salim Seafood Restaurant isn't easy to find, it's very remote, the road that leads to it has no street lights, so get there before the sun sets. The 'village' or Kampong is populated by Orang Asli or another words the aboriginals of Malaysia. I thought the Malays were the original people of Malaysia, didn't realise there were aboriginals there too....indeed they had very dark skin and had an uncanny resemblence to Australian Aboriginals. I'm not sure if they own the restaurant too, because it's a Chinese seafood restaurant. Perhaps they take care of the offshore fish/crab nets.

The food was nothing short of spectacular. It was so fresh and delicious and best of all, cheaper than Singapore. Definitely don't come here if you're looking for some clean posh Seafood restaurant, because walking along the planks to your table and realising the water is right underneath us as we can see through the gaps, it is a little scary. But the village style setting is something different and the sea breeze is nice.

Heres the address

Jalan Sungai Danga
81200‎ Johor Bahru‎ Johor
Malaysia

Singapore just opposite

Sea Snails cooked in Garlic (wasn't as good or as big as the Singapore ones). The Fried Chinese Buns were very very nice, soft and pull apart style.

Crab cooked in Salted Egg. The best dish ever. 

Claypot Curried Prawns

Chilli Crab. Not as good as Singapore Chilli Crab. 

Roadtrip to KL and Malacca

Since National Day 2010 gave us a long weekend, we decided to go on a roadtrip to KL with an overnight stop over at Malacca. I hadn't been to KL before (except passing thru on the way to Genting) so I was looking forward to it, Malacca not so much as I thought it was a little boring from last time. But it was a good 'rest stop' and it meant that we didn't have to wake up so early to drive to KL direct from Singapore.

In Malacca we opted to stay at the Holiday Inn this time. We got a Deluxe room overlooking the city. Check in staff was very friendly and parking for guests is also free. The room was very comfy, we have no complaints....except wished there was a bathtub. It's a great hotel to stay at and believe it or not we actually walked to Jonker Walk from there - 'cos the hotel staff told us it was near'. Hmmm.....well it wasn't near and it wasn't far, but coming back we daringly took a cab. Right opposite the hotel is the shopping area, so it's really very convenient.

In Jonker Walk we tried the famed Malacca Chicken Rice Balls......this was not to our liking....really don't see why anyone likes it....it has no taste and the rice was just....blah......So that was an unsatisfying dinner. Too bad cos had we walked down to the other end of Jonker, we would've found out there were other food options. But anyway....at least we did try and know what it's like.

cart selling sushi

Ice Cendol Cart

The drive from Malacca to KL took under 2 hours. Traffic was good and we would've reached there in less time if not for the heavy downpour that caused a tiny traffic jam on the city outskirts.

In KL we stayed at the Concorde Hotel. On the outside the hotel looks pretty run down, but we got a newly renovated room so it was all good. The KL monorail station was also just in front of the hotel so it was very convenient. Parking is also free for hotel guests. KL Hard Rock Cafe is also adjacent to the hotel. Although we enjoyed our stay at the hotel, next time I don't think we'd stay there again, will stay closer to the malls.

the view from our room

We went to all the malls in the city, Suria KLCC, The Pavilion, Berjaya Times Square, and Bukit Bintang walk. We thought the best one was Suria KLCC - loads of shops and loads of food choices. Or maybe toss up between this and The Pavilion cos lots of yummy food there too.

right outside the hotel

at Berjaya Times Square

outside The Pavilion mall

Style Cops

Oh and here's a tip: police were catching ppl who had been speeding along the freeway just before the Malaysian border. So if you speed, they WILL catch you on their cameras and stop your car before you leave! Seriously tho, the speed at which ppl were driving at were dangerously crazy! Not to mention the idiots who weave in and out of traffic almost crashing into all the cars. Ppl like this make me soo mad!

Desaru Beach Weekend Getaway (Malaysia)

While my Mum came to visit us, we decided last minute to take her to Desaru Beach in JB Malaysia for a weekend family getaway. Little did we realise that the place is so Ulu that our GPS didn't even have the exact route to our hotel. We only roughly guessed where we were going based on the bigger map of JB. We had no idea how remote this place was. It took us roughly about 2 hours to get there, but only an hour and a half to get back. The roads were pretty narrow and only one lane for each direction, got a bit scary at time when other cars were tailgating us.

We picked to stay at The Pulai Desaru Beach Resort based on pictures that showed a nice swimming pool and it being right on the beachfront. The place is so secluded and so peaceful. It almost felt like you were on another island. The hotel itself is pretty good, 4 star quality resort. We tripled shared with my Mum and requested one King Size bed and one Single bed. Both beds were really big. What's more, the room was huge! It was probably the size of my living room plus kitchen. The room had a small tv, a walk in wardrobe with a safe box, a sitting area, and a separate vanity area and bathroom area. In the bathroom there was a bath tub and a separate standing shower area. The resort does show a little wear and tear but I'm not one to be too bothered by it. The swimming pool was great. It had a slide and a mini waterfall. And just over the pool wwas the beach. A very clean beach at that. Tho not exactly the white sand type, it was nice all the same.

The hotel breakfast buffet isn't very nice tho. We've had better at other hotels. The one thing that really irked me was in the wee hours of the morning, someone came and rang our doorbell like 6 times between 4am-7am! We're not too sure, but think it has something to do with the ramaddan and them letting people know when it was time to eat or to pray since there wasn't any mosques around to call the prayer. But for light sleepers like me it was definitely annoying especially since I had no idea what was happening. I even thought someone was playing a trick on us or even the bell was faulty or maybe a ghostly visitor! (ok maybe the last one might be a little crazy thought from the interrupted sleep).

For dinner we ventured out to another town that was 'supposed' to be nearby called Sungai Rengit for cheap seafood. I had read on the web about this seafood restaurant famed for its lobsters called Jade Garden Seafood Restaurant. It was rather scary driving to this town because again the road was just one lane in each direction and practically nothing on our left and right except bushes. Not even street light posts. My research before we left paid off because I could tell Edmund roughly where the restaurant was near. After driving around the town for like 15 minutes we found the restaurant we were looking for. The restaurant was crowded with families and Singapore cars in the driveway. In front there were tanks filled to the brim with lobsters big and small. There are different prices for big and small lobsters. We ordered 3 lobsters cooked in special gravy, bamboo clams, squid in sambal, soft shell crab and fried noodles and 3 cans of coke. Guess how much our bill was? Only RM175!!

On the way back, we stopped by Holiday Plaza and had lunch at a Wong Kok Char cafe. It was a great weekend getaway.