Zenxin organic farm..almost one of the few places i that my jaw dropped when whipped out my camera to take a shot..its not that this place is superb, it's just that my grandma stood up from her wheelchair for the first time just to take this photo..gosh..mustve been the organic aura that surrounds this place..i hope you didnt misread that as orgasmic..

Anyway, i think the name of the place is pretty self explanatory..its an organic farm..Situated in Air Hitam, Johor, this place is the largest Argo-organic farm in Malaysia; which pretty explain the hordes of buses/ tourists it attracts. But honestly speaking, there is nothing much to see here actually. Could it be the season that plants are not fruiting?

So, for those who have never been here, just imagine 100 acres of plantation of all sorts; from local fruits to all kinds of vegetables, beans, tomatoes, you name it..and, if you're planning to go berserk and cover the whole area, i suggest you rent a bicycle..As for the season thingy, i dont think you can pretty much do anything about it since there are hundreds types of plants here, each, of course, having their own 'season'. But there is one thing you can do, come here in the mornings! or die being scorched by the mighty Malaysian Halo..

Fortunately enough for us, the weather was pretty cloudy for us that day..Was pushing my grandma around the place.. showing her all the plants.. and to my amazement, she could recognize, i wouldnt say all but most of em'.. Still recall that there was this part at the herb section where she goes 'This one is good for lowering high blood pressure',.. 'This ones' good for diabetes', the commented..

Here's what you can expect while youre here at Zenxin's..expect vast lands of plantations, a wholesome meal/steamboat be it breakie or lunch down at organic restaurant/cafe can follow after touring the place..they have a fresh produce and organic products for sale down at their store ..and a lil nursery at the corner of the entrance greets you when enter the place..you can get souvenirs, some potted plants to bring home..

Okie, we're done with this..time to write about Spore..wee~

After sunrise we warp straight to sunset..next place on d list actually H.K Rakit; a floating restaurant located somewhere at the end of an oil palm estate near Tanjung Putri Golf resort. Yup, you heard me right..its floating..and its after an oil palm estate.. From the way im describing it, chances are, you might not be able to find it..then again, its pretty straight forward actually once youre there..

A few things are assured though when youre here: you be thrilled at how the whole restaurant wobbles when waves hit it- the whole restaurant is floating anyway hence the name rakit ('raft' in Eng.) (of course, there is a wobbleless section for those not-so-adventerous)..the scenery is soothing.. i wouldn't say splendid, just soothing.. plus points especially when there's sunset as backdrop..and the food? no where can it get any fresher than this..Reason being, this place has its own 'kelong'..kelongs are basically floating man-made enclosures to temporarily rear or breed fish..Catches of the day are hauled into these kelong and kept there..and because the kelong are in the sea itself, the fishes are always fresh..this is of course in comparison with pond/aquarium breed fishes..the dont 'exercise' that much as when they are in the wild, hence the texture of their meat is different..This is highly debatable of course..

Johor is definitely in my travel list whenever it comes to the year end..and so is Singapore..Mum and I are always down south for grandma and Singapore? we're there for Christmas (its August and Im writing about last year's Christmas!?)..So anyway, before we get down to Spore, lets start of with Johor lohh; gotta start somewhere rite..We begin with Desaru, a beach resort located somewhere at the tip of South-East Johor.. my fondest memories (during my uni days) lies here where we were once young and crazy enough to drive here at 3am without prior sleep the day before, just to watch the sunrise.. without any preparation and nothing to do, we ended up playing beach football using coconuts the next half of the morning..and trust me, coconuts make bad substitutes for a soccer ball..

Generally, Desaru beach faces the east and should theoretically produce nice sunrise shots.. Like Teluk Cempedak (in my previous article), beaches facing East here in Malaysia are notoriously known for the havoc they wreck during the monsoon seasons..but there is a calmer, more gentle side when its not..So here, a shot of the sunrise from the beach i got from this time's trip..It isnt much, but whats better than having 2 km of beach all to yourself!

The next best thing that you could probably do in Desaru is to visit the local Ostrich farm. I was a bit hesitant to come here in the first place but since everyone wanted to go..oh well...turned out to be, this place is pretty interesting: we fed ostriches, stood on its eggs (this statement sounds wrong man..and with so many ostriches looking at ya', it feels awkward), got to eat its meat and eggs, found out that ostriches can kick ya in the balls real hard, got to see a hatching hatch! and even hitch a ride on its back too..it's fun but there are two things i really pity about the ostriches here though..first, the sand flies here attack em' (esp. their eyes causing infections and blister).. even i myself got attacked but on ma' hands and legs..Second, i bet the ostriches at the farm could smell the burnt smell of ostrich meat exhausting from the restaurant kitchen every single day; What's worse then smelling the smell of your own kind's cooked meat? Must've been traumatic..









reminder: prawns are not part of the ostrich family.

Perhaps one of the most distinctive smells found at one of the corners of Tropicana mall, Damansara is the smell of BEEF broth!! and it can only be at Pho' Hoa a Vietnamese chain restaurant specializing noodle soup..but i think their beef soup must be superior since it is that fragrant smell that brought me in here.. Very unfortunate for that day, i patronized this restaurant with my mom who is an anti-beef individual..but nonetheless was able to try other stuff here, at the very least enough to write up this article.. What i have tried here so far is fair but i foresee myself being back here to try out their beef soup..just the smell is just so..irresistible?