1)In a noise-filled bus!

once upon a time.... Tuesday, 15th March 2011, 7.12AM.....

This was the Malaysian bus though... We did not managed to took a picture of our first bus...

Our hearts were beating fast, excited for what is going to happen during the unpredictable trip to Johor.

Joyful screams and crazy laughters filled up the entire bus even though it have not even move an inch!

Well, we could not deny it since it was our first trip ‘overseas’ together as a class..!

2)Bon Voyage!

7.43AM....

Finally, we’re starting to make a move to Johor!!

After passing through the Immigration Custom, we changed our bus and met our tour guide, Uncle Li for the first time! Ironically, we thought that he would be like any boring tour guide, but it seems like he’s quite the humorous type but at the same time giving a lot of interesting information regarding Johor… (Of course, there would be those who slept and ignored what he said. kekekehh.. *ehemehem*)

After that, we went for breakfast at Gelang Patah... We did not eat much since we did not want any stomachache to happen!

Just a glass of Milo will do....

This was our tour guide... He really had lots of information regarding Johor! 

3)The Fantabulous Desaru Fruit Farm!

11.14 am
 After around two hours of waiting, we reached our first destination , The Desaru Fruit Farm. We were amazed by the beauty of nature!

This is Sis Ina!! She knows almost
EVERYTHING
about the plants there...

We then knew how exactly the plants were being planted and their growth conditions thanks to our tour guide, sis ina! We gazed at the beauty with awe as we rarely see these ‘kampong’-like farms in Singapore…

Out of all the plants there, there were two plants that caught our attention and are on our top list. 

First is the "Orthosiphon Aristatus" or known as “Pokok Misai Kucing” in Malay. 

ORTHOSIPHON ARISTATUS

It is believed to have anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties. It is used as a remedy for diabetes, kidney stones and nephritis.

The second one is the Roselle plant.

ROSELLE!! SWEET~!!

Not only being used for medical purposes, but also it can be made into a juice. This plant is also the main ingredient of the “Ribena” juice and is definitely delicious! ^^,

12.01pm

We then reached to the most exciting part of the Fruit Farm, “The Mini Animal Zoo”! Although it is not as big as a normal zoo, but still, the animals are super cute!!! Especially the bunnies and goats!

 We had a little hard time though at the goats’ pen as it smelled!@_@

For the sake of our blog, we beared with it and took a closer look at them.

Look at the goats!!

12.01pm

Right after having a tour under the scorching sun and a talk regarding honey, our stomachs were growling and it’s time for the most favourite part, LUNCH!

 Lots of dishes and a variety of fruits were laid out on the table. 

EXHIBITION REGARDING HONEY. WE GOT THE CHANCE TO TASTE IT AND IT WAS SUPER DELICIOUS!!!

 We were also served with lemon juice (which was really sour).Maybe it was because the juice was freshly squeezed from the fruit itself. Surprisingly we saw a boy going for a second round of that juice! Only one word came trough our mind that time, "WOW..."

LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!LUNCH!

Those were the EXTREMELY-sour lemon juice~  (>.<)

4)Heavy Downpour!

3.02pm

It rained really heavily as we were on the way to the ‘surau’ to perform our Zuhur prayers.

Rain!!

Finally, we arrived....

This was the 'surau'... sorry we cannot seem to remember its name...

As some of us really need to use the toilet, we searched for it and almost went into the men’s ablution room! 

But then we found out that the gents and the ladies is just beside one another in the ladies' ablution area! 

Moreover, guys need to pass by the women's ablution area (not fully covered) to go to the gents. 

Therefore, teacher Khairiana had to 'prohibit' the guys from using the toilet until all of the girls finished taking their ablution! 

How pitiful for the guys! 

(oh, and since it was raining, we did not brought along our camera to snap pictures of our shoes being soaked and how the ladies ablution area and toilet looks like as the situation was total HAVOC...)

5)The adventures in..... Kota Tinggi Museum!

3.46pm

The next destination was the ‘Kota Tinggi Museum’.

 It is a two-storey building consists of thouasnds of artifacts from the earlier generations left by the royal families and also highly-respected soldiers. We felt as though we went back through time as we read the histories of these artifacts. 

Built in 1997, the museum traces the history of the Johor Sultanate.
The site was chosen for a museum due to its historical significance as the seat of the old Johor Sultanate.

The valleys of Johor River was also the start of the new era of the Malay Sultanate after the fall Malacca in 1511 to the Portuguese.

It was here also, at the valley of Johor River that the famed writer Tun Sri Lanang wrote the annals of 'Sejarah Melayu' (Malay History), a histography of Malay excellence.

Among the exhibits at the Museum include the glorious history of Johor River, starting with the reign of Sultan Allauddin Riayat Shah II until Sultan Mahmud Shah II.

The story of the King (Sultan) who was killed while being carried on a royal litter, refers to Sultan Mahmud Shah II.

He is famously referred to in historical books as 'Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang.'

We also discover the paintings, historical dioramas, weaponry and much more on display at the museum.

These were the accessories the royal princesses and queens of the earlier generations  wore.

Sarongs...

 It is also amazing to look at the old Qur'ans as they were really different from the present ones.

We just love this picture the MOST... Look at it! It was like from the earlier generations and it looks beautiful~ 

Not to forget, we had so much fun taking photos at the exhibitions!

After being amused, we were devastated when we knew our camera’s battery went flat! Too bad we cannot take more pictures! (T_T)

Me(Raudhah) and Musfirah decided to get a little dramatic that time... XD

6)Shopping in Mini Kelantan~!

4.07pm

It’s the time for SHOPPING! We reached at the place where Singaporeans called it the ‘Mini Kelantan’. 

The Kota Tinggi Bazaar is known as Mini Kelantan because of the many traders who came from Kelantan and speak the Kelantanese dialect.

We broke up into smaller groups and ‘explored’ the place.

Upon hearing the prayer call from another ‘surau’, we stopped and prayed. Then, we met another group of friends and decided to walk together to the “Plaza Kota Tinggi"  located nearby. 

40 minutes of browsing through each store, both of us still had no idea of what to buy! 

We rushed back to our bus thinking that we were already late after managing to buy only a magazine and a few key chains. 

How angry we were when we only saw less than ten people sitting in the bus!

7)Goodbye Johor~

7.09pm

We then reached at the same place we went earlier that morning, that is “Gelang Patah”. All of us got ready for our maghrib prayers and prayed together. Another problem surfaced and that Raudhah  lost her phone! Both of us were in a panic that time and searched the ‘surau’ thoroughly. After minutes of searching, Raudhah saw  her phone was just beside the shoe racks outside. We sighed in relief.

8.15pm

It was time to say goodbye to everyone. All of the students were separated into two buses, including us; one bus for those who live  nearby east and the other for those who live nearby west,  We were sent back to our school(Raudhah) and to Jurong East MRT(musfirah). We had a really long day but the whole journey was memorable.We want to say thank you to our fabulous English teacher, Mr. Azam and the other teachers for organizing such trip and allowed us to experience something new and educational!