Review: Pontian Garden Hotel

It’s Tuesday and almost mid-week. This week, I will be sharing a post each on Tuesday and Wednesday because they are hotel reviews. I feel it’s kind of cheating when I post hotel reviews so I line two at a go. Enjoy!

Today’s post is about a charming hotel in Pontian, Johor.

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you might not know that my sister and I had to cancel our plans to Gunung Ledang two weekends before. We missed the train to ~~Sematan~~ Segamat and took a bus to the long distance bus terminal but managed to missed the bus by 2 minutes! (TWO MINUTES!)

It felt like something in the universe was telling us not to go to Gunung Ledang so I cancelled our room reservation with the resort. (Yes, I’m superstitious) We sat in the busy bus terminal with our backpacks and googled the places nearby.

In the end, we decided to go to Pontian because it’s relatively near Johor Bahru. Also because I’ve actually heard of the place. (It’s food famous!)

Since we did not do any research about Pontian, we had to frantically read up links from Google.

While searching for a place to stay, I discovered Pontian Garden Hotel on Google Maps. I fell in love immediately because it looked like it overlooks the sea.

Pontian Garden Hotel’s strategic location

When we reached the bus terminal, I was delighted to find out from my Google Map app that the hotel is walking distance.

There’s even a Marrybrown under the hotel. I love fried chicken. Too bad we didn’t have any fried chicken during the trip. (Such a tragedy.)

When we checked in, the concierge told us that they only had standard rooms which were RM 118 per night. Good enough!

There was also FREE WI-FI! Password: jiayuanpg1001

Our room was on the second floor and there was no elevator. Thank goodness we have very light backpack.

The room was very comfortable as the air-conditioning worked very well.

Coffee & Tea set at Pontian Garden Hotel

I also like the coffee and tea set. Free coffee and tea!

The only problem with the room is the shower: The water sprayed almost everywhere. Eeek.

Best about Pontian Garden Hotel

Good points about the hotel include the helpful concierge. They helped us call up a taxi to bring us to Tanjung Piai to see the southern tip of the continent of Asia.

But, the best thing about the hotel is not the room, the people or the breakfast (I love food!).

It was the view of the breakfast place. Look!

View of the sea from terrace of Pontian Garden Hotel

Imagine having breakfast while looking at the deep blue sea. (OK, it was gray the day I was there.) The sea breeze is great in helping with invigorating the appetite!

In a nut shell

Pontian Garden Hotel is a fantastic place to stay if you are in Pontian. The price, view, room, people are all fantastic.

Find out more on Pontian Garden Hotel website.

Other Malaysian hotel reviews on YQ Travelling:

Stay: Kuching Tune Hotel review
Stay: Ipoh Tune Hotel review
Hotel review: Riverview Hotel, Muar, Johor

How to peel a mangosteen

it’s Food Friday here on YQtravelling. Instead of meals, I’m sharing a how-to video with you.

I had the chance to eat several mangosteens while I was in Johor. I thought it would be interesting to show you how to peel a mangosteen.

How to peel a mangosteen

Guide to peeling a mangosteen

The fruitseller told me to pick the fruits that had a softer exterior. A mangosteen’s flesh is covered by an armor of fiber which is coated by a dark purple skin.

Take a mangosteen, press on the fruit so the skin breaks.

Then, carefully break off the shell so your fruit doesn’t fall out.

Enjoy the while flesh and be careful of its seed.

More guides to peeling tropical fruits

Should you fly from JB Senai Airport or Singapore Changi Airport?

When I was in the first three years of university, I flew from Kota Kinabaluto Johor’s Senai Airport on AirAsia. From the airport, I usually take a private cab into Singapore for a princely sum.

Of course I had a choice of flying directly into Changi Airport but it was an expensive choice of SilkAir.

When AirAsia finally flew from KK to Singapore directly, I was ecstatic. I remember saying “goodbye” to Senai Airport, adding, “We’ll never see each other again.”

Unfortunately, I did see Senai again.

I took an AirAsia flight from JB back home to Sabah during the Christmas break. It was more than S$100 cheaper per trip compared with flying directly to or from Singapore. (RM284 [SG$115] vs ~S$250).

Compared to 4 years ago, AirAsia has made it convenient for passengers in Singapore to go to Senai. There’s a 2-hourly bus from JB’s CIQ to Senai. The bus journey is about 40 minutes and a pleasant ride.

When I was on the way to the airport, I asked the driver about the number of passengers who have taken the shuttle. He counted in his head and said, “13. And that’s a good number. It’s the weekend, you see.”

On the way to the airport, there were 3 passengers. On my way back to JB, there was only me. I have a feeling AirAsia might cancel the shuttle any time.

Since I had the chance to experience flying to Senai and to Changi, I will list down the pros and cons for you to decide.

Pros and cons of Senai and Changi

Senai Airport

Pros:

Tickets are cheaper than flying directly into Singapore
Marry Brown fast food at airport
Less crowded at airport
Free transport to Senai and CIQ

Cons:

Extra travelling time to JB or Singapore (depending on traffic)
Nothing much at airport
Free transport only available once every 2 hours

Changi Airport

Pros:

Shorter travelling time
Cool things to do

Cons:

Tickets are usually more expensive

If you are still undecided, here are some factors to take into consideration when buying your JB/Singapore ticket:

Total price difference (Remember to count in transport fees from Senai into Singapore. It doesn’t make sense if your transport fees are similar to airtickets savings.)
Time to travel to airport (You will probably be travelling for an extra 2+ hours depending on your SIngapore location.)
Wait for SkyShuttle bus (Buses come 2-hourly)
Getting to location in Singapore (Do you have too much luggage? Do you really want to drag them from Malaysia to Singapore?)

Have you flown from JB airport instead of Singapore? How was your experience?

I’m on Runaway Juno representing Kota Kinabalu

I interrupt our regular post schedule with a BIG announcement!

I’m on Runaway Juno’s Runaway to Sister’s City this week, talking about my dear hometown: Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia.

If you are interested to learn more about Kota Kinabalu, here are some primer (actually, almost all of KK posts here):

For my regular readers who do not know about Juno, you should check out Runaway Juno blog now! (OK, maybe after reading the rest this posts.)

A few of my favorite Runaway Juno posts are the one where she talked about how she took a giant leap and also discussed things that I would (cowardly) rather sweep under the rug.

Until next travels! Stay safe.

Tune Hotel Ipoh promo Jan 2 to Mar 31, 2013

I’m breaking my usual posting schedule to bring you a deal.

I found out about a Tune Hotel Ipoh promo. It’s a collaboration between Tune Hotel and the Malaysian railways to encourage people to take the ETS from KL to Ipoh. Even if you are not taking the train, it applies to you too!

Room rates are
RM68 nett from Sunday to Thursday
RM100 nett for Friday and Saturday.

Rates include 1 unit Cozy Package (24 hours air conditioning, 1 towel and toiletry set, 24 hours TV and WiFi.

Use promotion code KTMIPOH

Other terms and condition

Stay period: 2 Jan to 31 Mar 2013
Rates valid for 1 double room or 1 twin room (subject to availability) per night
Black-out dates for stays: 1 Jan, 24-27 Jan, 10-14 Feb
Promo only for Tune Hotel Ipoh

(I’ll bring the flyer to a scanner soon so you can read all the nitty gritty fine print.)

My thoughts on Tune Hotel Ipoh promo

I’ve stayed at Tune Hotel Ipoh before and liked it a lot. My promotion then was a lot cheaper than what they have now: RM61.14 for room, 12-hour air conditioning, rental towel and “free essentials toiletries kit”.

But the deal’s quite good for weekenders. I just did a fake booking and the fees turned out to be RM142 for all the benefits they are including.

The hotel is a little walk from the old town area where food is congregated. Exercising is good, my friends.

I also love Ipoh for its food and sights (they have a damn castle!). It’s a great weekend trip if you are in Peninsula Malaysia or Singapore.

Will you be going to Ipoh?

Come see to a ‘tamu’ Sabah’s version of a Farmer’s Market

If you happen to visit Sabah, please time your visit so you can go to one of the weekly “tamu”.

Pronounced as “tah-moo”, the weekly market (or Farmer’s Market) where vendors gather to sell different produce and products.

Different areas have different tamu days. For example, Donggogon’s tamu is on Thursday and Friday. Putatan’s tamu is on Saturday and Sunday. Kota Belud has one on Wednesday. Kinarut is on Saturday while Lok-Kawi where my parents have a shop has tamu on Thursday.

In olden days, it was a day in the week where villagers flock to a central location to either sell or buy their excess agricultural or anima stock. Nowadays, you will find all sorts of things on sale at a tamu, including clothes.

Seeing the Kota Belud tamu on Wednesday

Gate of Pasar Tani Kota Belud — Gates of Kota Belud agricultural market

I had the chance to visit the tamu in Kota Belud on the day of the roadtrip to Kudat. Kota Belud is a little town halfway between Kota Kinabalu and Kudat which takes about 1.5 hours to reach there by car.

My family began our journey to Kudat on a Wednesday. On the way, we stopped by Kota Belud for lunch. We were in luck since Kota Belud’s tamu was on a Wednesday.

According to a guidebook which I just returned to the library today, Kota Belud is the home of tamu. I couldn’t really tell when I was there.

It was fruit season that period and my parents managed to buy durian and rambutan for cheap.

For those used to the sanitized markets in the western world, Sabah’s Farmers Market might be a culture shock with overpowering smells, heat and humidity.

Vendors lay their wares on sheets of plastic. For peel-able fruits, you are able to taste some before you decide on buying more from the vendor.

In Kota Belud, most of the durian sellers (who also sell mangosteen and rambutan) were lined up on the pavement and not in the real market area. Some of the vendors bought the fruit wholesale and didn’t plant it themselves.

If you speak Malay, bargaining can be easy. I’ve not seen vendors quoting prices to those who do not speak Malay but I suspect they will not rip people off too badly.

From nearest: Unknown fruit, langsat, mangosteen, jackfruit

Have you ever been to a tamu? How was your experience?

Glutton in Sabah

I was home for the holidays and ate many yummy things (and some less yummy food). This post is divided by the locations I ate the dishes.

Bon appetit!

Durian. My family loves durians but I’m a little meh about it. However, this time when I was back, I have kind of fallen in love with its creamy custard texture.

Lamb chop. On the second day when I reached home, I had a craving for lamb chop so I requested my parents to bring me to our regular steak place.

Our seats were right next to the covered drain but we got wafts of drain smell floating around us. :<

The lamb chop was rather disappointing. The portion was large but the meat was so tough I felt like I was a grazing cow. My jaw hurt in the end.

Kota Belud kopitiam

Before my mom and I headed to Kudat, we stopped by a kopitiam in Kota Belud. We lunched with my dad and my parents’ friends and ordered things to share.

Fried bee hoon. A typical fried noodle dish, garnished with roast pork bits.

Pig blood curd yong tau foo. If you’ve not had blood curd (like bean curd but with animal blood), you might feel a bit queasy about it.

It’s actually really tasty. It doesn’t taste of blood. I can’t really describe the taste but it’s firmer than jelly.

Kudat seafood

Mom and I couldn’t find a nice place for seafood while we were in Kudat. In our car, we went about town.

Finally, we settled at one of the wooden houses at the sea. We happened to sit at the less popular restaurant. Oh well, food is food is food.

Crab. I’ve never had this sort of crab before. The usual crab I eat has a uniform color but this was patterned. Mom said it was a “flower crab”.

The meat wasn’t as firm as the usual crab I eat. But the good thing is that the shell is less tough and I can break off the shell easily to the crab meat.

(This crab was not eaten in Kudat.) Just to show you what the regular crab I eat looks like. I had this at restaurant near my home.

Steamed fish. Oh, how much I love fish steamed with soy sauce and ginger. The sauce goes well with rice.

Roadside fruit stall

On the way to and from Kudat, fruit stalls are scattered by the roadside.

They all sell the same seasonal fruits: BBQ corn, bananas, jackfruit, honey, rambutan.

BBQ corn. It’s interesting how they cook the corn. I usually eat steamed or boiled corn, never one roasted by fire.

However, our cobs of corn weren’t cooked enough.

Honey. Mom bought a bottle of dark honey (“Darker means older honey,” said the seller.) I haven’t tried it but the bottles look so pretty.

Bukit Padang stalls

Cha kway teow. Stir fried flat board noodles. The half-cooked cockles are known to cause mild food poisoning.

Cendol. Shaved ice, coconut milk, gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup, and green cendol. Enough said. It gave me brain freeze when I tried to eat it really fast.

Others

Hokkien noodle. I love this dark sauce thick noodles. And the fried pork fat. Mmmm.

Pearl milk tea. Or also known as “bubble tea” in Singapore. Black chewy tapioca drowned in milk tea.

YOYO’s the best pearl milk tea branch in Southeast Asia, according to me.

Cooling water, or what we call “rhino horn water”. I do not think the drink has actual bits of rhino calcium. But it was selling like hot cakes (if they were liquid and cool) at my parents’ store.

I learned from a customer that they use it to cool down after eating heaty durians.

Swiss roll. I bought this cake because I mistook it for another bakery’s milk cake. There’s custard in between.

Fish soup bee hoon. Sluuuuurp. (OK, I’m not that big a fan of pale fish.)

Pot luck! My mom and her friends had a pot luck on new year eve night. It was dinner after mahjong. Later we went to the beach for our ritual feet washing.

Which is your favorite dish?

What I do when I am back home in Sabah

I just came back from an 11-day trip home (which is about 9 days long if you take away the travelling days). It was a good recharging of my batteries.

Since some people–okay, maybe only my uncle–are curious about why I go home so often. (I only went back home 3 times in 2012.) I’ll share what I do when I am home.

See the parents

The main reason I head back to Sabah is to see my parents. Or maybe for my parents to see me. I’m not sure which way it goes.

I also bicker (good humoredly, I hope) with the parents.

Eat seafood

A good reason to head home is for the cheap yummy seafood. A meal for two which includes a kilogram of cooked crabs, steamed fish, a stirfried vegetable and rice costs only RM63 (US$21).

Steal Wi-Fi at restaurants

My parents cancelled the fixed broadband line because it doesn’t work 95 percent of the time. In the end, I had to surf on my mobile phone.

For long blog posts, I had to bring my laptop to restaurants and use their Wi-Fi while I wait for the food to arrive.

Meet friends

I usually multitask by stealing Wi-Fi and meeting my long-time-no-see friends.

Help a little at the shop and house chores

My parents own a grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up. I didn’t really like tending to the shop because it’s mindnumbingly dull to sit at the cashier, key in prices and bag groceries.

But then, this was the place which provided my university tuition.

Play mahjong

I played plenty of mahjong with my mom and her friends when they lacked another player.

I’m not very good at it but I did win some (a minority) rounds.

Travel

When my holidays are too short, I don’t move around much. This time, I had 11-days so my mom drove us to Kudat for a one-night trip. We saw the “tip of Borneo” and ate some seafood.

Visit the temple

I’m still rather confused about which religion I am partial to. I grew up believing I was Buddhist when I was praying to Taoist gods). I do like Greek gods now but I don’t think that’s considered a religion now.

Despite my confusion, I still visit temples. There’s a Taiwanese saying “有拜有保佑” which means “you will be protected if you pray”. The saying means that it doesn’t hurt to pray to as many gods so you won’t be left out on Judgement Day.

Welcome the new year

My mom and her friends have a tradition of going to the beach around 11pm on new year eve. Before the clock strikes 12, we head into the sea to wash away the bad from the current year and welcome the good luck from the coming year.

Where is home?

Last time, I wrote a post about how I am homeless because I cannot tell which is home. When I was back in Sabah this time, I realized that it’s possible to have many places you call home.

It all depends on how much you feel that you belong in a place.

Do you live away from home? What do you do when you are back?

Recap of 2012 travels

Hello everyone,

It’s the last day of 2012. For today, I am recapping the journeys I made in 2012, along with a few related entries.

(Some of the cities do not have related blog posts because I am working on a really limited internet connection back home in Sabah. I’ll follow up with the posts once I reach the land of high speed internet–Singapore.)

In case you find this entry a little TL;DR, I want to wish you a happy 2013. May the new year be filled with (productive) travels.

Ciao!

-Yun Qing

January 2012

Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

yqtravelling january seremban negeri sembilan — Seremban

In a nutshell: The Seremban which D and I visited was sleepy. There wasn’t much going around as it seems like most of the people prefer to look for a living in Kuala Lumpur.

Funny poster: Bill Gates, a murderer

Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

In a nutshell: The reason I dragged D along to PD was to wash my feet in the ocean. My family has a ritual of stepping into the ocean when the new year comes to “wash away the bad luck”. PD wasn’t as fantastic as what my primary school sample compositions tell me. I much prefer the beaches in Sabah.

2012′s first sunset

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for Chinese New Year which is the most important festival for my family. I didn’t visit any new places while in Sabah.

February 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Impromptu trip to meet up with Nguyen in KL. It was great fun meeting her again after my trip to Saigon after graduation.

Glutton in Kuala Lumpur

March + April 2012

Yogyakarta + Solo, Indonesia

In a nutshell: Back in Indonesia after D and my first trip back in 2009. It was great seeing the ancient monuments in Borobudur and Prambanan.

Sunrise at Borobudur: Expectations/Reality

In a nutshell: The side trip to Solo was fun too since we visited Candi Sukuh and watched Orang Wayang.

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Finally back to crossing Malaysian states off my list. Ipoh will forever be remembered as the town with great food (almost as good as Penang) and a “castle” that is not really a castle.

May 2012

San Jose, California, USA

In a nutshell: On a business trip to cover an event in San Jose. I had the chance to visit Cupertino and see the Winchester Mystery House. I didn’t get to see much of the city because I was stuck in the convention centers getting my bills paid.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

San Francisco, California, USA

In a nutshell: Side trip from San Jose after the business trip. I had planned to visit Napa Valley for a night but decided to stay in SF for the whole week. I saw two great shows, visited many fine museums and cycled a little.

June 2012

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for a classmate’s wedding. didn’t get to visit other areas since I was back for only the weekend.

Anatomy of a Chinese wedding in Malaysia

July 2012

Hoi An, Vietnam

In a nutshell: A 5-day trip to central Vietnam. I had planned to visit another historical town, Hue, but decided to spend all the time in Hoi An. I ate a lot, drank a lot of coffee and cycled a lot.

August 2012

Jakarta, Indonesia

In a nutshell: A short weekend trip to the capital of Indonesia. We weren’t caught in traffic jams as we took the TransJakarta public bus. I didn’t do a lot of research so we ended up walking aimlessly.

September 2012

Tokyo + Kamakura Japan

In a nutshell: A day trip to historical Kamakura on the day I reached Tokyo. I love the little town with its little big Buddha and quaint streets.

In a nutshell: A 4-day business trip but I pre-extended the weekend before work. I had the chance to overnight in Ooedo Onsen Monogatari and catch Gintama Land before it was over.

#FoodFri Glutton at Tsukiji, Tokyo

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Returned to Kuching. Trip wasn’t as great but I got to meet J the night before.

October 2012

Bangkok, Thailand

In a nutshell: My first visit to Thailand. I narrowed down my to-do list to a few sites and spent a productive weekend.

Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: State 9 of my Visit Malaysia project. A small town where our fourth prime minister, Dr Tun Mahathir, was born. Visited the Alor Setar tower, the second tallest TV tower in Malaysia, and saw a bird’s eye view of the town.

Dinner & miscommunication for breakfast in Alor Setar

Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia

In a nutshell: State 10 of my Visit Malaysia project. Went to the market bordering Thailand. I was a little disappointed that the market didn’t straddle the border with stall owners on one side accepting ringgit while the other baht.

A guide to walking from Malaysia to Thailand

November 2012

No major travelling for the month. It wasn’t as bad as I expected because I had other things to busy myself with during the weekend. For example, reading Web comics, watching Youtube, eating, reading things online etc.

December 2012

Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for the Christmas holiday because of forced leave implemented by the company. Went on a roadtrip with Mom to the north of Sabah. We read a lot, ate a lot of fruits while at the hotel. Also visited the “Tip of Borneo”.

How has your year of travelling been?

Penang ferry ride from Georgetown to Butterworth and back

Penang’s ferry service is supposedly the oldest ferry service in Malaysia.

My parents and I went for a ride during our trip to Penang. We planned to take the bus back on the bridge but we couldn’t find the bus so we took the boat back again.

From Georgetown, there is no fee for passengers.

But it was about RM1.20 on the way back.

Passengers share the upper deck with cars. There are only a few seats by the side of the ferry and these are usually taken up if you do not run fast enough.