When in Jay Bee..

Ayisha and I just spent 2 weeks in my hometown, Johor Bahru. To those who doesn't know where is where in Malaysia, "You know Singapore right? Just next door." is my standard answer.

JB rocks! I am sure if Ayisha could remember the things that she did everytime we were there, she would've agreed with me.

It amazes me how when we arrived at my parents' home in Kempas (which by the way, is the coolest place in town yo and will be talked about in a different post) 2 weeks ago, Ayisha remembered which room was supposed to be our bedroom - next to Cik Limah's, my youngest sister and possibly her favorite aunty (will tell why later), where her toys are - upstairs in the storeroom, and where the fridge is - of course, where her lil mini magnet toys reside.

The house is no mansion but to a 2 year old, I thought she'd be confused with the many little set of stairs and doors that lead to mysterious & unoccupied rooms because only 1 of the 7 of us siblings still lives there. No lah, we don't have 7 bedrooms, we shared! But she didn't get lost and she knew where to find me - in the kitchen most of the time!

The last time we were here, Ayisha mastered the art of going upstairs all by herself. This trip, she mastered the going downstairs part unaided - wobbly and terrifying for me to watch, after she 'no mum!' me for trying to help. But she's got it!

Also, the last time we came back, she entertained the family - my parents, youngest sister Limah, my elder sister & family (they live 2 doors down), my cousin's family (they live next door) with dancing and moving to the nursery rhymes that I sang to her. This time, she sang and danced by herself and sometimes 'no, mum!' me again for helping her sing. Her favorites are Twinkle Twinkle, Buai Laju-laju (the swing song), Fruit Salad and Skip to My Lou.

She loves hassling Cik Limah and constantly on the lookout for cool cute things that she could 'sneak' into her room. She's very fond of her, too much I would say, that one night, while I was on the phone, she pointed her bottom to Cik Mah and directed her to the toilet. She made my youngest sister change her very poo-ey nappy!!!! The first time she ever asked someone to clean her (I have to force her everytime!), and probably the first time for my sister too, judging by the towel wrapped around her nose & mouth and her reluctant fingers cleaning Ayisha's bottom! Hence, the favorite aunty title :p

She also loves playing with her cousins - we'd sometime walk down to their place and play with their toys and almost every night my sister and my cousin would bring their kids to play with Ha while the girls gossiped or ate durian. :p

My father would come home almost every evening bearing goodies for me - durians & goreng pisang cicah kicap (banana fritters dipped with soy sauce) - only in JB ok!

Other things that I must have when I come home and managed to go to this time around:

1) Chicken Chop at IT Roo Cafe - the BEST chicken chop in town, rated the Number 1 thing to do in JB by Lonely Planet, enough said!

Well not really, I have more to say! :p My family has been a fan for ages. Going to Hwa Mui Restaurant (related to IT Roo, only few blocks away and exactly the SAME chicken chop) with my late grandmother was one of the best memories of my childhood with her. I LOVE it! If u go to either one of these restaurants, try their other local stuff. The noodles are pretty outstanding and their simple nasi goreng is simply the best! All the drinks are tasty - from the sirap bandung soda (of course mah!) to their fruit juices. Even the complimentary peanuts that they serve before the meal comes are deliciousooooo!!

I didn't take any pictures but you can see some here (that bakery the blogger talked about also sells THE BEST bread!)

2) Ice Kacang place, used to be at Tepian Tebrau, moved a few places and now it's opposite English College (EC) - JB is the only place that has chocolate syrup on this colorful yummoo shaved ice dessert. Don't you dare order any other drinks when you come here. Must have with tahu bakar (grilled tofu, not your typical vegetarian meal!), cakuey and kerang rebus (cockles) from the next stall and seafood yummies from the next stall to it - grilled fish, baby crab, fried pau with sambal lala (meleleh air liuuuuuuur). Check out some of these yummoos here. (The bread mentioned was those fried pau! Sooooooodap gila!)

3) Mee Rebus Hj Wahid - again, ONLY in JB. If you order Mee Rebus anywhere else outside Johor, it won't be the same, even if the menu says 'Mee Rebus Johor'. They have a few branches around JB now but the closest one to home is at a the food court in Angsana shopping mall. Have a look at how a bowl of Mee Rebus is prepared - the lovely ingredients so skillfully combined, with a quick dash of vinegar & soy sauce and topped with those crunchy bits that I do not know what they're called but just oh so wonderful! Check out the pics here, also at Angsana! ;)

4) Murtabak Johor (some say Singapore) - again, no other place do murtabaks like Johor! Bali's murtabak is slightly better than the KL ones, but none can even compare to the Johor ones!!! There's a few branches as well and they do normal ones for RM5 and special ones (extra eggs & meat) for RM8. They even have a CHEESE one now for RM10! I have a few packets of the special ones in the freezer right now to take back to Bali. Michael LOOOVES em! (pssst..Im getting sleeping, google the pics yourself lah okie doks )

5) Beef Kuey Tiaw at Sedap Corner - Sedap means yummy/tasty. So what do you expect? They do THE best beef kuey tiaw. The traditional kuihs are very tasty too. Bit expensive maybe but some bigger than normal size and waaaaaay yummier. The pulut panggang (shredded chicken in glutinous rice wrapped in coconut leaf) is just SO SO goooooood! I had four of those big and chunky servings of goodness and that's AFTER my beef kuey tiaw too! Again, ONLY in JB. I don't know why they don't have their branches anywhere else. They've been around forever and have a few branches in JB. I had mine at Angsana, again! :p

6) Kacang Pool at Bomba - a simple minced beef dish cooked with beans and topped with a sunny side up, eaten with a chunky toast with butter. Air liur meleleeeeeeh lagik!

This is me in a true blue Johorean mode. Food, food, food and there's plenty more yummy goodness around but the above are the ones that I managed to fit in on this trip.

We are in KL now at my sister's place and Ayisha is enjoying her playtime enormously with her cousins here. ie. forgot NAP time.

We're going back to Bali tomorrow to welcome Ramadan with my husband who can't wait to see for himself that Squeaky is NOT a teenager yet. And oh, we're bringing Jiddah (my mum) along!

Happy Ramadan and lots of blessings to all, Maaf Zahir Batin!