BFF Staycation at St Giles Southkey, JB

Like many Millennials, the BFFs and I had a lot of difficulty making our first trip a reality. So far we've only done staycations in One 15 Marina in 2015 and Siloso Beach Resort Sentosa in 2019 (both in Sentosa) and wanted to get out of Singapore post-COVID. Plans for 4D3N became 2D1N when we simply couldn't align our busy schedules! 😭 In the end we decided on JB, which is technically still a staycation, just across the border! 😅 I suppose we'd at least get to use our passport! 😄

DAY 1

I took bus 160 from Jurong East to our meeting point, Woodlands Checkpoint, for the first time (I usually travel by car)! 😄 The journey was about 50 minutes, which meant I was slightly early (we agreed to meet 10.30am). Once the rest arrived, we crossed the Woodlands Causeway together.

Selfie while waiting for the bus between Woodlands Checkpoint and JB CIQ

We patiently braved the usual weekend crowd into Malaysia and cleared customs via the e-gates very quickly (such a game changer)!

Once at City Square Mall, we hailed a Grab to St Giles Southkey, our accommodation for the night.

Group photo at the hotel's lobby

After checking in early and leaving our bags at the concierge, we took a Grab to Flame and Fern for lunch.

Flame and Fern

Semi-alfresco dining

Fried calamari

I liked my beef and eggs with toast (left) and the salad (top right),
but the others did not like their fried softshell crab with toast (bottom right)

Overall, we don't think that we'll be back as the food wasn't worth the price we paid. I would have much rather ate at a restaurant with air-conditioning for that price (it was too hot for alfresco *laughs*).

We headed back to our hotel and got our keys to our two Urban Twin rooms, which we had booked via Agoda at S$153 per room per night, inclusive of breakfast.

Relatively large twin beds

Relatively small bathroom with no bathtub

Toiletries (left) and wardrobe (right)

Kitchenette

Window seat to admire the view

We were given coupons to redeem our complimentary welcome drinks at The View Bar & Lounge.

Enjoying the company and the view

Swimming pool next to the lounge, which we didn't have time to use! Super sad!

We didn't stay long at the lounge as we had to head to Tang Retreat to make it for our appointment. I chose 90-minute Aroma Massage for MYR 186.80.

Washing our feet before our massages

The massage was good but I felt some parts were a bit harder than the 'gentle' mode I had requested! I did not want to pay to get tortured! *laughs*

Dessert and tea after massage

Feeling totally relaxed!

When we were done, we took a Grab to 5pm Lalapot (next to Sutera Mall) for our dinner. I found the concept to be very similar to Lala Boy at Eco Botanic.

The menu

Huge fire 🔥 in the pot over charcoal

Yummy soup!

After dinner, we popped by Four Beans, located just next door, for dessert!

Four Beans shop near Sutera Mall

We ordered their famous soyabean curd with various toppings of our choice

You get to choose your sugar and mine was osmanthus honey (so so good!!!)

I gotta say that I loved the soyabean curd so much that it is a must for me to have it every time I'm in JB! Not even kidding! I've become a big fan! 🤭😄

After all the eating, I had to exercise in the hotel room before we retired for the night! Gotta burn off all the extra calories! 😅

DAY 2

We were supposed to wake up super early to go for a swim that morning but I decided not to as I didn't sleep well the night before!

Managed to catch the sunrise

We went for breakfast at Causeway Cafe instead.

Buffet breakfast

Teh tarik (left) and our table by the window (right)

My breakfast
(Love that they had the classic half-boiled eggs!)

We checked out at 10am after breakfast as we had an appointment for manicure/pedicure at Fairy Nails in Holiday Plaza. I did the classic cat eye pedicure as I had never done it before. It costs MYR 90, which was very affordable!

There were many to colours to choose from! I chose a light pink one!

Next, we returned to Tang Retreat for a 60-minute foot massage at MYR 90! We just love massages!

Getting our foot massages together

However, just 30 minutes into the massage and I was already regretting it as the massage was very torturous! I honestly did not enjoy it at all 😞 I should have gotten a manicure instead 😮‍💨