RCTI LIVE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 IN JOHOR BAHRU

I found out I can get World Cup live matches good reception of the Indonesian RCTI channel in my apartment in Johor Bahru. That means I don't have to go down to watch with smokers as my lungs have been loaded with second hand smoke lately. For those in Singapore, you can try the antenna recommended by the HardwareZone forum to receive RCTI and even Malaysian channels.

RCTI

BEEF NOODLE IN JOHOR BAHRU

In my humble opinion, there are only two places worth eating beef noodle in Johor Bahru. This is the second place which I had just found.




My second wife.


My first wife. Both love the soup noodle.


I prefer the dry version.


The soup version in detail. Unlike common beef soup which is loaded with herbs and more brownish and not so crystal clear as this one, it has its unique taste which is worth trying out. It did not disappoint me though.


They also have pork rib noodle, not bad too! Tender meat which gives out nice aroma for every bite.

I also see a lot of people enjoying their kampung chicken rice. I think I have to try that some day by bringing my 3rd wife.


View Johor Bahru Food in a larger map

JB NINE NINJA COPS

I hope they don't hide at road junctions, road sides as well as create road blocks everywhere like what normal cops do.

‘Ninja’ cops patrol Johor streets

JOHOR BARU, Nov 8 — Johor police have formed a special squad, dubbed the Ninja Squad by the public, to curb roadside robberies such as snatch thefts in the city.

The unit, equipped with nine Kawasaki KLX250 scrambler motorcycles, patrol the streets wearing full-faced helmets, jeans and boots.

Chief Inspector Mohd Saufi Mohd Kassim, who leads the team, said “many members of the public started calling the team ‘ninja’ probably because of their full-faced helmets and appearance”, adding that the name has since stuck.

The squad was formed three months ago. Chief Insp Mohd Saufi said squad members dress casually in order to move about easily.

He said the 16-man team from the Johor Baru (South) district police headquarters is usually deployed at crime hot spots around Larkin, Pelangi and the city area.

“The squad was created to combat street crime within the crime-prone areas in the city,” he said.

“The idea of the squad was mooted by Johor Baru (South) Officer in Charge of Police District, Assistant Commissioner Zainuddin Yaakob.

“He takes the team deep into the jungle once a week for training exercises with their machines.”

The training is important because squad members must be able to adapt well to their high-powered motorcycles.

Assistant Commissioner Zainuddin said the motorcycles cost around RM23,000 each and can be ridden on different terrain.

“Our team has been very successful in tackling crime as we have apprehended snatch thieves and other criminals,” he said.

His team is also the pioneer in the country in using scrambler bikes to tackle crime.

He added that the success of the team has prompted state police chief Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff to look into setting up similar teams in other districts. — Straits Times

BIGFOOT DISCOVERY ADVENTURE

This weekend, my friend ZJ and us will go for our first out of four legs of hiking near Johor Bahru. As mentioned earlier, there are 4 hills nearest to Singapore. They are:
Gunung Pulai @ 700 metres
Gunung Panti @ 513 metres
Gunung Belumut @ 1,010 metres (which I climbed earlier)
Gunung Lambak @ 510 metres


View Johor Hill Hiking in a larger map

We plan to start by climbing Gunung Panti first because there had been bigfoot sightings there in the past. We so wanted to see bigfoot in real life that we decided we should go to this one first! We target to finish all four by December 2009 if possible. I can climb Gunung Belumut again by following a different trail since there are many alternatives there. If we have spare time, we can visit Kota Tinggi and their famous waterfall. Mention the name Kota Tinggi and people will tell you that the place is famous for the waterfall. It will be my first trip to Kota Tinggi although I passed by there many times before to go Desaru and Mersing. If we have time, maybe looking for fireflies will be cool as well!

Now, I must buy some tobacco leaves to prepare for leeches and some banana for the bigfoot if we ever meet one. I hope bigfoot is only interested in banana. Haha!

Bigfoot @ Gunung Panti

ONE WEEK DRIVING SUMMARY

I have never driven so much in a week in my entire life! Of course when I got tired or sick of driving, I asked my wife to take over. The most tiring routes are the ones going Fraser Hill and Cameron Highlands. Man, I will think twice to drive through those routes again. One of the steepest roads in Malaysia, we even encountered a vehicle plunging down the hill on our way down from Cameron Highlands. The firemen were at the location to use the stretcher to bring the victims up. Bukit Fraser road was a nightmare as it was incredibly steep and narrow. A moment of concentration loss will mean you going down the hill.

I will provide posts of the entire trip after I settle down. I am extremely exhausted. Luckily, I had my sunglasses with me which makes driving in the sun less tiring.


View 2009 August Trip in a larger map

Travelled Route:
1. Johor Bahru-Rawang-Batang Kali-Rasa-Fraser Hill
2. Fraser Hill-Kerling-Ipoh
3. Ipoh-Simpang Pulai-Kampung Raja-Kampung Trinkap-Berinchang-Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands)
4. Tanah Rata-Berinchang-Kampung Trinkap-Kampung Raja (Cameron Highlands)-Simpang Pulai-Ipoh-Menglembu-Ayer Tawar-Sitiawan
5. Sitiawan-Kampung Koh-Kampung Cina-Kampung Acheh-Lumut
6. Lumut-Pangkor Island
7. Sitiawan-Teluk Intan-Kuala Lumpur
8. Kuala Lumpur-Seremban-Port Dickson
9. Port Dickson-Lubok Cina-Alor Gajah-Malacca
10. Malacca-Johor Bahru

Total distance covered: over 1,800km (average over 257km a day)
Total flat:hilly:seaside ratio covered: roughly 60:30:10
Total weight gained: easily 5 kgs
Total local food and drinks consumed: probably more than 5 kgs / litres
Most favourite place: Ipoh for the nice mix of good food and local climate
Most tiring drive: road up and down Bukit Fraser
Most satisfying drive: reaching the top of Gunung Brinchang, the highest road in Peninsular Malaysia at 2,000 metres above sea level
Most ugly scenery: rubbish hills at Cameron Highlands and Pangkor Island to the full glory view of the public and the amount of swiftlet farming in Sitiawan loaded with shit even next to the kopitiam / coffeeshop
Most beautiful scenery: top of Brinchang Hill and Palas Hill tea plantations
Most devastating moment: finding a dugong dead at Pangkor Island, accident victims at Kuala Lumpur highway and on the road down from Cameron Highlands
Most regretful moment: inability to find the exact Perak Democracy Tree
Most exciting find: the lighthouse and bald eagle at Port Dickson
Most hottest place: Pangkor Island, Malacca
Most coldest place: Cameron Highlands
Most greatest accommodation: Ipoh
Most lousiest accommodation: Sitiawan
Most exciting food place: Ipoh
Most interesting food: tiger nuts and preserved guava
Most sickening food: strawberry
Most lousiest food: strawberry cream cakes and scorns
Most boring place: Fraser Hill
Worst drivers ever: Express bus drivers who suddenly overtake in high speed when you are already less than 1 metre away trying to overtake it. I got used to it after a while, anticipating crazy overtaking whenever I am near a bus. Now I know why highway accident counts involving buses are high in Malaysia.
Worst overtakers ever: Sitiawan-Teluk Intan-Kuala Lumpur stretch of small single lane roads where you need to be on full alert to signal highlights whenever the opposite side is overtaking lorries and buses. They dare to do high speed overtaking eventhough you are less than 10 metres away. After a while, I gave up signaling my highlights because they didn't care and just drove slower and to the extreme left edge of the road to avoid them.
Most exciting purchase: MlesnA porcelain tea mug and loose Ceylon Tea

A word or phrase to summarize each place:
Bukit Fraser: birds watching
Ipoh: small chickens
Cameron Highlands: sour strawberry
Sitiawan: salted eggs
Pangkor Island: mighty waves
Kuala Lumpur: horrific jams
Port Dickson: oily beach
Malacca: Peranakan cendol

Now, I have to think of how to get rid of the kilograms. Since this is a leisure + food trip, it is not surprising that I had gained lots of weight.

PEKIN RESTAURANT 北京楼

We finally went to visit Pekin Restaurant to try the food after countless of people saying how good it is. My doctor friend eats there every weekend! Rich people....

This was supposed to be our first choice for holding the wedding dinner at Johor Bahru but I decided that the location will be hard to find for those coming from Singapore. The environment is also not nice and the place smells of oil from frying.

Pekin Restaurant has a few branches in Johor Bahru. You can check the website link for the rest. The one I gone to is rather old, probably had been there for ages.

RESTORAN PEKIN (SENTOSA)
No.38, Jalan Baldu Lima,
Taman Sentosa,
80150 Johor Bahru, Johor.
07-3332928, 3320902




Lala RM24 - yellow wine gives it a sweet taste which I don't really like. Coming from the Foochow background in Sibu, we are used to drinking our red wine not so sweet. This is the most expensive dish among all that we ordered.




Buns with pork RM12- when I first see the pork, I thought they serve us pork from the tin cans from China. They look so identical. Normally pork served with mantou ( 馒头) are darker in colour, almost pure black. However, once I tried the pork, it is absolutely great. Really damn nice! When I open the bun / mantou to insert the meat, I found out that they have sesame seed in them, which gives them all an extra nice flavour.


Pekin Duck RM23 - the sauce is way too sweet!!! In the end, we ate it without the sauce at all. This is the first time I saw the wrapper to be mixed with eggs to give it a yellowish colour. It tasted fine. The duck is well done, absolutely superb. I still miss the one I had in Kota Kinabalu, the one my 2nd granduncle brought us to eat.


Vegetable (Asparagus) RM8 - simple stirred fried version with garlic. Nothing to complain, well done.




Fu Zhou Yu Ni (orh nee) RM15 - my wife loves this yam dessert alot but we failed to find one here that is to our liking. Most people here like to present this dish with the oil with deep fried onions on top. It tasted weird, like having kampua instead. This one is great but they add glutinous rice as the cover for the yam. It tasted alright but perhaps we are too full already. This is also the first time where I see red bean to be used. I have seen people using pumpkin (as in our case too) and sometimes sweet potato. It is really good, not too sweet and yet tasted great. Next time we will see if we can order one without glutinous rice.


Nuts RM2 - average. I had tasted better ones before.

Tea RM3 - the Tie Guan Yin (铁观音) we ordered was miserable. There is no taste at all and is one of the worst things I had in Pekin Restaurant.

Rice RM1.20 - even the rice is well done.

Total RM88.20
GST 5% RM4.41
TOTAL DAMAGE: RM92.61

In the menu, I spotted the most expensive dish, Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙), to be priced at RM1,888. Mamamia!


View Johor Bahru Food in a larger map

MORE CRIMES IN JOHOR BAHRU

I guess I will continue to update on all crimes in Johor Bahru as a reminder to myself and a record of the most happening things we have here. I just want to see how many reported cases that involves death, serious injury and big shot people and gangs are listed in the mainstream papers.

Two killed in shootout, nine suspected drug traffickers held
By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU: Two men, believed to be involved in a shooting spree in Taman Perling two months ago, were shot dead by alert policemen.

Police also quickly rounded up nine other gang members, including a woman, within two hours after the noon shooting in Taman Daya here yesterday.

Johor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said they had seized weapons, including two pistols, nine parang, and several packets of drugs.

DCP Mohd Mokhtar said a four-man team cornered the two suspects in their 20s, who were in a blue Mercedes Benz.

“When asked to stop, the driver pulled out a Smith and Wesson .32mm revolver, which forced the policemen to fire several shots at both suspects,” he said. Both men died at the scene.

Police also recovered a pistol and two live bullets.

They then raided an apartment in the same housing estate and arrested six men aged between 18 and 20.

The gang is believed to have shot dead P. Vikneswaran, 23, near a bank and injured a 19-year-old youth at a petrol station in Taman Perling on March 30.

DCP Mohd Mokhtar said a parang, a laptop and a packet of heroin were seized from the Taman Daya apartment.

He said police also arrested two men and a woman at a house in Taman Ehsan Jaya and seized a Glock pistol and more packets of drugs.

DCP Mohd Mokhtar said the men had past records for gang robberies, murder and assault.

“We believe all of them were involved in a drug trafficking syndicate and other serious crimes,” he said.

Police are checking to ascertain whether the Mercedes Benz was also stolen.

The suspects’ bodies have been sent to Sultanah Aminah Hospital for post-mortem.

DCP Mohd Mokhtar praised the public for their cooperation which led to the arrests.

He urged anyone with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station.

JOHOR BAHRU, THE CRIME RATE CONVERSATION

A local doctor who owns a clinic in Johor Bahru was driving me in his Mercedes sporty coupé last weekend during his day off as we were heading to attend a function when our conversation went to the crime scene in Johor Bahru. He told me that what you read in the newspapers are normally the tip of the iceberg. What you read are cases which involved VIP and death. If it is not as severe as death or at least serious injury to major disability as a result of being a crime victim, it will not be reported. It will only hit the papers if it involved the police head, the politicians or high profile prominent figures in the society.

I asked him how he seems to know so much. He said just by his own clinic alone, he has more than enough crime victims per week to visit him. I joked that business must be very good for doctors practising in Johor Bahru since crime rate is so seriously high. Well, no wild guess these criminals are mostly representing which specific race and even the famous spots to get criminals attacking around. I told him to be careful that perhaps one day these criminals will even imitate as patients to his clinic. Therefore, we could not believe the reports which mention that crime rate is falling. I ask him whether the economic recession is causing the crime rate to escalate by a lot. He said he could not feel the trend, at least not with his clinic. The numbers have always been consistent.

He revealed to me that these criminals are normally people who are too lazy to find work. Therefore, they just be criminals to get enough money to survive. After they run out of money, they will go back to perform criminal acts again. The cycle will continue over and over again for self sustaining life without work. That's how it is with the profile of these criminals. They resort to become criminals as an easy way out to find money to survive.

I guess getting a survey from all doctors in Johor Bahru is much better than getting a survey from policemen on the true amount of crime rates here. People are hesistant or do not trust the police anymore because they are not interested to write your report and most of the outcomes are NFA (no further action). I reported once and many victims shared with me it is as good as disappearing in thin air. Therefore, what's the point of reporting since you already know the outcome?

Snatch thief to face murder charge
By AUSTIN CAMOENS
Wednesday May 20, 2009

JOHOR BARU: A snatch thief, who caused the death of pregnant mother Jamilah Selamat in Ayer Hitam earlier this month, is likely to be charged with murder.

Johor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said police have recommended to the public prosecutor’s office that the main suspect be charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.

It is learnt that the suspect, who has six prior cases of snatch theft and was riding a stolen motorcycle, used the money that he stole from Jamilah to go on a date with his girlfriend.

DCP Mokhtar told a press conference yesterday that police had solved the case with the arrest of six people, including a 20-year-old girl.

He said the first suspect was picked up on May 6 in Batu Pahat. The rest, aged between 20 and 30, were subsequently arrested.

“So far, we have recovered the victim’s handbag, which contained her MyKad, ATM cards and other cards,” he said.

The second suspect will be charged under Section 411 of the Penal Code for possession of the victim’s handphone. The rest are assisting in investigations.

Jamilah, 31, who was two months’ pregnant, was killed when her bag was snatched while she was riding her motorcycle.

She died of severe head injuries after hitting the pavement when she fell off the motorcycle.

The suspect had targeted Jamilah as he thought she was an easy victim with her handbag left unattended in her motorcycle basket.

In an unrelated case, police detained five men from Sungai Rengit, Pengerang, for human trafficking.

DCP Mokhtar said the suspects were arrested between May 13 and yesterday.

JOHOR BAHRU, CRIME CAPITAL WITH MORE COVERAGES

I just don't know whether to laugh or not. How can the police say that there are fewer criminal activities during an economic recession? It just doesn't make sense and even a primary school kid can tell you that it is beyond logic. The fewer crime activities reported is a sign that people are losing far more confidence in the police.

I live in Johor Bahru and I know the police are reluctant to take your police report. In fact, when you call them, they can come 30 minutes later despite the HQ just 5 minutes drive away from my location. Therefore, many people are just tired of them. If they are robbed, they just let it be. There will be no conclusions whatsoever even if the police comes. Many cases are never solved and just left there idle forever.

Roadblock is the most stupidest idea of lowering crime rate. Let's be pragmatic. If you are a criminal on the run and you see a super long jam upfront with police roadblock, will you be a dumbass and go into the roadblock? You will of course change your course and run. It is not effective at all because stupid roadblocks always create super long jam, from a 4 lanes wide road they can block it till it is just 1 lane. All the normal users of the road like me suffer like shit.

Patroling? I see them mostly hiding at road junctions, traffic light junctions, especially the one entering the immigration. I see many of them standing around in the immigration enjoying the airconditioning. A big drop of 1,201 cases or 14%? Right! Only a kindergarten kid will believe you.

JB crime under media glare again

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Four recent high-profile incidents have put Johor's crime situation in the spotlight, despite police data showing fewer criminal activities in the first few months of this year.

The four cases have attracted much attention because they involved a Cabinet minister, a political secretary and even the Johor Baru South police chief.

And in another much-reported case, a pregnant woman died when she fell from her motorcycle after her handbag was snatched by another motorcyclist.

In an incident on Wednesday, police shot dead five foreigners who had robbed the family of the political secretary of Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff had a scary story to tell of the robbers who formed the Geng Bonding (Bonding Gang).

“They are suspected to have committed 22 violent robberies in Kota Tinggi, Simpang Renggam and Johor Baru since last January,” Mokhtar was quoted by Bernama as saying on Wednesday.

But police in the state have not been idle, having added more men and patrol cars and setting up more roadblocks in the last one year or so, officials said.

“There have been more roadblocks lately and I can see more police patrolling the streets now compared to before,” a long-time JB resident, who did not want to be named, told The Straits Times yesterday.

The crime situation in Johor had prompted at least one blogger, Scott Hong, to focus on crime issues in the state in the last four years.

When officials said the robbery involving JB South police chief was an isolated incident, Hong wrote: “Of course the case... is 'an isolated case'. Usually, the vast majority of Johor criminals rob defenceless, non-police civilians.”

Johor police revealed last month that “index” crimes — such as house-breaking and motorcycle thefts — had dropped to 6,968 cases during the period from Jan 1 to April 16, compared to 8,169 cases in the same period last year.

That is a big drop of 1,201 cases, or 14 per cent.

But hard data is only one facet of the issue because just one high-profile incident could colour public perception for months.

To be sure, crime prevention in JB is expected to receive a major boost when the Iskandar Regional Development Authority launches its safety and security blueprint this year.

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad told The Straits Times that the plan is ready “but I have yet to see the blueprint”.

He added: “I hope it will boost security in the JB region.”

The programmes are to be implemented in the next three to five years.

Shahrir said the public could play their part in preventing crime by organising their own patrol committees and working with the police.

Despite the recent cases, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said that it was unfair to label Johor as unsafe.

Citing the case of escaped terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari, who was caught hiding in Skudai in JB, Hishammuddin said it did not mean Johor was a haven for terrorists.

“Today when we take action against the criminals, we are seen to be unsafe again. If that is the situation, then we cannot do anything,” he told a press conference on Wednesday.

Datuk Soh Poh Sheng, president of the Johor Baru Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Straits Times: “To be fair to the police, the crime rate has dropped drastically over the past few months. We could see changes and improvements.” — The Straits Times

JOHOR BAHRU, THE CRIME CAPITAL CITY OF MALAYSIA, DOES IT AGAIN!

More snatch thieves and even policemen tied up and robbed at knife point. Johor Bahru is really the crime capital city of Malaysia, where even policemen are robbed! Really incredible! I guess this shows how daring the criminals are in this country. They don't even fear the police so as normal citizens ourselves, we can only depend on ourselves in times of danger.

Friday May 1, 2009
OCPD robbed at knife point

JOHOR BARU: Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob was tied up and robbed at knife point in his house here early yesterday.

The OCPD, in his 40s, who was home alone, had a shock when at least three men surprised him at about 5.45am.

The suspects, all believed to be Indonesians, tied him up and ransacked his home.

The intruders then fled with some cash and valuables.

ACP Zainuddin managed to free himself and contact the police. He later lodged a report at the Tampoi police station.

State CID chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Datuk Amer Awal said the suspects managed to enter the OCPD’s house through the back door.

“The OCPD was not harmed and so far we have detained three men in connection with the case,” he said, urging those with information to contact the police hotline at 07-221 2999 or the nearest police station.

Wednesday May 6, 2009
Pregnant woman dies after thieves pull her off motorcycle
By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU: The killers on motorcycles have done it again — this time, snatch thieves took two lives when they tried to rob pregnant Jamilah Selamat.

Jamilah, 31, suffered severe head injuries after falling from her motorcycle on Sunday. She died at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital at 7.30am yesterday without regaining consciousness.

Her husband of seven months, trader Razali Ahmad, 41, was a distraught man yesterday.

For him, the tragedy was harder to take because he had just started to taste happiness again after five years when his first wife died of cancer.

The tragedy also leaves Jamilah’s two children from her first marriage — Norasyikin Salleh, seven, and Mohd Khairi Ridwan Salleh, five — without their mother. They looked dazed and clung to their crying stepfather.

Razali said he was told by an eyewitness — his older brother’s friend — that his wife had hit the pavement face first and did not move after that.

“The witness told me that he saw two men on a motorcycle flee the scene immediately after Jamilah fell, and her bag was nowhere to be seen,” he told reporters at the hospital mortuary yesterday.

Razali said Jamilah, a handicraft dealer, was on her way home to Taman Mekar after work that day.

Jamilah had lost her handbag to snatch thieves last year but escaped unharmed. A friend advised her to twirl the handbag around the rearview mirror for a tighter hold.

That move may have been fatal.

When the snatch thieves grabbed Jamilah’s bag, they pulled her motorcycle, causing Jamilah to fall.

“I never thought that I would lose her this way. We were expecting our child, we have only been married for seven months ... I lost my first wife to bone cancer and now, I have lost Jamilah and baby,” he said.

Razali has two teenage children from his previous marriage.

Jamilah and the unborn child were buried at the Ayer Hitam cemetery yesterday.

Batu Pahat OCPD Asst Comm Ibrahim Arif confirmed police received a report on the incident.

Eyewitnesses are urged to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999.

In 2004, a Nanyang Siang Pau clerk, Chong Fee Cheng, 37, died after she lapsed into a coma following a snatch theft in Taman Molek, Johor Bahru.

In December last year, snatch theft victim Lim See Nya, 58, was run over by a three-tonne truck when she lost her balance and fell onto the road, after a motorcycle pillion rider grabbed her handbag in Bukit Mertajam.

JOHOR BAHRU, CRIME CAPITAL CITY OF MALAYSIA NEW CRIME TACTIC

Wah, even pregnant ladies are criminals nowadays. The economy is really bad and Johor Bahru being the crime capital city of Malaysia should never be left behind to set new records. Johor Bahru is dangerous. Nobody dares to stop their car in the highway or road anymore when people see people pleading for help. I have heard countless cases here. You never know, they are wolves disguised in sheep skin (a term we always use for super fake Christians who physically demonstrates how holy they are - hypocrites).

Pregnant Ladies Can Be Dangerous!

>The daily also reported a 28-year-old good Samaritan who helped a pregnant woman to get to the hospital, was instead robbed by her and her accomplices in Johor Baru.

In the 9.45am incident on Thursday, the victim was approached by the woman at a petrol station in Permas Jaya. She begged to be sent to the hospital to deliver her baby.

On the way to the hospital, the victim was forced to stop her car when two motorcyclists blocked her way.

The pregnant woman alighted the car and jumped onto one of the motorcycles while the other motorcyclists, carrying a parang, forced the victim to hand over her gold necklace and stole RM1,800 cash from her.