Roost Juice Bar at Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru.

Roost Juice Bar (N1.45707 E103.76401) located at pre-war shop lots of Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru downtown. This bar serve many good foods especially with the One and Only Unique 'Yogurt Juice'. I'd heard about quite sometime ago, but only until recently have a chance to step into this 'Unique' Juice Bar of Johor Bahru.

Roost Juice Bar at Johor Bahru

I was attracted by the rustic design at the main entrance, evoke the childhood behind...

The atmosphere was just Great! I like the 'old' setting very much!
There are few different dining area, and all the tables and chairs are different from others...and...all are 'old'...

The ground floor dining area

The bar counter design was Simple & Unique! Just can't imagine that a few old mosaic tiles can created such an beautiful Art creation!
I believe the 'green' seat below is belong to the year 60s...I wish I can find one of these 'sofa'...

At the other corner was the children paradise! There were many toys display during the good old days...(except the yellow thing...)

Another cozy corner from Roost Juice Bar

Walking on the 'steep' staircase to the first floor might be a challenge for old peoples...the steps were slightly small compare with the standard staircase...

The staircase to the first floor dining area of Roost Juice Bar

2 red welcoming seats appeared in front of us just right after the staircase on the first floor...

The leather briefcase was the attraction beside the seats...I like the old display cabinet and I know where to find it! :)

On the first floor, another nice 'old' design which is has a different feeling compare with the ground floor...the owner make use of the lighting to enhance the comfort dining area just felt like steped in the 'Time Machine', injected more rustic appeal to the charming interior of the bar.

The first floor dining area of Roost Juice Bar

Behind the old wooden glass doors, there is the smoking zone...

The smoking zone on the first floor...

Was wondering the purpose of the wooden ladder on the right...well...its actually the access to the 'mystery small room' on top of the smoking area...I will find out on my next visit...:)

The mystery room on top of the smoking area

There was a access to the next door balcony's sitting area which was suitable for group of friends gather around with some drinks...

The next door balcony area...

The romantic corner for couple

Alfresco dining area at the back on the first floor...

An ancient fan hidden in this area...search for it!

At last, we decided to dine at this 'Art' table...

The table had the same design as the bar counter...'the old mosaics'...

It was kind of special that written the food menu on the mirror...

The food menu written on the mirror...

Let me show you the decorations around the Roost Juice Bar...

The mini jukebox at the bar counter

 One of the antique telephone set in Roost Juice Bar

Top left : toys from the 70s. Top right : the owner even make use of the electric cable to presented an art with the bulbs! Bravo! Bottom left : some old TV and Hi-Fi, take not of the white service bell behind...Bottom right : the Unique service bell on the first floor...

Do you have the magic cube before?

I had the Hainanese Beef Noodle, my wife tasted the Grilled Chicken Chop and my daughter had the Mushroom Pasta for our weekend dinner...

The Hainanese Beef Noodle at Roost Juice Bar

The Grilled Chicken Chop

Apologies that I forgot to take photo of the Mushroom Pasta. All of us had the signature drink - Mango Tango (Unique yogurt fruit juice).

Mango Tango - Yogurt fruit juice

The beef noodle was Awesome! Mixture with some salted vege, peanuts, tender beefs served with rice noodles. The grilled chicken chop was above average and my daughter finished her mushroom pasta! The foods were Delicious with the different dining experience! Rustic ambience!
The Damage : RM40+ with drinks.

The cafe bar is the ONLY one serve the special yogurt fruit juice in Johor Bahru for the moment. I call it as - Musuem Art Cafe. A 'Must' visit place if you happen around the area!

Roost Juice Bar

9, Jalan Dhoby,

80000 Johor Bahru.

Business hour : Mon - Sat : 12pm - 4pm, 6pm - 12am, Sun : 6pm - 12am.

http://roostjuicebar.blogspot.com/

Location map of Roost Juice Bar at Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru.

View Larger Map

U.S. Special Envoy Hannah Rosenthal Visits her Family's Heritage Sites in Poland

This post also appears on my En Route blog for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Hannah Rosenthal, the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, took time out on a trip to Poland and Germany this month to honor her ancestors at sites of her own family history.

Rosenthal’s family came from what is now Bytom, Poland. All were murdered at Auschwitz in 1942 except for her father, who was the last Rabbi in Mannheim, Germany, and survived interment in Buchenwald.

In a post Tuesday on the State Department’s official blog, Rosenthal recounted that she visited sites in Bytom where her family had lived and also visited the Jewish cemetery there, hoping to find the graves who her grandmother and uncle, who had died before World War II “and therefore would have graves.”

Visiting Bytom, she wrote, was “both exhilarating and devastating.”

When we went to see the gorgeous synagogue, where Dad had celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and loved to tell us great stories about, there was no synagogue. Just a dilapidated gray apartment building. When we went to the cemetery, we hoped to find the graves of my grandmother and uncle who died before the war—and therefore would have graves. But Polish activist Wlodzimierz Kac had something else in mind. He had researched my family and ended up showing us 18 Rosenthal graves. My grandmother Selma, my uncle Martin, great and great-great grandparents, great and great-great uncles, and aunts and cousins. Eighteen Rosenthals who we could honor. I am the last Rosenthal in my family. 

Bytom now has not a single Jew and hardly any Jewish presence. Where once a bustling community thrived, there is not one single survivor. We visited two of the places Dad’s family had lived. He had described his home’s music room and parlors. Now the buildings are dark, dank, depressing. And mostly empty. We wondered how we could help restore a school or a prayer house, or clean up the cemetery, when there is no one to keep it up. The absence is profoundly present.

During her trip to Poland, she wrote, she met Jewish community leaders and representatives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation, the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations, and the Judaica Foundation.

I learned about the present-day Jewish community in Poland and civil society engagement on Jewish history and culture. These organizations are doing important work, fostering interaction between Jews and non-Jewish Poles through dialogue, education, and cultural exchange. Several programs focus specifically on fostering interaction among Polish non-Jewish and Jewish youth. It was moving to meet the extraordinary people working to keep the memory and spirit of Poland’s absent Jews alive.

On July 9, during her visit to Germany, Rosenthal took part in a ceremony in Mannheim at which a “stumbling stone” memorial was dedicated to her father. Stumbling stones are plaques the size of cobblestones that are placed on the street in front of houses in which Holocaust victims and survivors lived.

This post also appears on my En Route blog for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal

The replica of the Neolog Synagogue in Bratislava, next to the highway. Photo(c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I’ve already posted on this blog about the new ITunes app called Oshpitzin that uses smart phone technology to teach and tour pre-WW2 Jewish Oswiecim—the town where Auschwitz was built—which before the Holocaust was a majority Jewish town.

In this JTA story I write about how this project and the Lost City project in Bratislava—which puts back on the map the old Jewish quarter of the Slovak capital, which was utterly demolished by the Communist authorities in the late 1960s to built a new highway and bridge across the Danube. Centerpiece of the Lost City project is a replica of the destroyed Neolog synagogue, on the spot where it really did once stand.

In Poland and Slovakia, restoring awareness of a forgotten Jewish past 

By Ruth Ellen Gruber · July 23, 2012 

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA)—Thanks to a new iTunes app, new tourist routes and a towering replica of a destroyed synagogue, two “lost” Jewish cities in Europe are back on the map. 

One is the historic Jewish quarter of Bratislava, the Slovak capital, which survived World War II only to be demolished by communist authorities in the late 1960s. The other is Oshpitzin—the prewar Yiddish name for Oswiecim, the once mainly Jewish town in southern Poland where the Auschwitz death camp was built. 

The two projects differ in scope and structure, but their goals are the same: to restore awareness of the forgotten Jewish past in an effort to foster a better understanding of the present—for tourists and the locals. 

Read full story here

My Sunset photos Collection by Galaxy S mobile phone

I would like to share my sunset collection which are taken by my Samsung Galaxy S (GT-i9000) mobile phone for the past 2 years...

The photos are snapped from different places, different days...because if I have a chance to snap...I won't let go, especially the sunset...:)

Along the North South Expressway, Pagoh rest area

Bukit Gambir, Muar - Johor.

Tangkak town, Johor.

On the Highway at Sungai Dua, Butterworth

The Power lines...Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru.

The Silhouette at Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Bahru.

The Lost kite...Taman Desa Tebrau - Johor Bahru

Taman Desa Tebrau

The golden sky at Taman Daya, Johor Bahru.

The photos below are all from the same location but taken in different days....Danga Bay of Johor Bahru.

Under cloudy evening, when Haze attacked...

All the photos above are taken by the Samsung Galxy S running on Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 (custom ROM) with stock camera application and minor edited on the exposer and colour. I'm satisfied with the 5MP camera from the phone and will continue to share more on the sunset photos, because I like sunset very much!

The Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang, Malacca (Melaka).

Under the hot sunny day, after the 'A Date With The Bloggers' event at Malacca...we (with Robin) decided to look for some drinks that can really ease the thirst! Robin suggested the Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang and without a second words, we drove directly to the destination.

The Klebang Original Coconut Shake (N2.21583 E102.20688) is located next to the Caltex Petrol Station along the main road. You will not miss it if you take note on the petrol station.

Once we arrived at the stall, the queue was Long! My goodness! It was under the hot sun....

The Long queue under the sun at The Coconut Shake's stall...

The Klebang Coconut Shake's stall along the roadside...

We realized later, the long queue at the stall was for those customers who want to 'ta-pao' (take away), there's a dining area is loacted further in at the end of the alley...

The area was packed with customers! It took about 5-10 minutes to get a table and waited for 15 minutes for the Coconut Shake....while waiting for the drinks, we tried the nasi lemak pack (RM1.20) which was not bad!

The nasi lemak available at the Klebang Coconut Shake.

Here is the Coconut Shake Special! With additional scoop of Vanilla Ice-cream on top of it.

I like the concoction of the Ice with ice-cream, coconut drink and the flesh. Refreshing! The taste was not over sweet with the nice fragrance of the coconut drink and some flesh. It's special and a 'life saver' under the humid hot day!

The process looks simple, they blended the drink with the a lot of ice cream and pour into the mixer. The magic is within the mixer!

The cost of the drink was RM2.00 and RM1.50 for without the scoop of Vanilla ice cream.

It's really reasonable price for the unique Coconut Shake!

The business hour : 12.30pm-6.30pm daily (Friday: 2pm-6.30pm)

Tel: +6 013-399 4061

Location map of Famous Coconut Shake at Klebang, Malacca.

View Larger Map

The Famous Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh (强记肉骨茶) at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

Heard about this Famous Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh (强记肉骨茶) (N1.82772 E103.95845) many years ago, because of the business hour is too short...I got to drag it till now only had the chance to enjoy it!

Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh is located along the main road from Kota Tinggi town to Mersing. It's just about 1.6KM before the junction to Sedili Besar. It's a wooden restaurant with a Attap (Nypa Palm) roof, like most of the wooden house back on the 60s with the reminiscent setting...

The dining area...

Despite the hot weather, the environment was quite cooling maybe because of the attap roof...:)

We were there about 10.30am, and the restaurant was packed with customers which patronize with locals and Singaporeans! That's the reason the pork ribs will finish normally almost noon time...
I do noticed most of the Nice Bak Kut Teh is cook by charcoal and same as this restaurant...

All claypots synchonize at same times...

The frame of charcoal

There had many staffs working in the restaurant, the foods served on table fast! Don't worry!

Less than 15 minutes, our Bak Kut Teh served...

As usual, we had a the Bak Kut Teh for 1 person with salted vege, yau-char-kuai (Chinese fritter) and a bowl of pork tripes soup (my favorite)!

The claypot Bak Kut Teh from Kiang Kee served with still bubbling broth

Satled vege

Yau-char-kuai

Pork tripes soup

The pork ribs were traditionally cooked to melting tenderness with my favorite strong herbal savory soup! It's difficult to taste this type of soup nowadays! The tripes was just nice with the pepper broth, soft, with chewy texture! It was one Delicate tripes I ever had! The others just normal...

We were satisfied with the meal especially with the reasonable price! Worth the drive from JB to Kota Tinggi 'just' for the Bak Kut Teh!
I will defintely come back again for the braised pork knuckles and others!

If you are a Bak Kut Teh lover, you cannot miss this one! Do drop by!

Kiang Kee Bak Kut Tea Restaurant 强记早市肉骨茶
Batu 8 1/2, Jalan Mawai, 

Kota Tinggi. 81900 Johor.
Operating Hour: 7.30 am to 12 am (or untill sold out)

Tel : +607 8821290

Location map of Kiang Kee Bak Kut Teh at Kota Tinggi, Johor.

View Larger Map