Annabelle’s First Toothless

Annabelle’s first tooth came off officially today! She feels so pain all these days. And finally toothless!

Zoo Johor Bahru 9 Aug 2013

After Hutan Bandar, we went to the Zoo Johor. The Zoo Johor is located at Jalan Gertak Merah. It is at the heart of Johor Bahru.

It is situated near to the Royal Museum and the Johor Bahru Palace Grounds. Still, the nearest landmark to the zoo is a mosque named Masjid Abu Bakar.

Zoo Johor is considered as one of the oldest zoos in Malaysia as it was built in the year of 1928.

There are more than 100 species of animals living in Zoo Johor including some endangered species of them animals. They are gorillas, elephants, flamingos, horses, lions and much more.

Once we walked in the zoo, immediately there were few pelican birds welcomed us. The zoo is not really clean and not well organized with clean food selling around the stalls during our visit there.

Probably it is weekend, there were so many visitors. Most of them were the foreign workers, such as Bangladeshis, Indonesian, Burmese, Cambodians, Indian, Vietnamese and Pakistanis. The crowds is really big.

This is probably one of the favourite spot for them to take a break and relax after the hard working life, and considered cheap too the entrance fees is just RM3. Besides that, can see local families bringing their children here too. There are animal shows for the entertainment too.

Overall, we felt that the zoo was poorly maintained, as most of the animals looked tired and bored. They need more attentions and cares from the zoo keepers, and a proper environments for them to live in! Hope that they can improve to a better and comfort living environment.

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Hutan Bandar Johor Bahru 9 Aug 2013

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We do not know that in the middle of the city of Johor Bahru have such a lush and greenery place for its urban people to stroll about in the midst of the most busiest part of the city.

Hutan Bandar Johor Bahru covers an area of 50 acres situated at Jalan Tasek Utara and Jalan Yahya Awal, Johor Bahru, about 1.5 km from city centre. It is a ‘Family-Oriented Recreation Park’ where included harmoniously integrating the topographical structure water source, as well as indigenous flora and fauna with spaces for activities and facilities.

This recreational park is special because the original appearance is maintained as removal of trees in the area was kept to a minimum. The result was, this valuable piece of land kept its physical and aesthetic values, providing scenes of beauty and serenity for all.

It consists of a few elements to fulfil the needs of a concept of a 'Family-Oriented Recreation Park', in amidst the shooting, comforting and harmonious atmosphere of nature, and to accommodate to the needs of Johor Bahru's growing population.

Laman Tembusu
The Landscape Department of MBJB is located here. This department handles all the enquiries as booking of facilities in Hutan Bandar.

It is situated just near the entrance of the Park. It consists of the offices, meeting rooms, function halls, and a large Koi Pond at the centre of the courtyard area.

We spent some time here, looking and took photos of the Koi inside the pond. There were other visitors as well, I think most are locals spending some quality time with their loves one here.

Food Court
Also known as Gerai Atap Berlian, which offers variety of foods and drinks from it 16 stalls. While enjoying the food you can enjoy on the greenness surrounding at the food court.

The food stalls located at the entrance of the Park, which near to the parking areas for convenience of the visitors.

We did not go as we had our breakfast near the down town area in the morning. It looks a bit wear off from far during we drove in to the parking area. Heard that the food is good and delicious. May be next round of visits we can come back again.

Children Adventurous Park
This is the centre of attraction for the whole family to relax and enjoy themselves especially during weekends and public holidays.

The playground concept was to educate and stimulate the minds and physical of the children an teenagers.

The main attraction includes Swimming and wading pools for children, Maze, Sand Pit, Netscape Ground and Reflexology Pathway.

Lake Area
Comprises seven lakes situated close to one another and being the main attraction to those who love water activities especially fishing.

The lakes are the gems in the middle of the green forest. One connected to another. We can see people were sitting at the lakeside with their fishing rods.

Camping Site
Facilities offered here are chalet, changing rooms, public lavatories, mini hall, surau, camping are, jungle tracking and BBQ facilities with reasonable price.

During our visits, we can see some school students were here too. I was thinking they must be planning on some outings or activities here.

After the Hutan Bandar, we headed to the Johor Zoo.

Johor Old Chinese Temple 9 Aug 2013

We woke up a bit late this morning as we were so tiring after yesterday trip to Legoland Malaysia, where we almost spent a day at there. We had our ‘morning walk’ around the Jalan Wong Ah Fook area, find our way to Jalan Trus. For a convenient shortcut, you can take the steps and walkway next to Public Bank Tower. We came to this Johor Old Chinese Temple.

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Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple known as Old Temple by the locals, is a Chinese temple located in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Located at downtown Johor Bahru of Jalan Trus, the temple is flanked by modern skyscrapers. It is in the middle of The Puteri Pacific Johor Bahru Hotel and Pasar Seni.

This temple is one of the oldest structures in Johor Bahru. This 130 year old Chinese temple is the symbol of unity among the five different Chinese dialect groups (Teochow, Hakka, Hainanese, Hokkien and Cantonese), each of whom favour a different deity with is own statue in the temple. The temple also has Kwan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) and Weather God statues.

The temple was built during the 19th Century by then Head of Ngee Heng Company led by Tan Hiok Nee and various Chinese community leaders. Although there are no actual records regarding the completion of the temple, the plaque and the century-old bronze bell located in the temple shows that the temple is around 130 years old.

In 1995 / 1996, it underwent a major renovation at a cost of MYR1.5 million. Much of its cultural aura was preserved, and important relics such as the century-old bronze bell, joss stick pot and wooden tablet remain.

It organise annually Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple Chingay – Parade of the Deities. Thousands of people in Johor Bharu from all walks of life, young and old alike, are lined up in the streets to watch and participate in this event, which starts in the evening and ends after midnight. They are going for about 15km parade around the city.

The Chingay Parade has grown in recent years to become a massive street parade, boasting a stunning array of dancers, street floats, jugglers, percussionists, lion and dragon dancers, clowns and acrobats, among others.

Roads will be closed and traffic will be at a virtual standstill. Public transport will be rerouted and many businesses will close early. Schools will dismiss afternoon sessions early for students to get home quickly, so that they can join the throng who will converge in the heart of the city.

During our visit, it was quite quiet inside the temple, may be it was too early. Anyway, hopefully next round, would take more photos of this historical temple.

Legoland Malaysia 8 Aug 2013

Legoland Malaysia is a family holiday destination with more than 70 hands-on rides, slides, shows and attractions and designed for families with children aged 2-12. It is the first of its kind in Asia and offers adventure, education and fun for action-packed day trips or as a short break destination.

The children were excited and finally came to this Legoland ever since it opened last year here at Johor Bahru Malaysia. The colourful entrance is where all our fun begins!

 

1. Lego Technic

We decided and plan our adventure to start at the Lego Technic first, where everything is action-packed.

We started our first ride is Project X. It is a racy, crazy and 18m high roller coaster with steep inclines and sharp bends. We were surprised that Annabelle also would like to have a ride.

Initially we were planning as 1 adult accompanied 1 child, but Annabelle insisted she sat in front with Issac. In the end, when the ride started, she got scared and wanted to change the seat. She was crying and shouting all way long. After we had our ride, she just cried all the way.

Annabelle stopped crying after she saw the “spinning big cup”, and laughing. Technic Twister is a fairly standard spinning fairground attraction. Spin the wheel to control how crazy we want our ride will be. It was really fun!

Aquazone Wave Racers is a fast spin round in a skimming above water. Moderate splashing expected. We did not play this as we were afraid that all of us would get wet and the fast spinning would make us feel dizzy.

Further up we can find Lego Academy and Lego Mindstorms. These are rooms with plenty of Lego bricks and Technic pieces for kids to get their hands on and build stuff, and are in fully air-conditioned rooms. Outside of the are some robots which made by small pieces of Lego bricks and pieces.

 

2. Lego Kingdom

The highlights in this zone are the two roller coasters, The Dragon designed as a fire-breathing dragon through the Middle Ages, but get ready for the twists and turns along the way, and, a milder version, the Dragon's Apprentice for the park’s younger guests.

Due to earlier experience, Annabelle refused to ride and the rest of us just get along with her decision and do not ride on the thrills roller coaster. Other attractions include Merlin's Challenge is a high speed up and down carousel which put parents and children into a spin, we did not go also.

Royal Joust (a tame simulated horse ride for younger kids), this Annabelle and Issac got line up for their rides. It is so beautifully done on the greenery landscape, as the parents were waiting and can see their children riding on the horse, coming to their ways through the beautiful nicely field of flowers.

Forestman's Hideout is a kid's playground with slides, bridges and so on. Basically, a playground for the younger children. We did not go there either.

 

3. Imagination

Here we watched a 4D Movie in the Lego Studio called Spell Breaker and Legends of Chima which is one of 4 films that are shown in rotation. It was enjoyable and a chance to rest in air-conditioned comfort for a while. The shows were really fun and excited, there were water splashing or sprinkling, the wind blowing till your bones shivering, our seats were shaking all the while, etc.

Also in this zone is the Observatory Tower which provides a revolving 360 degree view of the entire theme park from a height of 50 metres. We were having fun too to see the view of the entire Medina.

Other attractions here include the Kids' Power Tower to prove your strength to gain a beautiful view over the park, Daddy and Issac had went to try. It really test their arm strength just to pull yourself up to the top.

Duplo Playtown is an interactive playground with farm, hospital, slides, and more!  A child size city for the youngest to explore. Duplo Express is a mini train ride which are aimed at toddlers and younger kids, and ride around the Duplo Playtown. Both Issac and Annabelle are too big for these playgrounds. They are not toddlers anymore!

There is a Built & Test air-conditioned creativity corner room for the kids to create their LEGO Models.

 

4. Land of Adventures

Fun activities here include the Lost Kingdom, which is an indoor ride journey into the forgotten worlds of Pharaohs.

But watch out! You never know what lies ahead…

On which you get to test your shooting skills using laser blasters. We did bought the photos from the Lego shots here.

Beetle Bounce bouncing of the life of the kids!!! It is a tower which bouncing up and down. Issac was very brave and immediately he said to us that, he wanted to have a try on this big ‘hammer’!

Dino Island, a log flume ride which you should only go on if you don't mind getting soaked. Annabelle and Mummy did not go for the ride as she did not want. Only Daddy and Issac go for the ride. They were having fun on this splashing ride!

 

5. Miniland

This is probably my favourite part of the park. It is a number of beautifully made scale models of famous Asian landmarks, all built from Lego bricks.

The buildings replicated in Lego include Petronas Towers and KL Tower, KLIA, Sultan Ibrahim Building, Johor Majestic Palace and Tanjung Pelepas (Johor), Fullerton Hotel and Clarke Quay (Singapore), Taj Mahal (India), The Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China, Angkor Wat (Combodia), Purah Tanah Lot (Indonesia), Patuxai (Laos), Karaweik Hall (Myanmar), Bolinao (Philippines), Wat Arun (Thailand), Hoi An (Vietnam) and many more.

 

6. Lego City

This popular zone includes Rescue Academy where families race each other to put out 'fires' in a burning building.

Boating School (battery powered boats), Legoland Express (train ride around the park) and the Driving School where children can acquire and road safety skills while driving battery powered cars around a road layout complete with traffic lights, road markings and traffic signs. On completion of the driving lesson children can obtain a driving license with photo for an additional charge of RM25.

We just skipped this section, as at that point of time, there were too many children and adults to queue for the games.

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There are plenty of shops scattered around the park selling Lego sets, gift items, snacks and drinks.

Dining outlets include Pizza Mania, Market Restaurant and Jungle Café.

It was almost raining when we were finishing our tour or visit. We felt that the timing were just nice.

The children were having fun, but us as an adult as well ^^

Galleria@Kotaraya Johor Bahru 7 Aug 2013

As we walked from our hotel towards the Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, just behind the Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Temple, there is a big shopping mall. Well, it is located in the heart of Johor Bahru, Plaza Kotaraya, a five- storey podium shopping complex with a gross area of approximately 546,530 square feet.

The re-branding exercise involved a name change from Plaza Kotaraya to Galleria @ Kotaraya. Post its refurbishment, it will emerge as an iconic as well as a new destination of shopping in Johor Bahru City. Well, it is now.

Galleria @ Kotaraya has become a Lifestyle Mall targeting the middle market, suitable for since its rebranding in July 2012. It includes a Food Hall, Fashion for Ladies and Gizmo for men as well as IT and Gadgets. The retail mix consist as local as well as popular brands complimenting its new image.

Not only does the mall provide vibrant shopping experiences and pleasurable services, there is more Galleria@Kotaraya could offer with its feast for mouth- watering range of treats , it’s also imbues this experience with choice of events, performance and exhibits showcasing one of the best in Johor’s culture and arts.

We had our lunch there during we visited there. In the evening, we had an evening walk around the mall area. It is during Hari Raya Aidilfitri seasons, thus all the decorations are related to the joyful festivals.

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Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman 7 Aug 2013

Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman is the first glass Hindu temple in the world and the only one in Malaysia. Temple called “Glass” because it’s decorated with glass inside and outside. The temple looks really beautiful, especially on a sunny day with blue skies, when glass shines. I do not take much photos as during that time, there was an ongoing prayers going on, and a lot of Hindus flooded to the temple.

It had been told that it was started in 1922 as a humble shelter. 74 years later, in 1996, the temple was rebuilt and reopened. Few years later a chairman of this temple Guru Bhagawan Sittar got the inspiration to decorate temple with glass. Transformation of the Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman temple with glass fittings started in 2008 and was completed on January 3, 2009. Since 2009, it has become one of the major attractions in Johor Bahru.

Outside the temple, there was one row of small shops selling prayers items, fresh flowers, etc. We do not go into the temple, we shall go in next time if we come back in the future.

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