Ipoh-Cherating Day 9-10: Sunway Hotel Big Box, Johor Bahru

DAY 9

We couldn't wait to check out of our less-than-pleasant accommodation early in the morning! We didn't even bother to have a proper breakfast before making our way to JB (though I managed to finish the fruits from Desaru Fruit Farm in the car).

Johor River Bridge

We arrived at Hai Kah Lang JB, which was famous for their fish / seafood noodles. Thumbs up from the foodie Lee Family! 🤭👍🏻

Managed to get a private room with a huge table!
(Address: 173, Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia)

The clams were so big and fresh!

The soup broth was so sweet and yummy! Love it!

After lunch, we headed to Johor Premium Outlet for shopping. There weren't a lot of sales this time hence we left earlier than expected. 

We drove to Sunway Hotel Big Box, our last hotel for this trip to check in.

Sunway Big Box Retail Park

View of Sunway Hotel Big Box from the carpark

We had booked 2 Deluxe Plus King rooms at $115 per room per night (inclusive of breakfast). It was a very comfortable stay for the price!

King-size bed

Simple but clean room

Personalised greeting

Amenities like fridge, proper luggage rack and wardrobe

Good size toilet

Shower and toiletries

As part of sustainability efforts, bottled water was not provided. Instead, you'd have to fill the metal bottles in your room at the water dispenser located next to the lifts.
Small inconvenience for a better tomorrow, I'd say! 😊

We headed out for shopping at NSK, the nearest supermarket, and had tea break at our favourite fried chicken fast food restaurant Marybrown!

Marybrown at Sunway Big Box

Enjoying our tea break (as it's too late for lunch but too early for dinner..)

After eating, we went swimming at our hotel's pool.

Decent size pool that the kids loved!

Smaller pool for little kids

You can see the hotel's restaurant serving dinner

Happy kids in the pool!

At around 8.30pm, the Hubby, Eldest and I headed to Eco Botanic for our massages that we had pre-booked with Meet Wellness (the 2 younger kids and Mum-in-law stayed in the room). The sister-in-law and I previously enjoyed our foot massages during last year's JB trip in December. This time, we booked the 60-minute aromatherapy massage to try something different.

Meet Wellness

Looking forward to our massages, held in the very nicely decorated upper floor.

My massage was very painful as my masseuse used a lot of force despite me telling her to ease up on her pressure 😮‍💨 The hubby experienced something similar while the Eldest was spared the pain (maybe they pitied her low pain threshold! 😅).

Drinks and snacks provided after our massages!

I'll probably stick to foot massages after this experience!

DAY 10 

We woke up after a good night's sleep and had breakfast at Pandas Cafe. There was a long queue at the restaurant and we waited for about 30 minutes before we got a table.

Pandas Cafe

Food was ordinary but to be expected as we didn't pay a lot.
We decided not to pay for breakfast in future.

As usual, we headed to the pool for our morning swim before we checked out!

Siblings enjoying the pool together

Love this shot! 😍

After checking out, we loaded the car and drove to Eco Botanic for lunch at Makanan Ramen Champion.

Makanan Ramen address:
67, Jalan Eko Botani 3/5, 79100 Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia

Ramen Champion

My yummy spicy ramen 🍜 🤤 

We did some final shopping at Jay's Grocer and returned to Singapore before the start of the traffic jam in the late afternoon. The queue was super short when we crossed customs so it was the right decision! 

It was another great road trip to Malaysia! Look forward to our next one! 😊

<< Back to Ipoh-Cherating Day 7-8: Desaru Homestay, Ostrich & Fruit Farms

~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on road trips in Malaysia 
as well as other travel itineraries! 

Do also check out my recommendations on kid-friendly activities in Malaysia!

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)

Ipoh-Cherating Day 7-8: Desaru Homestay, Ostrich & Fruit Farms

DAY 7 

It's our last breakfast at Club Med for this trip! How fast time flies!

After breakfast, the Hubby brought the kids to swim while I pack up in the room. After we haved checked out, we left our luggage at the concierge and hung out by the bar while waiting for lunch.

Last cup of babycino for this trip!

Complimentary 10-minute massages each

Our first and only group photo at Club Med!

Final lunch for this trip before bidding Club Med goodbye! 😢

Club Med's General Manager (aka Chief of Village) was very friendly and insisted on personally sending us off! Truly a clear demonstration of servant leadership! Very impressed! 💯 

The General Manager chatted with us and even helped us with loading our stuff into the car! Super impressed! 😄 

Everyone was sad to leave! 😢 But we had to set off for Desaru by 1pm to make it in time before sunset (driving in the dark is no joke).

Travelled via the East Coast Highway along the coast

We passed by Mersing and had intended to stop but decided to chiong (charge on) all the way without stopping (save for the 1 toilet-break).

Mersing

Travelling through many plantations, where the roads did not have lamps hence why we wanted to drive before it got dark.

After travelling for 5.5 hours, we finally arrived at our Desaru homestay at Marinae 2.

Entrance to Marinae 2

Our 2-storey house had 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms (4 bedrooms have ensuite toilets)! It was the most bathrooms in a house that we have rented so far! It was also very affordable, at just S$194 per night.

2-storey house with a DIY pool (though our kids never used it)

Large living and dining area;
There was a white professional karaoke stand but sadly it did not work!

Large kitchen with full size fridge and water dispenser

Unlike our Ipoh accommodation though, the amenities were old.
We had to use our own sponges and rubbish bags.

There were 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor next to the kitchen.

Left: 1 bedroom had a single bed with ensuite toilet (taken by the nephew);
Right: The other bedroom had 2 beds without ensuite toilet, though there was a common toilet right outside (shared by the Mum-in-law and Boy)

There were 3 bedrooms with ensuite toilets on the 2nd floor.

The bedroom shared by the Hubby and I was the worst in the house!

The worst bedroom had the worst toilet! The light was flickering, the shower head was broken, and most importantly, there was a huge cockroach (the length of a finger) in it! 🪳 Luckily this mother was able to successfully kill it with a broom! 😮‍💨 We kept the toilet door closed for the rest of our stay just in case...

Instead, we used the toilet in the bedroom beside ours, which was shared by our 2 girls.

The bro-in-law's family got the master bedroom, which was the biggest bedroom in the house. There were 4 beds and its toilet was the only one with a bathtub.

The other 2 bedrooms on the 2nd floor

The front porch was big enough to fit both our cars easily

Although our accommodation was affordable, in a good location and had adequate entertainment, we will not book it again! The house was not maintained at all. The amenities such as one toilet, the karaoke machine, washing machine were either broken or not in usable condition.

In fact, this experience has scarred us so much that the Hubby and I promised ourselves that this would be the LAST time we stayed in a short-term rental in Malaysia! 😖

We were famished and had dinner at Super Lobster, our favourite restaurant in Desaru.

Super Lobster Restaurant

Steamed fish and prawns

The highlight of the meal: fresh lobsters!

Food was so good!! There was much to still be thankful for, even if we were disappointed with the accommodation.

DAY 8

The electrical wiring tripped in the middle of the night resulting in no air-conditioning for some of the rooms (including mine of course). The Hubby had to activate the help of the host, which to their credit, did try their best to resolve the issues.

We drove out to the nearby S.D.S Cafe for breakfast. Food was good but the wait time was pretty long.

Breakfast at S.D.S Cafe

Yummy toast!

After breakfast, we headed to Desaru Ostrich Farm as we enjoyed our visit 9 years ago. We paid RM 25 per adult and RM 20 per child to enter.

Ostrich Farm

Feeding the ostriches up close and personal

Taking turns to feed 

My Boy loves feeding and touching the ostriches! He wasn't afraid at all!

Group photo kindly taken by a fellow visitor

After the visit, we returned to Super Lobster again for lunch (because we love it that much)!

Steamed fish, oysters and lobsters were so fresh and good!

Butter lobster! So yums! 😋

We headed to Desaru Fruit Farm, whose owners we were familiar with as we've been buying raw honey from them for 10 years! We went on their farm tour this time, for the kids' enjoyment.

Desaru Fruit Farm Tour

Our guide explaining the different fruits on the grounds

Walking trail

We bought animal food to feed the fish and the chickens

There was a mini petting farm where the kids got to pet rabbits

Very interesting pink buffalo

We took the truck back to the farm entrance once we were finished with the tour

The owners treated us to fruit juice and fresh fruit platter! Appreciate their warm hospitality!

The fruits were so good that we took them home and I had them for supper that night and breakfast the next morning!

We ended the night with the good ole karaoke, even though the white karaoke console was not working.

Singing karaoke as a family was super fun!

Really love our family bonding sessions! As our teens grow up, we're all well aware how rare these moments may be in future, hence I make it a point to treasure every moment with my kids, nieces and nephews! 🩷

Continue to >> Ipoh-Cherating Day 9-10: Sunway Hotel Big Box, Johor Bahru

<< Back to Ipoh-Cherating Day 5-6: Club Med Fun from Day to Night!

~~~~~~

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on road trips in Malaysia 
as well as other travel itineraries! 

Do also check out my recommendations on kid-friendly activities in Malaysia!

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)