Yong Yong Ikan Bakar (Baked Fish) at Johor Bahru

The Yong Yong Ikan Bakar (N1.46090 E103.73847) is located in the Food Court along Jalan Tengku Petri of Johor Bahru. "Ikan Bakar" is means 'flame grilled fish' (with banana leaf) in Malay and it's one of the Malaysian local food.
.
The stall has a long history selling Ikan Bakar, at least more than 20 years that I'm aware. Previously it keep on moving from one place to another place along Lido beach area, and now...I think it settled down in the food court for more than 4 years already...

It's one of the Famous Ikan Bakar stall at Johor Bahru and will be pack with customers during dinner session in most of the evening...

Yong Yong Ikan Bakar along Jalan Tengku Petri

That evening, we ordered...

*  Baked Stingray

*  Baked squids with onion

*  Baked clams

Baked stingray

Baked squids

The clams

We ordered some rice to enjoy the seafoods together. Scrumptious meals, I like their ingredients very much! Except the mild taste of the clams...
Each of the dish cost RM10 per plate which was really reasonable!  

Try it if you happen in the area, you might like it! :)

Location map of Yong Yong Ikan Bakar at Johor Bahru.

View Larger Map

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea House at Auto City Juru, Butterworth.

Had our Chinese New Year dinner (2012) at this Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Restaurant (N5.33822 E100.42877) at Juru Auto City few months ago. The restaurant is spacious and comfort with 2 storey which located next to Standard And Chartered Bank Juru Auto City.

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea House (Ground Floor)

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea House (Upper Floor aka M Floor)

I like the environment which was quiet and cozy, especially the friendly staffs of the restaurant...we ordered their recommendation...the Fatt Choy Special package (for 4 persons) that offered during the CNY period.

The package included...

*  Fried Fish Fillet in Sweet & Sour Sauce (糖醋五柳鱼)

*  Prawns in Sweet Fermented Rice Wine (酒酿干烧鲜虾)

*  Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in 3 Varieties of Sauce (三杯鸡)

*  Braised Pork Knuckle with Slice Bamboo Shoot (竹笋猪脚)

*  Stir Fried French Bean with Minced Pork (干扁四季豆)

And I added my Favorite :- *  Xiao Long Bao (Dumpling) (小龙包)

Fried Fish Fillet in Sweet & Sour Sauce (糖醋五柳鱼)

Prawns in Sweet Fermented Rice Wine (酒酿干烧鲜虾)

Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in 3 Varieties of Sauce (三杯鸡)

Braised Pork Knuckle with Slice Bamboo Shoot (竹笋猪脚)

Stir Fried French Bean with Minced Pork (干扁四季豆)

Xiao Long Bao (Dumpling) (小龙包)

All dishes tasted above average.
The Xiao Long Bao was not as good as 'Ding Tai Feng' that I had it before, but it's alright...Most of the taste of dishes above seem like localized to suite the customers around the area... unlike the Authentic Taiwanese food we had it at Taiwan.

We also had the Mango Snowflake and Green Tea Snowflake for dessert after the dinner....those different and special snowflake we ever try in Malaysia! Nice!

Mango Snowflake

Green Tea Snowflake

The Damage : RM252.00 for 4 adults and 1 kid including A Pot of Pu Er Tea. It was justify with the restaurant environment and the foods they served.
Not bad anyway...

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea House

1808-1809E, Jalan Perusahaan,

Auto-City, North-South Highway Interchange,

13600 Prai, Penang.

Tel : +604-5021317   Fax : +604-5021313

Location map of Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea House at Juru Auto City, Butterworth.

View Larger Map

Geographically off topic -- but right on target

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I came across a wonderful post on the Cemetery Traveler blog about a visit to an abandoned Jewish cemetery in Gladwyne, PA  -- only a few miles from where I grew up in suburban Philadelphia.

The description of the abandoned site -- and the evocative photographs taken by the blogger, Ed Snyder -- are so similar to those of people exploring abandoned Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe that I felt I had to repost.

Snyder writes:

Walking through this place is a MUST for any cemetery explorer – you may be appalled, afraid, amazed, or desire to use the location for your next zombie movie. You walk into the place and it starts off quaint - the tilted headstones, the  lone cradle graves. As you walk further through the weeds, you begin to see small clusters of graves, surrounded by rusty decorative fencing. Most of the fencing has fallen to the ground and is waiting for you to trip over. [...]

The history of this place is not well-documented. The fragments of supposed fact come from letters and oral recollections. "Har Ha Zetim Cemetery", aka Gladwyne Jewish Cemetery and "Mount of Olives," was supposedly established in 1860, and served the poor Jewish population of Philadelphia and Norristown until the 1920s. No doubt some of the the people interred here emigrated from Russia during the pogrom in 1881. The fact that this exodus occurred on Passover of that year oddly coincides with my writing this blog on the eve of Passover, 2012. [...]

Walking through Gladwyne's Abandoned Jewish Cemetery is not like finding a lonely outcropping of headstones in a farmer’s field somewhere – this was a COMMUNITY! A community of ancestors, now lost to the ages. But as you walk through the lanes of graves, the presence of all these people is alive in the air, they were REAL. They lived. They had rites, manners, and customs that were as real to them as ours are to us.

 Read the full post 

Snyder provides  links to further reading about abandoned Jewish cemeteries in the Philadelphia area, including this article from the Forward in 2004 about a Jewish cemetery in west Philadelphia that explicitly makes the parallel with the rediscovery of Jewish cemeteries in eastern and Central Europe, and his own blog post about the site.

Still Early Spring in Budapest

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I seem to have been eating a lot this trip.... spending a lot of time at the Cafe Noe, in the 7th District Jewish quarter, and Torta, near the Danube, sampling Flodni, Matzo Apple Cake and other items... both places are run by Miklos Maloschik and Rachel Raj.

Matzo apple cake and Flodni, at Cafe Noe. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Cafe Noe is around the corner from the grand Dohany st. Synagogue (the biggest in Europe) -- last week, before the leaves started coming out, I could actually get a picture of the full complex. The section on the left houses the Jewish museum. It was built in the 1930s on the site of the hosue where Theodor Herzl was born, in a style that matches that of the synagogue, which was completed in 1859.

Dohany St. Synagogue. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Early Spring in Budapest

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

It has been a busy visit so far in Budapest, with little time to stop and reflect (or post). Here are a few highlights..... and with luck I'll be able to add a bit more in the coming days. Today at least I managed to stock up on matzo for Passover -- there are several kosher shops now selling kosher for Pesach brands, at a wide variety of prices, I might add. The commercial kosher shops sell it for just about twice the price of what the Jewish-community run outlets do. But that's business....


Let me perhaps tell it in pictures:

Last week I attended the opening of a newly enlarged synagogue -- three times its original size -- in a residential neighborhood in Buda. And then I went there for services.  Here's a link to a 360 degree panorama of the place. And my own pic from the opening:

Synagogue on Karoli Gaspar ter. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

This is one of three synagogues in Budapest that have young and growing congregations. Another is the lovely courtyard Frankel Leo synagogue, also in Buda.

Frankel Leo Synagogue. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Frankel Leo synagogue. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Sengat Seafood Restaurant at Teluk Sengat, Johor.

Sengat Seafood Restaurant (N1.56128 E104.03096) is located in the heart of Teluk Sengat small village of Johor. The village is just situated along the Johor River bank...
That was our First time having seafood lunch in this restaurant. The restaurant is at the small hill where you can enjoy the partial view of the village and Johor River...

The view from the restaurant...

It's easy to locate the restaurant because it's just opposite the Only basketball court in the small village...I like it very much because we can feel the cool breeze from the Johor River...

Sengat Seafood Restaurant

Our order for the seafood lunch :-

*  Sweet sour crab served together with small buns

*  Butter Lobsters

*  Steam Sea Bass

*  Vegatables

Sweet sour crabs

The small buns served with the sweet sour crabs...

Butter Lobsters

Steam Sea Bass

Vegetables

The crabs were big and very fresh, I like the sweet sour sauce! You can see from the photo below that the juicy crab meat didn't stick to the shell!

The fresh crab meat...

The lobsters were crunchy outside and succulent inside! Tasty! The Sea bass was fresh and served without the weird smell... We enjoyed the seafood lunch in the restaurant especially company with the cool sea breeze from the river...

The Damage : RM280.00 for 4 adults and 2 children included drinks. It was cheaper than the seafood restaurant at Sungai Rengit!  
Well, we will visit it again!

Sengat Seafood Restaurant

58, Jalan Belanak, Telok Sengat,

81940 Kota Tinggi, Johor

Tel : +607-8955116

Location map of Sengat Seafood Restaurant at Teluk Sengat, Johor.

View Larger Map

Crocodile World at Teluk Sengat, Johor.

The Crocodile World (N1.56537 E104.02647) is located at Teluk Sengat small town of Johor. You can visit it via Kota Tinggi town or cruise through the E22 Expressway from Johor Bahru. I visited the area quite sometime ago, and it was a nice photography session for us...

The entrance fees is RM8 for adult and RM4 for children.
The crocodile farm is well maintained and clean! Every passageway are sheltered.

The walkway was sheltered.

According to the signage, they have more than thousand crocodiles in this farm and it's the Biggest Crocodile Farm in Peninsular Malaysia.
Let me show you some of the photos taken within the Crocodile World...

There's a lake in the middle of the area which is Full of crocodiles and it's surrounded with the visitor walkway...

The Lake...

They won't allow visitor to step into the lake area...because...there are many dangerous Crocs around you! But if you do, please take extra cautions behind you...:)

Two Crocs were hunting for foods beside the lake....

The baby crocodiles...

The Oldest Croc in the farm...150 years old.

The photos below are the portions of the crocodile...

The beautiful eyes...

The skin...

The paw...

Its nose...

The tail...lethal weapon of the Croc...

Frankly, I like their eyes very much!

Nice pose! Thanks Mr Crocodile!

AND LET'S DANCE WITH THE CROCODILES!

We spent about 2 hours in the Crocodile World and satisfied with the show! It's fun and nice for family outing to visit the Crocodile World in the weekend!

Do drop by if you happen in the Teluk Sengat area.

The Crocodile tears...

Location map of Crocodile World of Teluk Sengat, Johor.

View Larger Map