A Weekend Trip to Johor Bahru

If you are living in Singapore, you most probably have made a weekend/day trip to our neighbouring country across the bridge. With the exchange rate being ~3MYR to 1SGD~, it's hard not to resist heading in for some cheap food, cheap shopping and cheap massage.

If you were one of them in the zombie apocalypse queues during the May Day weekend, I FEEL YOUR PAIN. The queue was terrible. We took almost 4.5 hrs just to get through customs into JB and had to wait to check into our hotel as well (decided to stay one night). We stayed at Grand Bluewave Hotel and they decided to upgrade us because I wasn't too happy that we were made to wait for so long just for the room.

The first night was spent bringing the JB virgin aka my bf, around City Square mall and catching Guardians of the Galaxy which i thoroughly enjoyed! We had dinner at Hiang Kee and ordered 5 dishes in total, which was obviously too much food for 2 people. The bill came up to $10/pax and I almost forgot how cheap food is in JB. It's kind of magical lol.

Restoran Hiang Kee / Siang Kee

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau, 80050 Johor Bahru

Hours // 1130am - 2am

We went cafe hopping the next day and the first stop was at Flowers in the Window. It's a really pretty cafe that is obviously as its name suggests, adorned with flowers. I would suggest to take a seat upstairs so that you can entertain yourself by spying on the baristas downstairs working their magic. I take great pleasure in watching my coffee being prepped. 

 Go for their Pan Fried Salmon with Cous-cous Superfood Salad and their Cauliflower Super Breakfast that comes with a hearty portion of roasted cauliflowers, scrambled eggs, turkey ham, spinach and grilled brie. Delish! We also ordered the Watermelon Juice that came with actual watermelon cubes, basil, lime and EDIBLE FLOWERS. So hipster, I know - but you can't say you don't love having actual flowers in your dish because they look too pretty to resist.

Flowers in the Window

9 Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 JB

Hours // 10am - 9pm; Everyday

Hopped over to Bev C Cafe thereafter for a refreshing milk on espresso cubes drink which I've been wanting to try. We also shared a chocolate tart which didn't sit well on my palette somehow. Otherwise, it was a nice cafe to sit and chill the day away. They also sell apparels on the first level for those of you who are interested.

Bev C

54 Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 JB

Hours // Sun - Thu 12pm - 8pm ; Fri - Sat 12pm - 10pm

JB is a great place for Singaporeans to head to if you can tolerate the queue clearing the customs. You can choose to either drive in or take a bus in. I would suggest to head in on a weekday morning so that you do not have to squeeze in with a large crowd of people. Definitely go cafe hopping and Zi Char just because it is great value for your money. For massage, I would highly recommend JB Thai Spa because it is cheap and good.

Till the next JB getaway!

Xo,
Amelia