Friday, 24 April 2026

Bday in Desaru Day 1: Four Points by Sheraton

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As my birthday is at the end of April (usually during exam season), I lamented to the Hubby that we've celebrated my birthday overseas only once! He then suggested a short getaway to Desaru over my birthday weekend this year so off we went!

We headed to the causeway once the 2 younger kids returned from school (the Eldest couldn't go due to O-levels). Traffic was smooth all the way to Desaru as it was off-peak 😁

Clear skies and roads!

We arrived at the newly built Four Points by Sheraton Desaru, our accommodation for the trip! We wanted to try something new as we've previously stayed at Lotus Desaru, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru and Westin Desaru.

Four Points by Sheraton Desaru
Comfortable lobby area

We booked the Deluxe Twin Room via Agoda at MYR 822 (~S$260) per room per night, inclusive of breakfast.

Two double beds that could barely fit all 4 of us 😅
TV and wardrobe area
Large wardrobe and luggage rack
Bathroom without bathtub
Basic shower and toiletries
Relatively large kitchenette with the usual amenities
We maximised the use of the ample seating
Our room had a small balcony
View of Desaru from the balcony

The kids were super excited to head to the pool for a swim.

Swimming pool at the ground floor
Playground next to the pool
The kids enjoyed the empty pool!

After swimming, we headed to The Mesh Restaurant for dinner.

Excited for dinner
Yummy pizza!
Vegetables, soup and spaghetti
Shellout seafood set! Interesting way of eating seafood from the table!

We also celebrated my birthday! 😁

Happy birthday to me! 😊
(This dessert was not complimentary ok 😅)

The kids wanted to have ice cream after dinner so we headed out in search of it. The Hubby decided to get ice cream and fried chicken from Ahmad's (it was famous for the latter!).

Ahmad's
Super happy with their ice cream

Our hotel was located directly opposite of a supermarket, where we bought snacks and water.

Maslee supermarket
Four Points by Sheraton Desaru at night
Eating fried chicken for supper! So yums 😋

We retired early for the night because we all woke up before 6.30am that morning! 😴 Sweet dreams! 😀


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P.S: Read about our experiences with Marriott Bonvoy around the world:

Continue to >> Bday in Desaru Day 2-3: Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast


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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Desaru, Malaysia
as well as other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!
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Sunday, 29 March 2026

BFF Staycation at St Giles Southkey, JB

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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 😮‍💨

We took a Grab to City Square Mall for shopping before we returned to Singapore. We decided to have an early dinner together at Dragon-i.

Buns and vegetables
Xiao long bao, sheng jian bao (so so) and spicy fried chicken

It was a good end to a wonderful trip together! We had an amazing time! Looking forward to the next one!


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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for other travel itineraries!


Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!
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