My friend Maya said she had never been to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, which is the nearest “abroad” you can get to outside of Singapore, being just at the border. It’s so near that you only have to take a bus to get there and it will only cost you S$2 and about an hour of travel, so that most Singapore-based people have already been there. I myself have already gone three times before.
Gay and I agreed to take her there and we made plans to have a massage and eat lots of food, both of which are cheaper there. Gay had a birthday party to attend that night, though, so we said we had to go early so that we’d have plenty of time to enjoy the place before heading back. So we planned to meet early for breakfast in Ang Mo Kio Hub before making the trip.
On the morning of the trip, as I was on my way out the door, my flatmate Tatsie told me that Malaysia’s elections were the next day, May 4, so a lot of people were headed home for the weekend, probably. Uh oh. We don’t like crowds and congestions at all, so we all decided to postpone the trip and stay in Singapore instead. “So what do we do?” I asked. Nobody had any suggestions so we decided to eat breakfast first and decide on that later.
We walked all throughout Ang Mo Kio Hub to look for a place where we could eat but at 9ish am, most of the shops were still closed. We passed by a Chewy Junior booth and ate one cream puff apiece, but we wanted to be able to sit down somewhere.
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| Spotted: Maya at her favorite guilty pleasure |
Gay and I remembered that there was a McDonald’s outside, so we made a beeline for that and whew! It was open! I was so glad because I was craving for pancakes and they had it on the menu. I ordered a hot fudge hotcakes meal with a side order of turkey bacon. The meal came with three pieces of hotcakes with three kinds of toppings – butter, maple syrup, and hot fudge. There was also one piece of hash brown (my fave! nom!) and a drink (I chose iced coffee) and my additional side order of turkey bacon.
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| McDonald’s hot fudge hotcakes with a side order of turkey bacon |
Gay and Maya had ordered hotcakes as well. We forgot that each order came with three pieces, so we couldn’t finish everything at once. So we talked and ate slowly and didn’t notice that we had sat there eating and talking for four hours! I don’t even remember what we talked about exactly, I guess we jumped from topic to topic. It’s amazing how much talking girl friends can do, no?
The waiters had kept on coming over to our table to ask if they could clear our soiled utensils one by one, until finally we had finished all our food and we had no reason to stay anymore, so I suggested that we split since it was already past 1pm and some people were eyeing our table.
So we left and I suddenly remembered where I wanted to go. “Can we go to Funan, please?,” I asked. “I need to buy some stuff.” The two were amenable to my suggestion, so we took the MRT and hopped off at City Hall station, and walked to Funan Digitalife Mall. Here I bought a hand-held monopod and a wireless mouse. My four-year-old macbook’s trackpad has been acting wonky of late, so I needed to find a workaround because I cannot afford a new laptop just yet.
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| A photo taken with my new monopod, Funan |
After that it was Maya’s turn to remember that she wanted to buy something, so she asked if we could go to Suntec Mall’s Royal Sporting House. Gay and I said sure! The place was within walking distance so we walked there. It turns out they had a sale and it wasn’t just Maya who ended up buying something. Details to follow in another blog, maybe.
We were tired and thirsty after all that walking, so we found a food court and had early dinner. Gay had dumplings since she had a dinner to go to, while Maya had her favorite chicken rice. I wasn’t too hungry so I had some egg and cheese roti prata and an avocado smoothie with a shot of caramel. The latter appealed to me because it seemed unusual, and I like unusual food combinations. It wasn’t too bad, but I expected it to taste sweeter.
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| Egg and cheese roti prata |
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| Avocado smoothie with caramel syrup |
Now I am not a fan of most Indian food, but roti prata is the exception. I love it! It’s also kind of like a pancake but with stuffing of your choice, egg and cheese being mine. I let Gay and Maya try it too. Gay was wary at first because like me, she also doesn’t like Indian food, but she ended up liking the curry so much that she even dipped her dumplings in them! 😀
We had one last monopod-taken selfie group shot before heading home.
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| Food Republic, Suntec City Mall |
Though we may not have gone to Malaysia as planned, it was still one fun trip. Like I said before, you just need to go with the flow of life in order to enjoy it. Besides, we could always go to JB next time, so why fret about it, right?
Glad you got to eat authentic Mayalsian food at umm ummm McDonald's lol
Lol indeed!
Fun post, Dee. That avocado smoothie looks to die for. Yum … I want one. You ladies sure look like you know how to live life, no matter the destination. Lovely photos!
Avocado smoothies are to die for indeed!
Sounds like you had a great time! Visiting from the A-Z Roadtrip!<br /><br />Kathy<br />http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
Thanks for dropping by!
I want to spend a day with you and your friends, Dee. I've been to Malaysia twice and really enjoyed my visits. My favorite place was Langkawi Island. I think it's one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.
Come to Singapore then! I haven't been to Langkawi but now you make me want to go.
You and your friends have the best adventures. I like reading about the things you do. And by the way, the McDonalds in the US do not have those pancakes, and I am way jealous!
Wow I didn't know that! Maybe it's an asian thing.