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End of shopping and makan trips to JB?

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 12:39 pm

rajagainstthemachine wrote:The Park I refer to wasn't a theme park , it was a normal park with a lot of greenery and trees and very very well maintained, it had walkways and paths and a pond and a fountain.
Everytime I go to JB I feel like I've been beamed into some alien planet devoid of humans, ( I see everyone in the malls but once you take a walk past the bus stand, I see little or almost no humans :o )
well, as they say Malaysians believe in the saying "build and they will come".. though some of the policy changes in Johore have been discouraging for investors, more like they powers-be want to milk more out of the golden egg laying goose ..

as for bus stands, almost every Malaysian drives or rides bikes .. though only during festival times you see the exodus ...

Matter of fact, I was in Shah Alam, a gated community .. and was amazed to see that for a row of landed houses, almost only 1 out of 5 houses were occupied or had any sign of occupation .... then I found out the houses were built expecting the rush for MM2H ...

welcome to Boleh Land .. anything goes ..

PS, on the positive side, read up the Development of Genting .. it is an amazing story ..

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Post by Max Headroom » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 7:54 pm

JR8 wrote:
Max Headroom wrote:Some vindictive datuk probably blew his Pavlovian mouth off, which then necessitated the official communique that Malaysia won't be doing any tit-for-tatting.
Indeed, there's no need for any hike on their side: they're on the happy side of the equation after all. Why would they ever want to pinch the SGD free-flow?
Absolutely first-class turn of phrase there! :lol:

As others have observed it's classic diplomatic (undiplomatic?) tit-for-tat. You see it quite commonly with visas, country #A starts requiring a visa for nationals of country #B (for reasonable reasons), so country #B imposes the same on #A (for no reasonable reasons) The tourist visa fees imposed by India are perhaps a good example of the latter.
The Powers That Be in Malaysia are Kings of the tit-for-tat. And they always manage to snooker themselves in the process. Whether it's Pedra Branca, the Water thing or the Bridge thing, without fail, they'll end up drawing the short end of the stick - courtesy of their immature indignant nature.

Of course we all know the cause of their ineptitude.

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 8:09 pm

Max Headroom wrote: Of course we all know the cause of their ineptitude.
The lack of bacon sandwiches in the diet? :???:

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Post by Max Headroom » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 8:15 pm

ecureilx wrote:
proxymoron wrote:
JR8 wrote:More to the point, why would anyone want to go to JB. It holds out some kind of promise to the newbie, of 'bargains', or at least 'good value', but in the event it is just a horrible utter dump that you never wish to visit again.
Dont agree completely, it is definitely not typical weekend getaway spot. But the food there is much more "asian" than whatever you can get here within the island. I have few colleagues who everyday do a cross country drive to reach office in Changi, and quite frequently they "tar pao" from JB for the local guys at office. Personally me too feel that the food tastes much better once you cross Causeway.
Probably Malaysian gahmen is counting on this, and thats why going with a tit-for-tat response.
just talking about Indian food, the JB south Indian joints / mamak shops taste much tastier than the SG South Indian restaurants, and cost a fraction ..

Plus the local mamak shops don't stand a choice with the Malaysian Mamak Shops

I had a few friends who went to JB and when they had a dosa decide to have 6 each .. as they kept swearing it is as tasty as it gets back home ..
^ This.

I find that each time I try a new eatery in JB, it's a real real treat, way better than most makan here. The exception being that Papa Rich restaurant I mentioned earlier. But then, that's a Malaysian place, so that could be why.

Perhaps it's the way that more and more food places here are cheffed by PRC cooks and as a result Singapore's once contrasting cuisines are inexorably merging into a one-flavor-fits-all style so as to capture the largest possible number of customers?

By the way, other places in Malaysia have really good food too, in my opinion. However, interestingly, this doesn't apply to Tioman. So perhaps it's all about freshness. The longer produce, veggies, spices, are on the road, the more they emanate (read: lose) their ethereal flavors?

JR8, try the roti at The Chicken Rice Shop in City Square. It's a few notches up from most roti here.

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Post by Max Headroom » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 8:19 pm

JR8 wrote:
Max Headroom wrote: Of course we all know the cause of their ineptitude.
The lack of bacon sandwiches in the diet? :???:
Very droll. :)

See the MH370 thread eh.

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Post by Brah » Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:10 pm

Max Headroom wrote:
JR8 wrote:
Max Headroom wrote: Of course we all know the cause of their ineptitude.
The lack of bacon sandwiches in the diet? :???:
Very droll. :)

See the MH370 thread eh.
I'm trying to remember if the last time I heard "droll" was The Flinstones, or The Honemooners (which were pretty much the same thing in different formats). Come to think of it, that was the first place I heard it too.

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Post by GSM8 » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 7:36 am

I'm trying to remember if the last time I heard "droll" was The Flinstones, or The Honemooners (which were pretty much the same thing in different formats). Come to think of it, that was the first place I heard it too.
A few instances in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister" too

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Post by zzm9980 » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 7:47 am

rajagainstthemachine wrote: Everytime I go to JB I feel like I've been beamed into some alien planet devoid of humans, ( I see everyone in the malls but once you take a walk past the bus stand, I see little or almost no humans :o )
You've just described most of the rest of the world. Basically, anywhere that isn't a super-dense overcrowded place like Singapore or India.

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Post by Max Headroom » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:14 am

Brah wrote:
Max Headroom wrote:
JR8 wrote: The lack of bacon sandwiches in the diet? :???:
Very droll. :)

See the MH370 thread eh.
I'm trying to remember if the last time I heard "droll" was The Flinstones, or The Honemooners (which were pretty much the same thing in different formats). Come to think of it, that was the first place I heard it too.
:D

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Post by Max Headroom » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:20 am

GSM8 wrote:A few instances in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister" too
Weren't they just superb? Excellent writing, brilliant acting, ever so funny.

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Post by rajagainstthemachine » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:36 am

zzm9980 wrote:
rajagainstthemachine wrote: Everytime I go to JB I feel like I've been beamed into some alien planet devoid of humans, ( I see everyone in the malls but once you take a walk past the bus stand, I see little or almost no humans :o )
You've just described most of the rest of the world. Basically, anywhere that isn't a super-dense overcrowded place like Singapore or India.
well yes to an extent, the place where I used to stay in Bangalore was quite cut off from the rest of the city, there were hardly any people there at one point. But JB has a bit of eeriness to it and the smell of a ghost town.
To get there early is on time and showing up on time is late

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Post by Primrose Hill » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 4:31 pm

Max Headroom wrote:
GSM8 wrote:A few instances in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister" too
Weren't they just superb? Excellent writing, brilliant acting, ever so funny.
love love love 8-)

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 4:40 pm

Primrose Hill wrote:
Max Headroom wrote:
GSM8 wrote:A few instances in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister" too
Weren't they just superb? Excellent writing, brilliant acting, ever so funny.
love love love 8-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M
'Who reads the papers? - Yes, Prime Minister'

Classic :lol:

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Post by ScoobyDoes » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:41 pm

Electronic touch pads have been in place at the borders for a couple years, since the last time JB threatened to do just this. I'll believe it when I pay it, in the meantime I'll make my bi-monthly stock-up trips to Tesco and eat my steaks at half the price of Singapore and whistle Dixie to the S$20.

If it ever does happen, great, it will make my trips much easier because nowadays traffic really sucks.
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Post by JR8 » Tue, 08 Jul 2014 8:44 pm

Very interesting Scooby.

Can you outline what you find it worth going and getting in JB?

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