2 weeks ago, i went for this 1 day JB durian tour with mama.... i am actually not that keen about this kind of trip but since mama want to go so i just accompany her.... the tour was organised by some WTS company and feedback i have from this trip is that either you just want to whack durian meaning eat durian non stop (regardless of the durian grade) or plainly want to have a 1 day tour with a large group of friends.... the tour wasnt say super x, it cost $70/adult but i dont think is worth to join & you can see why as i elaborate....
the meeting point for our coach is at BIG BOX taxi stand... first impression was not good cause there wasnt any guide or person in charge to take attendance or what... there was only the blur blur bus driver who was super new to this tour kind of thing....
 |
| coach |
another thing, the coach was kind of old so the seats were not very comfy but hey, budget 1 day trip so dont complain so much..... we went on a sat & the bus departed about 7.30am from jurong east so by the time we reached tuas, there was a huge jam so we only reached JB around 9am+.... first of all we went to have breakfast at some coffee shop near causeway & i was quite dumbfounded by the condition of the place
 |
| coffee shop 1 |
 |
| coffee shop 2 |
okay, from the external view, it looks like normal coffee shop, perhaps on the run down side but still passable... but i was WRONG!! totally FAIL!!!! the place was super dirty, floor was wet, food not covered & i saw cockroaches roaming around!!! me & mama were too disgusted & shocked to get any food... thankfully there was some mini mart nearby so we managed to get some pathetic muffin for breakfast.....
so after the not so appetising breakfast, we continue our journey to the fruit farm.... the itinerary only state JB fruit farm, i suspected it was desaru fruit farm which i went before & i was right..... so we have the usual farm tour + bee talk to psycho you to buy those expensive honey.... after all the gimmick, it's the highlight of the trip = durian + fruit lunch....
 |
| desaru fruit farm |
 |
| buffet lunch area |
 |
| carbo section |
 |
| fruits section |
i didnt try the fruit buffet last time & i was thankful for that.... the main highlight of the meal was durian so i think you supposed to eat your year worth of durian there.... true enough they let you eat as many durian as you like but you dont expect fancy brands like mao shan wang kind of quality.... i would say the durian quality is passable but my stomach just not meant to eat such creamy fruit for lunch so i only had like 3 pieces of durian.... wanted to eat other food but not much to choose from.... there was white rice & bee hoon, the staff never refill curry chicken so can practically skip that unless you were the first few to get the food.... fruits section wise was abit better, there was passion fruit, watermelon, guava, jack fruit & mango.... so i ended up eating mango for lunch cause they were quite sweet.....
after lunch, the coach drove us to AEON mall where we spent 2.5hr there.... ok, the mall is quite big but seriously there wasnt anything interesting for us to shop there... so we were just aimlessly walking around & spent most of the time in the supermarket which i saw the most interesting thing during the trip!!! the whole peeled coconut!!!
 |
| peeling coconut |
 |
| peeled coconut!!! |
i believed most people would have seen the youtube video whereby some roadside stall in thailand sell this peeled coconut thing..... is still normal coconut but the staff will scoop out the whole coconut meat+juice together so that you dont have to scoop like mad... to the locals maybe is the norm but it's the most fascinating thing i seen during the trip.... the coconut wasnt sweet but we just gotten for the fun =)
the final part of the tour is dinner at some sit-down restaurant.... after what we experienced for the 2 meals, we were not optimistic for dinner but to our surprise, the restaurant we went to was jumbo wor...
 |
| jumbo seafood |
 |
| starter |
when we first went inside the restaurant, i was very excited about what we going to eat but after the first dish, it's back to disappointment again..... the dishes were just edible, presentation wise was below average.... i think it would be fine if the food were served in some road side store but after all we were eating at jumbo lea, i think the food certainly didnt do justice to the restaurant name.... not to mention about the insufficient quantity of food... there was barely enough food to go around the table.... one word = pathetic.... since i was so turned off by the food, i barely ate much there... so after we reached back to SG, i went to eat the gourmet burger at mac....
 |
| gourmet burger meal |
 |
| fries in fancy basket |
i dont think the mcdonald gourmet burger is that fantastic but i like the idea that you can choose your toppings & sauces & not to mention the fancy presentation of the meal..... of cause the burger tasted way way WAY better than anything i ate during the tour..... i believed there are lots of nice eateries in JB & i am very disappointed that the tour brought us to all the horrible places to eat.... i told mama not to join any of this kind of tour again.... personally i think is a total waste of $ & time.... probably is ok to experience once but definitely not a second time for me.... i think spending the $ to buy durian from NTUC & eat them at home will be a much better choice.....
