PLAYING TOURIST GUIDE WITH TWO TOURISTS FROM BRUNEI

   16TH JUNE 2023    ~ During my recent trip to Brunei, I made a new friend there. It was a long story and will tell you all about it later in my blog post in the near future. Mr. Zerol first messaged me, telling me that he and his friend would be arriving in Johor Bahru ion Friday morning, 16th June and that would be less than 24 hours. [They were here for work/business related matter actually] Being a seasoned tourist guide to my friends who came visiting, I was always ready to welcome my friend from Brunei with open arms. Guess what one could do in one day in Johor Bahru?

1. BREAKFAST AT SELERA JOHOR

After fetching Mr. Zerol and Mr. Muiz at Senai Airport, we went straight to Selera Johor Foodcourt to get breakfast Johor style. I guessed they were spoilt for choice and eventually settled for Mee Rebus Johor and I added a plate of Sate. I just hoped they liked the food chosen.

2. TAN SRI HASSAN YUNOS STADIUM

A.K.A LARKIN STADIUM

On the way to the hotel, we stopped at Stadium Larkin, one of the training grounds for JDT football team. This was not my first time to discover how Bruneians were fans of Johor football team. They managed to get a few merchandise items from the store there. And I took them to another [indoor] stadium for the JDT team at the city centre.

3. LEGOLAND MALAYSIA AND THE LOBBY OF LEGOLAND HOTEL

After the Friday prayer, my travel companion to Brunei, Mr. Solihin, joined the excursion. He drove us to Legoland and I think both visitors had been here before many years ago. Fortunately, I managed to talk to the person at the door of the Legoland Hotel to give us the permission to go the hotel lobby to have a look around the place. That would be my first time too to be inside the hotel.

4. PUTERI HARBOUR

The next place we brought the visitors was Puteri Harbour which was not far from Legoland. The only thing that we did was to take photos of the scenic marina late in the afternoon.

5. ASAM PEDAS KAMPUNG SUNGAI MELAYU

It was time for the early dinner and I specifically chose to go to the Sri Pantai Asam Pedas Restaurant located at Kampung Sungai Melayu. The best thing was that to see my guests enjoying the Johor dishes a lot.

6. SULTAN IBRAHIM STADIUM

A.K.A JDT STADIUM

This was the place my guests requested to be taken to. This was my second time taking other people from other place to this stadium. I had never known this landmark was popular among people outside Johor.

7. LAMAN MAHKOTA

The very last spot one had to go to when in Johor Bahru was The Crown at Laman Mahkota. This should also conclude my one day tour of the city with my two new friends from Brunei.

Too bad they would be meeting Mr. Muiz's friend the next day and would be flying to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday morning. It was just a short meeting and it was a memorable one for me, and hope for them too.

Parting is a sweet sorrow and I do hope we will be meeting again some other time in the future. It is always my pleasure to play tourist guide again if they make a return trip.

THE VERY FIRST TIME AT SEALIFE, LEGOLAND MALAYSIA

 

    26th MAY 2023    ~ Finally, I was there at Sealife Legoland. I always wanted to go there but there was just no one to ask to accompany me. When Mr. Zaman from Labuan came visiting, it was just the right time to get two tickets to see what Sealife had to offer.

It was a Friday afternoon, the very first day of the one week school break. Fortunately, the place was not crowded yet so we could spend more time there and taking photos was never a problem.

If you love to watch and learn marine lives, this should be the place to be. It was quite small though and the ticket price was RM89 for an adult.

I had no intention of taking my tourist to Legoland theme and water park. I hope he was happy to visit at least the Sealife. Taking photos outside the other two parks and the hotel should be memorable enough.

MEETING OLD FRIENDS AT/OUTSIDE LEGOLAND

Quite a number of my (old) friends and their family members had come to Johor Bahru to enjoy themselves at Legoland theme park. Today, another friend, Puan Azwan Shaiza Nizam and family were here and it was the best chance for us to meet up. She is an ex-coursemate from UPM TESL class of 1993. The very last time we met was in Melbourne in 2009, when she was studying there.

They actually wanted to visit me at home (who is recovering from my recent sickness) but there was a reason why the timing was not that right. They would have problem coming over as there was a big event going on at my neighbour's place tonight.

Thanks Puan Azwan and family for the brief time spent at Old Town White Coffee at the Mall of Medini. Hopefully you will come to Johor Bahru again some other time.