After hearing my colleagues mentioning about a great Dim Sum place in Bukit Indah, Malaysia. I knew it was time to get our passports out and head to the causeway to satisfy our Dim Sum craving over the long weekend in May. Here I am going to share what to do at Bukit Indah and it might help to spark some idea for a Short Getaway in Malaysia.
Malaysia Tuas Customs
If you have followed the news, Malaysia has implemented an additional toll in both Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoint. It will cost you about 20RM (Approx $6.50 SGD). To pay the toll charge, just proceed to use your Tap & Go Card at the passport clearance booth. Note: Additional toll charge will be collected after the Malaysia Checkpoint. So do prepare at least 28RM in your Tap&Go Card.
If you do not have a Tap&GO card or your card has insufficient value, fret not. There is a booth before the checkpoint booths that provides Top-Up services as well as selling of the card. Keep driving on the middle lane as you approach towards the checkpoint. There will be a small counter on your right that says “Malaysia Transport Authority” with a patrol car parked at the front. The Tap&Go card counter is at the left side of that counter.
大四喜香港点心 (Dà sì xǐ xiānggǎng diǎnxīn)
Click on the title for Google Map. You are welcome for the quick link.
Getting to the dim sum place from Tuas Checkpoint took us about 30 minutes. We used google maps to navigate our way and the directions given were pretty accurate. There are many parking lots in front of the restaurant but do note that due to the crowd on weekends, these lots get filled up pretty quickly. We were very lucky to find a slot right at the moment when we reached the car park.
When we approached the entrance, we were a little put off by the long queue but at the same time excited to sink our teeth into the delicious dim sum laying out on everyone’s table. From a very famous Singaporean proverb,
“When there is a long queue, there is good food” – Mr Brown
Delicious Dim Sum food
The staff will bring out tray after tray of dim sum to your table and you can select the dishes that you want. If you are heading there, do try out their carrot cake, char siew bao, siew mai ,sesame balls and of course the xiao long baos!. Avoid the Zhu Cang Feng though. I felt that it was a little thin and it breaks easily.
With the xiao long bao tasting better than Ding Tai Fung’s, what more can we ask for. Our stomachs were in heaven!
This place is a must go for all dim sum lovers!
Shopping at Aeon Mall
After having an awesome breakfast, it is time to do some shopping! We chose Aeon Mall in Bukit Indah as we have heard rave reviews about it.
Parking Tip
The parking at the shopping mall only cost 1RM for the whole day! Die Die also park at the shopping mall. Furthermore, there is some sort of shelter at the parking area so the car will not get too hot in the afternoon. Choose your lane and start camping for an empty lot. We circled the car park twice before managing to find a lot. The car park feels safer as compared to the JB town. All cars are parked head in. But do not take safety for granted, buy a steering lock if you need to.
Supermarket
Entering the entrance from the car park would be the supermarket. So if you need to do some household shopping, you can do it there!
Clothing
Walk till the end of the mall, you will find two huge department stores on the first level. On Sunday, there was a huge sale going on and we spent a fair bit of time going through the racks. In total, we bought 2 dresses and 3 long-sleeve shirts at 50% discount each. We whipped out our DBS 1-Altitude card to earn some miles at the same time.
Food
There is a huge selection of restaurants you can indulge in. Off all the restaurants, one caught our attention. Its the long lost “A&W”!
We decided to have some twister fries and root beer float to remind ourselves on the good old days.
Other points of interest
There is a cinema and a huge Daiso at the top level of the shopping mall. We planned to catch a movie but due to lack of time, we skipped it eventually.
Cheap Massage at Bukit Indah
Our feet were hurting from the shopping and the long queues at the check-out counter. Despite the numerous articles on Massage parlors, there was none that “screams good and cheap”.
We decided to explore the shop houses opposite the shopping mall and to our surprise, there were numerous massage parlors.We went to the shops facing the shopping mall but we were disappointed that they were not only fully booked but commanded a premium comparable to Singapore’s. We proceed to walk further and came across a small store at the next street.
The shop looked well renovated and to our surprise, the price for foot massage was almost half as compared to the shops we visited earlier. This was what we were looking for! “Cheap and Good!” Both of us settled for an hour of foot massage while the wife had additional pedicure done for a total of 128RM! (Approx $40 SGD)
We were then ushered into a cinema like room with rows of business class seats. The masseuse came in shortly with pail of warm water to rinse our feet before beginning to work on them. We soon settled into a tranquil state while our feet got pampered. We got to watch movies on the big screen. Simply first class experience!
Parlour : 7Days Wellness SDN BHD
Address No.24 Jalan Indah 15/3, Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru
Do note that this outlet was opened recently so google map has not updated its pictures.
Afterword
With the wonderful Dim Sum, Shopping and Massage, we had a great time exploring Bukit Indah. This is one place we will definitely head to again to satisfy our dim sum craving, cheap grocery shopping and good and cheap massage.
Do share this post to your travel buddy and you might be on your way for a nice short getaway. Tag that special someone to motivate him/her for a short Malaysia Getaway.