Nictar Pineapple Park 旺梨屋

While landing our feet in Pekan Nanas, a Town in Pontian District, Johor Malaysia, visiting Pineapple Park is a must as the town is known for their pineapple plantation industry.

Nictar

For someone who live in a city all my life, visiting a plantation and travelling to rural places spark interest in me. The farm is not too big but interesting. 

Pineapple Ground

While it was after  heavy rain, the grass patches were quite wet.

Pond

The Big Pineapple

There are also some pineapples planted in the flower pot besides those in the field

Pineapple in the Pot

Pineapple Statue

Pineapples

Pond

They grow passion fruits and vanilla plants too. Its not often that we get to see the source of vanilla and its kind of educational to open our eyes and walk around the park. 

Vanilla Plant

Vanilla Pods

We spotted an old school bike parking near the side entrance of the place.

Bicyle Display

The partition is made up of planks and bamboos and aesthetically Nictar Pineapple Park looks very simple from far.

Part of the Park

Chilled glass bottles of pineapple juice are a must-have when you are there. There are no preservatives & additives. The sweetness of pineapple was manageable and it was not sour at all. Now they are selling Roselle drink in glass bottles too.

Pineapple Juice - RM 6.50 / Bottle

On top of enjoying the fresh juice from the real pineapple fruits, we enjoyed chewing down the sweet pineapple slices. It tastes refreshing and its juiciness were addictive. 

Cut Pineapple

Besides juice and fruit, you can bring back their freshly made pineapple tarts as a souvenir or even their pineapple jam, pineapple chilli sauce etc.

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple Tarts come in a box of 10 and each comes with individual packaging. As these Pineapple Tarts were made without preservatives, they can only be kept for at most a month. Each individual packaging comprises 3 rolls of buttery fragrant Pineapple Tarts. The fillings were perfectly wrapped in the yellow-golden roll.

Nictar Pineapple Tarts

These golden rolls were made of butter, flour, egg yolks and a little bit of icing sugar.

Pineapple Tarts

The traditional Vietnamese dripping Coffee is also available for those who needs to have caffeine from the beverages.

Vietnamese Coffee

Pineapple

Pineapple

They are also selling fresh pineapple fruit too.

Pineapple - RM 10 / Piece

While at this corner, you can see the hand drawn site map at the side of the picture.

Map of Nictar Pineapple Park

These ice cream is a perfect choice especially when the day is burning hot. These cups can be retrieve from the chiller and there is an assortment of Ice Cream flavours. We had the Pineapple Ice Cream. It was not too sweet.

Pineapple Ice Cream

We also ordered the Roselle Ice Cream, it was a mixture of sweetness as well as some soury portion.

Roselle Ice Cream

Overall, I love the humble furnishings and calm place like this. I'm quite glad that its not commercialized and still has a kind of kampung feel. Owners are friendly and hospitable too. 

Nictar Pineapple Park
Location: PTD 10822, Batu 24, 81500 Pekan Nanas, Johor, Malaysia

Lazy Monday HQ

With so many cafes around in JB (Johor Bahru), we can never stop our cravings and ourselves from visiting them. We visited Lazy Monday HQ as they are known for serving humongous burgers with cheese, fries and milkshakes. Not only that, their outdoor dining theme as well as their atmosphere is one of a kind.

Fast Food is Just Cross The Road

While passing by the kitchen area just in front of the outdoor settings, we could not resist ourselves from following the aroma that is lingering in the air. We followed the smell and noticed that the staff were busying preparing beef patties for their burgers.

Busy at Work

We were spotted while peeping into the kitchen and the spontaneous staff presented the master piece to us and let us have a look at it.

Friendly Staff from Lazy Monday HQ

There are a number of Alfresco Dining in Lazy Monday HQ. Diners can enjoy their meals outdoors by stepping on the gravel.

Alfresco Dining Area

They have a few counters outdoors and one of them is this Shisha corner.

White House Hookah

Here's another portion of the outdoor setting with 2 rows of Cactus on the walkway. There was no fancy decorations and the environment is simple, yet unique.

Dining Area

You Were Born Wild Child mum

Head over to this dining area that comes with Ceiling Fan and hanging lamp from a transparent roof,

Dining Area

Perhaps if you want more layback feel, you can head over to the sheltered area with glass tables and spacious chair on wooden decking.

Dining Area

As soon as we had finished exploring different parts of Lazy Monday HQ, our appetizers were served. We had a good start with the box of Sweet Chick of 12, including sweet wings and drummets well coated in Honey Garlic Lemon Flavor.

Sweet Chick

To our surprise, the burger set was served in the mass tin. 

Here's the Lazy Signature. It comprised of Beef patty, streaky beef strip, shoe string onion, caramelized onion, cheddar, sweet relish, lettuce, and tomato mixed flavored with their signature sauce as well as sriracha mayo.

Lazy Signature - RM 25.70

Following the Salted Egg Trend, we ordered the Crazy Salted Egg. The beef patty was juicy and stacked up with scrambled egg tossed with salted egg sauce, signature sauce, sweet relish, lettuce, tomato and spread with sriracha mayo.

Crazy Salted Egg - RM 29.70

The Beef Bacon is a slight deviance from the Lazy Signature. It has beef patty, streaky beef strip, shoe string onion, sunny side up egg, cheddar cheese, sweet pickles, signature sauce, smoke BBQ sauce, lettuce, tomato, sriracha mayo.

Beef Bacon - RM 25.90

The Cheese Lover will love this! The burger is made up of beef patty, combination of minced and normal beef patty accompanied by triple cheddar, extra mozzarella, caramelized onion, signature sauce, lettuce, tomato, sriracha mayo.

Classic Big Cheese

Enjoy a cup of hot Nutty Chocolate. It was a mixture of Belgian, Dark and Dairy Chocolate in roasted hazelnut syrup and milk while the Extreme Chocolate just contains 3 kinds of chocolate only.

The black cold brew was smooth and soothing while the White cold brew was good too.

Extreme Chocolate (C) RM 11.90, Black (C) RM 13, White (C) RM 14, Nutty Chocolate (H) RM 12.20

There is a minimum order for Satay. We had 10 pcs of Chicken Satay. The meat was well marinated and sweet in its smoky BBQ flavors.  These sticks were served with cucumber slices, cut onions, 2 pieces of rice cake and Satay Peanut sauce for dipping.

Chicken Satay  Single - RM 18.50

Dipping the Chicken Satay into the peanut sauce was heavenly. It was fragrant and we had enjoyed the crunchy peanut texture in the sauce.

Dipping the Satay

With their comfortable hospitality and friendly service, this will keep patrons coming back for more. Moreover, the entire place looked clean.

Lazy Monday HQ
Location: 71A, Jalan Abdul Samad 1, Sri Gelam, 80100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Baliban Braised Duck 八哩半卤鸭

It won't go wrong to visit Baliban Braised Duck if you are looking for Braised Duck in Johor Bahru. Baliban Braised Duck is a 3rd generation business where the braised duck is served including various parts of the ducks like wings, blood, as well as duck tongue since 1973. 

Baliban Braised Duck 八哩半卤鸭 

The ambience is rather unit to us for its locality was king of old school and a Kopitiam situated in a "kampong" area. For the outdoor settings, you can sit under the zinc roof of the leafy trees.

Big Old Tree

Owner Mr Quek who was busy at work was smiling away. He was sociable and since our first visit, he remembered us. Look at the amount of Braised Duck he is chopping.

Owner Mr Quek at Work

Baliban Braised Duck is popular among the locals and parking can be very tricky in that area. The dining area is airy and clean.

Our Lunch

With so much delicious food on the table, we cannot wait to dig in now!

Noodles Meal

The slices of duck meat were savoury and soaked up in its stock with no gaminess taste. Love its tenderness and the generous amount of Chinese parsley given. The braised duck was carefully deboned which make it easier for the diners.

Yummy Braised Duck

In no Time, the plate containing slices of delicious braised duck was emptied.

Braised Duck

Their signature braised duck lives up to their name and is simply worth the calories. 

Braised Duck

Braised flavors on the braised duck are noteworthy.

Topped with Chinese Parsley

The herbal pork trotters are one of the dishes that many patrons will order and its hard to resist. The pork was well braised and palatable in its sauce like their Signature Braised Duck and it's a good pairing to the bowl of fragrant white rice.

Braised Pork Trotters

If you have space for more food, do order their braised pig offals and eggs. They are yummy and well braised. 

Pig Offals

Side dishes like preserved vegetables can be a good pairing to the plates of braised meats. These preserved greens were sweet and has a good ratio of saltiness in it.

Preserved Vegetables

When it comes to braised items ordering, these Tau Kwa are good to have. 

Tau Kwa

Not forgetting the Tau Ki too. 

Tau Ki

For those who prefer noodles to rice, try ordering their Kway Teow in herbal soup. They are a good alternative too.

Kway Teow

It was a scrumptious meal indeed and Owner Mr Quek is very friendly. If you are a fan of braised duck, this place is highly recommended. 

Baliban Braised Duck 八哩半卤鸭 
Location: Malaysia, Johor, Johor Bahru, 6719409, MY JOHOR SKUDAI 1.5244786, 103邮政编码: 81300

Restoran Ko Zao Bi 古早味云吞面

After a good night's rest, we hurried to the nearest breakfast place in the morning before setting off and continuing our journey to Malacca. 

Restoran Ko Zao Bi 古早味云吞面

Having comfort food in the morning that warms up our stomach is definitely a good choice, moreover, the reviews of this eating place had kind of given us more confidence in their food. The servers were friendly and the service was great. Upon hearing that we are heading towards Malacca, they had cautioned us about some road blockages due to the flood.

Dining Environment

The menu was rather standard and plastered on the wall. They are selling Wantons and Dumplings with noodles. However, if you just want to order Wanton and Dumplings, they can be served fried or boiled.

The menu at a glance

The Dumplings were well-wrapped and the ingredients were fabulous. Generous and filled with shrimp, and meat as well as black fungus. There are 4 servings to choose from indicating the number of dumplings from 4, 6, 8 & 10 at RM 6.80, 10.20, 13.60 & 17 respectively.

Dumplings 水饺汤 - RM 17 （10 Pcs)

I had a small portion of Wanton Mee at RM 7 which comprises of a few Wantons and a small handful of lean Char Siew with some vegetables. Their Wanton Mee comes with a choice of Mee Pok, Mee Kia and Kway Teow. The Mee Pok is different from the version we had back in Singapore and tasted better without the "ki" ingredient.

Wanton Mee Small - RM 7

Unlike Singapore's version, we get to have them in black sauce. While here in Batu Pahat, they are done mostly with clear sauce with chilli as an option.

Wanton Mee Big - RM 8

Considering the portion, small to extra big, it seems like an increase in the portion of noodles instead of the ingredients. The wantons were small but flavourful with a familiar homely taste.

Wanton Mee  Extra Big - RM 9

In conclusion, compared to what we had eaten previously in Pontian before heading here (Batu Pahat), the noodle texture is definitely better and tastier here.

Restoran Ko Zao Bi 古早味云吞面
Location: 8, Jalan Setia Jaya 2/A, Taman Setia Jaya, 83000 Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia