Lotus Desaru Resort at Desaru, Johor

Lotus Desaru Beach Resort (N1.56373 E104.24974) is located along the Desaru beach of Johor. With the new expressway from Ulu Tiram to Desaru, it's just about 30-40 minutes drive, especially it connected to the 'new' Johor Bahru East Cost Highway, really shortern the traveling time very much!

Me and my family had a 2 days 1 night weekend escape at the Lotus Desaru Resort. The check-in process was fast, we booked a One bedroom suite on non-peak season...the cost was RM180.00.

The block we stayed

All of us satisfied with the room. The photos below...
Once we stepped in, there's a living hall with the small pantry area and next to it was the washroom...

The One Bedroom suite

The Living hall, there's a small balcony attached

The small washroom

The King size bed is located on the Mezzanine floor attached with another bigger size bathroom...

The King Size bed on the mezzanine floor

The attached bathroom on the mezzanine floor

Nice view from the balcony of the Resort...

View from the balcony...another swimming pool just below

We settled everything in the room, and had a walk around the Resort, follow by some fun at the Water park during the evening...

The Activity centre or the Function hall is located at the back of the resort which is about 300 meter (shuttle provided non-stop till midnight) from the room we stayed. You can find all the sea sports or others activities around the area...even the event ballroom and restaurant is situated inside...

The activities centre of Lotus Desaru Resort

There are many activities in the building...like pool table, games and many more...beside that, the Gym room just next to the Olympic size swimming pool...

The pool tables and the games room

The Gym room which has a nice view to the pool...

The swimming pool at the activities centre...

Do take note with activities board in front of the building...you definitely can find a suitable activity for yourself! :)

The Activites board

There's a nice small green field and follow by the beach after the building...they had demolished the beer garden (kind of...) and will re-build for the Karaoke room (saw on the notice board).

The field, the demolished beer garden and the sea...

Many visitors gathered at the beach area and enjoy the sea sports!

The beach activites at Lotus Desaru Beach Resort

We hanged around the beach for a short while, then back to our room to had our nap...
My daughter was too excited to jump into the Water Park! :)

Our next activity...the Water Park!

The Water Park has a Long water slide tube from the start to the end which connected to the main pool...many visitors Like it very much and enjoy it non-stop! I like the 'short' underground session...

The Tube...

Entering the underground session...

The main pool...

The water current in the tube was quite strong and all of us drank gallons and gallons of water! Haha! It was Fun!

Beside the main pool, there's another popular area - the Huge Coconut! The big coconut is fill with water and splash down when it's Full! It was cooling and refeshing! Another Fun factor!

The Coconut splash!

If your children are too young to enjoy this, you can have a option at the playground which is on the water.

The children playground on water

Me and my family enjoyed the water park very much! We got back to our room after the sunset, then dinner time! My wife prepared a some simple foods and we really relaxly enjoyed the steamboat dinner at the balcony...

The 'Blue' moment taken from the balcony...

Once the dinner finished, the next program started...
Force ourself to had some exercise because of the overloaded dinner by walking to the activities centre again...

The street was well decorated with the lightings...

The crowd was quite surprised, children running around and peoples walking everywhere...with the music On! There's a shop selling some small toys where the children enjoy very much...I bought one for my daughter...

The entertainment at the field during night time...

While playing with the children, suddenly the children game satrted...announced by the Entertainment staffs. We like to watch the children happily participated in the game...!

Children game activity during night time...

Follow by the dancing session after the game...activities continued non-stop!

Everyone was started to dance with the music! Children and adults...

The 'Dance' finished almost 11pm (which was last for almost 2 hours) and my daughter still insisted to shake! :)

Our rest time was almost mignight...

Another view during mignight from the balcony

The buffet breakfast was served in the big hall on the next day morning...

The buffet breakfast

We had our 'Part 2' at the Water Park again before check out!

Well, it can be blissful enough for this short vacation at Desaru too! As for us, we had a Nice and unforgettable family outing at The Lotus Desaru Beach Resort!

The antique fire brigade at the front reception

Lotus Desaru Beach Resort

Lot 1854, Jalan Desaru
Bandar Penawar, 81930,
Kota Tinggi
Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia

Tel: +607-884 2800 ext. 1966
Fax: +607-884 2994
Email: rsvn@lotusdesaru.com

URL : http://lotusdesaru.com/

Location map of Lotus Desaru Resort, Johor.

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Siang Lin Muar Assam Fish Restaurant (祥林巴东亚叁鱼) at Sakeh, Muar.

The Siang Lin Restaurant (N2.05395 E102.58461) is located along Jalan Sakeh of Muar town. It was recommended by the owner of Restaurant KK at Rosmerah area of Taman Johor Jaya. Advise not to take the address and find the restaurant, because it has no street name...we spend almost 45 minutes to find the shop. Well, the best way is using GPS device and the restaurant is marked in Malfreemaps.

Restoran Siang Lin

The restaurant was crowded when we were there on the Saturday evening...waited for about 15 minutes for our table and waste no time! Order our favorite dishes immediately!
*  Same as Merlin Restaurant, we have to place the order at the kitchen.

The order :-
*  Assam Fish
*  The Dragon Tougue (dry type of fish)
*  Sambal Sotong (squid)
*  Steam Lala (clam)

The Muar Assam Fish

The Dragon Tougue (fish)

Sambal sotong

Steamed lala (clams) with chili padi

All the taste of the dishes were above average! Similar to the 2 restaurant I mentioned above - Merlin Restaurant and Restaurant KK.
The Assam fish was nice and tender, but the Assam soup was cooked to the perfect taste! I prefer the assam soup here than the other two...the sambal sotong was above average. Dragon tougue fish was normal, the clams was Nice! The taste was unique and hardly can find in Johor Bahru area...
The dinner was great and satisfied!

The Damage : About RM35 included drinks for 2 adults and 1 child. (Reasonable!)

It's worth for another visit! And it's one of the Assam Fish Restaurant you cannot miss if you are fans of Assam fish!

Restoran Siang Lin (祥林巴东亚叁鱼)
No. 251, Taman Sri Emas 4, 84000 Muar, Johor.
Tel. : 06-9510044
Business hours : Opens daily during lunch and dinner hours

Location map of Siang Lin Restaurant at Sakeh, Muar

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Restaurant Lan Jie (兰姐 - sister Lan) - Steamed Tilapia Fish at Jalan Balakong, Cheras - Kuala Lumpur.

Thanks to my friend - Michael who brought us to Balakong at Kuala Lumpur to tried out the Famous Steamed Tilapia (清蒸非洲鱼) from Lan Jie Restaurant (N3.03883 E101.76858). The restaurant is located along Jalan Kasturi 3, Plaza Kasturi, behind the main road - Jalan Balakong and you notice the restaurant if you just pass-by...

We reached the restaurant quite early and the place was empty...my friend ordered for us and we just sit back and wait...

The prices of the dishes serve by the restaurant was presented clearly on the wall...after about 20-30 minutes, the signature dish served - The Steamed Tilapia! (Each of us took one fish...)

The steamed Tilapia from Lan Jie Restaurant

The fish was topped with soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chili padi, you can request for extra spicy if you can take it. The taste was 'fresh' and nice!

Normally, the steam Tilapia will has some muddy taste but the restaurant cooked it to perfect until there was No muddy taste at all! That was awesome!

Beside the Tilapia, we also had the stir fried bitter gourd with eggs and vegetables. The dinner was Great!

Apologies that I did not take the photo before we eat...only remember halfway....

The Damage was around RM80 for 4 persons included drinks. Reasonable!  During that time, the restaurant was almost full...

This restaurant is their branches, they have another outlet at Kota Damansara and if I'm not mistaken, they started from Rawang...

If you pass-by Balakong area, do try it out! It's worth the visit. :)

Restaurant Lan Jie
10G & 12G, Jalan Kasturi 3,
Plaza Kasturi, Batu 11,
Jalan Balakong, 43200 Cheras, Selangor

Tel: 016 248 2009 / 012-366 2434 / 012 396 2953
Business hour : 11am-3pm, 6pm to 9.30pm

Location map of Lan Jie Restaurant at Jalan Balakong, Kuala Lumpur.

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O'Nine Lounge - Grill - Bistro at Plaza Sentosa, Johor Bahru.

O'Nine Lounge - Grill - Bistro (N1.49260 E103.76892) is located kind of 'on the air' in the middle of Plaza Sentosa (formally known as Lian Hoe Complex), Johor Bahru.
I was attracted by the structure as you can see it from the photo below...feel like a 'hanging' cafe in the air...another attraction of the Lounge is the Aquarium Bar, as far as I know, this is the 'First' Lounge in Johor Bahru with this decoration!

We had to thanks Groupon.my by giving us a opportunity to try out the food in the cafe. I bought 2 coupons and visited the place on one of the Saturday evening...

Before I show you the foods, let me show you around the cafe...

The O'Nine Lounge ~ Grill ~ Bistro at Plaza Sentosa

You be able to see the activities at the ground floor from the cafe...

The Aquarium Bar

And the fishes...don't expect big quantity of fish like normal aquarium...

Some fishes spotted in the aquarium...

The packages we purchased was served with the Starter choices of 'Calamari' or 'Chicken fajitas with nachos'. We took both of them...
The Main Course:-
*  Grilled Australian rib eye steak or
*  Pan-fried fresh Salmon or
*  Napolean style grilled lamb cutlet
I took the rib eye steak and my daughter had the Pan-fried Salmon...
The coupons also provided with free flow of Coke or Sprite soft drink and the 16% taxes included. It was a Good discount!

Chicken fajitas with nachos (Starter)

Calamari (Starter)

Grilled Australian rib eye steak (Main course)

Pan-fried fresh Salmon (Main course)

The environment was nice and unique! It was a total different experience dining in the air! Especially with the nice ventilation! They do serve beers, and you can start your 'Happy Hour' in the cafe during the hot sunny day! :)

The foods were just average...well, nothing to shout about if compare with those nice western food restaurant in Johor Bahru. But the environment is attractive, I will encourage my friends to visit at least once or having a small gathering in the cafe.

O'Nine Lounge ~ Grill ~ Bistro at Plaza Sentosa, 
Johor Bahru.

Lot 1 & 1A, Block B, Plaza Sentosa,
Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa
Johor Bahru, Johor 80150

Location map of O'Nine Lounge, Grill, Bistro at Plaza Sentosa, Johor Bahru

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Asia's First LEGOLAND open to public!

"Johor, 15 September 2012 – LEGOLAND® Malaysia opened its gates today to thousands of excited children and their families. The first international theme park in Malaysia has more than 40 rides, shows and attractions spread over 76 acres. Eager guests enjoyed a special performance by a marching brass band, flown in from the home of the original LEGOLAND Park in Denmark. Greeted by confetti and costume characters, guests entered the turnstiles for the first time.

LEGOLAND® Malaysia, the sixth LEGOLAND Park in the world, is an interactive and educational experience created for families with children between the ages of 2 and 12. For the LEGO® fan, the Park will be the ultimate LEGO “clubhouse.” Future plans are already in place for LEGOLAND Malaysia to be the largest family destination resort in Southeast Asia. A Water Park and Hotel are already under construction for opening in 2013 and 2014."

We were there around 8.30am and the area was packed.

The Main Entrance of LEGOLAND Malaysia

There were peoples from Media and also visitors who like to witness the 'Open' of the First LEGOLAND in Asia. The Management had prepared many entertainment shows for the opening in morning session...

There was a Magic show that I missed! Well, it's alright...at least I watch the Billund Marching Band from Denmark. The Band is form by a group of teenager and they performed very well!

The Billund Marching Band from Denmark

The entertainment show of the day...

The Big LEGO

The Big Dance from the staffs of LEGOLAND

Follow by the management staff from LEGOLAND...

And the General Manager from LEGOLAND...

After all the shows, all the visitiors were queue up to enter the Theme Park which open on 10am and the General Manager served the 'First' customer of the day!

The first kid who enter the LEGOLAND Malaysia...

For us, we continued to tour around the park and there were actually surprises waited for us...and the weather as usual...Hot and Humid!

First, the vehicles, ships and many many miniatures were moving automatically according to the program! That was really Awesome!

The Train Station of Johor Bahru. The train was moving...

Fortunately, I met one of the Blogger from Kuala Lumpur - Mr David (http://blog.malaysia-asia.my/) in Miniland...

David in action!

"In Miniland, children become giants among Asia’s best known cities, countries and landmarks, entirely made out of LEGO bricks on a scale of 1:20."

There were many Cloth Dryer boxes around the Adventure Land, if you get wet after the water ride, no worries...just step into the box and it will blow you up till you dry! But don't forget to fill the RM5 note. One of the Surprise! :)

The Cloth Dryer Boxes

Beside this, I saw a Symphony pool next to the Pizza Mania Restaurant. Nice music played by the instruments which built by LEGO bricks!

The Symphony pool

The Children Driving School which my daughter missed it on our last visit...

Our teammates can't hold themselves to ride on the Project X Roller Coaster again! They really young in heart and had their fun in the park! Haha!

The Project X Roller Coaster

We managed to watched the 4D show in the theater on this visit, it was Great and Total Different Experience of the 15 minutes show! Must watch! :)

Everyone is provide with the glasses and will return it after the show...

The 4D Theater in LEGOLAND Malaysia

With the snow, rain and wind goes along the 45 minutes 3D video clip, I said...it had the Thirll! :)

"LEGOLAND® Malaysia family theme park is owned by Themed Attractions and Resorts Sdn. Bhd. (TAR), Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) and Merlin Entertainments Group and is operated by Merlin Entertainments."

Too bad, we only be able to hold ourself till 4pm because of the weather and we miss the Fireworks on that evening!

Related post :
*  Sneak Preview of Legoland Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 1)
*  Sneak Preview of Legoland Malaysia at Iskandar Johor. (Part 2) 
*  Enjoy the Rides in LEGOLAND® Malaysia (Pt.1)
*  Enjoy the Rides and Fun in LEGOLAND Malaysia. (Pt. 2)
*  The Miniland (photos) in LEGOLAND Malaysia, Johor.

LEGOLAND® Malaysia

http://www.legoland.com.my

Location map of LEGOLAND Malaysia, Johor

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