.....times of refreshing.....

Since it was the school holidays, I fulfilled my promise to my kid to bring him and his sis to JB's two biggest kiddy friendly theme parks (again), Legoland and Little Big Club on last Friday and Saturday. Well, glad to see his happy and delighted face while leaving for the theme parks. I can't blame him cos he had a tough schooling and tuition period. Well, nowadays, the kids were really poor thing, unlike my time, where study or no study during primary school doesn't really matter....hahaha... It  was quite tiring, as my wifey and I spent almost two full days walking around at the theme park. These were really lots of exercise for us!

 

Had a rendang nasi lemak first before leaving.... this lunch packs lots of energy and cholesterol and uric acid....etc.. :P

Reach Little Big Club in Nusajaya and pose with Chicken barn  at Lat's gallery

One of the rides at Little Big Club ..my little princess's favourite! As for me, I am lucky I  don't need Panadol to counter the 'dizziness'

Reminds me of my childhood....

Watched Barney and friends live....

Playing pingu sliding game

 It was a crowded Legoland the next day compare to the Little Big Club where there were almost no queues for all the rides. We even repeat our rides at Little Big Club but it was a different story at Legoland. There were lots of tourists of different nationalities and it was long queue everywhere. I still prefers going on a normal weekend unlike the school holidays.

His favourite ride!

Miniland ..... up and below

The just 'completed' Menara Maybank...

Posing with a Lego-man...

With an annual pass, my kid will be going again with his mom while I at work next week. And, I guess he can enjoy more rides with lesser folks as Singapore is not on school holidays yet. :)

Once a while, I do enjoy short trips to smaller towns to unwind and getaway from the bustling city. I find the quietness and simple lifestyles of small places helps me to stay calm and relax. Last year, I visited Sg. Lembing town and the quietness of that place really melts away all the stress in me. I drove to nearby Kluang yesterday and though it's not a small place, it's still nice to getaway from the usual routines. However, Kluang was quite jammed during the weekends, probably due to city folks who went back.

After going around, I decided to stop by for coffee at Railway Coffee station. However, my sis in law's friend recommended Kluang Coffee to us, as she said this one was much better than Railway. Ok, we decided to give it a try.

Nice, nostalgic feeling...

The back of the shop...

Mee Rebus

Kopi kao

The gravy of the mee rebus was thick and it's a bit different to have indian 'papadum' added to it, all served in a bowl. The kopi was good, I think they use the famous local 'tv' brand.

My kid enjoying his milo

 Then, we moved on to Zenxin Organic Park, which was nearby the Air Hitam toll interchange and located besides the trunk road to Kluang. It was quite late and most of the activities at the park was closed. Thus, we only walked around and did some shopping. The park was quiet with only a couple of folks having their early dinner there but again, I love the serenity there, surrounded by green vegetation, chirping birds and pond of fishes. It was blissful!

My kids enjoying feeding the koi at the park

I drove to Johor Premium Outlet after that for a short walk and dinner at Kulai town.

Well known Han Jia Bak Kut Teh in ECP

My colleagues felt like having BKT on a rainy day and thought the famous BKT at the east coast park (ECP) food court was a good idea. After all, it's early when we reached there and there was not much of a crowd, unlike the peak hours where you have to queue for quite a while. This stall is famous for its BKT of course, well as braised pork knuckles.

Braised pork knuckles

braised egg and fried tofu

'mei chai'

Boiled peanuts

BKT

I had BKT since I don't really like pork knuckles. The BKT was great, I guess of the better ones around Singapore. The soup was really good and it was more delicious on a rainy, windy day.:)

Nice peaceful scenery at ECP food court

Woke up early on Saturday to attend my kid's school open house, where we will be meeting his form teacher to discuss about his performance at school. This was actually my first time stepping inside his school as my wife used to bring him in when he was in standard one. After that, parents and outsiders were not allowed to go in.There were lots of stuffs to sell on that day in the school hall and my kids were having fun checking out books and stationery there. I was surprise to see his teacher who was quite young, gentle and pretty as most of the teachers I saw in his school were either aunties or uncles...hahaha. Well, I guess I am a lucky father cos both my kids' teachers were gorgeous, including my little princess' kindergarten teacher. :) Too bad there was nothing much to report about my kid, well, he's ok and well behaved though he's kinda quiet in class and not active enough in class activities. Thus, it was just a short meeting...sigh....cannot see the teacher longer! *sob*

After the open house, we went for lunch at Niniq Bistro in Taman Pelangi. It's been a while since I dined there and it's great to be back. Anyway, I didn't go for their well known Indonesian cuisines this time but instead opted for a beef braised noodles.

Taiwanese beef noodles - The soup was slightly spicy but I love the beef...it was soft and delicious, especially when dipped into the chilli.

chilly for the beef noodles

My wife ordered a mushroom soup with toast and pasta to share with my my kids.These seems enough for them as they can't even finished it as the portion was really big, though it don't look a lot in the pixs! I got a cup of flat white later to wind down after the lunch.

Mushroom soup with garlic toast

Chicken bolognaise pasta

After that,  I can't wait to go home for a shower and a nap as I was too sleepy waiting up early. I will be celebrating mother's day for my sis in law and wifey later in the evening, thus a nap might keep me alive in the evening.

Since most of  the folks in Singapore went back home to vote over the weekend, I thought it's better I leave JB for Singapore earlier last Sunday than usual in order to avoid the jam. After all, I heard that there were really lots of folks went back to vote and the situation was almost like CNY. I definitely hate to queue with lots of people at the CIQ, where you can't even find the queue line. The line was like a 'W' where it started at the right top of the alphabet, not to mentioned the jam at the causeway and another long queue at Singapore's end. However, to my surprise, and really surprise.... there was hardly a crowd at 7pm in both the CIQ. It was a smooth journey! Well, I guess most of the folks took a day off or more.

I usually had a simple dinner on a Sunday night with my family and in-laws before I go back to Singapore for another working week. This time round, we stopped by Pekin restaurant at Taman Tebrau. We just order something light, simple but delicious and of course, a nice pot of chinese tea. I love having a good dinner before going back.

Ostrich meat fried with ginger ... the meat was really tender

Pekin's famous spinach tofu...one of my favourite

Vegetables....can't remember the name...hahha

fried ''mantou' (bun)...my kids simply love it!

'Four heavenly king' - a mixed of four types of vegetables... my wife's favourite

Fried chicken ..... a must have whenever I came here. The chicken skin was so crispy and the meat was so nice when dipped onto the yellow coarse salt.

After a full stomach with cups of refreshing pu'er tea, I began my journey back to SG for another challenging week! Have a good week, folks! Looking forward to Friday again!