One of the main reason why we drove in to Malaysia on a Monday is because of the Pasar Malam (night market) located near KSL City Mall. The street behind Grand Paragon Hotel is cordoned off, lined with mobile vendors and it stretches all the way to the back of KSL.

Stalls are set up in the late afternoon (around 4pm) and through the night selling all kinds of assorted food and items! From live seafood, chicken to cooked food, kuehs and dessert! You will be over-whelmed with its variety and probably won't be able to catch this scene in Singapore.

Based on our previous experience, we learnt our lesson and went there with an empty stomach! Be prepared to squeeze your way through the crowd as it is a very popular spot! (Strollers are not advisable in the night market!)

We settled our dinner by munching our way through the various stalls! You simply cannot resist the temptation to try out some of the local food. Just the thought of it now still makes me drool.... The roasted duck and meat is not to be missed! Our favourite and a MUST-eat whenever we are there!

Fried carrot cake - eating it while it's still hot! You will probably guess which stall sells tastier carrot cake by looking at the number of people waiting for their food. :)

Another one of our favourite! Dou Hua (豆花) in brown sugar! Smooth, sweet and cheap!

We tried the Hong Kong Salt Baked Chicken but I didn't find it to my liking as it was too salty. :)

Freshly baked buns and assorted kuehs. The children's favourite!

Our desserts for the day - Yummy, delicious cakes!

Apart from the local delicacies, you can find clothing, toys, watches, utensils, shoes and live fishes. It looks like a combination of wet market and hawkers all gathering together along this street.

You can easily spend hours at this pasar malam to have a feel of the local culture and try out all kinds of food at a very economical price. It is a very interesting sight to see, especially the mobile vendors setting up their stalls just outside other people's home and none seems to be complaining. ^_^

Currently, the night market operates every Monday (near KSL City Mall). If you are touring or shopping around the area, it will be a great idea to drop by to feel the heat and taste the food!

29th Dec 2010 - It has been 5 years since we last visited the Ostrich farm in Desaru. (http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/2010/01/past-holiday-experiences-5-kota-tinggi.html). Our final trip for 2010 is driving up to the Ostrich farm again... but this time with Gladys who has never been to the farm before.

The ticket prices have increased by RM 4 from Adult - RM8, Child - RM4 to RM12 and RM 8 respectively. Opening hours is from 10am-6pm.

The environment is still pretty much the same as how I remembered it 5 years ago. Some of the ostriches roam around the farm freely and you can see the baby ostriches at various development stages.

Upon entering, there is a briefing by the farm attendent to learn more about the ostriches. Visitors can stand on the Ostrich egg and take a picture to witness that it can withstand the heavy weight of an adult without breaking.

For RM1 each, Denver & Gladys get to feed the Ostriches. As the Ostriches pulled the vegetables pretty hard during feeding, the kids tend to drop the feed on the ground. Nevermind, just pick it up and feed them again. :)

Gladys needing a little bit help from Daddy to complete her feeding task. :)

For RM 15, you can also enjoy an Ostrich Ride plus a photo taken and printed on a certificate to signify that you have ridden on an Ostrich. Haha :) The kiddos welcomed the challenge and sat on the Ostrich without giving much thoughts.

After all the knowledge sharing, feeding and riding sessions, we bought 2 sticks of Ostrich satays and a plate of Ostrich omelet from the Surf & Turf Restaurant (which is situated next to the farm). The taste wasn't as bad as I thought and there are also other selection of food from the menu.

We left the Ostrich farm and drove down to Ulu Tiram - Today's Mall. It is a fairly new "shopping" mall but alas there isn't many shops open at all.

The entire mall looks empty to me and there is a lot of parking space. The main attraction to visit Today's Mall is to go to the Tiram Indoor Water Park. It is the first indoor water themed park in Johor, decorated with paintings of sea animals, plants and there are water slides and a 26,000 sq ft pool area. We didn't enter the water park today but maybe next time when we are ready. :)

Tiram Indoor Water Park

LG 75, Lower Ground Floor , Today's Mall, Jalan Kota Tinggi
81800 Ulu Tiram , Johor.

Apart from the Indoor water park, there is also bumper cars, a mini jumping castle on the same floor. Unfortunately, the bumper cars ride may not be suitable for younger children as the speed and impact is too great them to control. Hubby got bumped onto his knee and Denver hit his front tooth which caused some bleeding.

Exploring around the complex, there is an arcade center, SUPERSTAR Cinema, a haunted house and Giant supermart. Today's mall looks like a simple leisure mall instead of a shopping complex. It would have been an attraction if more variety of shops are open that will bring the crowd in.

* Not to mention we can't even find many eating outlets within the Mall to fill our stomach. Awweeeee.. :(

We left Today's Mall shortly and headed on to AEON Tebrau City Shopping Centre which is just a few km ahead. This is definitely a more decent shopping mall with Jusco, cinema, fashion outlets, resturants etc.

We shopped around and bought some new shirts for the kids before driving back to Singapore in the evening. It is actually not a bad idea to just drive in for a day and enjoy the food, shopping and scenery in JB. :) (i.e. exclusive of the massive traffic jam you might experience at the causeway) ^_^

We had breakfast at a coffee shop (5mins walk from the hotel) which is where we strolled last night by the Melaka river. The other kuehs tasted ok but I find the Zhui Kueh (水粿) a bit too soft and bland. The sauce is also too salty for my liking. On the contrary, the wanton noodles is nice!

The rest of the day is spent shopping at Sutera Mall and KSL City. KSL City is a rather new shopping mall located in Johor Bahru City Centre whereas Sutera Mall is in Taman Sutera Utama. Comparing to both malls, I somehow prefer Sutera which has more to offer.

 Gladys vroom vroom on her bike at Sutera Mall.

The best attraction we experienced is the "Pasar Malam" outside KSL City. There is a LONG stretch of stalls along the road side. Definitely not the same you will find in Singapore. The Pasar Malam here is huge and you can find so much more! There are stalls selling leafy vegetables, raw pork, fresh fish, food stalls selling duck, beancurb, zi char, kuehs etc and non-food stalls selling shoes, clothing, accessories, toys and many more. The entire road is packed with people!

Lucky for us, we came here on the right time, right day as it is only open on Monday evening! We had 豆花 and it is so tasty cos they put black sugar which is sweeter. Hubby also bought some 烧肉 and we eat along the way.

We would probably have settled our dinner at the pasar malam if we did not plan to dine at "Restoran Ah Meng". :)

That ends our 2D1N trip to Melaka. :)