[REVIEW] Fraser Residence Nankai, Osaka

Woah... dusting the cobwebs off my online blog! Excited to want to share on our Osaka, Japan trip! Which many Singaporeans visited during the recent June holiday.

First off, sharing our accommodation where we spent 3 nights in. We booked Fraser Residence Nankai, Osaka. Equivalent to a well furnished apartment, it's great for families. We took the Nakin Kansai Rapid express from Kansai airport to the residence. The train departs every hourly, and it takes about 40 mins to reach Namba. This greatly simplifies our logistics from Kansai airport, which is only a 3 minutes walk from Namba Station.

We booked the one bedroom executive that comes with two super singles, a sofa converted bed, and  separate living, dining area. Besides a kitchenette and there's also a 2 in 1 washing machine, which allowed us to pack light on clothes. Other little perks include a coffee machine and humidifier. The kitchenette is well equipped with items needed to cook meals, if you are planning to. With a kitchenette, it simply means there's a sink out of the toilet which is extremely useful if someone's using the bathroom. Toiletries are fully furnished, if you require more, you may get them at the reception, lobby. There's an iron and ironing board as well. Wi-Fi works extremely well, and there's Netflix too! Which gave me some pleasure catching up on my Korean drama. 

 

Bedroom with 2 super singles

 

Living area with sofa converted bed

Living area

Toilet

 

Location wise, it's extremely convenient with Ippudo opposite, 551 Horai to the right and MacDonald's just diagonal. A 10 minutes walk to Dontonbori. We did 2 breakfast days at its restaurant, Namba Ribbon. Food variety isn't wide, but good enough choices of Japanese and Western cuisines. 

Highly recommend this accommodation for its room size and location. Even though the hotel was fully occupied during our period of visit, we could barely hear any noise coming from other rooms. Was a nice and quiet stay we had. 

 Not sponsored.

Shopping malls in JB

A continued update on our trip to JB last holiday... totally forgotten about this sitting in my draft.

We visited Komtar and City Square Mall since there are next door neighbors, and a 10 minutes walk from our Double Tree hotel. 

I find these malls very much typical and nothing fancy on apparels or any much cheaper than shopping in local. Same brands at almost the same prices.

There is an Angry Bird activity park in KOMTAR, but we skipped it. We overlooked their fixed weekend sessions timing and turned up at an odd hour of 4pm. Which left us for an hour of play till 5pm, before they closed an hour for the next session to begin. While tickets are valid for the whole day, we had a dinner appointment to attend to. Their Friday to Sunday, PH and school holiday operational sessions timing are:

10am to 1pm

2pm to 5pm and 

6pm to 10pm

City Square Mall JB 

We prefer City Square Mall than Komtar. There were better vibes and seemed more lively here. It was not too long at Komtar before we walked over to City Square Mall. We visited and bought some books from Popular book store, not any cheaper for English books, but Chinese books were definitely competitively priced. Our local membership card can be used here too. Do bring along!

At Popular

Another great place to visit for value would be the arcade. Arcade games and kiddy rides are lowly priced here! You don't really feel the pinch for playing bad at it.

Spot claw machines

Molly Fantasy

And of course, food! If you know how pricey DC Super Heroes cafe is at MBS, you will fall in love with the one here. So much more affordable! We didn't try, so we can't vouch for its taste. As long as it excites the superhero child fan, anything else doesn't matter.

Looking eager to enter

Cheap!

Cheaper!

We will have to give this a try if we ever come back!

Instead, we had some drinks and snacks over at 许留山（Hui Lau Shan), which was surprisingly good! The curry platter we ordered was very yummy! A close enough taste to the curry fish balls in Hong Kong.

Tasting dessert sampler

It was more of a gastronomic trip than shopping for us.



R and F Mall

The newest and closest mall to our causeway! It is huge, but retail spaces are not fully taken up. Even though retail occupants were not filled, we spent quite some time within the mall. The shops are a mixed of outdoor and indoor front.

The kids went on an indoor playground adventure at Kiddomo Discovery, my parents did massage and my man did a haircut.

Outdoor shops

 

We shared about Kiddomo some weeks ago. Glad to have a chance for visit this trip. Here's a quick share of the playground within.

Baby gym for below 3 years old

Cycling fun

Quiet play

Searching for play toys

Love this place for parents and kids to chill out. Lots of seats and power points for the hanging around parents. 

Rest and relax

Netting fun

Game Slide

Show case his singing

Performing station

Power Ride station

It is largely a mix of both digital and structured innovative play land for the today's kids. The place is huge with ample space for the kids to run and explore. It is rather cold in there too. Bring a jacket along for play.

The kids had much within, especially the boys. Jare really liked playing with the digital games, while Juboy enjoyed much with the net structure and toys. Jazz was probably a little too mature for these, but she still had fun expending her energy.

There were tables, benches and a little kitchen for pretend play, but no food or kitchen pots and pans for pretend play. I thought it will be good to add more toys to their shelves for kids who choose to do quiet play. 

There is also a cafe with the premise, so coffee perk for parents and food perk for the tummies. 

Continued... 

Going back to the mall... The Alley bubble tea is found there. And we love that it is a store space with seats within to enjoy your drinks. 

Indoor seating available

We also had lunch at Matang Seafood ( 马登海鲜鱼粥), which was very good! It's prawn seafood porridge was delicious and very much to the liking of our taste buds. It was a delightful treat and surprise find in the mall. 

Prawn porridge

Another delicious discovery we spotted was Potato Cheese. Hailed from Taiwan, and we were glad to have tried it! It was a great tasting combination of cheese and potato with their various flavours. A must try!

Waiting for our order

Potato Cheese

 

A really yummy treat! I can't find its store unit number on the directory. If memory doesn't fail me, it's on the same level as Snacks Boy (next share). Sharing all shop units at the end of this post.

Last of all, we shopped for lots of tidbits at Snacks Boy. A huge store of snacks variety, with some available in Singapore too. So not all snacks are that cheap after all. We went for their local snacks instead and bought some olden time toys like tamagochi and brick game for play. Always nice to spot some flashbacks. 

Snacks bring on happy faces

Great place to stock up on snacks

And if you want to spend less in here, visit this store after a filled lunch or dinner. Research has proven that groceries or food shopping with a hungry tummy prompts you to put more stuff into your shopping cart. Important tip for note. 

R and F mall is a great mall for food and some shopping. Just that most retail spaces are not up and operating yet.

R and F Mall

Address: Tanjung Puteri, 80300 Johor Bahru, Johor

Operating hours: 10am to 10pm

Kiddomo: Lot : 1-086b

The Alley: Lot : G-153 -154

Matang Seafood: Lot : G-148 - 149

Snacks Boy: Lot : 2-097 - 100

JB Food - All in a day!

During the June holiday last month, we drove nearby to Johor Bahru for 3 days of fun. We stayed 2 nights at Double Tree by Hilton. 

Our drive and hard work of setting off early allowed us to beat the jam and arrive early in JB for breakfast. Here's sharing our food adventure in JB.

If you arrive early like 8 am, hunting for food may be a challenge. Malls are definitely not open. Here is one we set our taste bud on that early morning we arrived. If you like Foo Chow rice wine mee sua with chicken, which is one vanishing or hard to find dish in our local scene, you may want to give this a try. 

1. Restoran Lima Ratus

Foo Chow red wine chicken mee sua

Foo Chow rice wine mee sua is our love! And I like anything claypot, it keeps food hot for some time while savouring it. Good for busy Mamas juggling toddlers and food at the same time. I don't have to come back to cold food. 

This claypot of goodness is thick in its soup. I guess the sticky texture of mee sua must have been part of it. It is not too bad tasting and our kids love it a lot! I like how it tastes except that the broth could have been more flowing.

More famously of what the stall sells would be wantan mee. We ordered and fell in love the texture of its noodles. Feels somewhat like a perfect al dente if I were to relate to to pasta. Ask for less chilli if you are not a fan, they go easy with their chilli. It has good traditional coffee too!

Wantan Mee

Restoran Lima Ratus
Address:
4, Jalan Undan 18, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru 
Opening Hours: 
7:00am to 3:00pm (Closed on Wednesdays)


After food was food again!


2. Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory 

This is a must for banana cake fans, Hiap Joo Bakery! Queue was already snaking up when we arrived at about 12:30 pm. The queue may be long, but it moves fast. I got my buy within 10 minutes. Other than their banana cake, you do have to try their coconut buns. 

Their buns and cakes are traditionally baked with a traditional taste. Really soft and fragrant!

Queue

If you intend to buy 20 big boxes and above, you may pre-oder at 07-223 1703, with pick up time between 2 to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. There is no pre-order for buns. So says their sign on shop front. 

Pre-order available

Zooming out the details. According to this notice on their shop front, Banana cake is available:

Monday: 12pm to 5pm

Tuesday to Saturday: 7:30am to 5pm

Sunday: 8:30am till while stock last

Though this is their published timing on shop, I read around that banana cakes are not be ready for sale super early. A good timing will be 12 noon onward. I was there on a Friday at about 12:30pm, managed to get coconut buns and 2 big boxes of banana cake. 

Big box is at 10 pieces (RM10) and small box at 5 pieces (RM5).

Not accurately updated on price and timing

Banana cake is sold fresh and warm upon buying. To manage expectation a little, the first slice was not impressive. It tastes good, soft, fluffy and not overly sweet, but it did feel like it can be easily replicated with any good recipe. It was until we sat the cake overnight in our hotel room and had it the next day, that it tasted awesome! Not that we were overly hungry, but somehow like the science of how fresh warm cakes need time for flavours to sink in. It was then that we felt like going back to get more. Though it was near our hotel, parking is a big challenge in that busy street. We gave up that thought. Walking 20 minutes under the unforgiving weather was not our kind of option too. 

Tastes better the next day

And the kids really love this cake too!

Interestingly, the street in front of these shops are converted to a night market after sunset.

Bazar Karat

Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory

Address: 

13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening hours
Mon to Sat: 7.30am – 5.30pm
Sun: 8.30am – 12pm

3. Restoran Kin Hua

Since there were so many eateries and cafes around Hiap Joo. It was more food hunt for us. If you are a fan of nasi pandang, you have to try the stall directly opposite Hiap Joo. In Malaysia, Restoran is not the restaurant you had imagine it to be. Kin Hua is a traditional coffeeshop. It sells irresistible nasi pandang and breakfast meals like kaya toasts, eggs and coffee/tea. We hear their coffee is good, but I needed coke from the afternoon heat. 

It was lunch for us after getting those banana cakes, and we conveniently settled with nasi pandang. Visiting at about 1245pm, most dishes were already selling out. Do be early for more yummy options.

The must order dishes we had are Assam fish and mutton curry. They were so good! Assam gravy is yummy along with its fresh fish, and mutton is soft and tender for chew. The other dishes we ordered were chicken curry and bean curd, which were not too bad as well. 

Nasi padang

Our dishes for share

One glace, you can tell these are not child friendly food. We had an excuse to explore more food since the dishes we ordered were not to the kids' appetite.

Restoran Kin Hua

Address:

8 Jalan Trus, 80000 Johor Bahru

Opening Hours: 
7am to 2pm (Nasi Panding ready at about 11am)


4. IT Roo Cafe

Not too far away from Kin Hua, we food trailed into It Roo cafe. Slightly of a comfort in here because it is air conditioned. On the outside, it read "The Best chicken chop in town". Since it was calling out loud to make our calories count, we entered.

Having a tummy filled with nasi pandang we previously ate, I ordered 2 chicken chops (RM16 each) for the kids to share. One golden fried chicken chop and another grilled chicken chop. Between the two, I have a stronger liking for the golden fried one. Mushroom sauce for grilled chicken chop was good, but somehow the chicken revealed obviously that it was frozen thawed. It was tough to chew and not quite to my liking. 

Menu

Grilled chicken chop

Go for the golden fried one instead! 

It Roo Cafe

Address:

17, Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Opening hours: 
10am to 9:30pm

5. TANBA Japanese BBQ

I love Japanese BBQ, and especially one that serves cow tongue is my selection criteria. I am just another crazy (not rich) Asian that eats any part of an animal. Not that we don't get this in Singapore, but that eating in Malaysia gives my wallet a better value. We were on a buffet of RM98++ per adult that Friday evening we stepped in. That is about SGD35! Good food range, great ambience and great tasting. Not an easy find in SG for that price.

And the best part of Tanba is that it offers charcoal for grilling of our food.

Tanba offers a great variety of food, from raw to cooked food items. Beef in the buffet menu was not its best range. The premium beef and food items require a different top up. Which of course, we worked with what our buffet offers, any food that fills the tummy is just food. Fill it with the better tasting ones from the buffet menu.  

We had numerous servings of shashimi, beef tongue and prawns. There were vegetable options like butter brocolli and spinach as well as sushi and fried fish skin which can delight the kids. Quite a good range of choices I must say.

Charcoal grilled

Sashimi

Beef galore

Only down side was that orders were often held up, not served or wrongly served to us. With patience, we managed to get them sorted. Within this same premise, they offer Mala steamboat too. Your crave can help you decide which to go for.

Parking is available outside the restaurant at a low fee. There are 2 outlets in JB, but we went the one nearest to our hotel, which is twin galaxy.

Tanba 

Outlets Address:

OUTLET 1: Twin Galaxy, Jalan Dato' Abdullah Tahir, Johor Bahru

OUTLET 2:

31, Jalan Molek 3/20, Taman Molek, Johor Bahru

Buffet Pricing 

Monday - Friday

Lunch : RM78++ (12pm - 5pm)

Dinner: RM98++ (5pm - 11pm)

Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday

Lunch : RM88++ (12pm - 5pm)

Dinner: RM98++ (5pm - 11pm)

Children

Below 5 years old - FREE

6 to 12 years old - Half Price

Elderly

60 years old and above - 10% Discount

Opening hours:
12pm to 11:30pm

When it comes to shopping, we can shop endlessly till money do us apart. When it comes to eating, there is an end to how much our bellies can take. All these in a day, and we had more than enough! We even had hi tea in the hotel before dinner this day. Can't believe we could actually trail and explore this much.

Double Tree By Hilton JB [Review]

We were planning a long vacation this year end, so we decided to save up and not jet anywhere this June holiday. Instead, we took a car ride nearby to Johor Bahru (JB) for some weekend fun. 

We stayed two nights at Double Tree by Hilton. A 15 minute (3km) walk from JB Sentral train station if you are coming by train, and a 10 minute (7km) drive from the causeway. It is strategically located near City Square Mall and KOMTAR JBCC shopping mall, where Angry bird activity park is. Both malls are next to each other, and it takes only about a 10 minute walk from Double Tree. If massage is your kind of relaxation, there are a few Thai massage shops just across the hotel. I missed getting my muscles soothed on this trip, too engrossed in Motherly duties and family bonding I guess.

The hotel's check in time was 3pm, but we left home at 6am. All in the honour of causeway jam. Leaving wee early means less chance of snaking car jam. Proven to be true, it took us 1.5hours to arrive at our breakfast venue in JB. Not too bad on getting sleepy kids loaded into the car this early. How we decide to spend time idling after breakfast will be another story to tell.

We need another trunki!

We had a King Guest room which comes with a king bed good enough to fit our family of 5 petites. If you need additional roll in bed, do request early as they run out pretty fast. Bathroom is with a standing shower of open/close concept. For the no romance guests, there is a blind that you can bring down for privacy. Toiletries are also well provided.

Wi-Fi is free upon the signing up as Hilton Honors member. A great deal if you travel often and stay widely in their arms of hotels. It allows you to accumulate points that will reward you with free hotel nights and premium merchandise.

Spacious room size

Work desk

From bathroom view

Sparkling clean bathroom

It is always nice to be walking into a spacious hotel room that warmly embraces our welcome and shouts comfort. We were also given their signature cookies upon checking into the hotel. These cookies were warm and best enjoyed at that very moment.

Cookie monster!

Our car was also safely parked and guarded in the hotel's basement carpark. Parking is Free. Do remember to validate your parking at the concierge each time you drive out.

AXIS LOUNGE
Since there was no agenda for our trip, other than to take time slow and enjoy some family time, we spent more time in the hotel than venturing outdoor. We had most of our meals heartily settled within the hotel, including hi-tea! My first experience of doing hi tea with 3 kids in tow. You guessed it, I spent more time mediating squabbles and trying to get a toddler sit still than savouring the sweets and pastries.

Mood to relax

Hi-tea set for two

It was however a wonderful welcome and relaxing moment of doing hi-tea, and sipping our favourite tea centrally at the hotel's nicely embellished lobby, Axis Lounge. A great option for tummies that are starting to feel hungry from digested lunch. This hi-tea set for two is customized to its theme of Mint Tango with hint of mint and mango. As the name suggests.

Alternatively, the food store located at lobby offers some small bites and drinks for dine in or takeaway.

Mint Tango menu till 30 June 2019
Price: RM 58 per set (For two pax) 

Convert it to SGD, you do know where is a better valued place to do tea with great ambience.

TOSCA ITALIAN TRATTORIA
A great place to lunch if you are staying within the hotel will be at Tosca Italian Trattoria. Located on the same level as the pool, 13th level, Tosca is an alfresco dining venue that gives you good view to the pool area and surrounding scenery. We had lunch there, and the kids had a great time making their own pizza! Okay, more of topping off their pizza as the crust was ready made. And I very much love the after bake of this crispy pizza crust.

Kids's most loved area with cartoon

Pizza making

Pizza making is available every Saturday along with the all you can eat Italian buffet. Buffet spread includes salad bar, pizzas, pasta live station and dessert. We enjoyed our lunch here very much, perhaps because it was way less crowded than meal time over at the lobby, Makan Kitchen. It is also more child friendly here, Juboy did some colouring and the 2 older kids were calmly glued to the television that was playing Spongebob Squarepants. These kids tried their luck asking for a table with the best TV screen view, and they got it.

I am just happy, it was a peaceful meal. 

Live pasta station

Off to the stove! Pizzas I meant.

Awaiting...

Yummy pizza!

Aglio Olio

Always their favourite corner

The kids had so much fun topping off pizza, eating and watching cartoon in here! Watch as you eat is a thing they can only enjoy out of home. And perhaps, on vacation.

Buffet at Tosca

Price

Adult: RM52 Nett 

Child: RM26 Nett

Considering the price and offer, it is a very yummy deal!

MAKAN KITCHEN

We did breakfast and dinner at the hotel's lobby, Makan Kitchen. Breakfast includes a vast array of western and Asian items, as well as beverages like tea tarik and fresh juice. It is hard to not find something you like. Weekend dinner is theme to seafood night along with Malay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan dishes. On top of these delicacies, there were live cooking stations and cold seafood including sashimi! Oysters were up for serve too, but they were somehow not as good as we thought. Jare who is the hardcore oyster lover in our family stopped at one. Cold prawns and Assam stingray were popular among us that night. 

Different sections of food variety

Snapshots of Breakfast

Snapshots of Dinner

Dessert was of course everyone's favourite! An extensive range of cakes, ice cream, sweets and macrons. I had to whisper to the server to scoop less portion of ice cream for the kids. There was just too much sugar around for those little hands. For the uncontrollable dessert eaters, remember to bring your sports attire to work out those calories at the 24 hours fitness centre. Sleep without guilt. 

If food variety and diversity is your kind of meal perk, Makan kitchen will be an ideal venue to settle your meals. It was however rather crowded during the weekend we were in. That too, highly depends on the occupancy rate during the period of your stay.

Seafood fiesta night is only available on weekends. Every Friday and Saturday.

OUTDOOR POOL

If it is summer in the country we are in, there has to be pool time accorded for the kids. I think it is only fair we ask the kids what they had like to do when we plan holiday travel. Pool time is always what they ask for.

The outdoor pool area has both adults and kids paddling pool, which Juboy could comfortably stand and play in. Always keep close eyes on your kids when they are near or in the water. Pool towels are available for use and lots of pool benches are laid out for your relaxation too. We also brought along the robes in the hotel room for after play. The robes were promptly changed to new sets upon the making up of our room.

Kids pool behind

Pool benches

Joy of pool time!

I had always try to get myself into the pool with the kids because it simply means playing together! It creates a different kind of memory as to just sitting aside to watch them play.

STEAM ROOM AND JACUZZI

Located also on the 13th level with the pool and fitness centre, there are the steam room and Jacuzzi in both the female and male toilets. The daughter and I went for some bonding moments in there. It had been such a long time since I last did a sauna. The after feel of steaming perspiration out of my skin was refreshing. Felt like it was a good workout even though I was simply doing nothing but sitting to steam. And of course, being the daughter's first experience, she was in and out the steam room several times. Only possible when there is no one else sharing the room. 

Lockers, showers, towels and hair dryer are available for use in here. I reckon these will be perfect for hotel guests to freshen up while waiting for check in. No access key or assigned room is needed at this level.

In for some Mother and Daughter moments

The flooring in the Jacuzzi area may be a little slippery. Some parts had anti slip mats on, but if not, do be extra careful when walking up and down the steps of the Jacuzzi area. 

This is also where our eyes were treated to a panoramic view of JB.

Trained the daughter to do photography

Maximising the hotel's amenities makes you feel like you made your money worth isn't it?

Our 2 nights stay with Double Tree by Hilton in Johor Bahru was more than just pleasant. Our bellies were always overly full. The hotel has a strategic location and most importantly its hospitality made us felt comfortable and safe throughout our stay.
 

We'll be back!

And yes, we did venture outdoor, for shopping, play and more food. Stay tune for the next installment post! 

Disclaimer: Sponsored post