desaru weekend trip

this is a pretty back dated post about my desaru weekend trip over good friday long weekend.... we drove over to desaru with couple of our friends to chill over the long weekend.... for those who are like me who didnt know where is desaru, it's actually pretty "near" to JB, is about 1hr drive from the woodland check point so i guess that's why quite a number of people chill there over the weekends....

so we reached woodland checkpoint about 8am+ & there was already a SUPER LONG queue!!! we wanted to reach earlier but our friend woke up late so nah... late as usual.... so we spend like almost 2hr to pass the custom!!!! we first stop by this ""mall" near the causeway to have our breakfast & stock up some snacks to munch in the resort....

giant

breakfast

on the way to resort

 

trees along the way

finally reached desaru

lotus desaru resort

mini cart to transport within the resort

resort lobby

so we FINALLY reached the resort after like almost 4hr ride!!! i guessed it was the long weekend so there was quite a number of people at the check in counter.... apparently you need to pay for the wifi and the only free wifi place is the lobby & the signal was pretty weak there too... so if you are those hardcore phone user then probably you need to find an alternative solution.....

resorts blocks

actually when we drove into the resorts i was abit puzzled cause my impression of resort is like those huts or bungalows style so i was quite shock when i saw rows of blocks..... lets move onto the rooms...

dinning area

living room

common toilet

common room 1

common room 2

master bedroom

master room toilet

we booked a 3 bedroom "suite" cause there was 6 of us.... when i first stepped into the room, i was like this is a chalet not resort lea... i guessed i have heard too much about those pretty resorts that my lab mate went so i had super high expectation....but we gotten our room for quite a cheap rate since our friend's uncle worked in the resort we had a good lobang.... so after resting awhile in the room, we went to get our lunch at a restaurant in the resort...

our lunch -seafood place

our lunch

the food wasnt very nice & it took so long to prepare... & worst, the food were not even hot... really not worth to eat in the resort since they charged quite expensive compared to outside stores.... after our no so nice lunch, we went to walk around on the beach....

another restaurant in the resort

mama shop in the resort

beach hut

people doing para-sailing

beach

beach

rocks on the beach

para-sailing

more interesting rocks

soft mud like sand

the beach was pretty big & you can do some water sports there... we were all lazy so didnt try out any water sports but just walked along the beach.... the wave was pretty strong even during low tide so not really safe to swim there... but is nice to walk along the coast... especially on the soft mud like sand... after walking on the beach, we went back to laze around in the room before heading out for dinner & main highlight for the day = see firefly!!!

night view of resort

i think there are 2 firefly viewing place, one closer to resort = about 30min drive, another one is closer to JB but the staff say there have more firefly... but lazy us just go ahead with the nearby site...

firefly farm restaurant

dinner

ferry to watch firefly

firefly farm

so there was this restaurant at the firefly farm so most people will have their dinner there before joining the ferry ride... dinner was nice & filling.... didnt take any picture of the ferry ride cause it was very dark..... when the ferry staff splashed water onto the bushes, the firefly will come out & you will see speck of light.... i agree with the resort staff that there wasnt alot of firefly around but i think it was quite a pretty sight to see small "dancing light" in the dark.... the staff was also very pro, he just catch the firefly with his barehand & passed to the passengers to see.... he caught 2 for me =) the firefly was really much smaller than i expect, so you cant feel them flying around on your hand..... so that wraps up our first night =)

the next morning we had breakfast at a nearby prata place... cheap & nice!!! we were so full that we actually skipped lunch...... our first stop was ostrich farm... honestly i wasnt very into this place cause i dont like birds, especially BIG birds..... but i just tag along....

on the way to ostrich farm

view along the road

ostrich egg vs my fist

ostrich egg

1 day old ostrich

ostrich feeding

ostrich for phototaking

baby ostrich

huge coconut

the ostrich farm was pretty small but there was a cafe there so people will normally had their lunch there & try out ostrich meat.... we were too full to try so we had coconut juice cause the weather was super hot..... i was very surprise to see one of the ostrich just stood there & let people take photo... the staff said it had special training but seriously, super tame.... my friends took photo with it but no thanks for me..... after chilling out at the ostrich farm, we went to fruit farm...

fruit farm

fruit stores

lorry ride to enter fruit farm

some "bread fruit"

dragon fruit

huge jackfruit

one side of the fruit plantation

cocoa plant

durian tree

papaya tree

banana flower

guava

basil

roselle

inside fruit farm

pineapple

jumbu flower

cute rabbit

baby rabbit

HUGE turtle

goat area

birds area

free packet of fruits

 the fruit farm was pretty big & it was quite fun since you get to see where the fruits came from... i never knew the jumbu flowers were so pretty..... but it will be quite hot since you will walking under the hot sun..... towards the end of the tour, you will stopby in a small zoo area.... they mainly have small animals & birds..... i was only interested in the rabbit.... it was super tame, just rest there & let people pet.... at the end of the tour, you will get a packet of fruits.... i was expecting nicer fruits since they came fresh from the farm but i was disappointed..... you can also buy some fresh fruits at the store but the variety was quite limited... i guess april wasnt a fruit season.....

for dinner, we tried out this steamboat place near the resort....

steamboat place

food variety

the place was a small family run business but really cheap, 23rm per pax but you cant expect much from the food selection..... we thought the usual sotong ball, crabstick should be safe but somehow they had a weird taste so i end up eating veggie & mushroom..... after disappointing dinner, we went back for supper & our drinking session!!!

supper

haha actually our intention was to have a drinking session cause we thought malaysia alcohol will be cheap but sadly it cost about same as SG.... nonetheless we still had quite afew bottles to finish per pax..... & that wraps up our second night in desaru

so the last day we checked out & had our brunch before driving back to SG... we drove to this seaside place & there was quite a number of seafood place there.... we didnt know what to choose & just settle for one of them which looked pretty proper...

seafood place

lunch

i wont say the food were superb but i think it was slightly cheaper than SG.... with that marks the end of our long weekend trip in desaru..... i think it was an ok trip, nothing much to do there but more of just eating & chilling out =)