Johor state in Malaysia, on Singapore's doorstep, is proving to be my new favorite playground. After two weekends of hiking near Kota Tinggi on Gunung Panti, I took the family on an eco-tour of Desaru. Throw in a beach resort, and you have a perfect mix of fun and adventure.
Our itinerary included a fruit farm, an ostrich farm, an alligator farm, a firefly cruise, water park, sand play and wading at the beach, as well as two dinners at an amazing seafood restaurant in a local fishing village. The basic research for the trip was mostly gathered from this resourceful site. And we stayed two nights at the Lotus Desaru Beach Resort.
The Desaru Fruit Farm was awesome. Although most fruits were not in season, there were plenty of blossoms and young fruit on their way to ripening. The tour guide was quite knowledgable about the horticulture and about the many health-related uses of fruits and herbs - the perfect fruit saleslady. Lizzy was especially enthralled with the large snails that we spotted on some banana tree leaves. She kept pointing at the snails and saying "that's not poop...." There was also a mini-zoo where we fed rabbits and goats and saw some monkeys and chickens. We then sat through a seminar about wild bees and the many exulted benefits of their related products - pollen, honey, somecrapolis, you-name-it these bees produced it and it cured you-name-it again. We ended up buying 3 large bottles of wild bee honey that we are still taking on a daily basis as a cure-all elixir. It's yummy and Lizzy likes to scoop it with a tiny little spoon.
The Ostrich Show Farm was not nearly as exciting, but we learned some interesting things about ostriches - like that females are carrying more than 10 of those huge eggs inside them at any one time. That those eggs have more protein per unit of egg than the chicken variety. That Lulu has a 4-carat diamond ring inside of her and cutting her up was more expensive than paying off the irate ring-owner... We ate ostrich egg omelet, ostrich satay, ostrich steak, and ostrich tendon soup.
The crocodile farm is a bit of a bore with its tens of pools of crocodiles just doing their thing - lying around lazily. However, the feeding that was going on while we were there definitely made for a fun visit. The "farmer" wheelbarrowed around a bunch of chickens and kept taunting the crocodiles and throwing them a carcass to either fight over (young ones) or devour in one gulp (isolated adults). We got two teeth as souvenirs.
The firefly cruise was neat. Basically, you get on a boat after dark and cruise along the mangrove lined river looking out for fireflies. The boatsmen have a trick to getting the fireflies to light up and so you get to see a lot of them.
The hotel is well-positioned and boasts a really nice beach. Pretty good amenities. Rooms are outdated, but the real problem is that the housekeeping staff is clueless and ineffective. The water park is dangerous - Lizzy got her first nosebleed shooting out of a water slide at top speed and hurtling at mommy's jaw-slacked mouth. 4+ I'd say.
Sungai Rengit is a tiny fishing village with many good seafood restaurants. We went to Crystal Garden the first night, and had such a good time we returned to the same place for a second night. Why risk it when you've found the perfect spot. Bamboo clams, mini lobsters, clams, steamed fish, fried tofu, vegetables - all perfectly prepared. Yum. Can't wait to go back.
This was a really nice and easy vacation to the near-abroad. Days were fun-filled and adventure-packed. Food was great. And we experienced some new things and had no dull moments in-between. I'd recommend a Desaru weekend to anyone with a car in Singapore.
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