Taking the bus from Permas Jaya to Bukit Indah

In short: Take the 123 Permas Jaya bus – running more or less every 20 minutes and costing RM2.60 to JB Sentral. The journey is about 20 minutes long.

At JB Sentral you cross the pedestrian bridge to go through the mall. You enter on the 3^rd floor, turn right, go down to the 2^nd floor and straight on to some eateries. Turn a little right and find the magazine shop. Go through and across the pedestrian bridge. As you get off the bridge, just walk straight on till the big sign that says Tmn Perling. In that area, search for the Bukit Indah bus. You travel past Sutera and then Perling which is just before Bukit Indah.

I found it quite challenging to travel by bus in Johor Bahru. The very first thing I learnt is that there is a bit of confusion – well for the likes of me there is. The only very clear thing is that any bus from any suburb goes to JB Sentral. So that part at least makes that one does not get lost so easy. JB Sentral is my other challenge. I am not very good with direction and after being at JB Sentral a couple of times, believe me, I still get lost in the mall. When you arrive with the Permas Jaya or 123 Bus, you get off and go across the pedestrian bridge to JB Sentral. If you are prone to lose your direction, you’ll end up facing security guards who check if you have a passport for going on to Singapore. Then you just turn around and try find your way backwards. Somewhere you walk across the road (on the pedestrian bridge) that seem to have all the teksis parking there.

Then you should get into the mall. The first good sign is the Nyonya food stall. Ok’lah, you cannot just walk past, the kuey is way too nice. It took me quite a few times of going to realize I come in on floor 3. From there you have to find some exit to another pedestrian bridge. My sign there is a magazine shop. I was told to go there and I will find the bus. Well, I could not believe it, but went there all the same. Then I discovered that one walks through this small magazine shop and then you’re on the pedestrian bridge that takes you to the other busses. If you are prone to lose your direction, you will battle for a number of times to find this illusive magazine shop. It’s like it just disappears into the walls and appears when it feels like it. This week I was searching for the Larkin bas – in the mall – asking a cellphone cover salesman – who teased me for not pronouncing Larkin correctly. He solved my magazine shop puzzle. It is actually on the 2^nd floor.

Once you are on the right side of the mall and actually where the Bukit Indah bus is meant to be, then there is another challenge to face. Where is the Bukit Indah bus? There are what feels like hundreds of busses coming and going.

There are huge boards saying the names of the suburbs, but do you think Bukit Indah is there? No’laaah. You ask someone, he sends you to the right. You walk all the way up till there are no more busses, then you ask someone else. He sends you to the left. You walk all the way to the left until there are no more busses, then you ask someone else. I once had this man stopping me and every time sending me into the wrong direction and actually getting irritated with me coming back his direction after 5 or 10 minutes of searching. I eventually got the right answer – almost at the end to the left if I stand with my back towards the pedestrian crossing with the magazine shop. You have to look for the bus that might or might not be there with many suburbs written on it, one of them being Bukit Indah. Once on the bus, all is ok. I get off at Jusco Bukit Indah as it is a huge landmark, not easily missed and the bus stops there and I can meet a friend there.

Coming back is no sweat. You catch any bus as they all go from there to JB Sentral. Once at JB Sentral I must just struggle through my directions and the mall to find the bus terminal where I get the 123 Permas Jaya bus.

Ke Ren Lai 客人来

There is this nice little restoran in Pelangi. It is called Ke Ren Lai or visitors are welcome. Here is some good info on the restoran and the Hakka traditional foods: http://www.eats.my/review.php?id=770&title=Tapu_Hakka_specialties

Would I go there again? Yes.
Where is it? 6, Jalan Pingai (Taman Sri Pelangi), Johor Bahru, Johor 80400

They sell very good ham cha. Ham cha or thunder tea rice is a  Hakka Chinese dish consisting of 7 different types of vegetables on a bed of rice. Alongside you get a bowl of green tea/ lui cha which is made of tea, peanuts and peppermint. You can eat the vegies separate to the tea/soup or mix them all together. Both ways are absolutely delicious. See these sites for more info: http://www.melakabest.com/2009/02/02/hakka-lui-cha-or-ham-cha/ , http://ppunlimited.blogspot.com/2011/05/hakka-ham-cha.html

They also serve Hakka Drunken Chicken. This is chicken cooked in rice wine. Here is one recipe I found: http://www.asianeasyrecipe.com/recipes/hakka/hakka-drunken-chicken.php This dish is often given to new mothers after the birth of their babies. It makes them sweat and helps them recover. Years later it seems this dish brings many happy memories.

I also ate a green vegetable, choy sum with oyster sauce. Here is a recipe: http://www.deliciousasianfood.com/2007/06/13/choy-sum-with-oyster-sauce/

Awal Muharram

Today is a public holiday. It is a national holiday and called Awal Muharram. Awal means beginning. Muharram is the name of the first month of the Muslim calender. This means that today is the first day of the first month for the Muslims or 1 Muharram 1433H.

http://www.mymalaysiabooks.com/calendar/2011Islamic_calendar.htm

Danga Bay in Johor Bahru

Some very goodlooking food at Danga Bay. Danga Bay has changed its looks. One can now choose your seafood from tanks which are displayed very beautifully outside. The presentation of the food is also excellent.

Hari Raya Hajj

Today is Hari Raya Hajj. This is a public holiday in Malaysia. Because it falls on a Sunday, tomorrow will also be a public holiday.

This is a celebration at the end of the annual pilgrimage or Haj to Mecca.  This happens on the tenth day of the last month of the Muslim calendar. Muslims will plan and save to do this pilgrimage at least once. It is considered one of the 5 pillars of Islam.

On this day many Muslims pray and listen to sermons, wear new clothes, visit family and friends and may symbolically or in reality sacrifice an animal. Part will be for the family and part will be for the poorer people. The sacrifice is in memory of the animal Abraham sacrificed in the place of his son. This festival is also called Pilgrimage Festival or Festival of Sacrifice.

According to Islam tradition, Abraham brought his Egyptian wife Hajra and Ishmael, his only son, from Canaan to Arabia. He left them there with food and water and returned to Canaan. When the supplies were finished, Hajra searched for water without success and then prayed to God who miraculously provided a spring of water, now called the Zamzam Well.

Years later God told Abraham to build a place of worship – now known as the Kaaba, next to the Zamzam Well.

When Ishmael was 13 years old, Abraham commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. He had prayed many years for this son. He was ready to sacrifice his son, but asked Ishmael what his opinion was. Ishmael was as committed to Allah as his father and was willing to sacrifice his own life. Just before the act of sacrifice, Allah provided Abraham with a ram to use for the sacrifice. They were told by Allah that they both had passed the test of willingness to carry out God’s command.

http://www.regit.com/malaysia/festival/harihaji.htm

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/muslim/eid-al-adha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/sip_694__2009-01-02.html

Kampung Glam Singapore

Getting to Singapore from JB can take quite long - anything between 2 to 3 hours. Luckily there are enough toilets on the way.
To get to Singapore by bus is a good idea as one does not have to worry about finding parking and then trying to find your car. Step one is to get to JB Sentral or City Square. From there you walk through the Malay customs. Once through you find the CW2 bus, pay RM2.50 and KEEP the ticket. The bus takes one across the causeway to the Singapore customs. There you present their white card, go through and catch the CW2 bus with the same ticket as earlier. Now it's off to Queenstreet.
Always go to Singapore with a map and you will most definitely not get lost. If you get a little lost, there is always someone asking you if they can help you when you start thinking you need help.
Near Queenstreet is the ITmall or Sim Lim. This is for the computer geeks. THEN near Queenstreet is Kampung Glam - a must go to place. There are the most interesting little shops all in an area where cars do not drive. This is behind the big beautiful mosque. Among these little shops is a Peranakan shop called Little Shophouse. They sell the most beautiful beaded Peranakan shoes. Very expensive, but one has to take into considereation that hundreds of tiny beads are sewn on one by one by hand and also it takes up to 100 hours to do the beading. Before this can happen a correct size design must be planned and then the design for one shoe must be mirror imaged as well. Then the shoe must still be assembled by a cobbler.
Close by are of course numerous restorans with the most delicious foods. If you find you need a bathroom - there is a shopping centre opposite the one Indian restoran where there are plenty clean toilets. This Indian restoran or Zam Zam sells freshly made murtabak for $5 - 8 depending on the size and very nice ice Milo.
To go back to JB, one just retraces one's steps. Go to the Queenstreet busterminal, pay $2.50 (figure is the same as in JB, the money type is not the same and the value neither!), take the CW3 bus to the Singapore customs, go through, take the bus again with the same ticket, go through Malay customs and you're back in JB Sentral. So easy. It can take 2 hours per direction or even 3 hours. Just don't be in a hurry or impatient.

The pleasure of being a great grandmother!

Michael is talking to his great grandmother. They both loved this special time.

The girls who watched the Russian ballet

They're all my family! Can you get more beautiful?!

Spunky & Nigel

I miss them.

Layered cake

We tried to make a layered cake and it came out ok-lah. We could not follow the Malay recipe and just used a plain cake recipe which we divided into little bowls and added different colourants. We then steamed the various layers and it was quite ok. With practice it can only get better. We are not near the Sarawak layered cakes.

S.A. Rose Farm

There is this beautiful rose farm in Pretoria. I have never seen so many roses before, nor realized how many different colours one can get.

The tea garden is just bliss. You can choose to sit in the more pinky area, or the more bluey area and have the most divine and soft and yummy chocolate cake. The coffee and tea come in pots, so the one cup you thought you ordered turns out to be 2 cups - even better!