Grand Prince Hotel Garden (A hidden Gem to look within for a piece of zen)
A beautiful garden with plenty of photo worthy spots to enjoy the Sakura season. When nightfall, the music and lights makes the place come alive. A peaceful, zen space to be enjoyed by all. Well worth to check out!
Here are some other popular locations for Sakura Viewing!
This came up as a particular popular location to check out particularly for the night light up. Unfortunately our arrival was after the festival dates and there was no light up. Sakura trees do line the wide river bank and may not have as quaint a charm as Kyoto's famous Philosopher's walk but does have its own picturesque charm. Recommended to come during day time! Click here for ABBA location of Meguro River
New Thai Elephant 10% discount for aircrew (Closes 2130hrs)
Ordered On: 21March24
Large serving portions. Probably about 1/1/2 serving size depending on how big a eater you are.
(pictured) Roasted Duck Fried Rice USD14.75 - Bits of duck but could've used more meat. Crab Meat Fried Rice USD14.75 - Nice chunky crab meat in the rice. Pineapple Fried Rice USD14.50 - Juicy large chunks of pineapple. All fried rice was meh at best but they are very large portions and can feed a meal or meal and a half.
Reported pretty good especially their instant noodles with their millionaire bacon.
Ordered On: 22March24
Pricey and their Khim Chi Fried rice and Bulgougi Fried rice 22USD Each though large portioned but were a little on the wet side and lacked the distinct taste of a good fry. Not worth the asking price.
Their fried chicken were really good. Well fried and crispy with a random pick of chick drum or wing. The Sweet & Spicy and probably Soy&Garlic were the best picks and their accompanying pickles were well prepared too. For the price, too steep at 30USD for 12 pieces. Their bacon in their Korean style spicy tofu soup I felt over powered the dish completely.
Chicken have a thin crispy batter but are salty. Almost unpleasantly salty but goes well with their hot sauce which is more of a sweet chili sauce. Their biscuits are a little flat and loose out to the fluffier variety often had in Texas Chicken.
*Additional 25RM For Three chickens which will be fed by staff to the crocodiles.*
Meh. A large crocodile enclosure with loads of crocs. There's little write up of anything any lacking interactions with live crocs or even the sale of crocodile products. The 'tour' ends with a gift shop selling toys and you can purchase a picture of Croc world. Not worth the full detour up north to try Okid Kopitiam in Kota Tinggi.
You do get a nice view of the Johor River Bridge - Senai - Desaru at a distance.
A by the way attraction. Just temples to check out and explore. The kids were more interested in running amuck amongst the stones and construction debris.
Desaru Ostrich Farm 10am-6pm
Lays claims to be the largest Ostrich farm in Malaysia. That said the grounds aren't that big and considering the prices to pay to get in are quite steep.
* A short two round ride in the mini pen*
For the exposure and thrill of riding and ostrich at RM30/child limited to 25kg per pax with adjoining picture and certificate. The ostrich eggs are decently priced actually and worth getting.
Click here for ABBA location of Jomis Old Jetty Jomis Old Jetty Desaru is a popular tourist destination in Desaru
Malaysia. It is a historical jetty built in the 1960s by a local
fisherman named Jomi Bin Hasan. The jetty was used for fishing and as a
transport hub for goods and people.
Not worth the near off road driving to get there. The road in is muddy, water logged and loads of mosquitoes. The path down to the IG spot is not exactly accessible and requires some traversing. Not recommended. Click here for ABBA location of Jomis Old Jetty
Kota Tingi Firefly park (Night Time Only) Adult RM20, Child RM12
Advance booking is recommended. Timing are from 7.30pm, 8.30pm and 9.30pm slots.
ABBATips: - Try to book in advance. We almost didn't get on as the slots were already full. We were lucky enough to be on the standby list to get a ride on the first slot. - They do have fire crackers available on site. The pyros only come out after the first boat ride returns at 8.30pm which was another highlight for the night. Pyro goes mostly about RM30/pack with some at RM40 and RM50.
*Pyro only comes out for sale after the first boat ride comes back.*
Enjoy the boat ride. Its about 40mins ride and you get to see loads of magical Fireflys amongst the trees. Well worth the experience and stick around for your alacarte choice of fireworks or launch wish lanterns from RM70 and up.
ABBATip: Whatever you see, you just have to ask and you probably can get free reign of handling and playing with all the critters you see. Scales, fur and all. Amazing experience.
Most animals and even reptiles are free to touch and some feed. Ask and you shall receive. There's drinks on sites and other additional add-ons such as pony rides, fish spa and more. The other side attraction was ATV ride which was for about 25/30mins dependent on package.
*The Extreme road maybe a little bit too much for the young ones. It involved going through water and mud sections and can really dirty you up. The basic plan B was sufficient for the kids to ride along and enjoy the terrain.*
Great activity out which kept us engaged for a good half of the day. There's a drink stall on site serving coconut shakes and coconut juice as well as simple eats. Highly recommended and worth getting up close with animals. The last place which had such a close engagement with animals was in Osaka, Rockstar Reprtile Cafe.
We had originally planned Desaru Fruit Farm but touring the ground needed a package or ATV riding which we had already done. So we just got some local durian and made our way to Mid Valley Southkey mall for shopping lunch and eventually home. It took 1hour and a bit total from 1330hrs to reach home at 1440hrs.
