Little Deer Ping Pong Piang @ Johor Bahru in Malaysia

Just when we were wondering what to do after our meal at Ikan Bakar Tampin, we spotted this captivating shop that was right across, with the name "Little Deer".

Seeing that it was a local dessert eatery which would so appropriate after our dinner, we stepped into the shop which had a white-cyan theme that felt kind of clean yet comfortably cheerful to the eyes.

Given the name, there were these cute, little deer stools at the feature wall. While the English name might sound a little boring, its Chinese name actually means flustered, like when you are flustered when you see your crush walking towards you. 

There were a few messages in Chinese, pasted on the walls, that were funny for those who can read them. This particular one touched me - studied for more than ten years and I think kindergarten is better; a touch of reality. 

Scan here to order! 

Pay later.

Cold Beancurd with Mango - please note that the beancurd would be those soya pudding which I dislike as it was merely a form of jelly. In addition, its flavor was overshadowed by the mishmash of ingredients like mango and pearls. You honestly can do without the useless beancurd.

Six Herbs Soup - literally translated as six-taste soup in Chinese, this appeared to be just like our local cheng tng! And it was in such a small bowl. 

I don't understand why this soup was of lukewarm temperature; should it be either hot or cold? Anyway, taste was to sweet for my liking and at moments like this; I miss the cheng tng that mom would cook every lunar new year! 

First Love Nine Palace Grid - just the name itself was already half a winner but as the picture on the menu suggests; there were nine mini portions for you to indulge in, and you don't have to wreck your brains deciding what to order! This is quite similar to Khánh Vy Sweets at Ho Chi Minh City, and to be honest, I love such concept! 

You get items like red bean soup, bobo chacha, little rabbit; do note that some might not be on the menu. Honestly, I am not complaining; variety for the win.

Of course there were hits and misses. In general, nothing was overly sweet which was an advantage for my middle-aged body. I particularly enjoyed the taro with sago, bobo cha cha with jelly. Red bean soup was pretty good with addition of orange peel but could have been served hotter. 

My younger sister is obsessed with rabbits and the little rabbit jelly appealed to her. The only issue is she loves rabbits so much; how could she even eat them?!

I helped by chopping the head off.

p.s. it's just almond jelly.

Didn't take too long for the four of us to clean up the First Love Nine Palace Grid. I personally think this would be a great dessert for ease of sharing between friends! 

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Pricing wasn't cheap but Little Deer provided a twist to local desserts with its unique plating; like their fairy and fruit hotpots that seemed to use dry ice for that smoke effect. I wouldn't be surprised that you would see more influencers posting about this dessert shop soon! 

Address

91, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Abad, 

80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Cold Beancurd with Mango - S$14.90

Six Herbs Soup - S$7.90

First Love Nine Palace Grid - S$22.90

Ikan Bakar Tampin @ Johor Bahru in Malaysia

The GRAB car correctly dropped us at the corner of the Italian restaurant we wanted to visit but the corner of my eye caught the signboard from another eatery that I thought looked darn familiar. 

Ikan Bakar Tampin - I ran a check on Google Map and it dawned on me that this was the eatery said to be super crowded on weekends! A dilemma arose; should we give up Italian cuisine for this?

At a review rating of 4.3 from over 1,100 reviewers, and that we were fortunate to have no queue; I think it's a no brainer for us to have our dinner at Ikan Bakar Tampin. Of course, I had to secure consensus from the rest too! 

Secured a table and it's time to order! Don't bother waiting for people to "serve you". Just get your ass up from the chair and walk over to the counter with the sign "order here".

It can be daunting deciding what to order, given the buckets of seafood placed right in front of us! There's a board stating the price but I am lousy in estimating the weight of seafood.

What we did was to rely on this board which we assumed would be list of recommended food to order and eat at Ikan Bakar Tampin. Since there were just four of us, it made sense to choose a few instead of ordering all nine dishes! 

Ordered! 

We didn't ask to weigh the seafood, and just ordered based on portion. 

Hope the eventual price wouldn't give us a scare! 

A picture before our food arrived! 

Balonglong Juice and Honey Pandan with Grass Jelly - former had an acquired taste with a spicy aftertaste which I found refreshing whereas latter was an aromatic thirst quencher that could have do with more ice! 

Sambal Spicy Noodle - this felt a bit like those fried noodles you can get from those Chinese nasi lemak stalls, albeit slurpy and spicy; two factors that made eating them very enjoyable.

Before we start with the seafood, do proceed to this counter next to the cashier and prepare your saucers of ammunition that would complement the seafood; the chinchalok relish! It would be the ultimate enhancer that combined freshness with crunch and touches of sourness and sweetness! 

Original Tiger Prawns - fresh and sweet tasting, there's nothing to complain about this plate of prawns that were cooked, stir fried style. Most expensive dish for us though at RM 51.00

Salted Egg Sotong - 'crunchy' and covered in a thick sauce, this would be much better if I were to eat them with a bowl of white rice! p.s. a tad salty but hey, this is salted egg sotong!

Sambal Ladyfingers -  the rare occasion whereby I felt that the sambal can be eliminated so that I could for the original good flavor of these well steamed ladyfingers. The sambal tasted different; not very spicy yet with an intense savoriness. 

Sambal Stingray - these came out top on the things to eat at Ikan Bakar Tampin and it's been a while since we last had stingray. Smeared with the same kind of sambal as the ladyfingers, the taste just didn't match with the meat from the stingray! 

Speaking of stingray, the taste of the meat also seemed off and there didn't seem to be much meat. What came to mind after the meal was that we have had much better stingray at Chomp Chomp hawker centre in Singapore.

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Before and after. It's sad to say that the one thing that impressed us was the chinchalok relish and it was a lifesaver when we didn't want to 'waste' the disappointing stingray! Would I return? Don't think so. 

Address

94, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Century, 

80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Operating Hours

5pm till 11pm

(Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays)

Menu

As above. 

Pricing

Balonglong Juice - RM 5.00

Honey Pandan with Grass Jelly - RM 4.50

Sambal Spicy Noodle - RM 8.00

Original Tiger Prawns - RM 51.00

Salted Egg Sotong - RM 29.00

Sambal Ladyfingers - RM 16.00

Sambal Stingray - RM - 40.00

(Subject to Taxes)

Sunday Morning Flea Market @ Malacca [Malaysia]

My mom and elder sister are early birds and when you add a son / brother who has insomnia; it means company for them in the early morning, when we travel together. And I have the added advantage of being pretty good in directions and navigation! 

But, I was still surprised to chance upon this Sunday morning flea market that's along a short, 100-meter odd road. Starting from 6.00 am, the time of our arrival was about 7.00 am.

It didn't feel crowded though, with just a few stalls, and there didn't seem to be much customers around. Whatever the case, lesser competitor to snatch a good deal from me! 

Despite the commercial aspect, people were unexpectedly friendly, exchanging greetings like friends. To enhance the relationship, you could have a game of carrom. And is that real animal fur?! 

Many second hand products, which I generally dislike buying given that I don't know much about their history and origins. I do have exceptions though; piggy banks! None on display though. 

Cassette tapes! Bet many of the younger generation didn't know what they are. To think about it, my generation had gone through three technological jumps; from cassette tape, to compact disc, to MP3 players and finally to streaming. 

At least I didn't go through the period of vinyl records! 

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Address

Along Jalan Hang Lekir, 

Jonker Walk, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia

Map

As above. 

Operating Hours

6am till 12pm

(only on Sundays)