Restoran Terapung Bujang Firefly | Johor

When we are in Desaru, we visited one of night attraction which is the firefly tour. The firefly tour start at 8pm. Instead of having our dinner at the hotel, we straight took at 20 mins drive from our hotel to the place. At the same area, there is a restaurant named Terapung Bujang Firefly that served decent Chinese style food. It is a halal restaurant operated by Malay owner. We actually had our dinner there before we took the boat out to see firefly.

Restoran Terapung means Floating Restaurant which exactly reflected where the restaurant is located.

There are plenty of seats available in the restaurant, simple wooden floor above the water. They also provide accommodation at the area where you can stay a night here.

Their menu comes in package of 2,3,4,5,7 and 10 pax. No ala carte provided. Therefore, you will need to order based on number of pax and each comes with a,b,c and d choice with different pricing. Visit here for their full pricing. I choose the 2 pax package that cost RM 65 with:

Jus Oren/ Orange Juice

Nasi Putih/ Rice

Tomyam campur/ TomYam Seafood Soup

Kangkung belacan/ Vegetable

Siakap Tiga Rasa/ Fried Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Sotong goreng tepung/ Deep Fried Calamari

Telur Dadar/ Fried Omelette

I actually change the Tom Yam Soup to Non Spicy Clear Soup. The taste of their food surprisingly quite good. The portion of the dishes are enough to cater for 4 pax, however we have no choice as we have to order the package based on the number of pax we have even though we are small eater. That is the low side of this place.

After our dinner, we bought the ticket RM 20 from the cashier for the firefly tour. Here is the boat where you board on for the firefly tour. The tour took around 30 mins. It actually quite dangerous as you will be given normal plastic chairs to sit on inside the boat. Life jacket are not given to us to wear when departing instead it were kept on the roof.

One of the staff actually managed to capture one firefly and pass to my hand. It looks so small and bright. The place is so dark, we can hardly capture it with our camera without flash.

Although the place doesn't turn out to our expectation, however it is still a nice tour we have in Desaru. It is a great pleasure to be able to see those bright little fireflies near the river banks. I still remember I used to watch those fireflies outside my garden during childhood time, but now it all gone.

Ostrich Farm @ Desaru Johor

We visited Johor Ostrich farm last year end when we had a holiday in Desaru beach. Since there wasn't many places to explore, we decided to take a drive to one of the attractions in Desaru -- the Ostrich farm. It took us around 25 minutes drive from Pulai Desaru.

Here we are at the Ostrich farm. All the ostriches were kept behind the house, a big empty space. They even have a small stall beside the farm to serve food from ostrich meat and egg. 

Entrance fee for adult is RM 15 and RM 10 for children. You will need to pay at the counter before they lead you into the farm.

The entrance to the farm is behind these houses. It is a family run business where we were warmly greeted by the family members during our trip.

Once we are in the farm, there is a guide to bring us through the ostrich breeding and feeding process. Ostriches are separated into different areas based on their age. This is to ensure those bigger brothers & sisters don't bully the smaller ones. Genders of the ostriches can't be identified until their are mature, it is differentiated based on their feathers. Males will have beautiful black feathers while females will have greyish feathers.

Ostrich's egg shells is so thick that each egg is able to withstand 100kg of weight. To break the egg, a driller is required to slowly open it. See how tough the egg can be!

I'm standing on the eggs! >.<

Lifespan of an Ostrich is around 30-40 years. The oldest Ostrich in the farm is around 40 years old! Female ostriches will lose their feathers a little at a time once they lay their eggs but it will grow back after that. 

This is the most special and rare Ostrich in the whole farm, only 1 out of 300 can be found. This ostrich come in both sexes, it has the look of a male ostrich but female organs. It is tame and love to pose especially in front of the camera. Therefore it is the only one that is allowed to walk freely in the farm.

See how it pose in front of the camera! The diva! 

After the tour, we were led to the souvenir shop. You can now bring home an ostrich egg shell lamp as a souvenir! They also sell bags, shoes, wallets and oil made from the Ostrich's skin and meat.

Before we leave, we tried out the ostrich satay and omelette that was highly recommended by the guide. We were surprised that ostrich meat can be made into so many different food like ostrich bah kuh teh, burger, steak, meat ball, curry ribs and many more. This is what I call creative!

Ostrich Omelette- RM 10

It tastes similar to our normal chicken eggs except it is more smoother in terms of the texture. Just for your information, one ostrich egg can serve up to 4 plates of omelette.

Ostrich satay-RM 2 per stick

I would recommend to try the food before you visit the farm. Why? You will feel some discomfort when eating those meat after looking at those cute ostriches. I only managed to try out 1 stick just for testing purposes, felt so guilty! It tastes like beef except the meat is more springy and the smell of the meat  is strong. I can't stand the smell at all. I guess that a different person might have a different view on the taste.

Ostrich Farm @ Desaru

Opening Hour: 10am-6pm

Address: EMR 15, Teluk Ramunia, Kota Tinggi, Johor

Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa | Johor Beach

During our trip to Desaru, we stayed at Pulai Desaru Beach Resort, one of the best resort available in Desaru. As I mentioned in my previous post, Pulai Desaru Beach Resort is better in term of their room and facilities compare to other resorts. Let's check out my post about the place, the good and bad of it.

Panorama shoot from the balcony

The Good:

1. 24 hours Security

Before you enter the resort, there is a guard house where the guard will give you a card to verify you as the guest for the resort. You will have to keep the card and show them every time you exit to ensure you are not gatecrash. It is good that the resort provide tight security to avoid any uninvited guests.

2. Quick check in & large reception area

There is a large waiting area in front of the reception. You don't feel crowded when there is a large crowd coming in. Check in is fast too! Ensure you state clearly your needs in the comments area when booking especially for non-smoking & smoking room. They don't indicate in the booking page. Wifi is only available in the waiting area.

3. Huge room space

I booked the Standard Superior room for 2 nights. We was shocked when going in the room. We were given a family room with 1 double bed and 1 single bed. Room is very spacious, suitable for family of 3 or 4.

The toilet comes in 3 areas- basin area, bathtub & toilet area and shower area.

4. Variety of Activities

The resort also provide a variety of activities in their resort. You can also book day trip tours to Fruit farm, Ostrich Farm, Crocodile farm and etc. from the resort.

Here are the activities you can find from Pulai Desaru:

Swiming Pool

Beach

The beach is located behind the swimming pool, walking distance to beach.

Horse Riding

Spa

Mini bird exhibition

ATV Rides

15 minutes – RM 50

30 minutes – RM 80

Arcade Centre- RM 2 for 1 token

Pool Table-RM1.00 for one token (3 token per frame)

(You can purchase the token at the reception area)

The Bad:

1. Stain in bathroom
Although everything looks quite good, but when it come to detail, I think they failed. The bathroom floor, bath tube are covered with stains which I'm quite particular. Their toilet even have problem to flush. I would think they seriously need to refurbished the bathroom & toilet to  par with the 5 star standard that they declared.

2. Need transport to travel
The resort is far from town or any convenient shop. You will need a car to drive around, inconvenient to those flying there.

3. No great food from Resort's restaurant

We don't enjoy their food at all. We try out their Teppan Japanese restaurant that was stated to promises patrons impeccable authentic Japanese cuisine. We were quite disappointed with the quality as well as the portion and price. You will have to paid a huge price for local quality. This is also applicable to the morning breakfast, variety was limited and taste wise is just so-so. We didn't even continue for second helping. Recommend to drive out to nearest town for better choice.

 Teppan Japanese Restaurant

Breakfast area

This is a good place for rest & relax during the monsoon season when you can't visit beaches at East Coast area. Although Desaru is quite near to East Coast area, but it was not affected so much by the monsoon. During my stay in Desaru, the wave was rough, so advise not to swimming in the sea. But we still manage to play at beach.

Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa

P.O.Box 29, Bandar Penawar

81930 Kota Tinggi, Johor

Tel : +607 822 2222 Fax : +607 822 2223

Email: reservation@pulaidesaru.com

http://www.pulaidesaru.com/

What to do and what to eat in Desaru? A trip to Johor Desaru Beach

Before the end of the year, we make a trip to Johor beach since we were in Singapore during Christmas day. From Singapore, we took the Senai-Desaru Highway from Cahaya Baru to Desaru which is approximately 27km across Sungai Johor and end at Penawar Interchange. It took us around 2 hours to reach Desaru from Woodlands check points.

Here is the map of each exit to Desaru:

Bandar Penawar and Desaru located at the same area, just a few kilometre away from each other. You can follow either one to Desaru.

During our trip in Desaru, we stayed at Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa. It was one of the best resort there so far with better furnished rooms and facilities. However, if you have kids, Lotus Desaru Beach Resort will be better choice since there is a Water Park for the kids to play.

Review on Pulai Desaru Beach Resort & Spa

What are the attractions in Desaru and What to eat there? This are the questions when it come to our road trip. I actually found this place because he wanted to go for a beach holiday this time and the nearest beach I can find is Desaru if travel from Singapore. I read a lot of posts regarding the accommodation and hardly find a full review of the place with food & attractions.

So, I'm going to cover as much as possible about the attractions near Desaru beach and of course the FOOD. Here is a map from Pulai Desaru Hotel that covers some of the attractions and resorts you can find in Desaru. Basically quite complete I would say.

What can you do in Desaru?

In Pulai Desaru Resort itself, you can find a few activities:

1. Pulai Spa- where you can pamper yourself with some massage

2. Gymnasium-still stay fit even you are on holiday

3. Swimming Pool

4. ATV

5. Paint Ball

6. Arcade Centre

7. Horse Carriage Ride 

Activities around Desaru:

1. Fruit Farm Tour - 180 Acres of Tropical Fruitland

Entrance fee: RM25 (adult), RM20 (children)

Opening Hour: 9am-6.30pm

Address: No 1, Sungai Cemaran, Desaru, 81930 Kota Tinggi, Johor Darul Takzim

Find out more http://www.desarufruitfarm.com/

2. Teluk Sengat Crocodile Farm

Entrance fee: RM8 (adult), RM4 (children)

Opening Hour: 9am-6pm

Address: Lots 1289 & 1290,  Jalan Sembilan,  Kampung Belading, Teluk Sengat,  81940 Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia 

3. Tanjung Balau Fishermen Museum

Entrance fee: RM2 (adult), RM1 (children)

Opening Hour: 9am-6pm

Address: L3-26 Aras 3, Bangunan JOTIC, 2 Jalan Ayer Molek, Johor Bahru 80000, Johor, Malaysia

4. Ostrich Farm

Entrance fee: RM15 (adult), RM10 (children)

Opening Hour: 10am-6pm

Address: EMR 15, Teluk Ramunia, Kota Tinggi, Johor

Recommend to have lunch there, you can try out their Ostrich steak, satay, omelette and many more.

5. River Cruise/ Firefly tour

Both are at the same area. It is located in Restoran Terapung Bujang. Walk into the restaurant and ask for the cruise.

Opening Hour: frpm 12pm-12am 

River Cruise (1 hour) - RM 20 (adult), RM15 (children)

Fireflies River Cruise (30mins), from 8pm-12am - RM20 (adult), RM15 (children)

Address: Jalan Johor Silica, Sg. Lebam (3km off the main road Desaru- Kota Tinggi). 

Coordinate: N 01’ 33.37 E 104’ 11.22

What to eat in Desaru?

If you are lazy to drive out, there are two Restaurants in Pulai Desaru:

1. Palm Brasserie

2. Teppan! Japanese Restaurant

I would recommend to drive out to get better food. We tried Teppan on our first day since it is raining heavily, we end up have to pay a big chunk with low quality of Japanese food.

1. Marrybrown @ Bandar Penawar

The nearest fast food chain that we can find from Desaru. 5 mins drive from Pulai Desaru to Bandar Penawar. You can easily use Waze to get there. 

2. Restoran Terapung Bujang

It is the same location with the River cruise/Firefly river cruise. We actually had our dinner here before we go for the firefly river cruise. All meal are served in set based on number of people. To our surprise, the food turn out to be quite good although we don't have good impression of the place at first. The portion is quite big too for both of us, quite worth the price.

Here is the price list of the set meals, the price still the same although the blog posted in 2011. 

3. Surf & Turf Restaurant @ Ostrich Farm

There is a small stall beside the Ostrich Farm that gave you the chance to try out some local Ostrich delicacy. They served Ostrich satay, Ostrich steak, Ostrich egg omelette, Ostrich bak kut teh and others.

4. Sungai Rengit Seafood Restaurants

Sungai Rengit is famous for its mini lobsters. There are a few seafood restaurant there like Jade Garden Seafood Corner, Yoou Kee Seafood Restaurant, Sin Kong Seafood Restaurant and others. I didn't manage to make a trip there as it was raining and too dark to drive there after 6pm. I would recommend to go for lunch instead of dinner as it need 25 mins drive from Pulai Desaru to Sungai Rengit.

A map from Johorkaki on the restaurants in Sungai Rengit:

I will update more on my trip in Desaru soon.. Stay tuned!