After an eventful day 1, we continued our awesome adventure in bolehland's Johor Bahru and our journey lead us to JPO which is a shopping paradise for branded goods!
Before heading to the shopping paradise, we decided to fill our tummies with some food before embarking to our destination. Having experienced the large crowds at KSL hotel, we made the right decision not to have their hotel breakfast to avoid jostling with the crowd. Instead, we went for a simple plate of wanton noodles just across our hotel.
The plate was full of vegetables and Chashu. It cost a very affordable RM5/$1.70SGD. Taste wise, it is not remarkable but rather flavourful with liberal seasoning of dark soy sauce. The kopi is also rather sweet compared to our local flavours and it is recommended to order it siew dai(less sugar). The aromas of the coffee beans had some chocolatey taste which was enjoyable.
To go to JPO, we had to go to JB Sentral to take JPO1. We choose to take a bus from KSL city to JB Sentral which cost RM1.50/$0.50SGD per pax. Attached is the bus schedule to aid in your planning should you decide to take the bus. The place to board will be at the exit of KSL city right beside coffee bean. Alternatively, you can grab a taxi to take you to JPO from KSL city which is likely to cost you upwards of RM80.
The bus journey to JB Sentral is pretty quick and takes around 10-15mins depending on traffic condition. Do note that the JPO1 bus may not park at the designated bay and you will need to be observant to find it. There are 6 time slots for the bus and it is recommended to arrive 20min early. Each ticket cost RM4.50/$1.50 per pax and traveling time is around 50-60minutes.
JPO is an outdoor shopping mall so temperature can be high. The shops are all air conditioned though. They have brands ranging from body shop, Levis, Braun Buffet to higher end brands like Gucci and Burberry. Good buys can be found in Dockers where there are 1 for 1 sale items. The male shoes from the luxury brands are off season and have been marked down by 1/3 their original pricing and retailing about SGD 200-300.
Food options are limited to the food court and there are a few restaurants in the area. We made our choice to have Japanese again and dine at Kampachi which is one of the best Japanese restaurants in Malaysia. The ambience is quite good and the food fantastic. Service is comparable to 5 star hotels,
We completed our shopping at around 230pm and headed to the bus bay to board our return trip to JB Sentral at 3pm. The journey back was quicker and only took 30-40minutes. Do arrive early and look out for the bus as they dont necessary stop at the bus bays and will not stay around to wait for people.
The cafe at Little India area is our next destination and we went to Maco Vintage for our afternoon tea. The mille crepe cakes are awesome and a definite must try!
We proceeded to our dinner place after our tummies started growling. Our choice was the fiery hot Paik's pan. The food is quite spicy and it was very enjoyable to drink their flavoured rice wine(makgeolli) with the dishes.
We settled for a restful evening after dinner and once again bought some Auntie Anne's and the coconut we had for day 1 because they were so good!
DAY 3
We check out early in the morning and headed to Kam Long Curry Fish head at Jalan Wong Ah fook. There was already a long queue forming when we arrived at around 1045am. The expected waiting time is around 45min - 1hour and we gave up waiting due to the hot weather. Our back up plan was to head to The replacement Kitchen, which was again in the Little India cafe area. As it was the long weekends, the area was quite packed but we managed to have a table in 15mins. The food is quite good and the cafe very pretty. Service and waiting time for food on the other hand could be better.
As it was our last day, we explored the area a little bit and bought thai milk tea from Chaiwalla & Co which is a shop fashioned out from an old shipping container. We were able to choose the level of sweetness similar like Koi in Singapore and we went with half which was already quite sweet. Nevertheless, the milk tea was really good to quench our thirst from the scorching sun.
We end outr trip in Johor with capturing some of the murals and left on the Sunday to escape from the crowds. Clearing customs and arriving in Singapore was again a painless process and took around 15-20minutes which is the way a holiday should be instead of waiting in line to clear immigration.
Day 2 Itinerary
KSL Hotel -Johor Premium outlets(JPO)/Kempachi
JPO - Jalan Trus/Maco Vintage
Maco Vintage - KSL Hotel/City Paik's Pan
Day 3
KSL Hotel - Jalan Trus(The replacement Kitchen)
Home sweet Home
Check out Day 1 here
For more great reviews, be our Facebook friend or follow us on Instagram and Twitter!!!
