Showing posts with label day trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day trip. Show all posts

Saturday, August 1, 2026

[Travel] Across the Causeway - Saturday Day Trip 2026 Version @ Johor Bahru, Malaysia

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Breakfast 1 (10:04 am)

皇家咖啡店 WONG GA KOPITIAM




This coffee shop has a drinks stall (obviously), an economic rice stall, duck rice/noodles and a beef noodles stall.

Spacious place and there was a table available. One can place order at the various food stalls and the staff will bring it over when it is ready. Pay when served. 

For drinks, you can order via the order chit placed on the table (which we didn't notice) or via the staff, or at the drinks counter. Cashless payment is available. Recommend to order and to pay direct at the counter.

assorted braised - tofu, duck gizzard, pig skin and ear

braised duck (portion for 3 pax)

kway teow kia (dry)


Our breakfast was mainly from the duck stall. Paid RM60 for the duck, assorted braised and a bowl of kway teow kia. Food was good.

mixed beef soup (RM15 - large)


For the beef soup, it was different from what I imagined it would be. Suggest to order it with noodles instead of without as the soup tasted better with the noodles.

cham (tea and coffee mixed)


I liked the cham here but probably better to go for the less sweet version. 



Address: 141&142, Jalan Lumba Kuda, Bukit Chagar, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia

Business Hours: Daily, 6 am–8 pm




Breakfast 2 (11:07 am)

13 Units Hong Kong Cafe - Danga Utama


shop front



Do you think we'd be here to eat say, just a bolo bun? Never. Haha! Let's see what we ended up with.

bakes on display

merch corner



Staff was friendly and we got our table almost immediately. However, after placing our orders, we asked the staff if we could move as the place didn't get the fan coverage. He was rather nice about it and warned that the table nearby had strong air conditioning and if we were ok with that.

themed concept

menu

might order this if I hadn't had breakfast prior


The hardcopy menu looked like it had seen better days. Order via the QR code. Liked that for the drinks that we had selected, one could choose the less sweet option. 



HK chee cheong fun (plain)


The rice rolls were more sweet than savoury. Tasted like dessert. 

pistachio egg tart


cross section view


nornal egg tart


We were happy with the egg tarts. Crispy, flaky shell and good flavours from the pistachio and egg custard.


signature ice milk tea

ice-lemon tea


Hehe, that tiny piece of mahjong tile on the ice-lemon tea drink cover, can be plucked out and take home by the diners.

bolo bun with butter

nissin noodles with egg and luncheon meat

steamed milk custard



Total meal costs around RM95.


Address: 60G, Jln Pertama 1, Pusat Perdagangan Danga Utama, 81300 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia

Business Hours: Daily, 10 am–10 pm







Entertainment and Tea Break (3:00pm - 5:00pm)

Chun K Music Family Karaoke 纯K

The first KTV place that we went was inside a shopping mall but it was strictly for members' registration only but it was fully reserved. Hence, searched around and decided on Chun K as it accepts walk-in and was available. 

We took the RM99++ 2 hour package which included a jug of drinks (choose 1 from 3 selections), some fruits and snacks.

Song selection was alright, service staff was polite and helpful. However, one of the mic at times no sound or sudden burst of sound. Not sure if it is a technical issue or our voice needed better control. Hmmm.


Address: 37, Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, Taman Mount Austin, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia

Contact: +6072886648

Business Hours: Daily, 2 pm–3 am






Pre-Dinner Snacks (7:05pm)

B&B Bakery

This shop sells one of the larger sized shio-pan that I've encountered thus far. The Penang shio-pan size was similar to Singapore. 

dining space outside the shop

shop front


I bought a couple of flavours for breakfast but my bro at the fancy flavours while I tried the yam mochi and the normal shio-pan. One could also add selected fillings into the plain shio-pan inside the shop, to customize the bun. 

shio-pan with additional butter fillings





Address: 1, Jalan Kasa 7, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia

Business Hours: Daily, 9 am–8 pm



BBQ Dinner (7:40pm)

Tanba Japanese BBQ 炭马烧肉专门店(Twin Galaxy)

shop



One could opt for either hot-pot or BBQ in this same shop. That night, we observed more people having hotpot than BBQ.

We chose the RM198+ per pax Basic Course package for the BBQ.

BBQ package


wasabi and yakiniku sauce

I was wondering why Hence kept asking me if I need to get the sauces from the sauce counter. I didn't as I was using the sauce available on the table. Turned out, the sauces from sauce counter were already charged per head. 


charcoal ready


Was a tad skeptical on the tiny pieces of charcoal for the BBQ as it looked like it might not have enough fire. No worries there as the meat pieces served were pretty thinly sliced. 

tiny plates per serving order

beef karubi


fresh lettuce is a must 

kimchi is recommended


let's start cooking

munch on karaage while waiting

next round of orders

can request for staff to replace the grill once it got too much char on it

beef fried rice


Hmm, not too sure about the beef fried rice. Didn't like the rice texture here. 

matcha ice-cream


Cold tea, iced water and dessert are included in the package. For dessert, one could get the aiyu-jelly, matcha or vanilla ice-cream or the marshmallow. Hence and Tracy recommends the aiyu-jelly. 

The place was pretty packed during dinner time on a Saturday evening at 730pm. 



Address: Twin Galaxy, 01-03 #01-05 #01-06, Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir, Taman Abad, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia


Business Hours: 
Sun - Thu: 12–11 pm
Fri-Sat: 12 pm–12 am


This trip was made possible by Hence, Tracy and Ivan. Thank you for the company!

Thursday, October 31, 2024

[Travel Tasmania] Bruny Island - Half Day Exploration in Sniffing Out the Elusive local Whisky, Slurping Up Fresh Oysters, Enjoying Cheeses with Craft Beer and Honeylicious Treat

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We set off leisurely close to 9am to catch the ferry to Bruny Island. Lucky us as the wait for the ferry was relatively short. Hmm, there's a washroom near the smallish cafe at the ferry wait area but be quick as not to miss the queue! Hence got the e-ticket earlier and one just drives up to the queue. Need to show the e-ticket at the gantry. The ferry to Bruny Island was smaller than the one to Queenscliff.

Shermaine looking on with curiosity

peace at sea

Frankly speaking, I didn't do any research on Bruny Island on the places to visit except to view Chonnyday YT video on what they did there. Hehe.

So I went with the flow and first stop once we reached there, was Bruny Island House of Whisky. Can't imagine we start drinking this early in the morning, but here we were. At 10am. Haha.


Bruny Island House of Whisky


let's visit!


cosy classy environment

drinks of choice

feel free to look around

wine is available too

which tasting menu to choose?

We wandered freely on-premise and staff was friendly but not intrusive. Ask your questions and he will share with you freely. As we were the only visitors that early in the morning, he greeted us with a smile and offered us adequate time to decide on what we would like to do at the shop.

Eventually, we decided on the AUD55 tasting set for 3 selected whisky.

3 selection - White Label Sherry, Spellbound Wauss Harbour Bourbon Cask, Overeem Bourbon


Staff was more than happy to share his knowledge if you're interested. Being a whisky noob, I asked him if there's any particular sequence in enjoying the whisky flight. He shared his thoughts and seemed like it is pretty much up to individual preferences.

I learnt alot from the staff that day. He shared snippets on the 4 of the oldest distilleries in Tasmania, the whisky that they produced. He even voluntarily brought out bottles stored high up on the shelves for me to take a look.  

Well known distilleries in Tasmania includes Hellyer's Road, Lark, Sullivan's Cove, Overeem, Old Kempton. 

March 2021 release edition - sold out

raw, unfinished product before becoming whisky

there's some interesting stories here



Loved the time spent at this first spot and hearing all the stories from the staff there. Very interesting and educational. Thank you! 

We left for the next destination once the next group of visitors arrived.



Bruny Island House of Whisky

Address: 360 Lennon Rd, North Bruny TAS 7150, Australia

Websitehttp://www.tasmanianhouseofwhisky.com.au/

Business Hours:

Daily 10 am–5 pm








Get Shucked



It wasn't a good idea to drink on fairly empty tummies, so off we went to the next spot to fill up our tummies. It was pretty nearby so we reached within minutes.

strolling in


the question was not on which to get, but how many



Yes, one of the must do at Bruny Island? Eating oysters. The place was comfortably spacious as it was less busy that day. We went up to the counter, placed our orders and brought back drinks or prepacked stuffs to our table while staff prepped the oysters.

We only got a dozen natural, and half a dozen Kilpatrick. Am going to enjoy mine with a glass of Chardonnay. 

Natural Oysters (12) @AUD29


Devil's Corner Chardonnay @AUD10


The fresh oysters were plump, not too briny and tasted good. Plus, I was hungry. 

closer view



The Kilpatrick version needed quite some time before it arrives. An additional 15-20 minutes if not wrong. There's a sign to inform visitors on their menu pertaining to the longer time required for cooked food. So not an issue. Meanwhile, we placed additional order for fries to try try.

view from our table

Oyster Kilpatrick @AUD19


Oyster Kilpatrick has bacon and worchestershire sauce. Served piping hot, so be careful! While it was tasty, the oysters had shriveled up from the baking. Give me more of the natural ones! No, we didn't get more as we will be visiting the cheese and breadshop after strolling around.


have a  bite


Tracy went all ninja and bought a tub of chili lime salmon pate. Foie gras pate, liver pate, pork pate and for the first time, having salmon pate.



scoop it and try it


What were we going to eat the salmon pate with? Aint got no bread with us. Then, aha! Just use the fries to scoop it up. It was good. Super good!

The chips were in the form of shoestring fries style and tasted good on its own. Salted of course and served hot. It was an elevated experience to have the chips with salmon pate. Yummy!

Chips @AUD8



Get Shucked


Address: Lease 204, 1735 Bruny Island Main Road, Great Bay, North Bruny TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:

Daily: 9:30 am–4:30 pm








Bruny Island Cheese Company


Ok, it was now closer to lunch time. Wait, what... after all the whisky, oysters and it was only noon? Keke, we're fast!

car parked and in the mood for some cheese, beer and bread


The place has dining tables on-premise and visitors could see which table or section they would like to be seated, go inside the cheese shop to place order and there's a bar counter to order up some beer or ginger ale. Adjacent to this area, was the cottage/area where they make the cheeses.






One could get small taste of the cheeses first, order ala-carte or order to dine-in, or do all of the above!

Beer Paddle (bottom to top) - Farm Ale, Cloudy Bay Pale Ale, Oxymoron, Whey Stout


The Farm Ale, Cloudy Bay Pale Ale were both refreshing and thirst quenching. Oxymoron was interesting but after some months had passed, I can't really remember how it tasted. But somehow I ended up with the entire glass of whey stout since Ivan preferred the more refreshing ones. Strong flavours yet with hint of sweetness.

cheese, bread platter with added wallaby meat


The cheeses served for the platter, if I still remember correctly were C2, George and O.D.O. Loved the bread though the crumbs would be everywhere. For cheeses, all were nice. O.D.O (One Day Old) was soft and pliant to spread on the bread. Topped it with wallaby meat which, hmm does sound exotic. No funky taste and just lean meat. 

wallaby meat



I love C2 as it had a stronger taste initially but after a while, both George and C2 tasted pretty similar.

O.D.O and pickles

George


C2


One question though, do you or do you not eat the cheese rind?


The relishes were interesting as well. There's one that tasted like pickles that one usually eat with porridge. One that tasted a tad like curry. Very interesting to jazz up the experience.


Bruny Island Cheese Company


Address: 1807 Bruny Island Main Rd, Great Bay TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:
Daily: 10 am–4 pm








Let's go walk walk and do some sightseeing after this.





Bruny Island Lighthouse

zoom-in view


wild chooks


Going to the public washroom at the place near the lighthouse was an adventure on its own. The toilet was connected to a seemingly endless hole into the ground. Going back into the nature.




Bruny Island Honey






Didn't have much time as we have a ferry to catch to go back to Hobart. So, grabbed a small tub of ice-cream to try. It was lovely. The shop has a house-dog and he came to sit beside us.

leatherwood honey ice-cream @AUD6

peekaboo


All in all, it was a fruitful trip enjoyed with beautiful people. Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for being in this journey!


Bruny Island Honey


Address: 2184 Bruny Island Main Rd, Great Bay TAS 7150, Australia
Business Hours:
Daily: 9 am–4:30 pm





 
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